Authors Note: Hey ya'll, I was writing this story when I had time after school but since I have no time at all my chapters have been very short. Now I have decided to redo the whole story. I have skipped major thing that I had originally wanted to put in, for instance Pony should have gone to basic training but I skipped that because I thought it would take too long to write. So my whole story is going to be re-written. Thank you for reading and those who have reviewed my extremely short story.

Leaving Home-

I sat on his bed looking at the floor that was cluttered with papers, books, and empty cigarette cartons. I took a deep breath and just recalled all of the memories that I had experienced in this town. I always knew that I would someday leave this place but I never imagined that it would be to go fight for my country. I was afraid but I also knew that this was my duty, my country needed him to fight and that was what I was going to do. Soda and Darry were petrified that I was leaving home.

Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit had all been in this war. Each one of them came home with minor casualties. Soda had a busted knee, he could still walk but he still needed some assistance from crutches or something. Steve had the worst injuries, he had broken his back but by some miracle he could still walk and run somehow. Two-Bit was just faking the fact that he couldn't see out of his right eye, he got hit in the head with some shrapnel and that had detached his retina but most of us still believe he could see but he told doctors that he couldn't so he was able to come home.

Darry. He had hurt himself while roofing' houses so he wasn't qualified to go. I knew how badly he wanted to take my place but he couldn't. I had been drafted not him. I could hear my brothers talking in the living room; their voices were hushed but I could still tell what they were saying.

"Dar, I can't do this, I can't watch him get on a plane and go fight in this war. I was in it, I don't want him to have to face those horrors." Soda said like he was about to burst into tears.

"I know little buddy, but we can't stop this from happening, maybe he'll get lucky. The war might end by the time he finishes basic training." Darry responded to his little brother trying to comfort him even though both of them knew this war wasn't going to end that fast.

I tuned them out after that, I knew it was killing my brothers to have to see me leave them and go somewhere that they couldn't protect me. I looked at my watch, it was 12pm. I was supposed to get on a bus to California for basic training at 2pm that afternoon. I had two hours left and I just wanted to be alone, to think.

My life was becoming the opposite of what I thought it would be. I wanted to go to collage and do something with my life but what if that never happened, what if I die in this war? This was all I could think of for the next 45 minutes.

I heard a soft knock on the door, I knew it was Soda. He looked and gave me a sympathetic look and then said "hey kiddo, we gotta go. When you're ready we'll be in the truck." With that he walked away.

I stood up and just absorbed the room that I had slept in my whole life. I took a deep breath and smoothed out my uniform and walked out of my home. When I walked outside I saw Darry and Soda standing by the truck. We all climbed in and drove to where we were supposed to meet, some vacant lot.

When we arrived there were a lot of other people there, not a surprise. I got out and looked around. I grabbed my sack from the bed of the truck and slung it over my shoulder. I looked at the sad faces of both of my brothers. I walked over to both of them and hugged them like I might never see them again. Soda had tears in his eyes and Darry looked sad but that was it.

"Kid, you better come back here in one piece." Darry said taking me in one more hug as we heard the voice of our commander calling all soldiers over to the bus.

"I will Dar, I will." I said and then looked at Soda who opened his mouth but he shut it instead and gave me one more hug. I heard the deep voice of commander calling us to get our asses over there. "Bye." Those were the only words that I could think of to say to them.

I walked over to the rest of the men dressed like I was. We were told to board the bus. I took a seat and looked out the window to see the clear blue sky. Maybe that was a good sign; I had to come back here. The bus rolled out and we started our way to Fort Ord in California. All I could think of was would I ever see this Oklahoma sky again? Would I see my Soda and Darry again? That was all I could think about during the drive.

"Hey, are you okay?" The guy next to me asked. I looked away from the window towards him. He was around my age, I couldn't tell if he was tall or not but he looked strong. He had blonde hair cut in military style like everybody else on this bus.

"Yeah." With that I held my hand out to shake his "my names Ponyboy, what's yours?"

"Paul, ya know it's strange. I always hated where I came from but now I don't want to leave." He wasn't looking at me anymore but instead he was looking straight ahead with a dazed look.

"Yeah, I always thought I would do something better but now I'm not even sure if I'll even come back." We were both talking as if no one else was there we were just talking like we knew each other from our childhood or something. It was nice to have someone to talk to now more then ever.

Definatly not my best chapter but I say it gets better. Just read a few more chapters to make your final decision. Please keep reading and review if you like it. –Kat.