Adam was fitted for the camouflage uniform (which was unbelievably uncomfortable for him) and was given a handgun for his weapon. He insisted he bunk with Drew as he was the only person he knew in the goddamned base. Drew meanwhile, was watching him get fitted. It was pretty baggy on Adam but all his life he liked things that were baggy.
When the two soldiers walked away, he approached Adam, who despised himself in the uniform, he tapped his shoulder,
"Drew!"
"What the hell was all that?"
He put his head down in shame, "I…I just wanted to make sure you were safe-"
"SO YOU JOINED THE ARMY?"
"It was the only way I could ensure nothing bad was happening to you!"
Drew sighed in anger, "This is about the dumbest thing you've done Adam!" Adam didn't respond, hoping Drew would calm down if he gave him a few seconds…
1...
2...
3...
"Look I'm sorry for yelling, but what about Ca-"
"ARE THEY ALL YOU CARE ABOUT ANYMORE? WHAT ABOUT YOUR BROTHER? THE ONE THAT'S BEEN WITH YOU ALL YOUR LIFE! NOT A COUPLE OF YEARS!"
That snapped it, and Drew was barley holding back his urge to strangle him, "Adam…they are just as important to me as you are."
"And? You know they'll be fine!" He walked closer to Drew, "If they've been fine for the past few weeks you've been gone, then they can hold off a few more!"
"I don't know-"
"Then why? Why did you go to this stupid war that had nothing to with us? HUH?"
Drew didn't say anything, Adam had him dangling over the edge at this point. As much as he hated it…everything Adam was saying was right. He looked at Adam one more time with the anger clear on his face, and walked away. Not even a word.
Adam stood there angry as well, but confused all at the same time. He knew he was screwed the moment he wanted to join. But he wasn't fearful at that point. He wasn't aloud to be. However the moment he got that gun in his hand his heart hadn't stopped racing. The fact that he could feel it annoyed him. He knew that this was the point of no return.
Once he was in the army, the only way out was death. Every time he stepped out into the open, he expected someone ready to shoot him. But the fact that his brother could stand out in the open perfectly stiff amazed him. But he always had to tell himself, every soldier is scared. Even if its only a little. God knows he knew Drew gets scared every now and then. The worst however was when he threw up before a speech.
However that was something they (or at least Adam) could look back at and laugh at. This was war. Nothing was laughable, except for the winning side's victory. Adam sat down, his stomach ached from all the tension. Part of it was doing it all wrong.
He hoped this would bring him and Drew closer.
Ever since they parted for college, he and Drew weren't the same side-by-side brothers who had each others backs. They after he married Cathy and had Emily, it was like he was nothing more than a visiting relative.
He loved Catherine and Emily with all of his heart but Drew's had his back all his life. And currently when they needed each other more than ever, everything was blown out of proportion.
…And Adam blamed himself for it.
Later in the day the sun was beginning to go down and Adam had finished getting everything in order, he stepped outside of his shelter to see Drew standing guard (he had been since he stormed out on Adam). He didn't dare to try to talk to him. He knew how long Drew could hold a grudge, he wasn't even going to bet that he was over it already. He sighed when a hand touched his shoulder,
It was Turner "So this is Drew's mini-me?"
He pushed his hand off, "Not really."
He began to walk away to anywhere he could sit alone but Turner grabbed the back of his shirt, "Hey! For a Torres, you don't talk much…Drew never talks much when something's wrong."
This guy did know Drew.
Adam turned around, "We had a fight." Turner nodded, needing no more information, he held up a hand,
"Don't worry…if he knows his brother…he'll get over it."
Adam sighed in guilt, "Actually…I said some nasty things…well, I think they were nasty."
"Again…he'll get over it. Besides, I'm sure I've said worse."
Adam was able to smile, Turner patted his shoulder, "Hey…he'll realize what you did was something no brother would do. And trust me, I know…I have one." He walked off. Adam tried to work up the nerve to talk to Drew but ended up going back inside the shelter, laying on Drew's bed. (He'd be on the top bunk.)
After an hour or so, Adam heard the doors open and jumped into an upright position…it was Drew. He looked at Adam for a second before they both turned away,
"I'll climb up to the top if you-"
"No." he unlatched his helmet, "I want to talk to you."
He sat next to Adam, "I've been thinking and…what you did today….that was impressive."
Adam looked at him confused, "Really?"
"Yeah…guess coming to target practice with me a few times paid off." he patted his shoulder,
Adam smirked, "Guess so…" he still felt an awkward atmosphere.
"Adam…the moment he let you in…I was scared to shit…."
Adam was once again confused, "Really?"
"Yeah I mean…how scared were you when I left-"
Adam snorted, "Oh my god don't even get me started on that…"
"Well I feel exactly the same I bet. God if something happened to you I'd never forgive myself."
Adam sat there in wonder, the exact same feelings he felt…Even though it wouldn't necessarily be his fault…Adam would blame himself for everything that happened to his brother.
"Thanks."
He patted Adam's back, "Anytime bro."
Adam sighed, "So…what do you usually do now?"
Drew began to get into a laying position, "Since we have time; sleep."
Adam laughed, he didn't even know they were aloud to use the word sleep in the army.
He climbed onto the top bunk, "See you in the morning?"
"About two A.M."
They laughed for the first time in quite a while. Adam gazed at the ceiling for a while, "Drew?"
"Yeah?
"While I'm here, lets not talk about bad things…please."
Drew turned onto his back, he sighed, "Well…bad things are all that happen in war."
-X-
It was about midnight and the three, (Turner having arrived later) were dead to the world. However Adam was probably going to wake up not remembering where he is. Drew turned to his side letting his hand dangle off the bed. However something broke through his sleep that sounded like Arabic.
He could've assumed it was a half dream but they sounded too close for his liking. He woke himself up and sat up to listen…it was definitely Arabic he was hearing…whispering.
He had a horrible feeling in his stomach as he got out of bed and grabbed his gun which was tucked under his bed in unbelievable slow motion. He snuck across the room to the doors as not to wake either of the two up and to ensure no one could hear him.
He made it to the doors in what felt like hours to hear the strangest of words, and indistinct whispering…they all sounded like young men…after calculating the different voices there were about three. (outside their shelter anyway). Right then, he heard a small click. After the click, slow high pitched beeps. He couldn't figure out what was going on until it hit him,
"OH SHI-"
It was a grenade, and it went off. The small shelter came to a crash a Turner was knocked out of his bed as was Adam. Turner rushed next to Drew wide awake, they were covered in ash and burn marks,
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
They could hear more yelling and gunshots outside, "It's an invasion! Shit! Grab your gun!" Turner grabbed it and latched on his helmet after making sure the photo inside was ok, "Adam! Adam where are you?"
"An-drew!" He could hear a weak voice call with a cough breaking it up, he could see a pile of rubble with it moving, SHIT!
"ADAM!" he leaped over and began throwing everything to a corner, "Oh my god-ADAM! Are you ok?"
He finally got a hold of Adam's hand and he was able to pull him out from under, Adam was wincing in pain,
"Are you ok?"
Adam was breathing heavily, his back and neck felt shattered and he was sure his other arm was still caught underneath something,
"I'm not sure."
Drew helped him up, he brought him into a forced embrace, "You need to stay here!"
Adam coughed a few more times, "No!"
"Look at me! There's a small shelter underground hidden near by the sergeants office! I want you to go, and I want you to stay! Understand?" he and Adam were nose to nose.
Adam nodded, "Absolutely not!" he didn't seem to give a fuck if something was pulled, that he could barely stand nor by the fact that he was covered in gashes and scrapes.
He brought Adam so he could see nothing but his eyes, "Look at me…I'm not asking you! GO!" With his trust, he ran outside, Adam stood there in disbelief…the entire reason he came blown by his brother. But he was an adult and he wasn't under his rules anymore. He grabbed a machine gun he found and ran out as well.
There was more than a dozen Libyans fighting, Drew not sure who was on who's side. He found Turner nearby the radio deck guiding the missiles, he crouched down with him,
"Any tanks?"
"No. But we have a plan…" he pointed outward, "You see that guy? That's their captain."
Drew winced in confusion, hardly ever wanting to take part in Turner's plans, "And?"
"And he's out target because without a captain," Drew remembered this quote and joined Turner, "The ship is full of rats."
To them, this meant that without their captain, they would be disorderly and have no idea what to do. Drew took the walkie talkie and began to speak to the launcher.
Unbeknownst to Drew, Adam was near the flag pole, not moving like Drew said but shooting as many people as he could. He turned around to reload in super human speed. Right as he finished something smacked his shoulder,
"Ai!"
he turned around, directly in front of him to Afghani soldiers stood,
"Esm e shoma chist?"
"…What?"
They were speaking Persian, which unfortunately Adam had no knowledge about.
"Shoma ahleh koja hastid?" One of them screamed at him. Adam jumped back a little,
"I'm sorry! I don't understand what your say-"
One of them grabbed his wrist, so tight that Adam was sure it would break,
"In chieh? Ke Donbale Libya migardam?"
Adam's head began to hurt (no where near as much as his wrist) but he couldn't think of anything to say,
"No no! I don't know…let me go!" he tried to shake them off but it was useless, he yanked Adam forward as the other soldier spoke, anger in his tone,
"Ba man bia."
Drew and Turner were still targeting the captain, the missile launcher spoke,
"Can you give me an exact location?"
As Drew was about to respond he looked to his left, he saw Adam holding onto the flag pole with one hand and something holding the other,
"NO DON'T! DON'T TAKE ME!" he could hear him scream, he was holding onto the pole for dear life and he saw the two men,
"Torres! Location!"
He jumped he coordinated it then rushed his words, watching Adam's hand slowly slip…
"Yes! 35 degrees south…" Adam's hand slipped more as Drew began talking faster, "and 58 degrees west Located at 35 degrees south," Adam let go, he was being dragged away, "AND 59 DEGREES WEST!" He threw the walkie talkie into Turners hand and ran off,
"DREW!"
"IS THAT IT?" He heard over the mic,
"YES! LAUNCH!"
It fired, as Drew was running, the impact of the force when it hit the ground caused him to topple over, he could hear even more frantic yells and stayed at cover for a few seconds,
"STOP!" he could hear Adam's voice, he pulled himself up and dashed after them,
"KOMAKAM!" Drew screamed waving his hand at them, thank god for the three years of Persian. They continued to drag him,
"DREW!"
He pulled Adam away from them as they struggled to take him back. The one who had Adam's wrist spoke, "In chieh?"
He had Adam's arm, who was more stressed than he was "Mitoonam ke komaketoon konam," he pointed to Adam, "Man gom shodam!"
One of their eyes widened, "Shodam?"
"Baleh!"
They finally let go of Adam's arm, leaving a bruise, they had desperation in their eyes,
"Bebakhshid! Bebakhshid!" It was the Persian word for 'sorry'. He took Adam by the arm and they ran.
"Where are we going?" they were far from the battle zone and Drew opened a cellar like door,
"Get in now!"
"Bu-"
"GO!"
Adam was becoming frightened by Drew's constant yelling. Then again he should be grateful at the moment considering he saved him from being kidnapped. He rushed in with Drew behind him, slamming the doors shut leaving pitch black darkness. They listened to the frantic yelling and gunshots. Their ears were popping at the fires of the shotgun rifles. After hours things began to quiet down albeit arguments in Persian and Arabic.
Adam finally said something after getting his heart beat to calm down, "What were they saying?"
Drew turned to him, "You mean just now-"
"No. When they were…" they jumped at the sudden sounds of gunshots and yelling once more,
"Trying to take me."
Drew sat next to him, "They thought you were a spy for Libya, I told them you were my brother." He took in a breath, "They were going to kill you Adam god forbid I hadn't come!" he yelled making sure Adam got his point,
"I wanted to fight!" he stood up, "That's the reason I joined the army Andrew-"
"You shouldn't even be here in the first place! Do you see what could've happened if I wasn't there-"
"But you were-"
"WHAT IF I WASN'T?"
If he wasn't then they wouldn't be having that conversation at the moment.
"Look, in a suburban house, or in the fucking army! As the younger brother, you are my responsibility!"
"Drew…" he finally decided to let it out, "I'M NOT EIGHT YEARS OLD I'M TWENTY SEVEN! TWENTY SEVEN! I DON'T BELONG TO ANYONE!" He walked up to Drew, "I'M OLD ENOUGH TO BE MAKING MY OWN FUCKING DECISIONS!" he smacked Drew's chest when he let out 'fucking'.
Drew bit his lip in irritation as Adam's chest was full of lava. He shoved Drew out of the way and went up the little stairs,
"Where are you go-"
"I didn't come here to hide Drew!" he opened the doors and stormed out of Drew's sight. He grew somewhat panicked and followed after him, trying to remain casual. When he got out, it was dawn, his soldiers arresting the Libyans that either weren't killed nor escaped. He caught up to Adam,
"Adam! Listen to-" he tried to put a hand on his shoulder which was forcefully shrugged off, he let Adam walk out of sight. Drew sighed in irritation,
"Torres!" He saw a crowd of soldiers lifting a stretcher, it was sergeant Cassel who called him, he ran over,
"Yes sir?"
He put a hand on his shoulder, a deep look of sympathy, "…You may want to see this…" he walked over to the soldiers to find Turner on the stretcher, bruised, bleeding, the most gruesome thing he'd ever seen,
"No-!"
"Drew…"
Drew pulled his own hair, it couldn't be happening. He turned away for just a second, trying to gather himself. He looked back,
"Turner,"
He held out a hand, the only thing left stable, Drew held it,
"Thanks for everything buddy." he tried to smile, shaking the hand. Drew tried to keep himself together, he squeezed the hand,
"Your gonna make it."
Turner casually nodded which bothered Drew, "I wouldn't be so sure…"
Drew welted up a little, trying to keep his tears in his eyes, "Don't say tha-"
"Hey…" he attempted to gesture his head a little towards the bases, "My helmets over there…I want you to check the photo…and tell me if my brothers ok."
Drew nodded, he rushed over and peeked inside of it, he walked back over with it in hand, "He's gonna be ok." he forced a smile.
"Good…" he barley lifted his head, "Listen…don't ever let your brother…not even for a second, think that you don't care about him."
Drew laughed tearfully, "I can say I've done that part-"
"But…let him have his independence…" his voice started to fade, "Please…"
He finally used up the last of his energy that was keeping him awake, he fell back, heavy breaths as seen from his chest,
"LETS GO!" the soldiers ran off with the stretcher, Drew stood there, tears crawling through, he dropped the helmet and walked off to wherever he could be alone…
He had lied…
The photo was torn, and a bullet mark straight through Turner's brother.