He had only caught a few glimpses here and there. When the taller brother would raise his arms, causing his shirt hem to ride up, or when the older brother bent down to pick up firewood, making the back of his two shirts slid to expose his lower back. They were only small glances caught at random times because, despite the heavy Georgia humidity and heat, both of them always had on at least two shirts. However, even those tiny previews showed enough skin to let him see scars and pique his interest in them.
It was by complete random that he finally saw either of them without a shirt.
The day had gone from the normal roasting heat and was edging its way past boiling when he came around the corner of the house to find them washing clothes with Carol and Lori standing off to the side smiling. He headed towards them, watching as both females laughed at something the older brother had said. It was obvious that the brothers were bickering playfully over something. The closer he got, the easier it was to see how their skin almost shimmered in the sunlight. At first, he thought it was sweat but quickly realized it was scars playing a trick on the eyes. He came to stand beside his wife, saying a quite hello before falling silent and letting the others talk while he continued to observe the two newest additions to their group.
The taller, younger brother had shaggy, brown hair that he was constantly shaking out of his hazel eyes and curled around the nape of his neck. Even through the hair, he could see small white lines littering his throat like someone had held a knife against it a few times too many. Over both shoulders, long and ragged scars covered the top of them, as though something vicious and wild had grabbed him. They were faded like he had sustained those injuries a long time past. The front of his shoulders had obvious bullet scars, as if he had been shot in both shoulders so many times that the scars didn't get a chance to try and fade away.
Down his arms, pale lines criss-crossed every which way, some long and ropy while others were short but had obviously been deep, probably a stab wound of some kind. His wrists were permanently darker than the rest of his arms, like he had tried to escape a pair of handcuffs too many times or tied up for too long. Over both hands, scars bumped over veins and knuckles and calloused fingers. On his left palm, a ragged, still pink scar cut from one side of his hand almost to the other side before looping back to run parallel with itself.
His torso resembled the rest of his body. Hard, lean muscle rippled easily under the flawed skin. He knew that everyone in camp were now self-conscious about their bodies, himself included, ever since the brothers had joined them. Over his collarbones and hips, the scars shone a little whiter than the others, closer to the bone and hurting more. In the center of his chest, five pale, barely visible dots rested, like someone had driven their fingers there and tried to rip his heart out. Around and half on top of those were four long, slightly curved marks as though whatever had gotten his shoulders had dug at his chest as well.
The tall man, taller than anyone in camp, stood up and turned around to hang some of the wet clothes on the line. Taking the opportunity, he scanned over the other man's shoulders and back. The back of his shoulders had the same bullet scars had the front had, telling him that quite a few of the bullets had punched their way through, but the faded nature of them also told him that nearly as many had gotten lodged in the man's shoulders. Faded lines covered his back like a second skin, overlapping so much that he couldn't tell where one began and the other ended. The mark in the small of his back stood out from the others though. A discolored off-white, as if it had never probably healed, it laid right over his spinal cord, making him wonder how the man had survived that one.
Then the man was back around and sitting, body jerking away as his brother flicked water droplets into his face with a laugh and ending his surveying. Turning his attention to the slightly shorter brother, he did the same examination all over again.