The invasion was not going well. With every glance there was another figure doubling up in pain and knocked to the ground. A young man in what looked like his early twenties was lying with his stomach to the damp soil, behind what looked like a bunch of stacked up bean bags. The expression that captured his features was one of concern. He could feel it in the air, smell the odor of death lightly in his nostrils, and he swallowed his own spit nervously.
A slight drizzle started again, and Reece concentrated on his scope, pinned on a black blurry dot in particular. The man was an expert with snipers, as was Reece, and he could not afford to have this man take out half the army. He held his thumb on the trigger lightly, waiting for the right moment. When he saw to it, he pulled the trigger without hesitation, and watched with a slight smile as the figure shook and fell to the ground, out of sight.
He heard his name faintly in the background, and glanced around.
"Reece! Two o'clock!" his english accent was hard not to miss, and he knew it was Issac. He looked to the right, spotting Issac, a man fairly younger, eighteen to be exact, with ruffled up black hair, the pallest skin you could ever imagine to see in Portugal, with wild light blue eyes. Reece on the other hand had darker blue eyes, with his hair shaved off, and a little darker skin tone.
"We need to start moving, or we're not going to make it!" Issac managed to shout over the sounds of bullets flying through the air, before an explosion erupted in the distance between them. Reece made a slight hand gesture before moving away from his spot, beside one of his other mates. He noticed the slight nod as a response from Issac, and Reece made no falter as he made one more gesture.
Soldiers raided the field as explosions struck in countless places, causing the earth to stir and dust to mix with the very air Reece breathed. Reece waited, hardly realizing he had sucked in air and was holding his breath, letting it all out when he heard it. A horn was sounded, and immediately soldiers from all over began to run back.
No, they were not surrendering, Reece could not afford to think this. Without being careful, Reece joined the group of soldiers down the dirt hill, not realizing he was not in the best position like the others. He was out in the open.
He felt the earth under him shake as a bang so loud filled his ears, dust rising in the air as he struggled to keep upright. But the impact of the explosion left him lightheaded and unsteady. The last he remembered was falling to the ground with a hit to his head and his vision blurring. He had tried to remain conscious, but to no avail he was dragged into the darkness that devoured him whole, a cold numb feeling replacing the pain that struck his temples.

He awoke later in what looked like a temporary hospital. It was confirmed later that the hospital had been filled with other patients and they had to operate in other areas as well. He could not identify what the room was actually used for, but it didn't bother him the first moments he woke up. A bright light shone in his eyes and he had to raise his hand to help shade his eyes, as well as squint when he looked up. He glanced around, and noticed Issac beside him. He hadn't noticed Reece had woken up.
He opened his mouth to say something, but he felt his throat, sore and in desperate need for water. He tried to swallow, but it did no good. Instead, he made for his hand to tug the others arm, but his hand was responding slowly. Before he could even touch the others sleeve, Issac had noticed the movement and glanced up, relief washing his face. Reece returned his arm slowly back to its place.
Issac stood up uncertainly, before sitting back down, unsure on why he did so in the first place.
"You need some water?" he asks, and Reece exhales slowly with a smile, glad his friend was here. He always knew what was up, even with the simplest things. Nodding he watched as Issac disappeared behind a pair of curtains, and heard a pair of voices talking before Issac interrupted them.
It only got so far before Reece didn't bother hearing the rest of what was happening outside his ward. It didn't take long before Issac was back with a plastic cup in his hand, presumably with the disgusting tap water that's ultra clean without any bacteria at all. He handed it to Reece carefully, making sure it was upright and Reece could manage.
Reece sipped slowly, taking a sip, swallowing it, and taking another before repeating the same all over again. The silence between Reece and Issac was not one that was awkward, it was more a silence of comfort, a moment where both could think without hesitating to break it. But a time came when one would.
"What's of the war?" he asked slowly, slightly fearing what was coming next.
"It's over." Issac replied without hesitation, but there was something else, something Reece could not come across.
"You need not to worry," he added, but the statement was false, easily heard in the betrayal of his voice.
Reece eyed him carefully as Issac looked away, avoiding his gaze.
"Brother, what happened?" he asks carefully, trying to read his friends face, which was currently turned away.
Issac and Reece technically were not brothers, but Issac had been adopted in Reece's early childhood, and they had always considered themselves related. They held a strong friendship, one which could never be truly broken, never by age or argument.
"Its.. our house.. it.. it-" Issac began, but was immediately interrupted by Reece, who already had a glare on his face.
"It what?? It what dammit?" he shouts, ignoring the peek of a nurse wondering if everything was alright. Issac waited till the nurse disappeared before whispering so quietly Reece wouldn't had heard if it wasn't for the distance between them.
"It was bombed."
The whole world had just magically disappeared as those words were said, only him and his brother in a room, which wasn't even a ward anymore.
Issac had already let tears escape his eyes, making way down his cheeks, but Reece refused to show any sign of weakness, he refused to believe his family was gone. Surely his family had left their house and went into hiding?
Reece shook his head, dismissing the thought. He knew it was just false hope he was hanging on, and was too afraid to hear the answer.
He let his brother sit on his bed, and calmly held him, staring straight forward unblinking, as Issac sobbed in his shoulders.
How could he stand watching Issac cry when he himself was trying not to? How could he stand not being able to comfort his friend? He couldn't, that was the answer. He couldn't say it was okay, because it wasn't, and he couldn't say it would be, because honestly, he had no fucking idea.
The sudden rage that overpowered him was so strong he wasn't sure he could control it, but he held it in himself as Issac slowly drifted to sleep in the little bed they shared. Reece on the other hand was having trouble sleeping, and felt the soft matress beneath him, lulling him to sleep, before he'd snap his eyes open in fear before being lulled to sleep again, only to awake seconds later. It was as though a nightmare was waiting for him. He shuddered at the thought, and glanced at Issac. If only he could be like him. When something bad happened, Reece hung on it for months, perhaps years, and he knew it would take him a while to get over this, but for Issac, it was as if it was terrible, but not terrible enough to move on in life and continue. He didn't know how he could do it, just that he envied that unknown trait of his brother's.
It was only later that Reece was finally lulled to sleep once more, and didn't wake up till light seeped through the curtains.

Please give constructive criticism please. Thanks.

This is really good so far! Did you copy and paste it? Cuz if you didn't when someone speaks it like a new paragraph if you didn't know, but i think you do. but other then that i think it's really good. I suggest you describe the characters, cuz i couldn't see them, i saw everything, but i want to see what the characters look like.

Originally Posted by _untamed_soul_

This is really good so far! Did you copy and paste it? Cuz if you didn't when someone speaks it like a new paragraph if you didn't know, but i think you do. but other then that i think it's really good. I suggest you describe the characters, cuz i couldn't see them, i saw everything, but i want to see what the characters look like.

Yeah I didn't copy and paste it, but I hadn't really paid much attention to it. I'll edit that now.
Yeah I was thinking of that. I'll see if I can squeeze that in tomorrow :)
Thanks for reading it.

I agree with Untamed about a little character description, but I don't suggest putting in too much. Perhaps mention hair color and style, perhaps eye color, but if you add in a paragraph for each character describing exactly his/her look and clothing style, then it gets boring. (Not saying that you would do that, just giving a little warning.) It seems pretty interesting so far, I would simply suggest double checking some of your grammar since a few sentences flow a little oddly.

I'm having problems in title too...:(

He held his thumb on the trigger lightly, waiting for the right moment.

Aren't guns usually pulled with a pointer finger, not a thumb? I'm not an expert or anything, the only gun experience I have is videogames(halo, GTA, Borderlands etc.) but this struck me as odd.

the pallest skin you could ever imagine to see in Portugal,

I think you meant palest, simple typo. =)

"Brother, what happened?" he asks carefully, trying to read his friends face, which was currently turned away.

Instead of adding another full phrase, you might want to just say something like "trying to read is friends half-turned face." This sounds a bit smoother and it doesn't sound as redundant.

One thing I don't get is how their house being bombed ends the war. I don't really see the connection there, but maybe I just missed something.

I also agree with some of the other comments about a lack of character description. You don't have come out and say "he's this tall, this color hair, this color eyes" could sort of twist it into the surroundings and add other details in as well, like describing Reece's mud caked blond hair. Just some ideas.

Overall very effective story, I can practically hear and feel the bombs going off around me. The description of smelling death was a particular favorite. =) Very nice job!

Thanks, I guess there are a few typos! D;
The only thing that you didn't understand was that the war didn't end because the house was bombed, they were two separate things. They cared because their parents were in there.. do you suggest any way of avoiding that?

Originally Posted by iinsanely Sane

Thanks, I guess there are a few typos! D;
The only thing that you didn't understand was that the war didn't end because the house was bombed, they were two separate things. They cared because their parents were in there.. do you suggest any way of avoiding that?

The way it unfolds, it makes it seem like the war ended because their house was bombed, maybe instead of having one event after the other, put some space in between. Maybe describe them heading back to their home when they hear(or see) what's happened? It almost seems like just too much to take all at once in one scene. do you kind of understand what I mean?

Originally Posted by hayzel

The way it unfolds, it makes it seem like the war ended because their house was bombed, maybe instead of having one event after the other, put some space in between. Maybe describe them heading back to their home when they hear(or see) what's happened? It almost seems like just too much to take all at once in one scene. do you kind of understand what I mean?

Yes it makes sense. I'll see what I can do. I think I already have an idea coming up! ;D Thanks!

so, why were they fighting? did they have any choice in the matter? and what kind of family was left behind?, was it just parents and siblings and such or were there wives, girlfriends and or children? I liked the story so far.

Why hello there damaraisan, thank you for commenting. This story, though it is not old, I haven't edited or adjusted it according to what the other have said, in the hope re-typing it and organizing it in a better layout.
I'm glad you liked it, and I am happy to have your questions answered, but I still don't know the answer to half the things you've asked, and the reason they aren't answered yet is because I'd like to keep the first chapter a bit of a mystery.