Scene 1

It was raining ash, the sky was grey, and the sun was trying it’s hardest to peek through the smoke from the distant bombs. All the drafts were lined up along the dirt road, waiting for the sergeant to call out their names. The empty vehicles were parked, engines purring, waiting to be filled with the new drafts. The sergeant would shout the names of the young men waiting nearby and they would file silently onto the trucks.

[sergeant] “ Peacock! Livingston! Go fit yourselves into truck 7 over there” he nodded to the truck behind him.
The two young men walked silently over to truck 7, but were slightly confused, because the truck was already packed with soldiers.

[John mumbles to himself, not paying any attention to the young man next to him] “There’s no way both of us are gonna fit into that truck” He stands back at glances over at Truck 6, which appears to have enough room for the two of them. John walks over to the truck, still ignoring the other young man standing next to him. They both climb onto the truck and end up being squeezed together, shoulder-to-shoulder, without any room to sit down. The trucks begin to drive along the dirt road. Everything is quiet.
[five minutes into the drive, Eric begins to get jittery and decides to start a conversation] “Oh Boy, are there a lot of men in this truck! Too much testosterone for me, huh bud?” He laughs at his own joke and elbows John, who’s standing next to him. Eric looks up at John with a huge grin on his face and says “ How ‘bout you buddy?” John slightly turns his head to look down at Eric, shrugs his shoulders, and continues to stare at the splash of blood on the front of the truck behind them. Eric continues what he thinks is a conversation, and notices John staring at truck 7. The sight of the dried blood nauseates Eric and he turns to John.
“I already can’t wait until this all over. Who do you get to go back home to, bud?” John turns to Eric and says “ It’s not, Bud, kid, It’s John.”
Eric get’s excited that John takes notice of him and replies “ Nice to meet you John! My name’s
Eric.” He extends his hand for a shake. John half-heartily shakes Eric’s hand. “Whatever you say, Kid.”
Eric shakes out his hand and mumbles “Damn! That’s a strong handshake you got yourself, there John. What are you, a boxer or somethin’?”
John smirks and says “Huh, I wish. I’ve been workin’ in my dad’s blacksmith shop since I was 14, kid.”
Eric smiles and exclaims “Wow, I bet you get some real good pay!”
John smiles as the thought of his girlfriend crosses his mind, he fully turns to Eric and says with a smile, “Yeah, I’ve been saving up the money to-“ John’s stopped short by the sudden sound of a nearby explosion.
A wave of silence fills the air and a whistle sounds before the truck behind them is hit with a grenade. The men in the truck are struck by the impact and everybody is thrown backwards. John takes hold of Eric’s arm, making sure that his fragile frame doesn’t fall out of the truck as they speed away. He pulls him further into the truck and they both lay there in silence, staring at the burning remains of truck 7.

At that moment, John and Eric knew this was only the beginning.