DONAVAN

PROLOGUE

"Come on, Donavan! Get up! Let's go. We have to leave him here." Hanley snapped.

I had my brother, Danny, cradled in my arms. He had been pelted with machine gun fire and was slowly bleeding to death. His screaming had stopped, and now his green eyes fluttered open before closing again. He tried to speak to me but his voice was barley a whisper now. He buried his head in the crook of my arm. Shots came from all around us, kicking up sand as they hit the ground.

"Danny, you need to get up. I'm going to help you!" I shouted over the raging gun fire.

He looked up and I knew by the look in those soft green eyes of his that he'd given up.

"Donavan! Let's go!" Hanley said, pulling me by the arm.

I jerked my arm away from him.

"Just leave me here! I'm not leaving my brother."

Danny gave a shuddery breath and he began to shake uncontrollably from the amount of pain he was in.

"Danny! Hang in there, man. I'm going to get you outta here. I'm going to get you home!"

Danny held the collar of my uniform tightly in his blood covered hands. The light in his eyes dimmed and right there in my arms, Danny gave his last breath.

"Danny, Danny! No, goddamn it, no."

I woke up from another nightmare, screaming my bother's name. It's always the same nightmare. My girlfriend came into the living room, a frightened look in her eyes.

"Jason, are you alright?" She asked.

"I-I guess." I stammered.

"You need to try to forgive and forget, Jason, you can't...."

"How in the hell am I supposed to get over the fact that I let my brother die? Maria, can you tell me!" I snapped.

Then, we had a full blown yelling match. Back and forth until her brother, Hank, appeared at the top of the stairs. Maria fell silent first, I soon followed suit.

"Do you realize that I'm sick of you all arguing! Listen, Jason, I'm still shaken about losing Danny too, but could you get over it. It's been almost five months." Hank said

"Hank, stay out of it!" Maria said, giving a glare.

Hank threw his hands up in frustration and walked back into his room. This would make the third night in a row that Maria and I had gotten into an argument.

"Jason, I can't live like this anymore. What you went through is tearing us apart. Why can't you just forget?"

"Do you want me to leave!?" I snapped. "You know, since I can't seem to do anything right in your eyes! Since I'm tearing us apart!"

"If you want to go, then go, Jason!" She shouted back before storming back into her room and slammed the door behind her.

I stood up and grabbed my rucksack that sat in chair at the kitchen table. I soon grab all my belongings, packing most of them into my rucksack and walk out the door.