Blood Brothers

Act 1:  Scene 1                                                (Scene starts with a dark stage.  Sounds of machine guns and explosions)

Captain Bennet:  Alright men we got them on the run!  On to the next bunker!

(The stage begins to light up and a group of 4 men run with their guns swinging at their sides to the next bunker which is at center stage.  The back of the bunker faces the audience.  The men sit down facing the audience ducking for cover behind the bunker)

Sgt. Grey:  Captain, this isn’t worth it anymore!  It’s us against the world!

Sgt. Carter:  No, Grey, It’s us against the Germans with the pitiful help of the French and the British! 

Sgt. Cooper:  The Lt. died.  I can’t believe it!  I saw it!  I saw him!  I saw his mangled body!  Damn Doomsday!

Captain Bennet:  Are you men!?

3 Sgt. Together:  Yes, Sir!

Captain Bennet:  Good to hear it.  If a German were to hear you men talking like that they would never had guessed that you 3 were the top 3 of your class!  Buck up men!

Sgt. Grey:  This is hopeless!  I haven’t seen an American besides you three.  Where is everyone?  Are they still at the drop off?  Should we go help them?  I can’t believe we made it past those tanks alive!

Sgt. Cooper:  I thought we were going to be goners for sure. 

Sgt. Carter:  We can’t go help them, Grey.  We need to keep going.  We are the platoon that needs to go forward.  The others need to make sure we get behind enemy lines so that we can plant the bomb.

Sgt. Grey:  I know!  But why us!?  And look at us!  A platoon of 25 now is a platoon of 4!

Sgt. Cooper:  We need to complete our mission!  For the Lt.!  Men, for the Lt.!

Captain Bennet:  Now you’re thinking like a man, Cooper.  Grey do you still have the bomb because if you don’t then there is no need for us to go behind enemy lines.  We can just continue fighting the old fashioned way instead of trying to end this quickly.

Sgt. Grey:  It’s burning a hole in my pack, Captain.  I still have it.  Let’s get this over with so we can help everyone else by letting them get that much closer to getting home to their families.

Sgt. Carter:  That’s the way to think about it!

Captain Bennet:  Onward, Men!

(The curtain closes as the men run off the stage, stage right)

Scene 2                          (The curtain opens and the scene begins with the 4 men hiding behind an abandoned German tank.  They are a few yards away from the German camp trying to figure out exactly how they are going to get deep enough inside to complete their mission)

Captain Bennet:  Way to stick together men! 

Sgt. Cooper:  Ok it looks like the weak point of the camp border has 4 men guarding it.  That would be the best place for us to penetrate the camp.

Sgt. Grey:  Right … What if other guards see us kill these 4 guards and then come after us?

Sgt. Carter:  We fight them, naturally.

(The men burst into laughter despite their grave situation.)

(As they laugh a mortally wounded German solider begins to crawl towards them.  The men notice him when he is about 5 feet away.  They immediately draw their weapons.)

Sgt. Carter:  State your name, son.

(The German solider grunts something and then pulls out his gun and shoots Captain Bennet 4 times in the chest. Cooper, Grey, and Carter shoot the German solider until he lays silent and still.)

Sgt. Cooper:  Captain!

(The men rush to their fallen leader.)

Sgt. Grey:  I’ll stitch you up, Captain.  You’re going to be ok. (He says as he gets out a needle and thread)

Sgt. Carter:  He’s fading, Grey.  It’s no use.

Captain Bennet:  Don’t … fa fa fail me … men. (The captain struggles to say as he takes his last breathe)

Sgt. Cooper: Nooooooooooo!!!

(Cooper throws himself onto the Captain’s body and starts sobbing uncontrollably.)

Sgt. Grey:  We need to move his body.

Sgt. Carter:  No. We are going to move. C’mon.

Sgt. Cooper:  Who made you the captain?!

Sgt. Carter: No one, damn it!  We need to complete our mission.  Didn’t you hear his last words!?  Let’s go! (Carter says with tears streaming down his face)

Sgt. Grey:  Can we move his body so we can get it later?

Sgt. Carter:  Grey this is war!  None of our bodies are going to make it home.  None of them!  They are all going to rot on this f*****g beach!

Sgt. Grey:  F**k!

Sgt. Cooper:  Let’s go.  Let’s get this over with…

(They bury the Captain’s body in the sand.  They collect his jacket with his awards on it just in case they made it home to give to his family.  They also took his gun just in case they would need to later.  The curtain closes as they kneel down to pay their last respects to their Captain.)

Scene 3                                      (The curtain opens to show the men in a tent that is near the center of the German camp.)

Sgt. Grey:  This tent is a good place to plant the bomb.

Sgt. Cooper:  I think so to.  Then we need to get the hell out of here and send the flare up so that the General knows that they can detonate it.

Sgt. Carter:  Sounds like a plan, men.

Sgt. Grey:  How the hell are we going to get out of this camp though?

Sgt. Cooper:  It’s impossible!

Sgt. Grey:  We came all this way and now there is no way out.  We f*****g failed!

Sgt. Cooper:  We can’t do it!

(Grey and Cooper break into sobs as they contemplate their grave situation)

Sgt. Carter:  Look at you!  I bet the captain is stirring in his grave and he hasn’t even been dead for 24 hours yet! 

Sgt. Grey:  It’s hopeless!

Sgt. Cooper:  Unless you can turn is f*****g invisible, Carter.

(Carter stands up and raises his fists in the air and breathes heavily as he stares down at his companions.)

Sgt. Carter:  “Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, and say ‘These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.’  Old men forget; yet shall be forgot, but he’ll remember, with advantages, what feats he did that day.”

(Grey and Cooper stare up at Carter; with tears brimming their eyes as they watch their comrade speak in a passionate fury)

Sgt. Carter:  Follow me, men!

(Grey and Cooper set up the bomb in the tent and then they follow Carter into the chaos of the German camp.  They dodge German soldiers and do their best to look as if they belong there.)

Sgt. Carter:  (whispering) Tread carefully, men.

Sgt. Grey:  We are right behind you.

Sgt. Cooper:  Is the plan to go back to deserted tank?

Sgt. Carter:  Yes, I think that would be the safest place to think of our next action and set of the flare.

Sgt. Grey:  Sounds good.

(The men hurry to the edge of the German camp toward the empty tank.  They knock out the guards around the edge of the camp and then sprinted to the tank and crouched behind it.)

Sgt. Grey:  We made it!

Sgt. Cooper:  I can’t believe it! I think one of our very own has a future in rising in the ranks. (Points at Carter)

Sgt. Carter:  We got here because we worked together.  Alright who wants to do the honors?  Also remember men that they will give us 10 minutes exactly after we send the flare up to get to safety and also keep in mind that German soldiers will run to where the flare came from and surely kill any American soldiers that are in the vicinity.  With all that in mind who would like to do the honors?

(Grey and Cooper look back and forth between one another and remain silent.)

Sgt. Grey:  You may have the honor, Carter.

(Cooper nods in agreement.  Carter takes the flare in his hand and raises it in the air.  He looks at his 2 companions and then pulled the trigger of the flare gun.  A blast of red light erupts into the sky.  They men follow the red light up into the sky.  Then they look back toward the beach where their operation first began.  A blue flare went up to indicate that the General had gotten the message.)

Sgt. Cooper:  10 minutes … Let’s go!

(The men start to run back toward the beach.  They begin to run toward their own camp to get to a place a relative safety.  They get within 25 feet of their camp when they are surrounded by German soldiers.  The soldiers speak in rapid German as they surround the 3 soldiers.)

Sgt. Carter:  Alright, men, arms at the ready!

(They draw their weapons and form a small circle with their backs against each other.)

Sgt. Cooper:  It has been a pleasure fighting with you gentlemen.

Sgt. Grey:  I would not have picked better companions to go towards the light with then you, my friends.

Sgt. Carter: We are not dead yet, men!  Let’s keep our judges waiting!  We will not go easily, but courageously!

Sgt. Grey and Sgt. Cooper: Fire!

(Carter, Cooper, and Grey start firing the German soldiers around them.  They are each shot several times.  They keep firing until there is only one German soldier left and it is now that they fall to ground in a heap because of their wounds.)

Sgt. Cooper:  This is the end…

(Grey shoots the German soldier still remaining and then he rolls over to face his companions.  They each roll over onto their bellies so that they are facing each other in a small circle.  They grasp each other’s hands tightly.)

Sgt. Grey:  I wouldn’t have wanted to go any other way.

Sgt. Carter:  It is an honor to die with you two for company.

Sgt. Cooper:  The land of the free shall prevail!

(Behind them the bomb explodes.  They watch as most of the German camp goes up in flames.  The men shout in celebration in completing their mission.)

Sgt. Grey:  I’m fading fast my friends …

Sgt. Cooper:  As am I … If only I could have seen my family one last time.

Sgt. Grey:  This is not a time for “If Only’s.”

Sgt. Carter:  O brothers, I am dying.  I can feel my body growing weak and my vision becoming blurred.

Sgt. Cooper:  I only imagined what dying was like.  I feel cold.

Sgt. Grey:  I feel peaceful for the first time in a long time.

Sgt. Carter:  Join hands with me, men.

(The men join hands.  Cooper and Grey look at the intense look on Carter’s face.)

Sgt. Carter:  “This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispin shall never go by. From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.”

(The men lay their heads down as if going to bed.  They take their last breathe together and die noble deaths.)

The stage darkens and the curtain closes.

Bows.

The End.

 

Author's Note

This can also be a screen play and it may even be easier but I wrote it as a stage play

Reviews

[J.Black]

wow, you normally never see screenplays written, but this was well done!

i havnbe't ever read another play on writerscafe that isn't mine! But I was quite impressed well done, you weren't afraid to be raw and blunt with the violence and the truth of how people would react in the situation of war, it it quite vivid- well done xx