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English Paintball

The rain was beating down onto my head and dripping down my mask. My once muddy boots and legs were now cleaned and wet. It was my first actual paintball game and I was put on guard duty.

I had climbed up a tree and sat there, waiting and watching for the enemy. The game was capture the other team's flag and return it to your own. A few of my friends were guarding the flag in the bunker and depended on me to spot anyone coming and warn them.

An hour went by and nothing came even near us. Our team was apparently winning because I hear the shots fired from a great distance in the direction of the enemy's flag. Just when the boredom was about to grow unbearable, I heard a stick break.

My entire body tensed as my eyes shot to the direction the sound came from and surveyed the area like a hawk looking for food. I saw nothing. I relaxed and took a deep breath just before I heard another stick break.

I searched again and this time, I could see at least fifteen people sneaking around the bushes. Although I could not see the color of their armbands, I was certain they were the enemy. Instantly I dropped the rock onto the bunker to alert my friends inside.

As the sound of the rock hitting the wooden bunker reached the enemy, they stopped dead in their tracks. I made extra sure they couldn't see me and after a few moments, they continued etching towards their goal. There were at least fifteen enemies and only four of my friends in the bunker.

I thought we were doomed. It was quiet, too quiet. The enemy had done an excellent job sneaking up to the bunker. They were but ten feet away from it when I heard the sound of gunfire come from within the bunker. Instantly five of the enemy yelped from the pain of the paintballs hitting them and the rest of the enemy jumped to the side and charged the bunker.

It felt like several hours had passed before the firing stopped. Soon after I saw my friends leave the bunker, their guns above their head and splatters of paint on them all. But to my great surprise, I counted nine of the enemy leave as well in the same manner.

I knew there was someone left in there so I sat and waited. He must of waited inside the bunker for ten minutes, hoping some of his team would come and help him get back to his flag safely. 

When he finally decided to leave, he did it so quietly it was sheer chance that I spotted him. My heart dropped when I did. He was already far away and I had little hope of hitting him from that distance. I didn't have a choice though. I took my mask off so I could see easier and pointed my gun at him, aiming along the barrel.

My body was tense and shaking but I had to try. I cranked the CO2 up to max and the speed of the shot to max. When I finally pulled the trigger, the bellow from the paintball being launched out of the barrel startled the ref that was nearby. My heart stopped as I could almost feel the paintball fly at him and hit him in the back of the neck with a great yelp of pain.

With great satisfaction I climbed down the tree and walked over to him. He had wiped the paint off of his neck but I could see a bruise on his neck that would turn into a welt.

He tried to claim the paintball didn't hit him but the ref heard the shot and knew a paintball shot with that much power would certainly of left that mark. As he walked off with the gun above his head, I smiled.

My heart dropped into my gut when I heard, almost felt, someone move behind me. I spun around and pointed my gun at another enemy who was pointing his gun at me. We just stood there, for hours it seemed, staring into each other's eyes. He heard the sound of my gun firing before and knew it was set to max speed and CO2 and he didn't want to be shot with it at this distance.

I was just about to fire when I realized what type of gun he had. It was renowned for it's power and feared when in the hands of an enemy. I knew that it would hurt me a lot more then him if we both fired and he knew it too. He took a deep breath and whispered, "Just walk away." I couldn't do that. The sound of gunfire in the distance had vanished and I didn't know who was left in the field.

I suddenly felt the weight of the outcome of the game on my shoulders. I don't know who fired first, him, or me but when the shots were fired, the entire field could hear them. His weapon was a fully automatic and four paintballs were launched at me.

They all hit and the force of the impacts made me fall onto my back. I didn't feel any pain at first but soon I felt intense waves of pain streak through my body. A paintball hit me in the neck, two in the chest, and one in the stomach and I knew there would be marks from those hits for at least two weeks.

I never felt so much pain before but I managed a smile when I heard him cursing to himself. I somehow managed to look at him and saw the shot I fired hit him directly in the middle of his mask.

He helped me up and walk away from the flag with the gun above me head. I was so full of pride that I defended the flag that I soon walked on my own. By the time I got off the field, the ref that watched me defend the flag told me that my team had won.

Just a minute after I had left the flag, one of my teammates returned to our flag with the enemy's. My heart was pounding and I completely forgot about the pain in my body.

My first game and I was the one who defended the flag long enough for us to win. I took a deep breath and my friends and I went home.

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