International Affairs

Capture the Flag

Chapter 14: Capture the Flag

Everyone wore their spy suits, waiting in front of the academy. The suits were made of stretchy black fabric with some protective padding. They also conserved body heat really well for the night. The assigned boots had good traction, easy to run and climb in.

Miss Bates welcomed everyone to capture the flag. "I always love a twist..." she said and everyone groaned. Miss Bates's twists were always deadly.

Miss Bates produced a large gun with a shoulder strap. "Paintball," Miss Bates announced. "The paint is glow in the dark too. Don't get hit too much or else you might as well be a neon sign. Alright ladies and gents, turn your attention to the Headmistress and Mr. Belikov."

The two leaders walked over with flag in their hands. "Select a captain," Headmistress said.

"Katelyn!" the girls yelled.

"Derek Livingston!" the boys chose.

Katelyn and Derek walked out to the teachers. Headmistress handed Katelyn the girls' flag the Grace Marshall seal on it.

"Win with pride, ladies," Headmistress said.

Mr. Belikov handed Derek their academy flag and Katelyn felt the atmosphere turn war like with their patriotic flag. No funny business tonight.

Everyone received a paintball gun and Headmistress blew the whistle.

"Go! Go! Go!" Katelyn yelled.

The girls immediately scattered into their groups and ran. Katelyn, Sammy and Jane were in charge of hiding the flag. They also had three decoy flags though. The boys would be sent into all directions thinking they were after the real flag.

From spying, Katelyn knew the boys' flag was going to be hidden behind a window shutter. The girls were putting theirs in the clock tower.

It was dark out and everyone had adrenaline pumping through their system. Everything was quiet except for the soft crunching of leaves and sticks.

A shot sounded in the air and everyone ducked for cover. Katelyn leaned against a thick tree and looked around. It was definitely hard to see where everyone was. Once in a while, spots of color would move through to darkness. Shots were being fired.

“Damn,” Katelyn muttered as someone picked her off from a tree.

She rolled behind a hedge, temporarily safe. There was a neon blue stain on her suit. It was glowing until Katelyn covered it with mud. Better to be muddy than to be caught.

A spot of orange moved through the trees. Katelyn pointed her gun up and fired.

"Hey!" a voice yelled.

It was Derek. Katelyn quickly threw the gun over her shoulder and ran.

"We got a live one!" Derek yelled.

Katelyn heard footsteps after her and pushed herself to sprint harder. She risked a glance behind her. The shadow with a bright orange spot was gaining on her.

Katelyn didn't know if she could outrun Derek so plan B. She leapt and quickly scaled up a tree.

"Go annoy someone else, Derek!" she exclaimed as he climbed after her.

"Katelyn? Have you even gotten hit yet?"

Katelyn sat on a branch and fired paintballs down at Derek over and over.

"That is not very nice," Derek said, pausing. He examined his new stains. "I am going to come get you..." he said in a teasing tone.

"Stay away, you creep!" Katelyn said, climbing higher into the thinner branches.