Yes, My King

Day 7: Tag, You're It

(this chapter contains explicit content)

It's been four days of trust exercises and team bonding. Classes are supposed to start soon, but since the primary curriculum for the first years is how to fight, strategize, and work as a unit, none can begin until our squads are prepared. Today is the first day against other teams, we are playing an elementary game of hide and seek. Squad Two, or Squad Wing, must find and catch us within an hour or we win. The losing squad takes a lap around campus, almost 60 miles. 

Xander has left me alone since The Battles, but he still teases me occasionally. We are all dressed in black, preparing to get messy to win. Xander begins explaining our plan. "Kree, Eileen, Aiden, and Amber, you four are our fastest members, so you will run around as a distraction. Don't get caught. Everyone else needs to focus on hiding, well. With the other team chasing after the others, they won't have time to find us". Everyone chimes a sound of agreement or approval. 

We have ten more minutes until Wing Squadron comes looking for us. Aiden and I are up in the trees, since we are adept climbers, while Kree and Eileen are on the ground ready to run. We don't know the whereabouts of the other teammates to prevent the Wings from extracting it. None of us want to run those laps.

We listen for Mr. Amacker's bright red dragon with a golden underbelly, as her roar signals the beginning of the game. We wait until we see one of the enemies before we make our moves. Kree and Eileen make runs for it, distracting two of them, while Aiden and I start jumping from tree to tree, occupying four more. That's six. I hope the rest of my team knows how to hide. 

The other team is light on their feet and captures Eileen, taking her into the 'time out zone'. It took three of them cornering her into a tree, and she didn't go down without a fight. 

Next, it was Aiden who got caught. He fell from the branches, landing hard on the ground, and was left unable to put up a proper fight. 

It turns out that some of the enemies can climb as well as I can, maybe even a little better. I was thrown onto the ground, though I landed more gracefully than Aiden did, and I began running. A redhead woman tripped me before I could go far and took me to be reunited with Eileen and Aiden. 

There were only ten more minutes left for them to find the remaining five members of our group when Kree was brought into the zone with us. 

Our opponents had gathered here and realized they were far from capturing the entire Fang Squadron. One of them, a green-eyed man with freckles, started freaking out, and their leader, at least who I can only assume is their leader, came up to us and said,  "Give us the location of the rest of your team. NOW"

The leader points at each of us a few times in order, seemingly counting in his head, his finger stops on me, and he lightly shoves my shoulder, "Tag, you're it, girl". He was far from intimidating, but his second in command, a pink and purple-haired girl, came up and punched me in the face, knocking me to the ground. None of us were allowed to fight back as per the rules, though Aiden looked as though he wanted to kill the woman where she stood. She let out a cruel laugh as her leader sent out his team to go looking for mine once more. 

Eight minutes left. The girl hit me again. And again. And again. Each time, she asked where our teammates were. Xander was smart for not telling us because I think Eileen would have given them the information to make them stop. My lip was split again and my teeth tore into my tongue a few times, making my mouth pool with blood. A bruise had begun to form on my cheek.

Three minutes. They were desperate. Even if we give them the locations now, they won't make it in time. The pink and purple-haired woman, in a fit of rage, grabbed my neck and began choking me. What's up with all of this fucking choking. My instincts told me to fight back, but if I do, we would all lose. Aiden was close to beating the shit out of her, but he held back after seeing that I refused to struggle.