Trouble In Paradise

Chapter 20: Trigger Happy Kid

We saw a red light being shot into the sky, notifying that we must begin.

"Alright, you guys know what to do?" Joshua whispered. We all nodded our heads. "Right, then we'll be off."

Maxwell and I stood guard at our flag as we watched Joshua and the others spread out in the jungle. "Hide in the bushes." I told Maxwell. He did as he was told and covered himself fully inside the bush. I did the same. We found an adult coming towards us, splattered in pink. He touched the flag so that he can continue and went back into the jungle.

Minutes went by as we guarded our post silently, watching the jungle like hawks watching their prey. Movement caught in the corner of my eye. I saw a bush rustle. I slowly aimed at the bush, held my breath, and click. The bush stopped rustling and was replaced with curses. A woman got up and ran back to her flag. I shot her chest.

"Nice shot." Maxwell complimented.
"Thanks." I said.
"I see more of 'em. Ten o' clock."

Maxwell shot a man on his arm and shot another man on his shoulder. I silently cheered him. I looked in front of me and saw a bush. Okay Chad. You're too nervous. I looked at Maxwell, seeing him being nervous as well. I looked at that same low bush. How did it get further? Realisation kicked in when I saw the man with grass on his back.

"S**t!" Was all I could say before he shot. The paintball whizzed past my helmet. Luck. I dodged more volleys that was being shot by this man. I tried shooting, but I missed. His shot nearly touched my foot. I slumped against a tree, nowhere to go. He was about to shoot when I heard him scream. He was in pain. When he turned around I saw a pink mark by his neck. Maxwell roared out in success.

My guardian angel.

"Thanks!" I shouted. He just nodded as a reply. I went back to the bush and found Jessica running towards the flag. Maxwell shot but kept missing. She ran to my bush so there was only one thing I could do.

I jumped out of the bush and yelled, "Surprise!" and shot in her face, point blank. She fell down so I went to help her. Both of us were laughing as I helped her up. "That was a good shot." She said.

"Thanks." I blushed.

She wiped her helmet's visor so that she could at least see. As she ran back I heard a click in the far distance. Before I knew it, my chest pained when something hit it.

The paintball felt like a spiked ruler, whipping my chest and leaving a pink mark, showing that I have been beaten. I rushed back to the flag and touched and help defend the flag, shooting the man which was nearly impossible. The man was as agile as a cat, with reflexes like Spiderman. He dodged all of my paintballs, Maxwell groaning in frustration. He tried shooting as well but it proved to be hard for Queen.

When the man was about to reach the flag, Maxwell and I knew it was hopeless......

.....Until we heard a battle cry and volleys of paintballs. The man cried with vigurous pain and ran back into the dense jungle. The calvary was none other than Joshua himself, carrying the flag with one hand, gun in the other like a real war veteran.

They put the flag next to ours as we cheered and screeched in success over team Ghosts. Our first win! We were one step closer to winning our very own paintball kit.

We went to the referee and told him about our win. He nodded, congratulated us, and blew an eardrum-shattering whistle. Soon, The Ghosts came with disappointed looks on their sweaty faces.

"Right!" The referee said. "Who's ready for the next game?!"

Every Tom, Dick and Harry roared as they wished to continue this exhilarating game. "Okay, next game is Team Death match! Rules of they game is simple, if you're shot, you are immediately eliminated. No lives, no respawning, no escape. Good luck!"

Well, that was reassuring.

We moved to our flag and waited for the red flare to be signalled. We all watched the skies nervously as if our lives were hanging on a thin thread.

The flare went up and we started sneaking towards the heart of the enemy. I crouched down and moved slowly, not wanting to draw attention. I saw a Rondor Island staff member, wandering around aimlessly as I shot him on his helmet. He screeched in disbelief and returned to his flag. I smiled and whispered to myself, "Bullseye."

I then proned onto the floor and found my next victim, crouching behind a bush way too low. I rested my gun on the dirt, aimed like a sniper, held the gun steady as I held my breath, then I fired. The paintball ammunition hit the man on his shoulder.

Apparently, the man was actually a woman. Oops.

She yelled out at her loss and ran to her team's flag. I'm on a roll! Just as I got up, a pain seized my hip. I clutched it and when I looked at my hand, it was dipped in neon pink.

I looked at it in both disapproval and disbelief. I hate pink. I went to The Predator's flag and waited a long time for the game to end.
***********
Guess who won? The Ghosts did. Even in my disappointment, I clapped for them, mainly because Jessica was there. *blush*

"So the two teams are tied. Our next match will be a tie breaker so that we may continue with the free-for-all tournament. Our last team-based match will be "Trigger Happy". This is not an official paintball match, only Joshua created this game, but if this game seems to be a success, Joshua will make an announcement of the game internationally."

Roars of cheers and applause was all around me. Even the pink-faced woman next to me was cheering. Wait, its Jessica! I smiled at my confusion.

"The rules," the referee began steadily, "are as follows. Each team will have a captain equipped with a shield. Only three people people may protect while five may attack at a time. If you are shot, you may not play until you touch the captain's shield. If you are shot while protecting the captain, you will be disqualified for the remainder of the match. Once the captain is shot, the game ends

"Go anywhere between five minutes. A siren will signal you to begin. The captain may not get a gun. Good luck!

We chose our captain - which was Joshua- and headed deep into the jungle. On the way, Joshua told us that we shouldn't worry about getting lost as there is a fence around the play area. He grabbed a shield and he chose me, Maxwell and a man who looked in his thirties. "Alright," Joshua began, "I chose you because I think that you are quite good in this game."

Yay.

A loud siren screeched to allow us to begin our game. We encountered many attackers but was able to defend Joshua. The thirty year old man was disqualified for being shot.

Out of nowhere, a paintball shot Joshua on his back. The woman who shot him cheered as they won this round.
**********
"The winning team is......." The referee started, causing suspense. "The Ghosts!"

We applauded for them, even though we lost. "The Ghosts may pick up their gear when the paintball game is over. Right now, we will have a free-for-all match with a twist. You cannot use your paintball guns."

Everyone was confused except Joshua and the staff. "How are we going to eliminate the other players?" I asked.

"Simple. Joshua asked a company to make specialised bow and paint-arrows."

Everyone looked at me with a smile on their face. "Yeah, okay!" I said embarrassed.

Hey, at least I get to be Oliver Queen now.

"The rules are as follows. This game has been created by Joshua and the staff. If the game is successful, we will announce it internationally. The objective is to eliminate everyone. Last man or woman standing, wins.

The staff gave us our bows and pain-arrows. I studied my bow. It seemed to be made out of carbon fibre, the string from a bungee cord probably.

I took out an arrow out of the quiver that was attached to my back. It had a small groove so that the rope can be placed easily. Feathers was stuck at the bottom end like glue. Instead of an arrowhead, a paintball-like-arrowhead. I grinned as I was satisfied with the gear.

Look out, 'cause there's a new Green Arrow in the jungle.