J-Fred

Ch. 4: Paintball

Alice awoke to a nice, calm morning over the weekend. She had nothing to do for once. She just lounged around, sipped some coffee, and watched Netflix. Then, just after lunch, someone bangs on her door. She opens the door to find Matthias standing there. Behind him is a car filled with Sarah (Bryan's wife), Amanda, and J-Fred.

"We're going paintballing!" Matthias exclaims.

Alice just stands there awkwardly. "That's great..." she responds uncomfortably.

"We need one more person to play to make the teams even," he explains, "and we were wondering if you wanted to join."

She is about to refuse, but then as she glances over his shoulder to see J-Fred, she suddenly feels compelled to join in. "Sure!" she exclaims. She hops into the car and squishes herself in the back between Bryan and J-Fred.

They arrive at a small forest with wide-open spaces as well as secluded areas in the trees. As Bryan begins to unload the paintballs and protection gear, J-Fred pulls Alice and Matthias to the side. He huddles them into a circle and whispers, "Guys, we need to have the best strategy. We're going to crush those fools! I will not lose...again."

Matthias rolls his eyes. "I have an idea! How about J-Fred uses himself as a big human shield as Alice and I hide behind you." 

J-Fred punches him in the arm, and the two of them soon start slapping and hitting each other. Alice just sighs and waits patiently for them to get tired of it. "Of course I got stuck with these two..." she mutters under her breath to herself.

"Let's go, you idiots!" Bryan calls out. 

They all gear themselves up with vests, jackets, and glasses. Alice feels like she is about to enter war as she follows her team in her uniform with a gun in her hands. As the shrill whistle rings in the air, the three of them take off into the trees. They all split up and turn different directions. 

Alice hides behind a large rock for a while, just waiting for someone to approach. Finally, she can hear running footsteps nearing. She peeks her head up above the rock to see Matthias sprinting through the trees with branches slapping him in the face. Several feet behind him is Sarah. "You're a dead man, Matthias!" she yells out. 

Matthias trips and face-plants onto the dirt. Sarah stands above him with her gun aimed at him. "Mercy!" he cries. 

"You wish," she sighs as she loads her gun. Suddenly, Alice leaps up from behind the rock and shoots Sarah square in the chest. 

"Woah!" Matthias yells.

Before any of them can react, another bullet of paint splats Matthias in the leg and in the chest. All of them turn to see Bryan approaching. "You're next!" he yells as he points at Alice.

She turns and bolts away before he can fire again. After running for a while, she stops beside a bush to gasp for air. It is more exhilarating than she would have expected. All of the sudden, two arms grab her from behind the bush and pull her backwards. She falls over the bush and into a sitting position on the ground. She prepares herself to get shot, but it is just J-Fred. 

With one hand still resting on Alice's back, he lifts the other to his lips. "They're coming for us," he whispers. "We need to camp out here." 

They have to sit pressed against each other to stay behind the bush. Alice takes a deep breath and grips her gun tightly to her chest. She feels that same pang of emotions and butterflies rising in her stomach as she sits beside J-Fred. She cannot let her emotions take a hold of her; she needs to win. 

After waiting in that same position for a while, J-Fred points to the trees. "They're coming," he says. He motions for her to follow. They walk out to the open space and stand back-to-back. 

Alice feels oddly safe with J-Fred at her back. It calms her. As Bryan and Amanda emerge from the trees, the two of them begin to fire. It is an all-out war. J-Fred shoots Amanda down, so all that is left is Bryan. He ducks behind a tree.

J-Fred and Alice slowly begin to approach him. Bryan jumps out of the tree and begins firing. Before Alice can react, J-Fred jumps in front of her. Several bullets hit and kill him. "Go!" he cries out to Alice.

Using him as her shield, she fires Bryan right on top of his safety glasses. "Dang it!" Bryan yells. "We lost!"

J-Fred claps his hands together and gives Alice an unexpected hug. "We did it!" he cries. She gives him a slight hug back. 

"Why'd you jump in front of me?" she asks.

He shrugs. "I'd rather have you alive than me," he smiles warmly. It melts Alice's heart. She does not know if he is flirting with her again, but it does not matter. She is happy.