The Masked War

Chapter 8

The sun hides behind the gray clouds covering the sky, darkening the gray concrete of the highway, setting a dark air over the trees of the forest. Thunder rumbles in the distance as my eyes trace over shadows as we step over gnarled roots and large trunks. Moss creeps over the trunks as I hear the faint sound of water in the distance. Brushing my hand on the bark of a tree, I notice a bit of dried green paint on the tree, likely the result of a paintball being fired there.

My mind flashes back to the school. The paintballs had been surprisingly easy to find; they had been in an open locker that had been quite close to the stairwell to the roof.

I step over a root as I follow after Fox, twisting and turning through the forest.

"So," Fox drawled out as we passed through a small clearing, the shadows lingering on the grass. "What's our plan?"

"Not sure," I muse as we duck beneath the trees once more. "I'd say we wait it out, let the other teams eliminate each other before stepping in, but I'm not sure where we'd hide to stay hidden. The woods themselves wouldn't be sufficient; too open, too many wandering about."

Silence passes between us as Fox ponders my words. I gazed at him, wondering what was going on within his head. He never seemed to really show his emotions, just filtered versions of them. He was always sarcastic, using humor to combat his problems. Other than that, he was always calm, confident, showing off a composed outer shell. The only time he had truly taken down his walls around me was when he had been livid with anger after the paintball guns incident.

"What if..." His soft voice startled me from my thoughts as I refocused my attention, gazing at him as he looked up at the trees. "We climb a tree?"

I raise an eyebrow at him as I say, "For real?"

He glances down at me. "Yes."

Incredulous, I respond, "Wait, seriously? I thought you were just, I don't know, spewing out ideas."

Turning to me, a clearly annoyed look within his eyes, he responded sarcastically, "Of course, my thoughtful tone indicated a joke. No, Bry. I'm being serious. No one would even think of attacking someone in a tree, especially if we're high enough. They wouldn't be able to see us well because of the leaves, and if someone tried to climb up, we'd be able to shoot them down because we'd have the higher ground, and the element of surprise. And besides, no one else is going to think of climbing a tree anyways."

I contemplate his words for a moment. His reasons sounded logical, as though it was the best place for us to hide, as though it'd be safe. Despite it being a good spot to hide in, a branch could still snap, I could still fall. The thought of the dizzying heights entered my mind and I shook my head, banishing the thought of the ground yards below rushing towards me.

I ask slowly, "What if a branch snaps?"

Rolling his eyes, he responded, "We're not going to sit on some unstable branches, dumbass. We'll be on the sturdier ones."

I think for a moment, searching for another option. Finding nothing else, I sigh, giving in as I grumble, "Fine, let's go."

"Great," he says gleefully, pushing through a bush. "Because I was already leading us to it."

He stops before an enormous maple tree, towering as it's thick branches reach for the sky, smaller and smaller branches splitting from them, like the veins in an arm. Though slightly bigger than the other trees, the branches from the other species of trees provided coverage, especially as the branches went higher up. I could barely even see the sky through the mass of leaves. I walk up to, brushing my fingers on the bark. It seemed a bit younger than the other trees, but yet it was bigger. It was taller. It surpassed the other trees in every way; it's leaves were greener, it's bark was browner.