slid across my lips as I listened to Reznik instruct Squad 53 on the game of paintball they'd be taking part in.

Except 'game' was a light term; It was better described as 'a test'. Our success or failure would determine where we went in the ranks: up or down.

"The soldiers of Squad 49 are marked with red arm bands," Reznik continued. "Anyone with these red arm bands are your enemy. Anyone with your blue armbands-" she paused, nodding to the bands wrapped around our upper arms. "Well, these are your teammates. It is vital you protect them; with each team member shot, your squad gets weaker. Shoot all those on Squad 49 and you win, congratulations. However,If all of you are shot, you lose."

Teacup's upper lip curled into a smirk and she rocked back on her heels, crossing her arms over her chest.

The sight of her sent a wave of uneasiness through me, reaching every surface of every part of my being. Teacup, although small in size, and undoubtedly destroyed by the first four waves, was the fiercest (and maybe even the scariest) seven year old I had met to date. What scared me even more than her threatening attitude was the fact that her demeanor matched Ringer's in every way possible...something about Teacup made it impossible for me to hate her like I did Ringer though. Maybe it was her age...or maybe it was just the fact that Zombie didn't take interest in her like he did with Ringer.

"And you, Squad 53-," Reznik said forcibly, jabbing her finger into Zombie's chest. "Cannot afford to lose. Not if you ever want to graduate."

Despite Reznik's bitter words, Zombie stayed as stoic as ever- letting his eyes rest firmly, directly ahead.

Pleased with Zombie's lack of response, Reznik resumed her position in front of the squad. "You've also been tasked with retrieving a flag of the same color as your armbands," she added. "This must be brought back to me with at least one unscathed soldier," she barked.

Don't get shot. Retrieve flag. Bring it back to the demon bitch. Sounded simple enough.

"You will begin at the sound of the gun," she finished, "Squad 53, do you understand?"

Still stiff in posture, we straightened our stances. "Sir, yes, sir!" we called.

Reznik pursed her lips and nodded. "Very good," she said, before marching off to the opposite side of the 'war zone'.

The 'war zone' was a mass of concrete walls and blocks of varying sizes. Despite the limited amount of space Wright Patterson had for their training sector, the war zone was stunningly large. Directly in the center lay the two tallest buildings, connected with a walkway on the outside. And directly in the center, on the very top of each of those buildings, waved the prize; one red flag adorning the left most building and one blue flag adorning the other.

The rest of the squad took the time to take in their surroundings as well, before Zombie's voice cut through the air.

"Come in," he said, bending down slightly as we crowded into a huddle.

"The flags are on separate towers," he paused, letting his eyes drift from each one of us.

"And that should mean something?" Flintstone scoffed.

Zombie's eyes penetrated into Flintstone's. "Yes," he said firmly. "It means we're going to have to split up. Squad 49 will be trying to go up that tower," he continued, pointing to the tower with the red flag. "And we have to make it up that tower," he said, shifting his finger to the one standing adjacent to it.

Ringer nodded. "We need to protect their flag as well as our own. Defense and offense."

"Some need to go to the other tower while the others work on retrieving the flag," Zombie added. "We'll pair some of the more inexperienced members with those who are stronger."

I grit my teeth in annoyance. So basically, I'd end up paired with Ringer.

"Ringer, you're our best shot, so you'll go with Teacup, Dumbo, and Oompa. Prevent Squad 49 from obtaining their flag," Zombie said, nodding to Ringer. "That leaves Flintstone, Nugget, Canary, and myself. We'll be on offense."

"Zombie, you do realize that no one in your group can shoot, right?" Ringer pointed out.

My nose twitched in irritation.

"We'll be fine," Zombie said, a slight edge to his voice.

Ringer gave him a smug grin before a shot rang through the war zone.

"This is it. Fall in," Ringer said, starting to sprint towards one of the nearest concrete blocks.

Teacup, Dumbo, and Oompa followed her, scattering to the blocks closest to her. Ringer let her gun rest on the top, taking daring glances over at the other team as they started to duck behind blocks on the opposite side of the war zone.

"Follow me, and don't do anything stupid," Zombie said, crouching down slightly as he ran in the direction of our flag.

Nugget gripped the edge of my sleeve, trying to situate the large helmet comfortably on his head. "Canary, my helmet keeps falling off," he said quietly.

I stifled a small groan. I loved this kid, but now was not the time.

I bent down to face him and straightened the strap on his helmet. I also couldn't help but notice how the rest of his uniform- a tan army suit with pocketed amo vest- was at least two sizes too big. I shook my head; it was too late to do anything about it now.

"Ready?" I asked.

Nugget nodded, as much as his helmet allowed.

"Good."

I pulled him towards a concrete wall and sat behind it, daring to peak out towards where Zombie and Flintstone had run off to.

A couple of the members from the other team made a mad dash for their tower, and Ringer's shot rang through the arena. Paint exploded onto the first soldier's leg and I heard him curse before his team member sent a series of shots towards Ringer's block.

Where had Zombie gone?

I brought my face back into the safety of the wall. "Ok, we're going to make a run for the next block," I told Nugget.

We had still gone undetected by the other team- which was a blessing at this point- considering out team's captain was no where to be seen.

"Ok, now !"

I ran to the other block, crouching down behind it. To my great relief, Nugget came to halt beside me. "Where'd Zombie go?" he asked.

"No clue," I said. "He might already be at the building, I don't know."

"There she is! Get her !" I heard Ringer yell. I glanced past the top of my wall, seeing the other half of our team sprinting towards the other team's building.

At least none of them had been shot. At this point, with the at least one person on the other team down, we seemed to be a step ahead.

While the other team's attention was on Ringer, I ushered Nugget to his feet and ran towards our building, not bothering to take cover behind any of the other concrete structures. We were out in the open, completely exposed and vulnerable to any of the other team's soldiers.

"Hurry!" I whisper shouted to Nugget.

My army boots collided with the rubble on the ground, sending pieces of rocks flying every which way. Dust billowed out from underneath me and I was soon consumed by the sound of my heart beating rapidly against my chest.

Just as my feet were about to give out beneath me, I made it to the safety of the door of our building, Nugget in tow with me.

I looked behind us and then side to side before yanking open the door and then pushing it close once we were inside.

"Where the hell were you two?"

Both Zombie and Flintstone were standing in the shadows of one of the walls in an adjacent room. Zombie's gun was raised, on guard, and Flintstone was unzipping one of his jacket pockets to reveal a paint grenade.

I glared at Flintstone. "Nugget's helmet wasn't on right," I said hastily, not wanting to waste my breath trying to defend myself.

Flintstone rolled his eyes and tossed a glance out one of the windows. "We need to move. We have three soldiers rounding the building."

I felt another tug on my sleeve and looked down at Nugget, who's face screamed worry. "I still can't shoot," he said timidly.

I nodded. We'd have to work on that later. "Use one of your paint grenades if you need to," I said, pointing to his front pocket.

"Flintstone, you and Nugget will go first," Zombie said, "Canary and I will take up the rear."

Flintstone complied, moving with Nugget up the steps. He kept his gun up, pointed forward in defense. Zombie and I fell in the back and I adjusted my goggles quickly before bringing my gun up to my shoulder.

We made it up a flight of stairs before we heard the door to the bottom floor burst open.

Zombie made a gesture with his hands and we moved faster, running up the stairs as quickly and quietly as we could. We made it to the next landing and I let out a small surprised gasp.

How had they made it to this part of the building already?

There, standing in preparation to attack, were two members of the other team. The persistent footsteps of the three soldiers on the stairs below us sent a shiver down my spine. We were trapped- Squad 49 had us blocked from above and below.

I glanced over at Zombie, a look of worry crossing my face. Luckily, the other team hadn't caught sight of us, we had a couple seconds, if we were lucky, to figure out what our next move was.

Zombie nodded to Flintstone and he tossed his paint grenade up to the next landing. Nugget looked down at his pocket, containing his paint grenade, and opened the pocket, throwing it down the flight of stairs.

Within seconds, the paint exploded and Zombie motioned for us to move forward. We dashed up the stairs, dancing around the two members of Squad 49, as they struggled to pick up their guns that had been hastily tossed to the floor out of surprise.

Zombie cursed, obviously noting how none of the paint had reached their bodies. They were still in the game. And now, we had five people chasing us up the stairs. We passed the outside walkway that connected the buildings, and something clicked in my brain.

The other team had used the walkway to cut us off.

A paintball whizzed past my left ear and my heart leaped, bringing my hands over my head in defense.

Grab your gun.

I pulled my gun back up to my face, cursing myself for letting my hands off it in the first place.

I sent a shot back down towards them, and Zombie followed suit, clicking his trigger over and over again. Shooting while running proved near impossible as our paintballs hit the stairs and walls below us, splattering them with dark blue paint. Squad 49 continued to press on, following us steadily without a hint of exhaustion.

"Are we hitting any of them?" I shouted over the sounds of the guns firing.

"Don't know," Zombie said through gritted teeth.

"You two are completely useless," Flintstone shouted. Without much of a warning, he pushed past Zombie, switching places with him, before he started rapidly shooting at the other team.

"Flint- you're going to use all your amo-" I began to shout.

Not a second later, his gun clicked, confirming my previous prediction.

I turned to face the front, running up the stairs faster. With Flintstone having no amo and my incapability in aiming, it was better if we just turned our unprotected backs to our opponent and tried making it to the top as quickly as we could.

While running, Flintstone tripped over one of the many stairs. "Dammit-"

The other team took his moment of weakness to their advantage and sent a shot firing up the stairs. Its sound echoed through the air, combined with that of at least a half a dozen more shots. My eyes widened as they ripped through the air- tearing into the rough material of Flintstone's jacket.

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Let me know what you thought! Predictions? Complaints? Comment away!

I finally got my own laptop after half a year of sharing one! So yes, that means I'll be updating more often! I'm super excited because I can't wait to share the rest of Part One of 'Perish' with you guys!