by Lucy Smoke
The next stop we made was in a new field. How many fields were there out here? I wondered. This time Max and a couple of other older members of the group gathered at the forefront of the crowd. Max stood on the stump of a tree and called out for everyone to lower their voices. I stood next to Texas and Bellamy as he began to make announcements.
“Welcome to our monthly training games,” Max called. “Thank you all for coming. Now, before we begin, I’ll go over a few rules. Even if you have been here before, please pay close attention as some of the rules may have changed.”
Texas bumped me, and I looked over. He leaned down close and whispered, “The rules never change, but Max always starts with that, so no one has a reason to not pay attention.”
“You’re not paying attention,” I said with a raised brow. He grinned at me before turning back to face the front.
“Rule one, if you are holding a weapon, do not point it at anyone. Whether or not the weapon is loaded or dangerous, if you are caught pointing it at another member, you will be reprimanded,” Max called.
“Weapon?” I blinked and looked to Texas. “What does he mean? What weapons?”
“Shhh,” someone shushed from behind me. I turned around and caught a girl around my age with freckles and twin red braids scowling at me. I stared at her blandly for a moment before rolling my eyes and facing forward again. Perhaps Max had merely been using a figure of speech.
“Rule three!” Max said loudly.
“Wait,” I hissed. “Texas.” I tugged on his arm. “What was rule number two? I missed it.”
“Shhh,” the girl behind me hissed again. I whipped around and glared at her outright.
“If you have something to say, say it,” I snapped.
“Be quiet,” she snapped back.
“I’m asking a reasonable question,” I growled.
“Hey, calm down, Ginger,” an Amazonian girl with a high, blonde ponytail stepped up to her. “She’s new.”
“I don’t care,” Ginger said. “She shouldn’t be talking while Max is.”
“I was just–” Texas glanced back then and pulled me closer.
“Come on,” he said tightly. “Max is done. We’re moving on to the activities.”
“But that girl–”
“Leave it, Harlow.” I blinked up at him as he walked me through the crowd, further and further away from the snappy redhead. He so rarely called me by my actual name. I turned and looked behind me, but she and her friend were gone. I wondered if Texas knew them.
“We’re up at archery first,” Bellamy said.
That caught my attention. Surely, they didn’t mean archery as in bows and arrows, right?
Yes, they did, in fact, mean archery as in bows and arrows, I realized ten minutes later.
“I don’t know about this,” I said shakily as I nocked my arrow and held my wavering bow up, aiming at the paper targets nailed to the trees several yards away.
“It’s fine,” Bellamy assured me, stepping up at my back. I could feel his heat right through our clothes and it did not help my nerves. He reached around, his arms encircling me as he held my elbows steady. “Don’t think too hard,” he suggested. “Just breathe and keep your head straight. Pull it back to the corner of your mouth and…” I released, and the arrow went flying through the air. It arched up overhead for a brief second before it descended and hit the edge of the outer yellow circle on the target. I sighed in relief.
“At least I didn’t hit anyone,” I said with a laugh.
“I wouldn’t have let that happen,” Bellamy assured me.
“My turn!” Texas called, sailing in and snatching me around the waist. I dropped the bow and huffed out a breath as Texas carted me away. Bellamy laughed and waved. I waved back with a ridiculous grin.
Texas didn’t even pause as he hefted me up and over his shoulder and my grin dropped immediately. “Texas!” I hissed. “Put me down, people are staring.”
Texas chuckled, but ignored my request and kept walking. “If you want down so badly,” he challenged. “Then you can fight me.”
“What?” Texas dropped me, and I landed with a gasp onto a large blue mat. Who had set this all up? Archery. Sparring mats. What was next? An ice cream stand?
“You heard me,” Texas said. “We’re gonna fight – spar. I want to test what you’ve learned from Knix and Bell.”
I thought of the night before – punching the perv in the face. I felt good about it. Hell, I felt better than good about it. I was really seeing an improvement. Texas wasn’t the fighting kind though. He was probably just testing me – like he said. “Okay,” I acquiesced, slowly getting to my feet and moving to stand directly across from him.
“That was easy.” Texas raised a brow at me.
I shrugged. “I’m feeling confident.”
Texas raised his fists and I did the same. “Then let’s do this.” he smiled.
I watched his hands as we circled. There were several other mats spaced a couple of yards apart and out of the corner of my eye, I saw that there were several other partners sparring. I stayed focused on Texas’ upper body, his shoulders, the muscles in his arms. Watching and waiting for when he would make his move. That’s what Bellamy had told me – rule number one of fighting was defense. The best offense was a good defense – or something like that. It sounded like a cheesy line from a football movie to me.
Texas smirked at me, and I felt a rush of air by my feet before his foot connected with my ankle, sweeping my feet out from under me. My hands went back as I attempted to break my fall. I landed on my butt and stared up at Texas as he grinned down at me. I hadn’t even seen him tense, no tell, no nothing.
“How are you feeling now?” he asked, his voice amused.
“Less confident,” I admitted, and my cheeks reddened as I stood.
“Don’t worry,” he winked. “I’ll show you how to do that to Bell.”
“I’m not so sure Bellamy would fall for it like I did.” I paused for a moment before adding, “Literally.”
Texas laughed and held out his hand. When I rose to take it, I smirked and fell back. He stumbled and before I knew it, I had a lap full of Texas. Big brown eyes blinked at me before he grinned wickedly. “Oh, you’re gonna play it like that, are you?” he asked.
I squeaked, rolling over and shoving his arm up. I pinned it down and sat on his chest. “Remember, you said this was just training – we’re just training!”
My pin was weak at best – or it must have been, because Texas wasted no time flipping me onto my back and slamming me against the mat. He hovered over me, snapping my wrists together and forcing them down over the top of my head before I could even blink.
“My confidence is definitely shrinking,” I panted. “It’s shriveling up, practically bone dry right now.”
He laughed. “You leave yourself wide open.” Texas pressed down a little firmer before lifting up. “Come on, try again.”
I grumbled even as he let me stand and get back into position. “You’re just gonna throw me or something,” I said, then quieter. “You take some sick joy in throwing me around.”
Texas kicked at my ankles, but I was ready this time. I jumped back, just out of his reach and put my hands up. Texas advanced and I turned, so that we were circling each other without falling off the mat. “You’re running away,” he said, chuckling.
“You call it running, I call it intelligent retreat,” I snarked just before I stumbled over my own two feet. Inwardly cursing myself, I twisted and rolled, but Texas was already on top of me. I lifted my knees, but his chest pressed down into them, effectively pinning them between us. I squirmed and wriggled, but only managed to look like a flapping half-starfish.
I narrowed my gaze on Texas’ smiling face. “You suck.”
He released yet another annoying – but also kind of adorable – low chuckle before backing off. “Here,” he said, holding out his hand to help me up once more. “Let’s go watch someone else. I’m sure you can learn ju
st as much by watching as doing.”
I let Texas lead me down the rows of sparring mats. We paused for a brief moment to watch each partner combo. Finally, we ended up at the very end where Max was sparring with a woman that might have been in her early thirties. Her short cropped, springy hair was pinned back with a tight headband. It showcased her bird-like features, the fine bones of her face, and the pointed tip of her nose. Despite that, I realized she was still quite beautiful with eyes that sparkled. She moved with a lithe grace that I envied as she evaded Max’s foot and leg as he attempted to execute the same move that Texas had taken me down with.
She lifted her foot and spun away from him, ending up on the edge of the mat with both hands raised at the ready when Max finally managed to correct himself and turn around. “Nice move,” he said.
“I think you’re getting slower in your old age,” she teased lightly.
It was obvious, though, by both of their mannerisms that they had known each other for a long time. They moved into a circle, stepping clockwise before the woman froze and stepped counterclockwise, Max following her movements.
“Do you see how she steps?” Texas whispered into my hair. I nodded. “She’s baiting him.”
“What does that mean?” I whisper-asked.
“When she changed movements, so did he. Watch, she’ll do it again. She’ll keep doing it and he’ll start waiting for it – Max is playing right now. He also knows that we’re here watching so that you can learn. He’s seen her do this before and he knows he can overcome and avoid it, but he’ll fall for it just to help the lesson.”
“Lesson?” I blinked and looked around, realizing that they had drawn out a crowd of about twenty people, including Texas and me.
I turned my attention back to the match at hand and watched as the woman did exactly as Texas had predicted, as did Max. She moved, twisted, reversed, he moved and copied her movements. Soon enough she changed faster than he anticipated and was on him, spinning around his body until her arms came up and her forearms locked around his throat. I watched, wide-eyed as she kneed the back of his legs and he went down. She followed, keeping her forearms where they were – brushing his windpipe.
“Do you concede?” the woman asked.
With a laugh, Max nodded. “Well done, Raven,” he said, standing and shaking her hand. She grinned, revealing straight white teeth and a dazzling smile.
“Anytime you need a refresher, I’m happy to help,” she told him. The crowd clapped lightly, and Texas and I joined in.
“Come on,” Texas said. “Let’s hit up another area.”
“There’s more?” I groaned. I was already covered in sweat and exhausted. I had downed another two full water bottles and the sun was rising higher and higher. I kind of wished that I had stopped for a moment and grabbed a granola bar or something before we left the house. My stomach cramped with how hungry I was. Texas heard its low grumble.
He laughed. “Don’t worry, lunch is in another hour.”
“An hour?!” That just wasn’t fair. I didn’t know if I could last the next five minutes, much less an hour. Texas rolled his eyes and dragged me off behind him towards a protected section of the field. We stopped in front of a large net structure that separated the larger area we were standing in from several yards of flat land and large stacks of hay bales.
“What–”
“Here we go.” Texas turned and produced what looked like a bullet proof vest. He slipped it around me and did up the side straps. I realized it wasn’t a bullet proof vest, but a vest with some sort of softer padding on the inside. He stared at my bare arms for a moment before turning around and snatching something from the ground. I leaned to the side and noticed that there was a large pile of supplies similar to what he was putting on me. He slipped a light black jacket over my arms and zipped it up.
“Okay,” he said. “It’s not gonna do much by way of protection, but it’ll shield you for the most part. If you hit the underbrush you’re gonna want it.”
“Underbrush?” I repeated, confused. Texas merely turned around and found a vest for himself and started doing up the straps. He bent and picked up a large, black rifle. I stared in shock. “Oh my god.”
Texas glanced at me as he slipped the band attached to the gun over his shoulder.
“Okay,” he said. I continued to stare at the gun. “Have you ever done airsoft before?”
I blinked at him. Then, it hit me. Airsoft – guns. Airsoft guns! It wasn’t real. I sighed in relief and almost choked. Had he noticed that I thought it was real? I peeked up at him and realized he was still waiting on an answer. “Oh – uh...n-no. I haven’t.”
He nodded. “Okay, you’re getting a spring-powered gun then.” He reached back and produced a gun that looked similar to his except that it was marked on the end with a piece of blue painter’s tape. “It works from air pressure,” he explained. “What you’re going to do is go in there with me–” He nodded his head towards the other side of the netting, “–and if you see someone in anything other than black, you’re gonna point and shoot at them.” He demonstrated, holding the gun up and pointing towards one of the small trees alongside the field. He pulled the trigger and I jumped when a pellet launched out of the gun with a burst of air.
“Doesn’t it hurt, if I hit someone?” I asked. “What about Max’s rules?”
“Max meant more the archery thing, or knife throwing or–”
“There’s knife throwing here?” I interrupted.
Texas sighed. “Do you want to know how to shoot this thing, so we can go in there? The sooner you get this down, the sooner we can go in there and kick some butt, and the sooner we can come back and get lunch.”
“Give me the gun,” I said, snatching it from him. “Point and pull the trigger, right?” I took a step closer to him, holding it up like he had, with one end jammed into my shoulder and the other pointed towards the same tree.
“There’s going to be a–” I pressed the trigger and the gun jumped in my arms, smacking me in the shoulder. I grunted and rotated my shoulder.
“Ouch.”
“I was trying to tell you that there might be a bit of a kickback,” Texas finished with a shake of his head.
“It didn’t kick you back,” I pointed out. “It’s the same gun. Maybe it’s defective.”
“It’s kickback not – it’s not defective.” Texas huffed a breath. “It’s your first time, you’ll get the hang of it. Just don’t point it at anyone’s face or groin. Aim for the chest area, it’s the biggest target.” Texas stopped and looked up, his eyes moving over the tree line in the distance. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Wait!” I called as he started off for an area of the netting that was cut out and flapped in the breeze. “You didn’t tell me if it’ll hurt! I’ve never done this before!”
We reached the cut-out area and Texas slipped in, holding it open for me. I slid in behind him and he ducked down, tying the strings that held the netting in place. “To the woods,” he said, lowering his voice. “Look out up top. There might be people in the branches.”
“What?” Texas didn’t reply because he had already taken off, jogging at a clipped pace towards the tree line. I slid my gun strap over my head and held it in two hands, taking off after him. I found my gaze straying upward, looking for the people he had mentioned that might be up there. I didn’t see anything. Texas held up one fist and waited for me to slow to his side.
“How good is your eyesight?” he asked.
“Uhhh….”
He shook his head. “How good is your patience then?” he asked.
I raised a brow at him. “I live with you and the guys, don’t I?” At that he cracked a grin.
“Okay, then,” he said. “You see those bushes over there?” I turned and nodded when I saw the area he was pointing to. “Go crawl in them and face this trail,” he said motioning to the dirt path we were standing on. “If someone runs past wearing anything but black, shoot ‘em.”
; I glanced over my shoulders at the bushes, but when I turned back I noticed he was heading away. “Wait, where are you going?” I whisper-yelled. For some reason, I felt like it would be better not to raise my voice while we were both holding guns in an airsoft battlefield.
He turned around and winked my way. “I’m gonna go flush ‘em out, Princess.” With that, he disappeared around a tree and I turned and headed for the bushes. Getting down on my knees, I army crawled under the thin branches. I jerked my gun behind me and then set it up, digging my elbows into the dry dirt under the brush – and waited.
I don’t know how long I waited. It felt like lunch could have come and gone and that the sun would be setting any moment but, in truth, it was probably closer to twenty or so minutes before an older guy in a deep green vest and shirt ran by. He was there and gone so quickly, I hadn’t even managed to get my finger around the trigger in time. I sighed and scooted closer to the gun, pressing the pad of my finger next to the trigger. Not quite on it, but no more than a split second away from pressing it.
A few minutes later, I heard the telltale shuffles of feet slapping the ground rapidly as someone came my way. I kept my eyes peeled and lifted the end of my rifle, aiming to where I suspected the chest area would be. Someone in dark blue came out of the same area Texas had disappeared and I pulled the trigger just as their feet stepped several feet in front of the bushes I was hunkered down in.
“Ow! Fuck! Damn it!” The guy was young, closer to my age than the man who had run by before. “I’m out!” he called out. I didn’t know who he was calling out to, and I certainly knew there would be more people out there. I kept quiet and remained in place as the man in blue moved at a much slower pace now, keeping his hands raised and his gun above his head. I assumed that was the surrender pose, the one that let others know you’d been shot and were out and no longer playing. I would have to remember that because it was inevitable that I would get out of this bush eventually and since this was my first time in an airsoft field, I expected my reign to be rather short lived.
After a while, the silence started to get to me. No one else came through and all I could hear was the distant sounds of birds and my own breathing. I tried not to think about all of the bugs that were likely crawling through the dirt alongside me, but it was hard. A branch snapped close by and if I hadn’t already been lying as still as I could manage, I would have frozen. My ears strained, seeking out which direction the noise had come from. When nothing happened, I decided to move.
