I led him back over to the group. It was laughable because they were all fucking huge, and James was a replica of his dad. He was the guy that was tall, but not as built. He didn’t have the same badass demeanor that Lola had, but that’s where everyone underestimated him. James was always great to play paintball with.
“James, this is Snake, Angel, Ghost, Tiny, Toro, Scrabble, and Preacher. Guys, this is James.”
Ghost gave a jerk of his head. “You in the military?”
“Nah, I’m in college, English Lit.”
They all stared at James like he was the new guy, fresh out of boot. “He’s great,” I assured them. “And he’s been playing against these guys since he was ten. Trust me, he’s an asset.”
“Axel, no offense, man, but we all went through not only basic, but SEAL training too. And you think an English Lit major is gonna hold his own with us?”
I grinned. God, these guys were so full of themselves sometimes. “Hell yeah, I do.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Tony
“Alright, what did you get?” Chris asked Ice.
“Angel is a cocky fucker,” Ice answered. “He’s too hot headed, thinks that he’s always one step ahead. He’s the one we use to draw them out. If we lay down the groundwork, we’ll have him eating out of our hands. Second, he always leaves his left side open. If he does it in boxing, he’s gonna do it out there in the field.”
“Ghost is gonna be a problem,” Derek said thoughtfully. “It’s not just that he’s fast. He’s too fast. I couldn’t keep up with him, and just when I thought I knew what move he was gonna make, he was already done and kicking my ass.”
“So, Ghost is living up to his name,” Chris surmised.
“Fuck yeah. He’s the one to watch.”
“What about you, TNT?”
I grinned at my new nickname, pride welling in my chest. I wasn’t sure how I got it, but I was so fucking happy that I wouldn’t be called Tacos anymore. “Toro hits like a motherfucking bull. I swear to God, that guy has an iron fist, but he also relies on his sheer strength. I let him get in a few good shots, but it was pretty fucking clear that his strength is his greatest weapon. It’s not that he’s not smart, but he doesn’t plan shit out. He just attacks.”
“Rocco?” Chris asked.
“I had Scrabble. The guy is fucking tall. I say that’s where we use him. It’s gonna be difficult to get him down in small spaces.” Rocco started chuckling. “I made sure to play up the injury, so he thinks I’m pretty much out of commission.”
“You are out of commission,” Derek pointed out. “You haven’t been cleared by Knight yet, so yeah, you’re still fucking out.”
“Hey, I may be out, but I can still hold my own. I know when I’m pushing too far.”
“Tiny is the real problem,” I interrupted them. “That guy is a fucking tank.”
“Makes him an easier target,” Storm said. “Preacher is the guy that we go after. He’s a rule follower all the way. The man can’t stray outside the lines of right and wrong. And because of that, he doesn’t seem to believe that anyone else will either.”
“What about Axel?” Hunter asked. “Who gets to take him out?”
Chris glared at all of us. “Nobody takes out my kid except me. He won the last time he was home, but not today.”
“And who’s gonna cover James?” I asked.
I looked around, expecting an answer, but nobody seemed to want to volunteer for that position.
“Fuck, I’ll take him,” Jules said after a beat. “Bunch of pussies. Seriously, you’re all so fucking scared of James.”
“That’s because James kicks our asses every fucking time he’s home. The military is really missing out on that kid. Best fucking strategist I’ve ever seen,” Chris grunted.
“So, really, we don’t need to worry about any of the SEALs,” I said jokingly. “We just need to watch out for James.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Derek said with a nod. “Alright, let’s get to work.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Axel
“Goddamnit, these guys are good,” Scrabble hissed, hiding behind a tree.
“I fucking told you,” I said, reloading my paintball gun. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“Anybody got eyes on Ice?” Angel asked.
“Why? Did he slip you?” I asked with a grin.
Angel growled at me, reloading his own gun. “That fucker is fast.”
“I fucking told you,” I repeated. God, it was like none of these guys were listening to me. “Alright, we need to sweep around the east side while Ghost does his thing.”
“Where’s that James kid?” Tiny asked. “I thought you said he was supposed to be on our side? I haven’t seen the fucker since we started.”
“You don’t see James. He just disappears and does his thing.”
“That’s my job,” Ghost growled.
“Yeah? Well, maybe you’ve got some competition. Preacher, I want you to go down the center until you get to that hollowed out stump. Make some noise and draw them out.”
“You want me to sacrifice myself?” he asked incredulously. “Nice, man. Are you trying to prepare me for our next mission?”
“Just do it. We’ve got you covered.”
“Why does that not sound reassuring?” Preacher asked.
“Snake, Toro, and Angel will go west. Stay low and out of sight until Preacher makes his move and draws them out. They’re relying on us being damn sneaky, so let’s play it down.”
“You want us to downplay our skills?” Toro asked.
“Look, they’re going to be expecting us to try and be really covert, but we don’t need all that fancy bullshit. We’ve got James on our side. Trust me, he’s all we need. The rest will fall into place.”
“I really fucking hate this plan,” Ghost grumbled.
It didn’t matter. I knew that we couldn’t out-strategize Reed Security. All the shit that we had in our arsenal, they had in theirs too, but they’d had years on us to perfect those strategies and out pace us in every way possible. Our smoking gun was James. They knew it, but they also thought we were too cocky to rely on someone like James. That’s what would be their downfall. We were just about to move up when I heard a snap behind me. I spun around, aiming my gun right at Sebastian and a woman that he had in camouflage next to him.
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” he grinned. “Meet your hostage.”
✯✯✯✯✯
Tony
“I wasn’t expecting them to be quite so fast,” Hunter panted. He was bent over with his hands on his knees, his gun resting at his feet. “Holy fuck, I’m out of breath.”
“I told you this wasn’t a good idea,” Ice growled at Chris. “But no, you said that we were only a fucking year older.”
“You are,” Chris said incredulously.
“Yeah, but they’re still in their prime!”
“Get a grip, man.” Jules slapped Ice across the face and Ice shook his head. “You’re freaking the fuck out,” Jules shook his head. “Seriously, it’s a little pathetic.”
“Sorry, but I lost Ghost like seven fucking times out there. And every time I thought I found him, that fucker Angel was on my tail. I swear to God, I had to keep climbing trees to get the fuck away from him.”
“We just need to go with our original plan. You know they’re gonna try to surround us,” I said, trying to stop the bickering and get back to the topic at hand.
“Nah, we need to watch for James,” Chris said. “Axel knows that James is his strongest asset right now. He’s gonna play it smart and hang back.”
“Yeah, but James can’t take us all out,” Coop said. “There’s no way.”
“No, but all it takes is James sneaking up on us. That’ll give them time to get in position to trap us. Listen, we planned for this. We know what’s coming. As long as we keep making them run in circles, the rest of the plan falls into place perfectly. We just need to get them to the river and then it’s all
downhill from there.”
As much as I wanted to just draw them out and take out the fuckers, Chris had a point. After all, he knew Axel best and knew how he would think.
Storm nodded. “Coop, TNT, and I will move first. If we can make it to that cluster of five trees, we can draw fire for the rest of you.”
“I like how you sacrifice us,” Coop nodded. “Good plan.”
“Well, since you fuckers won’t go get cleared, it’s not like we have any jobs that we have to go out on, but we do have to fucking prove ourselves.”
“Let’s just move and get this over with,” I grumbled.
“Alright, on my count,” Storm said, starting the countdown. When he hit one, we all moved. Paintballs flew all around us, but luckily, we made it to our location without any of us being sacrificed.
“Their aim is shit,” Coop said, peeking out around a tree.
“Sure, yeah,” I said mockingly. “A bunch of Navy SEALs have shit aim. It has nothing to do with the fact that the rest of our team was firing at them.”
“Hey, Tacos!” Toro shouted. I looked at the guys in confusion. They were calling us out now? I peeked out from behind my tree and swore.
“Seriously? Why the fuck is she here?”
Molly was being used as a hostage as Toro and a few of the other guys advanced toward us. They didn’t know exactly where we were, but someone was going to have to go out there.
“Did she follow you?” Storm asked.
“Hell if I know. What the fuck?”
“Looks who’s been added to the fight,” Toro laughed. “Sebastian dropped her off for me. If you want to win, you have to save the girl and kill me.”
“Fuck that, I’m not going after her,” I said, dropping my weapon to the forest floor.
“What do you mean?” Coop hissed. “You have to. We can’t lose because you don’t want to go get your girlfriend.”
“My girlfriend? She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just a woman that follows me around!”
“And Cap added her to the game,” Storm said. “If you want us to win, you have to go fucking get her.”
“You go get her. You’re the one that started this shit to begin with,” I growled.
“Nice, you can’t even save the woman you’re fucking?” Coop snorted.
“Fucking is right. That’s all this is. How the fuck did I end up in this position?” I grumbled to myself.
“Well,” Storm said in a drawl. “I think it started when you stuck your dick in her. See, women tend to get attached to a man when he fucks her.”
“Fuck off. I’m not doing it. If I go out there and ‘save her’, she’s going to start seeing me as some hero and then I’ll never get rid of her.”
“So, you’re against having a savior complex,” Coop surmised.
“I’m against having a woman follow me around like a puppy dog!”
“You have to go out there,” Storm insisted. “We’ll stay here and-”
“Wait, you want me to go out there alone? I’ll get shot up!”
“Well, we can’t all go out there,” Coop said. “We would start a huge war.”
“Oh, so it’s alright if I get shot,” I said sarcastically.
“Well, if it was Becky, I would do it. Besides, you were the one that pulled her into you when we met those assholes. You staked your claim on her right then and there whether you meant to or not.”
“I did not!”
“Yeah, you did,” Storm agreed. “You put your arm around her and pulled her right against you. Any one of those fuckers knew that she was yours in that moment.”
I started to protest, but then thought back and swore to myself. Goddamnit, I had pulled her against me. What the fuck was I thinking?
“See, your head may not claim her, but your body does,” Coop grinned.
“I hate all of you.”
I peeked over around the tree again and started to strategize. “Alright, I’m gonna need a grenade and your handguns.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m going RED.”
“Really? You think you can pull that off?” Storm asked skeptically.
“And why couldn’t I?”
“Well, you’re just not as badass as-” I glared at him and he held up his hands. “Alright, maybe you are. My bad. I just didn’t think you were the type to take those risks.”
“Wait, what’s RED?” Coop asked.
“You ever seen the movie RED?” I asked as I loaded my weapons.
“No.”
“You should,” Storm insisted. “Great movie.”
“Bruce Willis. Anyway, he’s this old CIA agent and everyone underestimates him because of his age, but he’s totally a badass. Just walks out and shoots with gunfire flying all around him.”
Coop snorted. “And you think you’re Bruce Willis?”
“I could be Bruce Willis.”
“No, you really can’t.”
“Watch me,” I said, snatching the grenade out of his hand right before I stood and fucking walked right out into the line of fire. They were surprised for sure, not even bothering to fire at me right away. I heard Coop and Storm start firing as time seemed to slow around me. I felt a paintball hit me in the arm, but I kept moving. In our games, you weren’t out unless it was a kill shot. I pulled the pin on the grenade and tossed it just behind the guys that were advancing on me. It dropped just beyond them, and they all turned in slow motion, looking at the paintball on the ground.
“Grenade!” Tiny shouted. Toro shifted just enough that I could take the shot. I fired, hitting him right in the forehead, then quickly got to work on the other two. Toro fell to the ground and Molly came running toward me as the grenade exploded, flinging herself into my arms. I quickly shoved her to the ground as the other guys came running out from their hiding spots. Mayhem erupted around us. Paintball blasts hit the ground and men swore as they got hit with paintballs. And the entire fucking time, I was kissing Molly. She had gripped my face right after I pushed her to the ground and covered her. I should have been paying attention to the action, but as soon as her tongue slid into my mouth, I was a goner.
I was so lost in her that I didn’t even realize that all the noise had died down around us. When I finally stopped kissing her and looked around, all the guys were grinning at us with paint splattered all over their bodies.
“Now that’s a guy that would die for love,” Preacher said. I immediately stiffened, but Molly didn’t seem to notice as she sat up and wrapped herself around me. It was just as I had suspected. I went from boyfriend to hero in two point five seconds, and now I was well and truly fucked.
“So, who’s still in it?” Coop asked, from behind a tree. “Any takers?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Snake grinned. “You’ve got a shot right to heart. That’s a kill shot.”
Coop looked down and swore. “Son of a bitch. How did I miss that?”
“Looks like we win,” Axel grinned. “We’ve still got three guys with only minor wounds.”
“I’m not out,” I protested.
“Your back would say otherwise,” Axel said, jerking his head to my back. “You took some hits protecting your lady love.”
I glared at him, but then a thought came to me. “But I saved the girl, and you said that I had to save her to win.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re all fucking dead,” Ghost argued. “Face it, you’re older and slower.”
“Slower my ass,” I snapped. “Did you not see me come out from behind that tree with absolutely no protection and take down three of your guys? That was me, the old man.”
“He totally went RED on you,” Storm agreed.
“See? I fucking told you I could do it.”
“But you did die,” Storm said. “So, I guess not totally RED, but not a bad effort.”
Everyone started arguing and converged to a small circle where a little pushing and shoving commenced. It was getting pretty nasty and I pulled Molly out of it so she didn’t get shov
ed around, but just when it started getting really intense, a high pitched beeping filled the air and we all looked around.
“What is that?” Chris asked.
“What did you do?” Scrabble asked accusingly.
“It’s not us,” Ice snapped.
“Well, it’s not us,” Axel shot back.
“It’s me,” a voice said from above. We all looked up to see James hiding in a tree with a grin on his face. He pressed his finger on something and small devices all around us exploded, hitting each of us with what would be shrapnel, but was really paint, each hit too deadly to come back from.
“What the fuck?” Angel spat. “You’re supposed to be on our team.”
“Supposed to be. I would have thought that someone that’s worked in the field as long as you would have vetted the new guy in the group. Just think of me as a private contractor.”
Chris bent over and picked up what was left of the devices that had exploded. “Where the hell did you even get this? We don’t have access to this shit.”
“Knight,” James replied, climbing down the tree and dropping to the ground.
“Knight?” Jules said incredulously. “I thought he was on our side.”
“Who’s Knight?” Preacher asked.
“I can’t believe he gave you this shit and didn’t give it to us,” Derek spat. “I always hated that fucker.”
“Who’s Knight?” Ghost asked.
“Are you really surprised?” Hunter asked. “I mean, come on, from the moment you met Knight, you knew how he was.”
“Are you taking his side?” Derek growled. “Of course you are. You two are besties.”
“Who the fuck is Knight?” Snake asked. “And why did he help the kid?”
“I have an in with him,” James grinned. “My step-mom works with him,” he shrugged.
“He should have been on my side,” Axel huffed. “I’m the one that beat him.”
“What, like that’s a hard thing?” Angel asked.
“Well, it’s not easy,” I snorted.
“What, is he some ninja assassin or something?” Ghost asked. “Bring him to me. I can take him.”
TNT Page 14
