My Team of Twelve Inexperienced Soldiers

As my team of twelve inexperienced soldiers emerged into the arena for the first time, the sun’s warm rays shone in between swaying branches and towering pine trees. Being the first paintball match for the majority of us, confusion and panic began to jumble our thoughts as we hastily pieced together a plan. Five players would take the path to the left over the hill, four would march straight ahead on the level road, and the final three would look over the valley. I began wrapping up the details of our rushed plan when the piercing sound of a whistle rang in our ears. The game had just begun and so we rushed to our assigned positions. Immediately, the sound of paintballs being fired echoed throughout the forest. As I made my way through the middle road, I weaved from tree to tree and jumped over undergrowth with three of my teammates not far behind. Suddenly, a continuous barrage of paintballs rushed past me from the slope of the hill towards my left. I immediately shot down as a batter would duck from a baseball aimed for his head, and charged behind a nearby bunker. The enemy team was right in front of me and I was alone. Feeling the sweat trickle down my back and noticing how deeply I was gulping for air, I realized that I wasn’t in, or even close to, the ideal physical condition for this amount of exertion. I decided to quickly peek out from the bunker. Four of the eleven players from the opposing team were slowly creeping up over the hill, attempting to flank my teammates on the hill. I leaped from the bunker to a nearby tree without the enemy noticing. It was now or never. I pointed my gun in their general direction and sprayed as many paintballs as fast as I possibly could, nailing one player on the face. The surprised players scrambled but rapidly recovered. My position was instantly revealed and soon after, countless paintballs flew in my direction. Two paintballs exploded on my mask and another smashed into my chest, knocking the wind from my lungs.