Letting my imagination run wildly..

Ducking behind the huge wooden barrel, I made sure that not a single part of my body was exposed, in case I was in their line of sight. I peered precariously from the side, hoping to get a glimpse of my target; but seeing nothing that could pose a threat to me just yet, I got on all fours and crawled slowly to a stack of tires to my far right, looking around me warily. I leaned back against the concrete wall, dragging my weapon to my chest and holding it tightly. Now I know what it feels like to be the hunter, and the hunted.

A few shots rang out, then silence. I held my breath, but I stayed where I was. A bead of sweat fell from the side of my face and I dare not wipe it away just yet.

My breathing came in slow, ragged breaths; we've been at it for nearly two hours and no one showed any signs of slowing down until something happens. Of course, it was only a matter of time before anything does. I'll never understand how people can go on like this; I'm pretty sure that they're all dying of dehydration and starvation just as I was. But then again, this is nothing like we've ever done before so might as well make the most of it.

My head shot to the left as I heard something rustle from nearby; I stood up, but kept myself bent from the waist-up, still holding my weapon in front of me. I inched my way closer to the sound, but as I rounded the corner, I quickly doubled-back, hoping that I wasn't seen or heard. I stayed still, not even daring to breathe in case I was spotted. To my right was a low wall, built entirely of huge rocks that were cemented together; I was about to crawl towards it, when I heard something move from behind. There was no mistaking it, someone really was there.

I didn't want to take my chances, in case it was the enemy; but what if we were on the same side? Should I risk it?

But before I could decide on anything, I heard a shot--followed by a distant howl of pain. A wave of relief washed over me; it was over.

Someone shouted from the distance. I stood up and took my mask off.

The dazzlingly bright sun nearly blinded me; I had to blink a few times for me eyes to readjust. I soon became aware of a few, green, hazy figures walking towards me, and even with the distance and my blurry eyes, I could tell that they were smiling.

Roger gave me a high-five. "We won!", he cried.

"Really?" I asked, as he slowly came into focus; "who shot who?"

"Angela got Chad", cut in Bear with a grunt. "And she got a bull's eye, too", he added mischievously.

"What do you mean?" I said, trying to stop myself from smiling.

But at that moment, Chad himself showed up and I saw a really big red splat in the middle of his army outfit. Bull's eye, indeed.

He scowled at me when he was what I was looking at. "Aw, come on. Don't be such a sore loser", I said. Even as I said that, I could feel the presence of other people around me. Looks like everybody's finally showed up.

Angela laughed from behind me. "Sweeeeeeeeet!" she cried gleefully as she eyed her target, pure triumph etched on her face.

"Just you wait, I will get you next time", answered Chad with a smirk.

"Let's just hope that next time wouldn't take as long", interrupted Carly, who moved next to me.
"At least we all know that we're getting better at this. We could hardly find each other!" laughed Rosie, as she leaned against the stack of tires. Angelo, who happened to be on the other side, jumped away.

"That thing might fall", he said to Rosie.

"Oh, right. Sorry. I thought it was steady", she said, as she too moved away.

Angelo chuckled and looked at all of us; his brow furrowed. "Where are Bradley, Ellen and Amy?" he asked to the group at large.

"I think they went ahead to change", said Chad. "Which I think was incredibly selfish of them considering as they weren't the ones who got shot". Then he muttered something, which I didn't quite hear but I managed to catch the words, "crazy", "paintball", and "again".

I rolled my eyes. "Quit your whining already and let's got follow them. This thing's starting to smell".

Roger visibly cringed beside me and took a step back, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"As if your smelling like strawberries and cream right now", teased Carly before I could say anything.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't want to get whatever Kels has", said Roger, in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, whatever, Roger", I said, but I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

We continued to walk down the sloping lawn, passing more tires and walls along the way towards a small concrete building, surrounded by sand bags. There were two doors, one for the ladies, and one for the men. We separated into our respective groups; upon entering, we found Ellen and Amy sitting on a table across each other and fully dressed.

"Hey", they greeted us in unison, which we returned.

"You guys left in a hurry", commented Carly as she took her keys out of her pocket and opened her locker, which the rest of us copied.

"Yeah, well, we weren't expecting the game to last that long", said Amy. "I didn't even eat a lot before we started so I was pretty tired after an hour".

"Yeah, I know what you mean", agreed Angela as she took her bag out and rummaged through it for her clothes. "But still, you should have seen Chad's face when he found out that I got him", she said with a snicker.

"Oh, yeah. You guys won", said Amy as she leaned back on her chair, her arms folded across her chest. "How'd you see him?"

Angela shrugged as I walked to the other side of the room, carrying a bundle of clothes under my arm, where a door stood ajar; I slipped in just in time to hear Angela's answer.

"It wasn't that hard, with his height and all that", she said. "He stood up and apparently he didn't know that I was watching him. Then he turned around and I shot him".

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation, too busy as I was in removing my sweaty green army uniform, Bradley wanted us to wear it to make it more authentic, and tugged on a tank top and jeans. I stuffed everything I didn't need into my bag, in a not-so-neat manner, before stepping out once again. They were still talking, but I wasn't paying attention to what they were saying.

I checked my unread messages and sighed. It's been about a month since Chris and I broke up and about three weeks since he stopped texting me. It finally dawned on him that I was never going to speak to him again so he simply gave up. Not that I miss him or anything. I don't know. It feels kind of weird not having someone to talk to and say "I love you" all the time; and sometimes seeing him around the school with that Abigail Navarra's not helping either but I've grown out of it. I guess being in a pretty long relationship can make you feel a bit disoriented once it's over and your back to being single. It takes a bit or getting used to, but I think I'm over that phase now; I hardly think about him which, in my opinion, is a huge improvement-slash-achievement.

I'm enjoying my singlehood, of course; seriously, I don't think Chris would have allowed me to play paintball with the gang even if I groveled in front of him. And I got to make a lot of new friends (lots of guy friends, too, if I may add), stay out longer and all that mumbo-jumbo. I'm not looking forward to jumping into another relationship just yet. Although I've gotten a few "offers" here and there but none of them really piqued my interest. No, I'm happy right where I was; single, happy and somewhat contented.

"Hey, girls!" came Angelo's voice from outside. "We'll meet you at the van, okay?"

"Okay!", shouted Amy, before she resumed her conversation with Angela.

I smiled. Hanging out with my friends, enjoying their company, playing a game that some of us have never played before; everything was perfect.

What could possibly be better than this?