Capture The Flag (fff/mmm)

[PaulsPerils]

The following is a work of fiction, though most of the characters involved were actual friends of mine. This story falls into the category of “events that I wish had happened”. The time-period for this scene is Late Spring 1976 when I was 13 years old.

It was the last week of May 1976. School had just let out for summer break, and I woke up to a bright, but cool, Saturday morning without having to think about going back to school on Monday. That felt good.

After some breakfast and a shower, I went to my friend Scott’s house to see what he was up to. He and our friend Mark greeted me at the door, and Scott said they were talking about going up to “The Woods”. This place was about a mile north of our neighborhood and was on the outskirts of town. It was roughly a 100-yard by 200-yard section of land that was heavily wooded. We had played there for years, though the property owners would occasionally chase us off if they saw us, but given all the natural cover, it was easy to go undetected. Mark said I should get my bike and go with them. The plan was to set up a base to help us play “war games” over the summer against others in the neighborhood. So, I agreed and ran off to get my bike.

Before we get further, let me describe the three of us. Scott is 13, 5’7”, medium build, tan with black hair, Mark is 14, 5’6”, medium build, light brown hair, and I (Paul) am 5’8”, thinner build, tan with dark brown hair. We played sports and were athletic. We all had on t-shirts, blue jeans, and sneakers.

The ride to The Woods did not take long, and the road there was mostly devoid of cars this morning. Since this was someone else’s property, we took some care as we approached to look around before we entered the area to make sure we went in unseen. Satisfied that we had, we got off our bikes and walked them into the woods and put them behind some bushes so they would not be seen from the road. The three of us walked over to the southeast section of the woods and Scott explained that he wanted to try to build a base using broken branches and logs that were laying about. This sounded like a plan to Mark and I and so we started gathering up what we could find and then stacking it in a pile.

Not too long after we started, we saw three girls approaching on foot. When they got closer, we realized it was our classmates Lisa, Karen, and Elena. We had all known Lisa and Karen for years while Elena had moved from out-of-town to our neighborhood just before the start of the Spring semester. Lisa was 13, 5’6”, thin build, with blond hair, Karen was 13, 5’4”, medium build, with dark brown hair, and Elena was 14, 5’6”, medium build, tan, with black hair. This day, Lisa and Karen were in short sleeve shirts and shorts, while Elena was wearing a short sleeve top and blue jeans. All three girls were attractive and were well on their way in their physical development.

Even though Elena was the new girl, she was the ringleader of the three and you could say they all had become fast friends. Elena also had a bit of an attitude, at times, perhaps from being the “new kid”. And Elena knew how to push people’s buttons, for better or for worse.

Elana asked us, “What are you guys doing?”

Scott replied that we were building a base to use for war games that we did with others in the neighborhood.

“Yeah, I played a similar game like that back where I am from. We called it Capture the Flag. Each team had a base, and a flag. The goal was to capture the other team’s flag without getting tagged or caught.”

Scott showed an interest in the game Elena described and asked Elena if she wanted to be in our war games this summer.

Elena said, “Maybe. How about we play a game of capture the flag right now.”

Scott, Mark, and I all took that as a challenge, because, well, it was a challenge. The three of us all agreed to the game not knowing what we would be getting into.

“Cool. It will be us three against you three – boys against girls.” Elena said. She then added, “And we will win!”

Mark, Scott, and I knew it was game on at this point, and the three of us thought this would be a good chance to deal with Elena’s attitude.

“Before we can play, we need to have two flags and we need to agree on how we’ll handle prisoners.” Elena said.

In the war games we had played previously, we explained to Elena that a player becomes a prisoner of the other team if they are tagged in enemy territory and that we had a “holding area” where prisoners were kept back at the enemy’s base, but basically this just meant they were out of the game and could not reenter.


Elena said, “Oh, no. That is not how I have done it. I think prisoners should be kept tied up and gagged. That way, they can’t interfere with the game once they’ve been caught.”

That would certainly be an escalation from how we played our war games, but since Mark, Scott, and I thought we would easily win, we agreed to this. Lisa and Karen were on board as well since Elena’s bravado had rubbed off on her two friends.

Since none of us had flags or ropes and anything like that, we all agreed to go home and gather up what we needed and then meet back up in The Woods at 11:00 am. On the way back, Mark, Scott, and I discussed what we needed, and we decided that we should have six ropes – for the hands and feet – and three bandannas for gags for our three soon-to-be captives. And a flag. We all thought it was going to be an easy win for us. Elena, Karen, and Lisa had other ideas, particularly Elena.

After gathering up our supplies and talking strategy a little bit, we three headed back up to the woods. Again, we used caution before entering the area, but saw no one around and rode our bikes in and hid them in the usual spot. We walked to our base and got our supplies out. As we were doing this, Elena, Lisa, and Karen walked up.

“You boys ready to lose?” Elena said.

We laughed and said the three of them should get back to their base to get set up so we could start the game.

“We’ve been here for a few. We’re set up and ready. C’mon girls, let’s go.” Elena said.

We watched them head to the other side of the woods, and then disappear in amongst all the trees. We all agreed that Scott would stay back to guard the flag. We expected the girls team to stay close to their base, so we decided that Mark and I would head north into enemy territory to see if we could draw them out and get them into our territory, where we would tag them, and take them prisoner.

Meanwhile, Elena, Karen and Lisa decided that Lisa would guard their flag and that Elena and Karen would advance to the edge of their territory and hide, hoping to catch us if we crossed over.

“Before we go, take this” Elena said to Karen, handing her two bandannas and a rope. “If you tag one of them, stuff one of these in their mouth, and tie the other one over that to hold it in. That way they can’t warn their teammates that they’ve been caught. And tie their wrists behind their back, too. There is no rule that says you have to wait until they get back to base.” Elena said.

Karen smiled and said, “Excellent.” She thought Elena was both devious and cool for suggesting this.

Once the game started, I took the left flank (Mark took the right), and I carefully headed north, trying to make as little sound as possible, stopping every so often to listen for any sound of others moving. Hearing nothing, I continued until I reached the border of our two territories. I surveyed the area as best I could but could not see or hear anyone. Little did I know that Elena’s eyes were locked in on me, looking at me from a hidden vantage point, behind a cluster of trees.

Once I was a short distance into their territory, Elena pounced, grabbing me from behind, wrapping one arm around my waist and clamping her free hand over my mouth.

“Tag. I gotcha.” Elena said in a quiet voice.

“Mmmppphhh!!” I replied and instinctively tried to pull away.

She held on tight, and quietly said, “No fighting. You’re out of the game now.”

I quit struggling at that point, resigned to the fact that I had been captured. She released her arm that had been wrapped around my waist and reached into her jeans pocket and grabbed a wadded-up bandana. She then took her other hand off my mouth and quickly stuffed the bandanna in.

“You keep that in your mouth. Got it? And put your hands behind your back. You’re my prisoner, and I’m going to tie you up.” Elena said. I had to comply to follow the rules we had agreed to, so I slowly put my hands behind my back.

She then took a rope out of her other pocket and made quick work out of tying my wrists together, as she securely wrapped the rope around my wrists a few times and then between my wrists, before finishing things off with a tight cinch knot. She then used another bandanna as a cleave gag, to hold my mouth stuffing in. She tightly double knotted this second bandanna at the nape of my neck, and I let out a small mmmppphh sound as she finished off the knot.

“Alright, let’s go. Back to base.” Elena said to me as she tightly grabbed me by my upper arm and started force-marching me back to her base. This was not good. She had me tied up and gagged very well, and all I could do at this point was hope my team would still win the game and get me loose.

Once back at the girl’s base, Elena hustled me over to a tree while Lisa looked on happily. “This was too easy, Lisa. I caught him in no time.” Elena said.

"Wow, you did! And he’s already tied up and gagged, too.” Lisa replied.

“Still some work to do on that. Give me one of those ropes.” Elena said and Lisa quickly handed one to her.

Elena then pushed me against a tree and knelt down. Elena tied my ankles together and left some rope at the end which she wrapped around the base of the tree and my ankles a couple of times before knotting everything off. She then stood up and momentarily untied my wrists before retying them together behind the tree trunk. I began to wriggle and mmpphh into my gag, but I knew I would not be getting loose from this.

“Looks like Elena got you good, Paul.” Lisa said with a taunting voice.

“Mmmpphh!!” was all I could say in reply as I continued to struggle a bit.

“Lisa, you keep an eye on him and the flag. I’m going to go out and check in on Karen to see how she is doing.” Elena said.

Elena looked at me and then said, “One boy down, two boys to go.” I gave Elena and indignant “Mmmpphhh!” in reply as she left their base.

A few minutes later, Elena was surprised to see Karen walking towards her with her new prisoner, Mark. It seems Mark had befallen the same trap as I had. Mark’s wrists were tied behind his back and Karen had used both bandannas to gag him.

“Hey, you got him!” Elena said.

“Yeah, but I got a little lucky. He tripped on a tree root just past where I was hiding. When he fell, I jumped on top of him. And now here we are…” Karen said and then paused as she saw me tied up and gagged in their camp.

“You got Paul?!” Karen said.

“Yeah, it was no sweat. Let’s have Mark join him.” Elena said and then the two of them escorted Mark to a tree to my right, next to mine.

Mark and I looked at each other as he walked by. We both had these embarrassed, helpless looks on our faces, and we knew we were sunk. In short order, both Karen and Elena had Mark affixed to a tree in the same manner I was.

Karen and Lisa were delighted in how this game was going, and they huddled for a moment with Elena.

“Two down, one to go. Lisa – you stay here and guard our two prisoners, while Karen and I go looking for Scott.” Elena said.

So, Karen and Elena headed out in search of Scott while Mark and I could only look on helplessly. Lisa barely paid us any mind at all. She just kept looking across the area to make sure Scott was not approaching.

Meanwhile, Scott was back at his base and wondering why it was taking so long for Mark and Paul to come back with prisoners. Then Scott saw some movement off to his left. He looked closer and he spotted Karen, but she seemed to be heading to the southwest corner of the woods which was away from the base and the flag.

“This will be an easy capture.” Scott thought to himself.

Scott moved quickly towards Karen, but she spotted him and took off running headed north towards friendlier territory. Scott continued his pursuit across the boundary, where Elena was waiting for him, and Scott was grabbed by Elena.

“Gotcha!” Elena said, as she jumped Scott from behind and held him firmly with one arm while covering his mouth with her other hand. Scott twisted to get loose but soon Karen had doubled back, and she helped hold Scott still while Elena wrested Scott’s wrists behind his back and began to tie them. Once she had finished with that, Karen took a bandanna and stuffed it in his mouth, and then Elena tied another bandanna over that one to hold the mouth stuffing in.

“Mmmmppphh!!!” Scott protested over his treatment.

“You’re our third prisoner, Scott. That’s right. Your team has lost. Now, it is time for you to join your teammates. I’m sure they will be happy to see you.” Elena said gloatingly.

Scott fidgeted in Elena’s grasp upon hearing this, but Elena held him firmly.

“Hey Elena, I bet there are a bunch of ropes back at their base camp. Do you want me to get them?” Karen asked.

“Great idea! Go get them and come right back to our camp. I’ll take care of Scott here, in the meantime.” Elena replied.

Karen scampered off to retrieve the ropes and gags the three of us had intended for the girl’s team, while Elena forced Scott back to her base camp. When Scott got close enough to the girl’s camp, he could see Mark and I struggling and tied to our trees. We saw Scott at about the same time, and we knew then for certain that we had lost.

"You’ve got Scott, too! We win!” Lisa shouted.

“Yes, Karen and I set a trap for him, and we got him to go for the bait.” Elena replied.

“Go get me a rope for Scott.” Elena said as she pushed Scott up against the tree just to my left.

Lisa returned with a rope and gave it to Elena, and Elena tied Scott’s ankles together and then lashed them to the tree.

Just then Karen returned with the ropes and gags from our camp. “Here they are Elena. This is everything.” Karen said.

“Cool. This will be great.” Elena replied.

Elena, Karen, and Lisa then turned to the three of us, their three helpless captives.

Elena held up our ropes and gags and said, “So, this is what you intended to use to tie us up? I think I have a better idea for these.”

She handed some of the ropes and bandannas to Karen and Lisa to use on us.

We three starting mmmpph-ing louder and struggling more as they approached us. Elena used two ropes - one to bind my legs together just above the knee and the other to pin my upper arms and chest to the tree. Karen and Lisa, not having as much experience with rope as Elena seemed to, followed her lead, and used their ropes on Mark and Scott, in the same way.

“They seem to be making too much noise still. I think we should gag them some more.” Elena said. Karen and Lisa eagerly joined Elena in further gagging the three of us by tying another bandanna tightly in each of our mouths.

“I told you we would win, but you didn’t believe me, did you? Now you are just three little boys, all tied up and gagged.” Elena said to us.

Karen and Lisa just giggled at what Elena had said, but Elana was right. We had underestimated our opponent and were paying the price for that.

Elena turned to us again and said, “For now, we are just going to hang out here in the woods with our new captives and enjoy watching you struggle and make noise into your gags. How does that sound?”

Scott, Mark, and I made muffled sounds and tried to plead with them to let us go, but they had different plans.

So, the three of them proceeded to take a seat on the grass nearby and just started chatting while keeping an eye on us. This went on for what seemed like a long time - perhaps an hour or so. It was very humbling for us to be there, tied up and gagged, watching them have a normal conversation. Every so often one of us tried getting free again, but by this point, getting loose seemed impossible. After an hour’s time, we were still tightly bound and gagged. The ropes still had only a little slack and the gags continued to be effective.

Then Karen asked Elena “How long should we keep them tied up like that?”

“Maybe we should leave them here to teach them a lesson to not underestimate us again.” Elena said.

Then came a chorus of mmmpphh’s from me, Scott and Mark and we renewed our struggles against the ropes.

“Are you sure, Elena?” Lisa asked.

“Yes, I’m sure. Let’s go. The property owner will probably find them.” Elena replied. She then said to us, "The next time we play Capture the Flag, I hope you take us more seriously."

"MMMpphhh!!" We replied and shook our heads trying to get Elena, Lisa and Karen not to leave us behind, but to no avail.

The three of them then got up and walked out of the woods. We continued mmpphh-ing into our gags, but I’m sure the sound faded for them as they got further and further away.

I did have to admit that even though being tied up and gagged like this had gotten uncomfortable over the course of our captivity, there was something that was both intriguing and exciting about being bound and gagged and held captive. As we all stood there hoping for rescue from someone, I kept replaying how it felt to have Elena’s hand clamped tight over my mouth, and the feel of rope being tightly wrapped around my wrists and ankles, and of being gagged so well. Seeing Mark and Scott in the same plight also held an attraction to me.

About 20 minutes after we had been left alone, Karen came sneaking back into the woods. “Sorry that we left you guys like this. I’m going to get you untied.” She said. She proceeded to untie and ungag us and we were relieved to get loose. We thanked her and then headed straight for our bikes. At this point, we were tired and just wanted to get back home and regroup. We now had respect for the skills the girls had shown and would be more cautious before engaging with them in any future Capture the Flag games.

The End

[andrewtied]

great story friend you write better then i do lol

[cj2125]

That was a cute story! Thanks for sharing it! We have something in common it seems, I wish I had been capture with my friends when I was younger in some game too!

[harveygasson]

Fantastic story!

[DomTiesMen]

It was a really fun story to read! I really love small plays and competitions like this one with a tying punishment for the losers! It's more fun when the losers lost the game and are tied up and gagged because of it! I liked that the boys were the ones being tied up, this would teach them to not understmate girls! I loved the way they were bound and gagged all together like am team too, hehe! Cannot wait to see more stories from you!

[PaulsPerils]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments. I'll have to come up with some more adventures to write about!

[Bondwriter]

Nicely done, and it's complete!

[Tapebot]

Loved it!

[PaulsPerils]

Thanks everyone!

[Canuck100]

I had somehow missed this story when it was posted. Loved it! I should have played this version of capture the flag with my friends

[PaulsPerils]

Thanks! It was fun to write this story.

[potato]

Loved this story. Great work!

[PaulsPerils]

Thanks! I enjoyed writing it!

[Gag001]

Good story