01 - War Games
Story index at the bottom
By Emily S.
Monday, February 9th 2004 - 05:23:43 PM
War Games - Part One
This story is kind of long, so I will have to write it to you in instalments. I've read posts in here for a long time, but never really offered any of my own. I figured it was about time I took a moment and shared my own experiences. Well, here goes!
I will try to tell you a story about my first (and to this point, only) experience with this type of thing. It happened when I was about 16 (I am 19 now). My younger brother Tommy had some friends that liked to hang out in the woods behind our house. The woods was on the other side of a field my family owns. There are actually four sets of woods placed between fields in this area, and they are all bordered by county roads. This was where we used to have fun after school and on the weekends.
My brother Tommy (12 then, 15 now), had a hundred friends it seemed, but he had about six that used to come and hang out with us from the houses nearby.
It was a little while after Tommy's birthday, and my parents had bought him the Laser Tag game he'd wanted. So he was really anxious to play his own version of it - he called it "war games". The premise was simple: two teams of four or five people would set out into the woods and build a fort. Then the teams would hunt each other and ultimately try to capture the other team's flag from the fort.
The rules were simple too. We all had Laser Tag vests. If you got tagged, you were killed, and you were out of the game - you go home. Once everyone on the other team was either killed, or the flag was taken, your side lost. Because we were playing with four different woods and fields in between (not to mention a creek running through the middle of it all), finding the fort and/or killing the other team off would prove to be quite difficult. We planned the game ahead of time and arranged for the game to take place on Saturday and Sunday. Our parents were really good about letting us all hang out since we pretty much lived in the middle of nowhere. We brought out two large tents and arranged to camp out in the woods overnight. Saturday morning we got started.
We actually ended up with twelve participants, so we had six on each team. Tommy and I, along with his friends Jim, Jason and Eric, and my friend Gina were all on the Red Team, as identified by the pieces of cloth we had tied to our arms. Our team dressed pretty much the same, with white T-shirts and camouflage pants. On the Yellow Team were Tommy's friends Rick, Tom F., Lee, Willie, and two of Lee's friends whose names I don't remember.
Because Gina and I were the only two girls participating, Rick's team insisted that we be divided between the two teams for fairness (I thought it was interesting that their team was arguing that they had an unfair advantage). Gina and I insisted that the teams were indeed fair, and they may actually be at a disadvantage because we girls were better with our aim.
) They reluctantly agreed, and we got started. We flipped a coin to see who would go out into the woods first. Rick's team went first, so they left. Our team waited inside the house for about 30 minutes until they were gone so we didn't know where they went. Then we left and went out into the woods to build our fort.About midway through Saturday we finished our fort. It was basically wood built up around our tent, with a couple of tree perches where we could look out and make sure no one was coming. We built it pretty near the creek, too, so we had a "trench" to hide in or run away in if it came to that. There was a jeep trail running by the rear of the fort, too, so we had to set up watch areas to protect it too. Proudly we hung our flag from the top of the tent, and decided who would go out to find the enemy fort.
Originally, I was supposed to go with Gina along the creek into the next woods to the west, to see what we could find. Jason would go south alone to the next woods, and the other three would stay behind and guard the fort. We were to report back with any "intel" and then the other three would go out Sunday while we stayed and guarded the fort.
Gina decided after we left that she should sprint across the field to the south and hit the fourth woods. I told her that if she got killed that we wouldn't be able to defend the fort and that we should stick together. She said she would just go circle the woods - not actually go in - and then report back to me at the creek bed. I agreed. So off she went, and there I stayed. I crouched low on the side of the creek, and things got real quiet.
It was probably late afternoon around dinner time, so I snagged a candy bar from my pocket. Just as I did, I heard some movement in the field above the creek bed. I figured at first it must be Gina coming back - but something told me I should look. The paces were slow and heavy, not like Gina's footsteps (she was not that big).
I slowly crawled up the embankment, and peered out into the field. It was Lee! He was walking slowly through the field, about ten yards from me. He was walking east toward the woods where our fort was. He hadn't seen or heard me. I cautiously drew my laser gun up to take him out, trying hard not to make any noise. As I did, I heard a noise behind me in the creek that wasn't from me. I turned around to meet a hand covering my mouth. I shrieked into the hand. I noticed it was Willie. His hand covered my mouth and quickly his laser gun came up and rested against my vest target.
"Make a move and you're dead", he said.
Lee ran up and jumped down the embankment to meet his friend. He also raised his gun and aimed it at me.
"Don't make a sound. Do you understand?" Willie said.
I nodded, my heart still pounding from the scare I had a minute ago.
"Good", he said, and he slowly removed his hand from my mouth.
I was actually quite impressed with how well they were acting out their parts - I decided to play along.
"Please, don't hurt me", I said in a wavering voice, dropping my gun out of my hand. They ate it up.
"No", Willie smiled. "Just do as we say and things will be fine."
Then, to my amazement, Willie started to unbuckle my Laser Tag vest. I wasn't sure why he was doing it, but I said nothing. When it was off, he handed it to Lee, and took me by my arm. He stood me up and pulled me by my arm down to the bottom of the creek bed. Willie spun me around so he was behind me, and Lee was in front of me. Lee aimed his gun at my vest in his other hand.
"If I shoot this, you're still dead", he said.
Willie then grabbed my arms and twisted them around behind my back. He crossed my wrists behind me and began winding rope around them. I turned my head to see him and protest, but he just said, "keep still". I turned back to face Lee, who was smiling. I scowled at him, playing my angry damsel in distress part. I had hoped that Gina would be coming back any second now and help me out of the mess I found myself in. I could have yelled for her, but I was not about to get "killed" and be out of the game. I felt Willie pull the rope tight around my wrists, and cinch the knot up.
"Okay." Lee said, putting my vest down on the ground next to the water. He reached into his back pocket and revealed a piece of paper. "You're Emily, right?" I nodded.
"Okay, Emily. I'm Snake, and this is my associate Knox. We are your captors. You are now our hostage." It was pure poetry.
"I'm not going to give up our fort location, if that's what you think", I warned.
"No", Lee said. "We didn't think you would".
He drew a sharpie out from his pocket and wrote on the paper. When he was done, he showed it to me.
"When your friends come looking for you, they'll find this", Lee said, holding up the paper. It read: "Red Team: We have your precious Emily. Meet us tomorrow at this spot to negotiate her release."
To be continued!
Emily S.
USA
__________________________________________________________________________
Emily S.'s stories
- 01 - War Games (mm/f)
Index of all stories in the "Archive for Everyone" section