Author's Note:
From the "Writing Prompts" list, prompt 6: "You can't die. Please don't die."
"Ok," Toni panted, collapsing behind the wide-trunked oak tree where her girlfriend was already crouched, "Jughead's out. It's just Fangs and Sweet Pea left."
"I thought you said your friends were competitive," Cheryl accused, laying her battered paintball gun across her knees and examining her nails. Toni grabbed her hand and held it before she could become too absorbed with finding the chips in her scarlet polish.
"To most people, they are," Toni pointed out. "Being the captain of the River Vixens has kind of skewed your sense of competitiveness."
Cheryl leaned away from her, stealing a glance around the tree.
"Too bad you took Jughead out. I wanted to destroy that literate Littlest Hobo. After making him beg for mercy," she tacked on.
"Case in point," Toni muttered, fixing her ponytail.
"We need a plan," Cheryl decreed, turning back to her. "And no separating, ma chère. We do this together."
Toni grinned.
"They'll never know what hit them."
A short, hushed debate ensued; one of the things Toni loved about Cheryl was her decisiveness. They would work their way through the sparse woods, back to the stack of empty cardboard hamburger bun boxes they'd commandeered from Pop's recycling to be used as barriers. The boys, the two of them figured, would've become cocky in their stronghold. That would be their undoing when Toni and Cheryl attacked, leaving them cornered.
"Kiss for luck," Toni requested, pointing to her lips. Cheryl leaned in and Toni grabbed the back of her neck, hanging on for a few long moments. Her red hair brushed Toni's face and she inhaled. God, her girlfriend always smelled so good, even after a sweaty afternoon racing around in the forest.
"Let's go," Cheryl urged the second they broke apart.
They clasped hands and used their balanced weight to rise together to their feet. Then they ran for it. Toni kept darting glances sideways to check on her lady, but Cheryl was as tough and ruthless as any Southsider and didn't actually require looking after.
As soon as the boxes came in sight, Toni reached for Cheryl's hand and pulled her to a stop. She put a finger to her lips, then her girlfriend's. Cheryl licked the finger. Toni rolled her eyes.
"Would you quit it," Toni hissed. "This is war."
"In the heat of battle, the normal rules of engagement are suspended," Cheryl insisted with a smug smile. "Everyone knows that."
"That applies to brutality, not affection."
"Would you rather I break your wrist?" her girlfriend chirped cheerily.
"Very funny."
Toni turned away, squinting in the direction of their prey. Stupid sunlight was coming from the same way now. Maybe Fangs and Sweet Pea's strategy had something to it after all. It was smart to use nature to their advantage. She hunched forward and started to creep towards the cardboard fortress.
"SURPRISE!"
Whipping around, Toni watched Cheryl scream as Sweet Pea sprinted away into the trees. Toni hefted her paintball gun and fired with precision, but her shot didn't carry far enough. That boy had unfairly long legs. She turned back to Cheryl, who, as soon as she had an audience, committed to a dramatic, drawn-out death scene.
Her girlfriend toppled sideways with the grace of a dancer (or a cheerleader) and Toni smiled in spite of herself as she kneeled down at Cheryl's side. These games were so much more fun since she'd met her.
"No, Cheryl!" she cried, caressing her teammate's cheek. "You can't die. Please don't die!"
"He got me," Cheryl choked out, feigning heavy breathing. Her lustrous hair looked beautiful against the grass, Toni thought. If only she could've brought her camera.
"Surely it isn't fatal, my love!"
"Remember me," Cheryl beseeched, grabbing for her hand.
"Those bastards! I'll avenge you!" Toni promised. Her girlfriend raised a limp arm, beckoning her down. Toni lowered her face to catch her final words.
"All's fair in war… and love."
Cheryl's eyes closed and her hands fell to the forest floor. Toni let out a heartbroken sigh, smoothing her girlfriend's hair back from her face. Where had Sweet Pea even hit? Somewhere on her back? Cheryl allowed herself to be half-rolled to the side for Toni's examination. There it was: a glob of electric green paint on her right shoulder blade and―
"In her HAIR?" Toni shrieked, scrambling to her feet. "SWEET PEA, YOU ARE DEAD MEAT! YOU HEAR ME?"
"Oh, shit," she heard from close by. So they'd both abandoned the box sanctuary and Fangs was out here too.
"YOU BETTER RUN," she threatened at full volume, taking off in his direction. Sweet Pea slid sideways out from behind another tree 50 feet away as Fangs ran past and grabbed his sleeve. "Man down," Toni whispered to herself in anticipation, raising her weapon while she ran and letting paint fly.