Hours later, when day became night, the blue team had their camp set up, with Shelton and Ellis discussing strategy.
"Ellis, make sure the perimeter is secure."
"Yes, sir."
Barclay and Whitehurst sat at the campfire, listening to De Silva telling a spooky tale, with graphic details.
"And then the babysitter checks the windows, but she hears this thumping noise, as if something is dragged across the floor upstairs." De Silva spoke mysteriously. "And suddenly, she thinks, 'I haven't checked on the children!' So she runs up the stairs, and when she gets there… she sees her boyfriend, completely dismembered, and dragging himself along the floor by his chin. Looming over him, is a hulking figure, wearing a pale white mask. His hair is black as midnight, and his eyes… are like empty voids. It is like staring into pure evil."
Andy shuddered, and got up to leave the campfire, the story hitting close to home for him. De Silva noticed this, and she got up as well, just as Ivers started to tell her own spooky story.
"I got another story, and this one's real. It's about this mental institution, and it's not too far from here…"
Andy walked further into the forest, until he heard someone call his name.
"Hey, Barclay, wait up!"
Andy turned around, seeing De Silva walking towards him.
"I hope it wasn't something I said with the story."
"No, you were fine." Andy reassured her, and began walking forward. "It just… reminded me of things I'd like to forget."
"Like the doll, Andy?" De Silva asked. Barclay looked at her curiously. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"
"No, it's okay." Andy mumbled. "How do you know about that?"
"I snuck into Cochrane's office the night he… died…" De Silva said solemnly. "I read your file. Is that why you tensed up when you saw him with the doll?"
Andy nodded sadly.
"You probably think I'm crazy."
"Not at all." De Silva scoffed. "After the accident, and after Cochrane? I'm starting to wonder if you were on to something."
Barclay smiled, appreciating that she didn't think he was insane for once.
"De Silva, where do you think the red team is camping out?"
"Could be anywhere." De Silva shrugged. "Shelton will find them, he always does. By the way, you can call me Kristen."
"What?"
"Kristen, that's my first name." De Silva repeated. "Thought it would be fair, since I know yours."
"Okay… Kristen." Andy smiled.
"Come on, Andy, I want to show you something."
Kristen grabbed Andy's hand, and led him to a clearing, where they could see a carnival in the distance, just on the outskirts of the forest.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Kristen asked, wearing a grin.
"Yeah. I almost forgot there were places like that." Andy agreed. "Where people just go to have fun."
From afar, Chucky watched the two cadets, with a bandolier of bullets wrapped around him. Unfortunately, he left his footing, and slipped on the ground, snapping a couple twigs in the process.
In an instant, Andy whipped his head around, scanning the area.
"What the Hell was that?" Andy asked, nervous. "Somebody must be out there!"
"It's probably just a chipmunk or a squirrel." Kristen told Barclay, trying to calm him down.
"Nothing scares you, does it?" Andy chuckled, pulling his face mask off.
"Nope." De Silva smirked smugly, and she took her mask off as well, before pulling Andy in for a kiss.
From his hiding spot, Chucky watched Andy and Kristen liplock, for some reason growing annoyed.
"Man, I really gotta get out of this body!"
"Ya got that right."
Chucky turned around to see Tiffany behind him, holding onto Scarface like a newborn baby.
"Tiff, what're you doing?" Chucky whispered. "Someone could catch us!"
"Relax Chucky, it's too dark out." Tiffany replied. As she tried to lean in close, her foot came down on a small pile of sticks, snapping them and causing more noise to break out.
"Okay, that was something." Andy stated, breaking off the kiss with Kristen.
"Even if it is your killer doll, would he really be that stupid to attack us when the rest of the platoon is not far off?" Kristen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes." Andy nodded. "He waits until people are alone, and that's when he gets them."
"Then we'd better get back to camp." De Silva suggested. "Shelton's probably wondering where we're at right now anyway."
Andy nodded grimly, and the two quickly walked back to the blue team's camp. Before Andy entered his tent, he snuck into Shelton's quarters and stole the map of the forest, slipping out just before Shelton came back.
Barclay entered his tent, shaking Whitehurst awake.
"Get up, we're going after Tyler."
"Are you nuts? You'll never find him." Whitehurst said groggily.
"Wanna bet?" Andy grinned, pulling out Shelton's map. "I swiped this from Shelton's tent. He had a reconnaissance mission right after we pitched camp. Now, the red team is somehow around here-" Andy jabbed his finger at the south side of the map, and illuminated the area with his flashlight. He looked towards Whitehurst, who was rolling his body back to sleep, with his back turned towards Barclay.
"That kid's a sitting duck, Whitehurst." Andy pleaded. "Now are you with me, or not?"
"I'm sorry, Barclay, I can't." Whitehurst stammered, turning back over.
"Fine." Andy grumbled. "I can do this myself."
Barclay ducked out of his tent and left the campsite, careful not to alert anyone guarding the perimeter, or worse, Shelton and Ellis. Once he was far enough away, he turned his flashlight back on, and began to study the map.
Back with the blue team, Whitehurst saw shadows marching past his tent, along with Ellis' voice echoing across the woods.
"Up and at 'em ladies, we're moving out!" Ellis ordered, as Whitehurst put his glasses on. "I want this camp to be a ghost town in five minutes!"
"I thought we weren't going until dawn, sir." one of the cadets, named Hanley, said.
"Well, someone stole the reconnaissance map by the colonel's tent, so we're making our move now. Get going, Hanley." Ellis told the cadet, before shining his light on Whitehurst. "Whitehurst, you wouldn't know anything about a missing map, would you?"
"Uh…" Whitehurst was at a loss for words, so he ducked back into his tent. He was soon followed by Ellis, who ripped the flaps open, only to find they were the only two in there.
"Where the Hell is Barclay?"
When Whitehurst didn't answer immediately, he spoke louder.
"WHITEHURST, WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR BATTLE BUDDY?!"
"What's the problem?" Shelton asked, walking over to Ellis.
"Colonel Shelton, you'd better have a look at this."
"What is it, Ellis?"
"Barclay's gone AWOL, sir."
"That son of a bitch stole the map." Shelton realized. "That little fucking traitor is doubling for the reds!"
Andy finally found the red team's camp, and snuck into one of the tents that was supposed to have the little kid cadets in it. As he shone the light through, Andy saw that only one cadet was in there, while the other, presumably Tyler, wasn't.
"Hey, kid, where's Tyler?" Andy asked, shaking the kid awake.
"He went AWOL with some guy named Charles." the kid shrugged.
"Damn." Andy grit his teeth, and quickly left the tent. If Chucky had already beaten him to getting to Tyler… they could be anywhere.
The blue team continued marching through the woods, with De Silva noticing that Andy wasn't right next to Whitehurst.
"Where's Andy?" Kristen asked. "Whitehurst, where is he?"
"Platoon, halt!" Shelton ordered, and everyone stopped. "Alright, De Silva, you and your battle buddy take the right flank, Seagle, take the left. I want you guys calling in by radio every five minutes."
"Yes sir!"
De Silva and Ivers fell out of the platoon, while Shelton addressed everyone else.
"The rest of us are going to spread out and meet up with Ellis at Split Rock. Move out!"
The platoon scattered, though Whitehurst stood rooted in place for a second.
"Whitehurst, move!"
That was all the motivation the cadet needed to start walking again, despite having a knot forming in the pit of his stomach.
Tyler and Chucky walked through the woods together, with the cadet holding onto the doll.
"Thanks for coming after me." Tyler said happily.
"What're friends for?" Chucky snickered, but turned his head, hearing movement. Just several yards away was Andy, undoubtedly searching for them.
"Duck!"
Tyler crouched down, out of sight, and the two waited for Andy to leave the area. Once Barclay was out of their field of vision, Tyler spoke again.
"That was close!"
"Now, we can play hide the soul!" Chucky grinned maliciously.
"But I'm tired! I don't wanna play that stupid game anymore!" Tyler whined.
"You're a fucking drag, you know that?" Chucky seethed in anger.
"Hey, watch your mouth, Charles!"
"Stop calling me that!" Chucky finally snapped, and pulled Shelton's knife out of his shirt.
"What's the knife for?" Tyler asked, his eyes widening in fear.
"A good soldier is always prepared, Tyler." Chucky snickered.
"Barclay was right. You're not a good guy!" Tyler realized, his eyes showing the hurt and betrayal of his so called best friend.
"You got me kid. I'm bad to the bone!" Chucky shrugged. "Now, assume the position!"
Thinking quickly, Tyler took out Andy's pocket knife and flicked it open, wasting no time in stabbing Chucky in the chest. The doll screamed in anger and pain, as Tyler sprinted away from the murderous toy. Chucky was about to follow him, when he felt his wound, and looked at his hand to reveal his crimson blood.
"Sonuvabitch- get your fucking ass back here!" Chucky screamed shrilly.
"Barclay! Barclay!"
Andy whipped his head all around him, trying to pinpoint the origin of the voice.
"Tyler? Tyler!" Barclay called out desperately. "Where the Hell are you?"
Just then, Ellis and his squad came out of the bushes in front of Andy, while Shelton and his men came up from behind.
"Barclay, you fucking traitor." Brett seethed in rage, as Ellis put Barclay in a headlock. "GIVE ME MY FUCKING MAP!"
"Listen to me, Shelton-"
"You got any idea what we do to traitors, Barclay?" Shelton cut him off.
"Tyler's in trouble." Andy told the Lieutenant Colonel, before looking towards Whitehurst. "Come on, Whitehurst, back me up."
"What? What's he talking about?" Shelton got up in Whitehurst's face. "ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"
"The doll's alive!" Whitehurst blurted out. "I saw him kill Sergeant Botnick!"
"Oh Jesus." Shelton facepalmed himself. "Looks like we got a couple crazies in this platoon. Major Ellis, call in the flanks."
"Yes sir." Ellis let go of Andy as he grabbed his radio. "De Silva, Seagle, do you copy?"
"Seagle here. Copy."
"De Silva, Ivers do you copy?"
De Silva and Ivers walked through the woods, scouting the area, when their radio went off.
"De Silva, come in, dammit!"
"Shit, we'd better call it in." Ivers groaned. De Silva nodded, and pulled out her radio. Just as she was about to press the button, Chucky jumped down from a tree, ambushing De Silva and knocking her down.
"What the fuck?" Ivers screamed, but felt her hair get pulled from behind. Before she could realize what was happening, something was swiped across her neck, and blood began pouring everywhere.
"Sorry sweetie, guess you couldn't make the cut." Tiffany giggled, while licking the blood off her nail file. "You need a hand, Chucky?"
"Nah, I got it." Chucky snorted, placing his blade under De Silva's chin and forcing her to stop thrashing around. "Are you scared now, Kristen?"
"Seagle's coming back, but still no word from De Silva." Ellis reported to Shelton.
"Well, keep trying."
"Yes sir."
"HELP!"
The blue team all trained their weapons on the source of the voice, seeing Tyler come tearing through the woods.
"Help!"
"Tyler!" Andy shouted, quickly approaching the kid.
"Barclay!"
"Are you okay?"
"Well, looks like we got ourselves a little POW!" Shelton said cruelly, grabbing Tyler by the shoulders.
"Barclay, you were right! Charles is bad!" Tyler shouted, ignoring the fact that Shelton was lifting him off the ground. "He tried to hurt me!"
"Who the Hell is Charles?" Shelton asked, while Barclay was restrained by two other cadets. Before Andy could answer, they all heard the crackling of the radio.
"Come in, Barclay, come in."
"Who the Hell is that?" Shelton asked, letting go of Tyler.
"It's Charles!" Tyler exclaimed, running over and practically hugging Andy's knees. Shelton scoffed, and turned on the radio.
"Who is this?"
"Put Barclay on, jarhead."
"It's gotta be the reds, they're up to something." Ellis insisted, even though Andy was shaking his head in denial.
"What do you want?"
"I said, put Barclay on the fucking radio!"
"And if I don't?" Shelton challenged.
"I have a grenade right next to… De Silva, isn't it? And my finger's getting pretty tired."
"Shelton, please…" Andy begged. "Do what he says."
Reluctantly, Shelton handed Andy the radio, who wasted no time in pressing the button to speak.
"What do you want, Chucky?"
"I want the kid, Andy." Chucky's voice could be heard through the scratchy radio. "You bring him up to the old jeep, or there will be Hell to pay!"
"Andy, don't do it-" De Silva's voice could be heard speaking through the other end, but was quickly muffled.
"De Silva!" Andy shouted, his eyes widening in fear.
"Hear that, Barclay?"
"Don't you touch her, you son of a bitch!"
"You better bring the kid, or she'll be dead just like your Aunt Maggie!" Chucky cackled, keeping his hand on the grenade before switching the radio to a different channel.
"Red team, red team. Come in, red team!"
"This is the red team, over."
"We got a situation up here at the old jeep." Chucky announced. "Blue team sighted, advise you to move your troops in!"
Chucky shut off the radio, and turned to Tiffany, who was hidden amongst the trees with Scarface.
"Hope they like the taste of lead, Tiff." Chucky cackled. "Now just sit back, and watch the fireworks!"
Andy, Tyler, Shelton, Whitehurst, and the rest of the blue team ran through the forest, taking strategic positions behind trees and rocks.
"Alright, you two are going to go on up ahead to drop him out, and the rest of us will circle around." Shelton ordered Andy and Tyler.
"Shelton, this is no game!" Barclay insisted. "I'm telling you, this guy is dangerous! He's killed a lot of people-"
"Relax Barclay, it's only paint." Shelton rolled his eyes. "Alright, let's do this!"
The blue team scattered, leaving Andy and Tyler to walk straight ahead, towards Chucky and De Silva…
"I'm scared, Barclay." Tyler whimpered.
"Yeah, me too." Andy mumbled, but still found the strength to keep walking. What caught his eye, however, was the blonde haired woman, and the scarred doll standing next to Chucky.
"Who the Hell are you?" Andy asked, pointing an accusatory finger at the woman.
"Wouldn't you like to know." the woman giggled, while the scarred doll chuckled as well.
"Tiff, you should've waited by the trees." Chucky grumbled.
"And miss out on the action?" Tiffany mocked. "Not a chance, sweetface."
Chucky rolled his eyes, before addressing Andy and Tyler.
"Alright, kid, get over here!"
Tyler was about to walk forward, but Barclay put a protective arm around him.
"No!"
"Don't fucking test me Andy." Chucky growled, pulling the pin on the grenade he was holding. "I'll blow all of us to pieces!"
"And take you and Tyler down with us?" Andy reasoned.
"I'll come back. I always come back!" Chucky sneered.
"Barclay…" Tyler tugged on Andy's sleeve. "Let me go."
"But he'll take over your body-"
"I still have the knife." Tyler whispered, and began walking towards the doll and the blonde woman.
"Go on, beat it!" Chucky told De Silva, as she got up and walked towards Andy. She passed Tyler, who looked up at her for a second, but carried on towards the doll.
"That's the kid?" Tiffany asked, apparently not getting the idea until now. "I was hoping he'd be older…"
"You'll just have to wait a few years, no big deal." Chucky shrugged, before glaring at Tyler. "Now, just sit your ass down, and shut the fuck up!"
Just as Tyler crouched low, Shelton and the rest of the blue team emerged from their hiding places, getting into firing positions and shooting their paintballs rounds. Most of the shots hit the jeep, coating it in circles of blue paint, but some hit Chucky, and even struck Tiffany.
"Ow, Jesus!"
"De Silva, did he hurt you?" Andy asked Kristen, as they ducked low.
"No… thank you." Kristen half smiled, as the blue team kept firing.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Shelton yelled, getting up and approaching Barclay and De Silva.
"De Silva, where the Hell is everyone?"
Kristen didn't answer, as all three of them stared at the doll, who was indeed walking around and talking like a real person.
"Hi, soldier!" Chucky cackled, giving Shelton a mock salute before flipping him off.
"Well fuck me." Shelton snorted. "You were actually right, Barclay."
Just then, the red team emerged from the other side of the jeep and began firing their rifles. A loud boom echoed across the forest, as a bullet tore through Shelton's chest. Andy's eyes widened with horror, and he grabbed De Silva and pulled them both to the ground. In the ensuing chaos, Chucky and Tiffany were laughing like madmen, while Tyler scrambled away.
"They're using live rounds!" Ellis realized, while Whitehurst covered his ears.
After firing his first shot, Rawlings' eyes widened, realizing he just killed Shelton.
"Everybody, stop!" Rawlings shouted. "Hold your fire! We're using live rounds!"
The red team stopped firing, and Ellis ran out to check on Shelton.
"Oh God he's not breathing!" Ellis turned to Barclay as he and De Silva stood up. "Did you do this?"
"Me?" Andy asked, seemingly in disbelief.
"You sick son of a bitch!"
Ellis tackled Andy to the ground, and began punching the cadet, while De Silva desperately tried to get the major off of him.
"I didn't do anything!" Andy desperately said, performing a maneuver by lifting up his hips and throwing Ellis off him, before grabbing the Major by the collar and preparing to throw a punch.
"Sayonara, suckers!"
As Tiffany and Scarface crawled away to safety, Chucky tossed the grenade in the air, and Whitehurst watched as the deadly projectile landed right next to Ellis, De Silva, and Barclay. In that moment, he decided he would no longer cower from what was right in front of him, and die saving his friends.
"Get out of the way!" Whitehurst yelled, pushing Barclay and De Silva to the ground, as he belly flopped onto the grenade. Seconds later, the frag exploded, blowing a hole through Whitehurst's entire body, and throwing everyone in different directions.
Andy was the first to get up, and he tried shaking the body of his room mate and friend.
"Oh my God, Whitehurst!"
His body wasn't moving.
"Rawlings, what happened?!" Ellis asked, shaking the red team commander's shoulders. "Who fired the rifle!"
"I don't know!" Rawlings denied, not willing to own up to the fact he just killed Shelton.
"Alright, alright, get Clark on the radio, we need a medic!"
"Yes sir!"
Andy stood up, seeing Chucky's legs retreat under the jeep. Upon staring more forward, he noticed Tyler running away from the scene. Barclay's hands clenched into fists, and his eyes hardened. Chucky needed to be stopped… for good this time.
Barclay broke into a run, following Tyler, with De Silva not far behind. While the two ran through the woods, they could vaguely hear Ellis shouting, "Someone get me that radio!"