5: Exercise
George didn't manage to find any equipment but Ralph hit a goldmine; two boxes of extra ammunition and a rifle, while Letty had managed to find a set of two-way radios. George helped him carry it all back to the building where Katie and Kimberley were.
"Excellent," Katie said, examining the rifle. "It'll be nice to have something a bit more accurate."
"There's plenty of ammunition for it," Ralph said, unhooking his pack from his back and opening it.
Their attention was caught by a squeal of triumph coming from Kimberley, who was settled in the corner of the room with her netbook.
"The cameras are all interconnected over a wireless system. Obviously the security on it is rock-solid, but CHERUB's technology can crack it," she explained. "Given about ten minutes I will probably be able to monitor every camera in the compound."
George broke into a huge smile. "That's gonna give us a massive advantage."
Katie thought quickly. "Alright, well this is obviously too valuable to lose, so new plan. Who here is the best shot with a rifle?"
There was a period of silence while everyone waited for someone else to speak. Eventually Kimberley spoke up.
"I scored seventy-six percent on my accuracy rating during basic?" she ventured.
"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten all about that," Letty gasped. "I think I got eighty."
"I'm pretty sure I got ninety-something," George started, but Letty grinned at him.
"Nope, you got sixty-two, I can remember you whining about it all the next day," Letty replied. "You're definitely the worst shot here."
"Ralph?" Katie asked.
"I got ninety-two," he replied, looking a little embarrassed, although it was hard to tell with the helmet covering his face.
"Ninety-two is good enough for me," Katie said, handing him the rifle. "Kimberley, you take the netbook to the top of this building. It's about as well-protected as anywhere and it's not very conspicuous. We've got radios now, so you use that to let us know where the opposing teams are. Ralph, you go up to the roof or find a good window to shoot out of. You're going to cover the building in case it's attacked, but only in an emergency. I'd rather you two sit out the game quietly if possible."
Ralph looked a little put-out that he was going to miss the action, but he picked up the rifle and nodded.
"Finally, Letty, George, you two are coming with me. We'll take most of the ammo and stuff, and we're gonna go and try to find better equipment lying around. Kimberley, you'll keep us away from other teams, and come the morning, we'll use the cameras to home in on whoever has the most flags and steal them."
Everyone seemed okay with the plan, so once they'd all fitted and checked their radios were working, the three of them headed out of the building, staying low in case anyone was watching them.
"We'll ignore the nearby buildings for now and try to find stuff further away, which should deflect suspicion about where the other two are," Katie explained as they half-ran, half-crawled through an overgrown alleyway. "Someone might come to explore our drop point, but they'll assume we've had the best of the equipment and aren't likely to poke around too much."
It was still the summer, so the evenings were quite long and it took a while for the sun to head for the horizon. They didn't have night-vision scopes or anything, although their scavenging had come across plenty of extra ammunition for the handguns and some other mostly useless gadgets, like silencers for the guns and smoke grenades.
"Kimberley, any sign of the other teams?" Katie asked in a low voice as they scanned the area from the upper window of a building, making the most of the last half an hour of light.
"Not near you," Kimberley replied, her voice distorted slightly by the radio. "I've double-checked the cameras against a digital map of the area and identified a few blind spots, so I'll keep you clear of them in case anyone's hiding out."
"Good work," Katie said. "Let us know if anything's coming."
They headed out onto a broad avenue, keeping to the edges and ducking behind parked cars when they could. The metalwork of the cars was buckled from the impact of endless paintballs and simulated ammunition, but all of the engines were gone and most of the interiors were torn up, so there was no chance of getting them to move.
They were progressing towards the end of the avenue, where there were a row of buildings that looked like shops, when Kimberley interrupted their thoughts.
"Yellow team just ahead of you in a building with a load of pink paint on it, looks like two of them. Sorry I didn't tell you before, they were in a blind spot," Kimberley said, her tone tense.
"Just stick to the details," Katie reminded her, tightening her grip on the gun. "Any weapons?"
"Only handguns that I can see."
Katie turned to George and Letty. "Thoughts? I say we attack, since we outnumber them."
"Me too," George said, and Letty just nodded.
"Kimberley, anyone else in the area?"
"Nobody on the cameras, although I can't check the blind spot. The other three members of the yellow team are about five minutes away."
"No rescue party," Katie said, motioning for George and Letty to follow her. The building was just around the corner, and in the half-light George could make out a couple of shapes moving around inside.
"George, cover the windows. Letty, in through the door. I'll cover the back. Shoot for the chest or head, and if they surrender, make sure they can't use their weapons again. Count to five then go," Katie said quickly, before ducking down and sprinting across the road, disappearing behind the buildings opposite. George counted to five under his breath before following suit, waiting under the window for a moment before popping up and firing two quick shots into the figures inside. He head a satisfying groan of pain and a wild shot aimed in his direction, but he ducked down before they could get more accurate. He heard Letty fire and jumped up again, this time taking a better-aimed shot and hitting one of the figures in the back. Letty fired but seemed to miss, and since she was an easier target than George, the two figures started blasting away at her. George heard her grunt when a couple of rounds hit her, but it wasn't light enough to see what was going on. He tried another pair of accurate shots, but the yellow team knew where he was and were taking cover behind some metal tables. George headed into the entrance and almost ran straight into Letty, who was waiting behind the door frame, clutching her side.
George didn't waste time talking, but the moment he got close to the doorway, two shots thudded into the wall next to him and he decided he wasn't going to get anywhere. Before he could make up his mind what to do, there was another outbreak of fire from the back of the building. He made the same decision as Letty and headed out, assuming Katie was involved.
Their team leader was crouching behind a parked car, wincing every time a simulated round hit the metalwork. George and joined her, keeping low, while she covered the back of the building where the two yellow team members were pinned down.
"George, throw a smoke grenade behind us and then we'll run for it," Katie said urgently. "We'll never get out of here with the flag otherwise. How they hell did they get here so fast?"
George pulled out the pin of a grenade and flung it over the car, avoiding the hail of fire that came in reply. The moment it burst, the three of them jumped up and sprinted away, heading towards the centre of the compound.
"... you're in the blind spot," Kimberley said urgently, her voice drowned out by shots. "I can't see you."
"We're heading roughly east," Katie replied, slowing down and keeping low as they cut between two buildings.
"I'll let you know when I can see something. Two people are heading your way, but the others are moving away," Kimberley informed them.
"Roger," Katie said, poking her head around the corner and taking a look. It was too dark to make anything out and the compound wasn't lit. George couldn't see more than twenty yards ahead of him, and he realised that being out in the open was just begging to be shot at.
"We've gotta move," he said, getting anxious.
Katie nodded. "Follow me."
No sooner had she taken a few steps back onto the main road when shots began hitting the road just in front of them. Scared, George just sprinted as fast as he could away, vaguely following Katie. He was hit by a couple of ricochets which hardly hurt, but one lucky shot smacked him in the arm and sent a sharp pain through his shoulder. He kept his balance, but two more shots thudded into Katie and she tripped, skidding across the road. George turned and returned some blind shots, hoping to deter whoever was following them, but more accurate fire followed and he took a shot in the chest, knocking him backwards. Letty grabbed his arm and dragged him into a nearby building.
"God's sake, those rounds hurt so much," George complained, massaging his arm and trying to ignore the pain in his ribs.
"I got two at close range earlier," Letty said, pointing to her side, but George could hardly see in the dark. "Anyway, we've gotta rescue Katie."
George nodded, reloading his gun but keeping the old clip because it had a few rounds left. "But how?"
Letty was by the window, squinting out. "I'm pretty sure they've got hold of her, which means they'll take our flag. Best option is to follow them."
"How are we meant to follow them in this darkness?" George asked, wishing he was at home in bed.
"Kimberley, can you find them?" Letty asked over the radio, keeping her voice low.
"Yeah. They're heading south from your position. They've got Katie and they've disarmed her, but I assume they're waiting to get to a safe location before searching for the flag," Kimberley told them.
"Can you guide us to them? We need to get her back."
"Okay. Go out of the front of your building and take two lefts. There's no-one else around so you can just run. Then, second right."
"Thanks," Letty said, stepping out of the building and following Kimberley's directions with George right behind her.
The rules said that you weren't allowed to shoot at point-blank range, so Katie was struggling and making life difficult for her captors. Kimberley kept guiding them in, but she let out a gasp suddenly, making George jump.
"They've pulled her into a four-storey building on the left, but one of them gave her a couple of punches in the leg with the grip of his gun," Kimberley said carefully. "I don't think she can walk now, so they're carrying her between the two of them."
"Perfect," Letty said, breaking into a run. They found the right door and followed Kimberley's instructions, moving silently.
"George, you storm in. I'll cover you," Letty said, giving him a push before he could respond. He rolled into the room and began shooting at the vague shapes outlined against the windows, not really scoring any hits but spreading plenty of confusion. Letty was a better shot and once she was in the room, their two attackers each got four hits in the chest. They crashed to the floor and George rushed one of them, kicking them somewhere before kneeling on their chest and firing into the ground next to their head.
"Drop the gun, lose the pack," he barked, trying not to lose concentration as Letty tussled with the other. He grabbed the gun he was handed and dropped the clip out of it, then grabbed the pack and threw it into the corner of the room. Letty had won the battle, but she had smacked her opponent's head onto the concrete wall and he didn't seem to be moving.
George couldn't do much except keep his gun pressed against the person lying underneath him, but Letty grabbed something and handed it to him.
"On your helmet," she said, and George worked out that it was an attachment for the visor. Once fitted, he flicked the switch and blinked as everything lit up in blue and red.
"Infrared, excellent," he grinned, finally able to see what he was doing.
"Careful, it's only really useful for seeing people, not solid objects like walls," Letty warned, but George had been at the same lecture during basic training. He rifled through the pack he'd been given, pocketing all of the ammunition he found, but he was disappointed not to get a flag.
"No flag in here either," Letty said, handing George a spare handgun. "Let's get Katie and go."
George had almost forgotten about Katie, who was sat up against a wall. Letty returned her gun and she struggled to her feet, keeping her weight off her right leg. She grabbed the only one of her captors who was still conscious by the neck and slammed his helmet against the floor.
"Say something," she snarled nastily, squeezing his neck more tightly.
"Uh, I…"
"Ah, it was you who hit me," Katie said, getting hold of the collar of his suit and dragging him over to the door. "Kimberley, where's the nearest blind spot?"
There were a couple of seconds' pause before she replied. "Behind the building you're in, about one hundred yards down the street, should be an alleyway or something."
"Let's go, I've got an appointment with this guy."
George and Letty kept look-out on either end of the alleyway, each now equipped with infrared vision they'd looted. A minute of playing with it allowed George to find a setting which seemed to blend infrared and his actual vision, meaning that everything was pretty much black except for a limited number of red areas. It was better than his normal vision, though.
He tried not to listen to what was going on behind him.
"Hit me in the leg, huh? I hope you know you messed with the wrong girl," Katie said sweetly, an edge in her voice that made George uncomfortable. There were two loud bangs and then a helmet rolled down the alley towards George. He ignored it, as well as the moans of pain that started behind him. He was about to turn around and say something when Katie stepped back and fired a full clip of twelve rounds into their helpless opponent, followed by two revenge smacks with the gun.
"Better move quickly," Katie said, picking up the spare helmet and throwing it through an open doorway. "I wanna be out of here as soon as possible."
Letty followed them and George thought he could hear her sobbing a bit, but he wasn't sure whether it was that or just her breathing heavily. He didn't want to think about the state of the guy in the alley, especially if it was someone he knew.
"I don't know about you two, but I'd be happy enough to just hide out somewhere until it gets light," Katie said, still limping on her damaged leg, "unless you want to try and use that infrared."
"No, it's not that useful," Letty replied, sounding surprisingly calm. She used her free hand to support Katie's weak side. "I'd rather go on the offensive during the day."
"Kimberley? Can you find us a fairly defendable building somewhere?" Katie asked, grunting as her foot caught the edge of the kerb and almost made her trip.
"No problem… you're nearly at the edge of the compound here, so carry on straight ahead and I'll see what I can find."