6: Attack
George had no idea what time it was or how long it was until it got light, but he spent the spare time sorting through all the equipment they had while Katie tried to massage some feeling into her leg and Letty kept look-out.
"Apparently it'll start getting light at about four in the morning," Katie told him, dividing the ammunition into three piles. "The moment we can see where we're going, we'll get Kimberley to find the remaining flags and storm the place. Worst case, we lose our flag, never mind, but we'll lose for certain if we just hide," she explained. "Hopefully we'll grab a couple of flags and pull off a late win."
"I suppose having access to the cameras is our secret weapon," George replied. "Even if they move to a new location or even if they're moving around, we should be able to home in."
"Exactly. It's not much of an advantage, but it's better than nothing, and we're more likely to get credit for trying."
When they'd been moving around in the dark, the adrenaline had kept George going, but now he was just sat still with nothing but his thoughts, he could feel himself slowly falling asleep. He wanted to tell Katie, but she was having a conversation with Kimberley, so he took his radio earpiece out and lay on the concrete floor, using his pack as a pillow. It didn't take long to fall asleep, but his sleep was constantly interrupted by weird dreams and the sound of gunfire.
"Come on sleepy, we're going in a minute," Letty said, nudging him awake. "It's just getting light, so we've got about four hours to go."
George was groggy but he felt a bit better, so he pulled his pack onto his back and followed Letty down the stairs, glad that when he looked outside he could make out vague outlines instead of complete darkness like before. The only downside was that it had started raining during the night.
"Kimberley's been keeping track of all the movement last night and the situation seems to be that the red team have two flags, the yellow team have one and the green team have none," Katie said as they jogged gently along a street laid out like a suburban area with curves and widely spaced houses, the pain pelting down onto their padded suits. "We'll track down the red team and since we know exactly who's carrying the flags, focus on getting hold of them."
"What's the plan after that?" George asked, occasionally peering through the window of a house to see if there was any equipment.
"Head back to where Kimberley and Ralph are and then hold on as long as possible," Katie shrugged. "The good news is that the other teams are unlikely to know where each flag is, so the red team will want to get one more to secure victory. Hopefully we can pick off a couple of members before heading for wherever they're hiding."
With the light slowly returning, there was more gunfire sounding around the compound, which suggested that the teams were finding each other again. A fierce exchange somewhere in the west worried Katie, since it was over where Kimberley was, but Kimberley checked in and said it was just the yellow and green teams scrapping over the single flag they had.
"Okay, you're about one hundred yards away from the building. There's someone posted on the ground floor, then two on the top floor," Kimberley said as they approached the red team's base. "There's only a single staircase leading to the top floor, so it might not be possible to rush it."
Katie thought for a moment. "Well, the best thing to do is, Letty, climb up to the top floor of the building opposite and take the rest of the smoke grenades. If you can, get a smoke grenade through the window and then just fire at them, doesn't really matter if you hit anything. George and I will overwhelm the one downstairs then try and get upstairs in time to get hold of both flags."
"Isn't it odd that they kept their flags together? It's safer to spread them out," Letty said, eyeing up the building opposite to see if it was possible to throw a grenade from one to the other.
"Maybe they went for safety in numbers, or they've got an escape plan. Either way, we don't have much choice," Katie said. "We'll hide down here and we'll make our move as soon as you signal us."
Letty went in through the back door of the building while George and Katie crept around the side, keeping hidden behind a low wall. George checked his gun was fully loaded for the ninetieth time, then stared up at the grey sky, letting the rain hit his visor.
George had no idea what the signal was going to be, but something set Katie off and she began sprinting towards the building. George followed, but even with an injured leg, Katie covered the ground in less than half the time it took George. He could see how she'd won her trophies.
When he arrived, Katie had shot up the person on the ground floor, but was grabbing her shoulder. George made sure their opponent's gun was useless before heading for the stairs.
"You go first, in case you get hit, then I can probably climb over you," Katie said, stepping aside as he climbed the flight. "When you get to the top, just fire blindly. I'll come in behind you and do the accurate stuff."
George nodded and sprinted up the last flight, popping up into a haze of smoke, courtesy of Letty. Her shots had alerted the red team to an attack, but they couldn't see anything. George did his best to hit anything that moved and clear way for Katie, but as he turned to try and get closer to a window, a shot smacked into his visor, knocking him off his feet and totally obscuring his vision. He was seeing stars and couldn't even locate where his gun had gone, let alone what else was going on. The next thing he knew, Katie was shaking his shoulder and twisting off the buckled plastic visor.
"You feeling alright?" she asked, pushing the plastic straw from his water bottle between his teeth. "Drink something."
He was still dazed but he felt well enough to get to his feet and look around. The room reeked of smoke, but the only thing in it was a red team member looking as dazed as he felt.
"What happened?" he asked, looking around for his gun, which Katie was holding.
"Letty was right, there was an escape plan. There's a balcony on the far side and a ladder to the roof. I managed to stop one of them, but her pack and her friend disappeared and by the time I worked it out, they were long gone with both flags," Katie explained to him, making sure he drank more water. "If it makes you feel better, you're not the only one who got hit in the face."
George spotted the red team girl's visor lying on the floor, looking as wrecked as his own. "Well, it seemed like an accident when I got hit."
"Yeah, I don't know who hit her either," Katie said. "Either me or Letty. Her friend had the presence of mind to grab her pack once she went down.
"Anyway, Letty and I had better get going. Since your visor's history, you're out of the game, so just sit tight up here and if anyone comes in, surrender straight away. I've taken everything from your pack, and keep drinking," Katie said, patting him on the shoulder. "See you later."
George felt a bit abandoned as the black-shirt disappeared down the stairs, but it was for the best. Once he'd regained his senses enough to move, he went over to help the red team girl, who rewarded him by being sick all over the floor.
"Here, drink something," he said, giving her the plastic straw from his own pack. "You'll feel better."
While she drank, he unpeeled his protective suit and stepped out of it. It was strictly against the rules to do it, but he was sweltering inside it and since he was defenceless anyway, it hardly made a difference. When he searched his pack, he discovered that Katie had left him her own water bottle, which he used now that the other girl had his.
"How many flags does your team have?" she asked, blinking hard and trying not to move her head.
"Just one," George shrugged. "We've not really been that successful."
"We had two," she replied, "but I don't know if we still do."
"I'm George, by the way," George said, sitting next to her and avoiding the puddle of sick.
"Poppy. I'm sorry if it was me who hit you, by the way."
"It's okay, it could have been me who hit you," George grinned. "Bit of an accident with all of the smoke."
"Should have seen my face when the smoke grenade landed in here," Poppy said, taking a long drink. "Practically jumped out of my skin."
"Do you know how long we've got left?" George asked, taking the opportunity to inspect some of his worse bruising. "I just want to go to sleep now."
Poppy rolled up her padded sleeve and looked at a digital watch. "About an hour. I think you attacked us just after five, so we've been out for two hours or so."
"The simulated ammunition is nasty," George shrugged. "I don't wanna repeat this experience."
"Me neither."
When it became obvious that nobody was coming back for them, George contacted Kimberley for a situation report.
"Katie and Letty had a shootout with some green team people, but they seem to be low on ammunition now so they're searching for more. The green team managed to get their flag back from the yellow team, but the reds are still winning."
George passed this on to Poppy who smiled a bit, but still looked ill. He explained about the radios and the cameras and she seemed impressed.
"I wish we'd thought of that. I had to sit here all night, terrified of being attacked," she said. "But knowing Kimberley, just having her on your team is a huge advantage."
"You know Kimberley?" George asked.
"Yeah, I did basic training with her," Poppy replied. "She's so smart. Did you know she already does A-Level physics?"
"I knew she was smart, but that's just scary," George grinned. "I'm going to ask to be on her team next time, too."
When the siren went to signal the end of the game, the rain still hadn't let up, so they both got soaked on their way to the pick-up point.
"I'm gonna sleep for a whole day after this," Poppy said, carrying her ruined helmet. "I'm so tired."
"I could go for a hot shower first," George replied, before waving goodbye as they split back into their teams.
"How're you feeling?" Katie asked when he arrived, handing him a bottle of water.
"Better," George said, downing half of the bottle. "My head and neck ache still, but the wooziness wore off."
"That's good. When you get back, go to the nurse and get checked for a concussion," Katie said, giving him an encouraging smile.
"How'd the end of the game go?" George asked Kimberley.
She smiled and looked excited. "Some yellow team members attacked us right at the end, but Ralph managed to fight them off for long enough. Otherwise, the red team won in the end, but we didn't lose our flag all the way through."
George nodded. "I'm just glad it's over, actually."
Kazakov, looking fresh from a night's sleep, stood next to the bus, cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled until everyone was paying attention.
"Good work everyone. As some of you already know, the red team won, followed by a tie for second between blue and green, with the yellows taking last place. For those members of the yellow team who have not suffered enough, you'll be enjoying a run back to campus with me, while everyone else can get into the minibus."
George was relieved they'd avoided the run, but when they were all back in the minibus, he realised there were only three yellow team members left outside to do the run.
"Apparently the other two got injured somehow," Michael said, taking a seat next to George. "That ammunition is serious stuff, so I'm not surprised. One of ours copped a hit in the back of the neck and got carted off after an hour or so."
George felt guilty about the yellow team but he didn't say anything all the way back to campus. He worried whether he was going to get into trouble, and when the minibus arrived back on campus, a welcoming committee of Zara, a grey-haired man George didn't know and Instructor Pike was waiting. Before anyone could get off, Zara got on and pointed at Katie.
"Come with us please," she said in a tone so icy that everyone on the bus sat exactly still and didn't dare to breathe. Katie got up and followed Zara off the bus, where she was escorted straight to the main building with the entire bus watching.