*Kate P.O.V*

The whole train erupts laughing. I laugh nervously, seeing as I almost witnessed a murder a couple of seconds ago. Blaze makes his way towards our group with a smug smile on his face. He's laughing too.
''You could have hurt him.'' I say softly.

''I knew what was in the gun, I'm not dumb.'' he responds quietly.

''Fine, but don't do it again, you scared the shit out of me.''
''If I scared you, imagine how much I scared him.''

''Why did you do that anyway?'' he looks at me as if I'm the dumb one and says, ''Well, he insulted you. Nobody talks to you like that. No. One. Don't take shit from anyone, ok?'' I nod, and he loses the serious expression.

''OFF THE TRAIN'' Melanie yells. I get up and feel someone's hands push into my back and I stumble forward. Why do people keep trying to push me off moving vehicules? It gets annoying after a while.

I'm airborne for an instant, and then I make contact with the unyielding ground. I land on my let arm and feel pain shoot up until my socket. My shrill screams pierce the air before I clump my mouth shut. No weakness. Don't give them the satisfaction. No weakness. No weakness.

Blaze jumps out and runs to me. Charlotte and James follow. Since when do Blaze and Charlotte have twins? There are two, no four people looking down at me. They're trying to ask me something, but I only smile. Two Blazes? I'm fine with that. Black encompasses my vision and the last thing i see are stars.

-PAGE BREAK-

I awake to cold water hitting my face.

''WHAT THE HELL?'' I yell.

''Oh good, she's awake. Will, how's her arm?'' asks Charlotte, holding an empty glass.

''Is this payback for this morning Char? Because you're in deep shit if it is.'' I say.

''You've been unonscious for 15 minutes. Will thinks your arm is sprained.'' I try to sit up and pain stabs a bit at my arm. I get up and people look at me with unhidden disbelief.

''What? I've had worse.'' I say. It really isn't that bad, the pain. It'll go away in a couple of hours.

Blaze smiles and whispers in my ear, ''That's my girl. Tough as nails.'' I feel a surge of heat come up in my cheeks and smile shyly.

I remember why my arm is currently out of function and I feel a surge of hate come up. I hate being the weak one.

''WHO PUSHED ME OUT? I'LL HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TO THEM DURING TRAINING, THAT'S FOR SURE.'' I yell, challenging my agressor.

Blaze's face becomes grim as he informs me that Jace pushed me out. I can't believe it. I look around, and see that his face is red and that his nose is bent at a weird angle.
Almost instinctively, I look down at Blaze's knuckles and to my surprise, see that they're clean. Who punched Jace?

''Ok guys, who did the dirty work for me?'' I ask.

''Your boyfriend did it.'' Angie says.

''Blaze's knuckles are clean, you idiot.'' I respond.

''Not that boyfriend, the other one, slut.'' I feel Blaze puff up behind me, but I don't mind Angie saying stupidities, I'm too intrigued in my miraculous puncher.
Then, I understand. Lola and Angie are friends. Lola thinks I'm going out with Will. She must have told Angie.

I whip around and see that Will's knuckles are red. He's got to let me solve my own problems.

I don't need protecting.

''OK initiates, we're playing capture the flag.'' As soon as those words are out of his mouth, I start to scan my surroundings, looking for a hiding place. I only see tall, disheveled buildings around me, with narrow streets and passages. This game will be long, I can feel it.

''You all have guns and ammo. Mel and I will be making the teams. The paintballs aren't quite like getting shot with a real gun, but they get damn close to it. No face aiming, got it? Melanie, choose first.''

''I want Jace.''

''Kate.'' Of course. Will picks me.

''Charlotte.''

''Skylar.'' She's fine. I can get along with her.
''Blaze.'' Will never would have picked him, not even under torture. I'm not too disappointed. Who would want to listen to their bickering anyway?

''Sasha.''
The picking goes on, and I await to see my team form. In the end, I'm with Skye, Sasha, Leah, James, Angie, Jake, Ashton and Willow.

''May the best team win.'' Melanie says, before running in the opposite direction with her team. Her flag is a shiny blue. Ours is orange.

''What happens if we win?'' James asks.

''You just win. You get to say you're better than the others, more superior. It's fun, you'll see. Drives some people nuts.''

''Where should we hide our flag?'' I ask.

''Over there.'' Ashton points to the tallest building. It's easily 37 floors tall.

''That's too predictable,'' Skye argues. ''We should scout the backstreets and put it in an unimaginable place.''
She has a point.

''We vote on it. Who wants Skye's idea?'' 6 of the 9 people in our group lifts their hands. Will is one of the disagreers. ''Skye's it is.'' I say. ''Let's split up into groups of three.'' Will starts. It's the first time I've heard him speak since the beginning. ''Group One, Sasha, Leah and Ashton, you hide the flag. I want James, Angie and Jake to follow them from afar. Kate, Skye and I will ambush the others. James, I want you to give Kate your sniper gun. Got it?'' Everyone nods and runs off. James hands me his gun and I give him one of mine.

Will leads us towards a small building where a whole face is falling.
''Melanie likes the tall buildings. She likes the vantage point the highness provides. If we scout from a small building, we'll be able to see both where she hides her flag and the route she takes.'' He explains.

''Kate, you're a good shot. If you get them, we can follow. From what I've heard, Skye, you've got photographic memory. I'll need you to remember their route so that we can track them. Everyone good?'' Will's all business. I've never seen him so adamant about something before. It's kinda cute.

I locate the entrance to the building and we hurry up the stairs. When, we're up to the fifteenth floor, I start to notice that this isn't such a small building. Two floors later, we're on the roof. Will kicks the door, hard, and it opens. Rust falls around us as we walk into the cool night air.

I position my gun on the edge of the roof as Will looks away with binoculars. He whoops happily as he sees a huddle of people approaching a ruined 33 story high building.

''If they keep moving at that pace, they'll be there in fifteen minutes.'' Will says. ''Skye, got the route down?''
''Yeah. We could shortcut through those back alleys.'' she responds.

''Kate, do your thing. You've got a couple of quick shots until they notice us. Be quick.'' Will instructs.

I nod and position myself. I see Lola's blond hair through my scope, and next to her, Jace. Which one should I shoot first? I'm battling it out until Will tells me to hurry the hell up. I decide Jace, then Lola, then Melanie, if I still have time.
I aim for Jace's back, then decide against it. I want a headshot. Payback, right?
I breathe in sharply, steady my shot and shoot a bright pink bullet onto the back of Jace's head. He jumps around, yelling and I shoot Lola's back with a green bullet. She cries out and turns around too. They start to run as I get Melanie's shooting arm with an electric blue pellet. It feels so good!

I laugh, and Will joins in. Skye just scowls, then a grin spreads across her face.
''Nice shot Kate! Leave the gun, it'll slow us down.'' Will congratulates me. He never does that. Warmth spreads through my chest and I can't really explain the feeling. It's not like when Blaze kisses me. It's deeper than that. It's... nicer.

We sprint down the stairs and let Skye guide us through the alleys of the concrete desert. Parts of walls fall off while we run, and I almost get hit twice. I'm having the time of my life.

We arrive at the building and see, through the broken walls, the other team running up the stairs to the top. Will loads and cocks his gun, his red fringe shaking, and says, ''Let's do this.'' We load our guns and open the door.