Ha Eun went down the side of the green hill ,looking at the players from the yellow team with eagle eyes. She stopped and stood for a moment ,inspecting the team, before she made her move. Six of them had run down their small hill spreading out like geese in the winter.
Two of them ran towards the red team, two of them towards the orange team and two of them were headed straight for her. On the sideline, ten meters away, two administrators with aviator glasses were watching the game with amusement.
"How much do you want to bet that that black haired girl is going to get tagged in the free for all?" The one on the right asked.
"Hmm? What do you want to bet?"
"This week's lunch.."
"Ah… I should've known you'd say that. I hope that girl runs for her life."
Gritting her teeth Ha Eun slowly made her way to the free for all zone. She was seven meters away from the free for all zone. Her chest constricted, she was nervous.
The two opponents headed for Ha Eun were average sized girls. One of them had pig-tails and the other had a ponytail. Their hair bobbed in the "wind".
'Too bad they're wasting all of their energy running when they could have just walked. No one would be able to tag them from where they are, no matter how fast they run.'
Ha Eun had finally made it to the line that separated the free for all zone from her territory. She stood, daring the two to approach her.
They stopped running and stood in front of Ha Eun. None could tag the other from the way they were positioned.
One of them bent down and put their hands on their knees gasping for air while the other tried her best to suppress the fatigue she felt. They were incredibly out of shape.
"Why don't you step outside with us?" The girl with the pony-tail asked.
She was the one who was trying her best to hide how tired she was.
"Sure. I'll join you."
Ha Eun ran sideways, catching the two girls off guard.
"Oh, the black head girl is fast, you might not win this bet Trasque."
"Damn! Please tag her! I'll give you an extra snack!"
The two girls ignored his cry for help and focused on Ha Eun. Still running she crossed the line and entered the free for all zone. Ha Eun then made a beeline towards the yellow team's hill with a quarter of her speed.
The girls hesitated. They were now free to enter the green team's territory without worrying about getting tagged right off the bat but then they would let one of their members go.
The girl with the pigtails ran after Ha Eun while the other crossed into the green team's territory. The pig tail girl caught up to Ha Eun with a breeze.
She was an arm's reach away from Ha Eun. Suddenly Ha Eun turned around swiftly and tagged the girl on her chest. The sudden pressure made the girl stumble and she fell on the artificial grass. Her legs were pricked and she felt the need to scratch her behind.
"Lyla Rennings, you are now subjected to jail", Trasque, the man who made the cry for help earlier, walked towards Lyla.
He walked over to her and offered his hand. Lyla hesitantly grabbed onto the firm piece of bone and flesh and was lifted up gently.
"Follow me, your time in jail awaits you."
Jail, apparently, was just standing on the sidelines with the administrators, it was a sad discovery.
Ha Eun stopped running, taking deep breaths to stabilize her breathing. She was out of shape too but her speed could compensate for that.
O o o o O
Meanwhile, Marcus and Johnathan were on a battlefield. It was utter chaos. Two boys from the yellow team were going on a rampage. They had tagged four people, two from the orange team and two from the red team in a matter of seconds. It seemed they were going towards the orange team as well.
"Should we go tag the two from the yellow team? They seem like a threat." Johnathan questioned.
"Um, no. I don't want to risk us getting tagged. Let's just head towards the orange team like we planned and try and run as fast as we can once we get in their, uh, whatever you call it."
"Territory?"
"Yeah, that."
They walked another twenty meters and just as they got past the minor crowd one member of the red team had broken out of the chase. She spotted both Marcus and Johnathan and a glint festered in her eyes.
She was running at a slow pace previously before but now she ran faster. She had spotted her prey!
Marcus began to panic, he was closest to the girl and he felt like he would definitely get tagged.
Jonathan who was behind Marcus pushed Marcus aside making him yelp and leaned over him. He tagged the girl with a light touch and the girl stopped her pursuit. Before she even had a chance the tall boy had tagged her. How could this have happened? She had bragged to her team earlier that she was a fast runner, and indeed she was, but her reflexes were slower than her speed.
"Lily Zimmer, come with me, you're going to jail," an administrator with aviator glasses and a logo on the front of his hat stated.
Lily reluctantly followed the administrator and Marcus sighed in relief.
"Thanks Johnny! If it weren't for you I would've been out already."
Jonathan scratched the back of his head and looked away from Marcus.
"No problem."
The two boys from the yellow team were behind them now and Marcus kept glancing back to make sure they weren't in arms reach. They were not, so they continued speed walking.
After the sixty meter mark they stopped where they were for their legs were burning and they looked up at the orange team. Aside from their hill, the orange team's hill was just as large as theirs but smaller.
Marcus sighed.
"Let's walk up the hill slowly, maybe they won't come after us until we get up there."
From Marcus' point of view he couldn't see where the opposite team members were stationed and anxiety filled Marcus' heart.
Both Johnathan and he have walked so far, he didn't want their trials to be for nothing.
They slowly made their way up the hill. Marcus' calves were burning and he wanted to give up right then but then he saw it. The red flag, albeit guarded by three people.
"Okay, erm… I'm not too sure what to do but um. Actually, you stay here, you're too tall, they'll get you easily. I'll go up there and get the flag then I'll toss it in your direction and run as fast as you can back to our territory."
"What about you?"
"I'll be fine," Marcus said with a smile.
Johnathan looked behind him.
"Tch. Whatever."
'So manly,' he thought.
Marcus walked the rest of the distance up the hill and he finally made it at the top. Noticing his presence, two of the three ran towards him with quickness.
'Damn, I may have bit off more than I could chew.'
As soon as they were six feet in front of him Marcus ran towards them. Surprised, they halted, and gave Marcus enough time to run towards the left of them.
It took the two a moment to realize that they were fooled and they turned around to follow him. Marcus didn't look behind him and aimed for the flag. The guard standing in front of it was a meek looking girl. Marcus didn't underestimate her though.
He was right in his decision making, for as soon as he was within arms reach of the flag, the girl completely changed her tactic and became ferocious. She reached for his waist and he swiveled to avoid the attack while at the same time he grabbed the flag off of the ground and circled back, this time running to the right.
He was breathing hard and his legs were getting ready to give out but he ignored his dilemma and he began balling up the flag. Once he was at the edge of the hill he threw the flag at Johnathan and Johnathan turned around and ran towards their base.
Marcus gave a breath of relief and ran even faster. The two that were trailing behind him had increased their pace too.
Looking back Marcus saw how close they were to him so he did the unthinkable, he jumped down the hill.