"5"
My body relaxed and my shoulders loosened.
"Thank you; that will be all," Ethan said as he dismissed us.
I walked back to Will and the rest.
"What did we get?" Noah asked anxiously.
"5" I replied, to which Noah let out a sigh of relief.
"Now that you have your numbers, we will be putting you all in brackets, tournament style."
The projection then changed to another screen, showing who would go up against whom.
[1-6]
[2-5]
[3-4]
"We're up against 2," I blurted out.
"Aww man, I wanted to go up against 6," Noah whined.
"Why 6?" Will asked with a confused look.
"Team 6 are those rejects; going up against them is guaranteed victory," Noah replied, scratching his head in frustration.
"Who's team one then?" Will asked.
"The steel fists." Robert joined in.
I looked over to see that they were already arrogantly gloating. They had smug expressions while laughing merrily as if they had already won.
"Must be incredibly demoralizing for team 6, huh?" I muttered.
To my surprise, every one of the rejects was indifferent to the whole situation. None of them showed a bit of nervousness, nor were they a slight bit scared. All of them acted as if they were going to go for a stroll in the park.
'Were they that confident?'
"Alright, since the 3 rounds have been decided, would teams 1 and 6 please come up to the front?" Ethan spoke over the microphone.
Both teams walked up to the front as the rest made way for them.
Team 6 had doubled the number of Team 1. But as they say, quality is better than quantity. It became apparent that numbers alone couldn't overcome the sheer size of each member of Team 1.
"Man, this is completely one-sided." Noah began.
"Don't completely count them out just yet," Robert spoke up.
"It pays to observe rather than judge." He added, to which Noah just repeated his words mockingly.
"Alright enough, the both of you," I muttered, seizing both of them by the shoulder.
"Representatives of each group, in other words, leaders, please come up," Ethan said.
Out of the steel fists emerged a burly man with brazen skin while a skinny, hunched-over woman walked up from the rejects.
Ethan stood between them, adjusted his comically large glasses, and continued.
"Alright, I want you two to shake hands; the faster the round ends, the better. No cheap shots, no funny business, and remember, you guys are opponents, not enemies." Ethan spoke as if he were a boxing arena referee.
The burly man was the first to reach his hands out, only to be met with a meager handshake.
"My name's Johnson; what's yours?"
"Rain," she answered bleakly, her face showing no signs of emotions whatsoever.
***
The two teams geared up and were led into the forest by Ethan and other foot soldiers.
"I bet you my dinner that team 6 loses," Noah whispered, hoping to rouse some sort of reaction from Robert.
Robert, however, only responded with silence.
"What, nothing? Really? You're no fun."
It was a while before Ethan came back out. During that time, the recruits talked among themselves. Some claimed that this was just unfair, while others with more sense prioritized their strategies over gossip.
Ethan handed each of the leaders one of those metallic projection orbs for viewing. He gave a short demonstration on how to use it before handing it to us.
The projection showed us three screens. One was focused on Team 6, and another was focused on Team 1. Lastly, the third screen showed us a bird's-eye view of the whole forest.
The round officially began, and the first to move was Team 6. With their numbers, they spread out in pairs of two and scouted out the whole forest. I'm guessing they weren't told of the opposing team's location, and the next round will probably be different as well.
The dense foliage had no landmarks to speak of. I can only imagine what a nightmare it would be to traverse this place at night.
Call it bravery, confidence, or just plain arrogance, team 1 only sent out one member in search of their opponent. The rest just stood by their flags. Some even lay under the tree's shade.
It was twenty minutes in when Team 1's one-man army came face-to-face with four members of Team 6.
In a surprising turn of events, all four of them rushed him all at once, landing multiple hits to the head and one liver shot. Each hit was so precise and clean that it was clear to see that dealing with bigger opponents wasn't an issue for them.
These guys were pros.
30 minutes went by, and this time, Team 1 sent out three people. Either they were incredibly stupid or just brave; they decided it was best if they split up.
The first was ambushed by Team 6 when one member jumped down from a branch and bashed them in the head with a sizable rock.
The second was outnumbered by 6 people. All of them deliver well-coordinated attacks to dispatch them as quickly as possible.
Noah's mouth was agape while a grin grew wider on Robert's.
Everyone could not believe their eyes. Sounds of gasps and shock were common.
Then it came down to the third. He came across Rain; her sunken eyes showed no signs of emotion.
In a split second, Rain knocked him out by delivering a powerful punch to the head with incredible momentum.
I realized something: these guys made up for their small stature with strategy, technique, and speed. While Team 1's most valuable weapon, their size and strength were utterly useless in front of them.
In a one-on-one match, Team 6 would have been no match for Team 1, but this scenario was practically made for them.
Team 1's numbers slowly dwindled as they kept mindlessly sending out their people until only three remained, including Johnson.
Team 6 surrounded Team 1's location.
In a surprising turn of events, it was indeed one-sided, but Team 6 was the one that dominated.
At the 2-hour mark, Team 6 finally moved in on Team 1, circling them like vultures while hiding themselves with their surroundings.
Team 1 had formed a sort of triangle around the flag, listening to the slightest bit of movement, their tensing at everything that made a sound.
It was clear how uncoordinated they were; they kept screaming at each other and passing the blame.
Team 1 was now playing defense, effectively sitting ducks. All of this could have been prevented, but I guess that's what hubris gets you.
Eventually, one of them broke the formation and acted against Johnson's orders.
The hulking figure charged recklessly into the forest. His act of disobedience caused the others to follow in his footsteps.
Johnson had now lost control of his two teammates.
The first guy put up a great fight. He knocked two down and fought four until he was completely overwhelmed.
"I thought things like these only happened in books; how in the world... I-I..." Noah babbled in absolute shock and disbelief.
"I guess we really can't judge a book by its cover," I added before being interrupted by Will.
"I didn't think capture-the-flag was this intense. This is so cool!!"
"Yeah, well, just be grateful we didn't go up against the rejects because there is no way we would have won," I said while my eyes were glued to Team 6's every action.
There was something odd. Their movements and attacks were too coordinated. I only assumed that every one of us was a stranger before coming here, but I guess I was wrong. There is no way they haven't worked together before. The whole lot of them.
"Man, we need a plan, and we need it bad," Noah said with a scared expression on his face.
"We can't copy their strategies; we don't have that kind of numbers." There are only four of us." Robert spoke up before adding.
"Luckily for us, Team 2 is also primarily composed of four."
"And with that, the victor is Team 6!" Ethan declared excitedly over the microphone.
Ethan was the only one who applauded Team 6's victory, while the rest of us were silent.
"Jeez, tough crowd. Well anyway, you will be given 30 minutes before the next round begins. I'd suggest the next team start preparing right away."
My throat felt dry, and everyone in Team 5 was feeling the immense pressure. I never knew that this much planning was needed. This freaking stinks; Riley was the one who came up with plans. I don't have the slightest clue on how to even start making one.
I was only ever good at... Wait a minute... They never said the flag needed to be stationary. During round 1, Team 6 didn't even bother protecting their flag since Rain read Johnson's character correctly.
I turned to Noah, Will, and Robert. All of them looked at me, hoping I cracked something.
"Guys, I know how we're going to win."