"Should you choose to accept it," I whispered to Charlotte who gave me a blank look. We were all gathered on the following Monday in the shooting range. Light flakes of snow drifted down around us. We were in our warmest winter gear. Lady Hayley had a certain sternness to her. Almost like a hound ready for the hunt. "Come on, you've definitely seen Mission Impossible, right?"

"Oh," Charlotte replied, realisation dawning on her face, "yeah, of course,"

"I got worried for a second there," I chuckled. Charlotte and the others had embraced me with worried arms when we first saw each other. They'd been tasked to survive alone without any kind of shelter for a night, protecting and caring for their assigned child under extenuating circumstances. There was a couple of close calls and a couple of scruff ups but everyone had made it back alive and well.

"You will be split into two groups, both of you will have a flag to defend while also competing for the other's. There is no time limit to this, though please keep it under a week. The winners will be accelerated to their final test. Those who fail will have to survive for another week out in the wilderness and will be delayed in their final test. Your boundaries are separated by the river. You must place the flag on the highest point of your boundary area. Usually this is a tree but it should be in plain view. To win, you must tap the opposing team's flag to the baton. You've been given many supplies and weaponry. All is fair, but please try and keep one another alive. No torture,"

And with that, final ominous tone, we were separated into two groups and directed into the back of a truck. I had Charlotte with me but unfortunately Anjie, Tom and Jerry and Lou were on the other team. Great, I guess it was time to make friends.

As we were jostled around, we began to chat. Soon enough, I could see why we were split into such groups. Charlotte was both an incredible shot and a natural strategist. Sarah, a girl with a heavy body, square face and the darkest hair of all the Novices was an expert in traps and all the weaponry. Our, Katniss Everdeen cross Tony Stark, so to speak. Tracey, who had a smash of freckles and curly blond hair was good at cooking and 'making fires'. Tracey the cook. Jane, was our stealth expert who was incredibly nimble with her frame and great and armed combat. Jane the ninja.

And me? I guess I was good at swimming and chatting with people when needed.

We were dropped off along a fenced border with an excessive amount of equipment. We stood around awkwardly until I spoke up.

"Should we find a spot to make up base camp?" I suggested, "from there, we can split the group into two where half of us set up and the other half scout the area and resources," We did a quick scout of the perimeter, finding the highest tree quite quickly. Luckily for us, it was within the centre of an open field, this became our base camp. Sarah and I were probably the strongest of the group and we loaded everything into the clearing. Jane scaled the tree and when she couldn't climb any higher, looped the flag over the highest tip, securing it tightly.

Tracey helped us quickly establish a rough housing structure, and central fire before going off to search for some of our natural resources. Charlotte took up one of the rifles and was assigned to the riverbed in case the other team tried to make a stealth attack. Sarah took stock of the weaponry and tools that we had.

"We've got two tasers and five paintball rifles with an excessive amount of ammo, as wall as an axe, two machetes and a saw," Sarah replied with twisted grin, "some components for traps, a hunting slingshot, trapping wire, and a few knives here and there. You've got a sniper rifle and a few fancy things that will probably make any experienced SWAT member jealous," She'd laid out the other essentials; emergency rations to last us five days, tarps, nets, sleeping bags and cooking materials.

"I think we should get our campsite fully set up and then decide on our strategy. Can you get these ready to go just in case anything happens?" Sarah gave me a nod.

"There's not much to eat," Tracey reported, her arms crossed, "maybe some small game on a few squirrels nearby and you can get lucky by the river,"

"Too close to their territory," I sighed, "if they're set up like we are and have the same amount of ammo, then we'll be sitting ducks,"

"It's a suggestion," Tracey shrugged, "you've got a few beans, and if we get desperate, mice... I think I saw a duck floating about. I also found a few roots and berry stuff so get excited for that,"

"I'm looking forwards to it," I laughed before helping Sarah strap up the tarp over our raised sleeping bags. We'd make a cooking area on the opposite side of the clearing. I wasn't too concerned about bears in the fenced arena but the girls had insisted. Canadian school training and all...

Once Charlotte returned from standing guard (Sarah took over), we began to plan.

...

With being so deeply set into the valley, night set quickly. At dusk was when the opposing team decided to launch their first campaign. I was sitting just inside the tree line when I saw four shapes merging out of the darkness. The whole arena was probably about sixty meters in width and two hundred meters in length; a solid size to keep us far away but close enough to keep this game short.

They were attempting to cross the river a little further down on the Eastern flank of the arena. It was a rocky and swift moving area of the river. Where the river was wide and deep on the Western side; dangerous to any less of an experienced swimmer, the area where they were trying to pass could almost be completed without getting wet.

With a quick check to be sure, I lifted the air horn above my head and into the air. BBBBBuuuuurrrrrrttttttt, burt, burt. 

The call echoed throughout the mountainside. One long sound followed by two shorter ones was our callsign for the Eastern flank of the river being attacked. It probably gave my position away. Screw it, I figured, repeating the honk. Reinforcements would be coming soon, now was the time to have fun.

It was dark, and that made it a lot harder, but I raised my sniper rifle. Making sure the cocking knob was pulled back and the safety button was ready to fire, I began to let it rip.

They were a little closer than our shooting range back at the training grounds so that made for easy pickings. Luckily, my bored shooting practice earlier had come in handy, and I began to fire.

Aiming for the leader, which I think was a caped Jerry, was my plan. If I could take Jerry out and wash her downstream then maybe the rest would be sent into a frenzied array.

"You're like ducks in a row," I whispered. The first few aims ended up splashing close to her feet. Jerry stumbled. From the force of the pellets before, paintballs were powerful and painful when applied to open skin. I knew what it felt like, though I still began to enjoy myself.

"C'mon," I encouraged myself, "go for the kill shot," Jerry was leaping forwards to a new rock. In her moment of initial unbalance is when I decided to strike. A kill shot that Eli would be proud of, straight to the chest. Pure luck. It sent her flailing into the water.

Instead of stopping to help, her team members continued. They were reaching half way; the slipperiest point as Sarah had found out earlier.

"Great," I hissed. Now starting to shoot wildly. In the corner of my eye, in the low twilight, I could see Jerry floating down the icy river and hitting the far fence that marked the Eastern wall.

The second follower was Lou, I could see that. She was followed by a persistent Anjie and Tom made up the rear. I started firing in wild, long streaks, giving no mercy. I hit Lou's thigh, Anjie's pelvis and missed Tom (who was now, wildly shooting into the forest in my general direction).

"Shame," I grunted, lining up another shot. Anjie suddenly slipped, falling into the water, her gun slipping out of her grip. When I stilled, I heard the peppering sounds of other gunfire. Reinforcements had arrived.

I pulled up my gun, taking refuge behind another tree, a little further back. Why are they not fighting back? I wondered, this is too easy, fun, yes, but way too easy.

My eyes narrowed. Jerry was struggling to help herself up onto the ice further below, Lou was beginning to fire into the forestry in front of her. Anjie was taking aim from her half kneeled position, barely missing Lou in front of her at times (but mostly using her as a human shield). Tom was trying to overtake both Anjie and Lou in an attempt to move forwards the attack.

There is four, but we're missing one more.

Suddenly, I turned to see a figure upstream.

A classic move. Divert the attention in a fiery battle while letting a sneaker slip in. I liked it, maybe we'll try that later.

I hadn't really met the remaining girl at all in training. But I'd seen her from afar. A poor choice as she didn't appear to be a very strong swimmer. At the rate that she was being rushed downstream, she must've started by trying to climb across using the Western fence. I crept along the tree line, she wasn't much of a threat. So this was fun. Especially on the first night.

I found my position behind a fallen log, almost directly in front where she'd arrive on the bank.

She was definitely struggling, I could see that as clear as day. Some times, she'd go completely under for a few, solid seconds. Maybe I wouldn't even need to waste my ammunition.

I lined up the shot anyway, watching her through the sight.

May as well, I shrugged to myself. I could hear the firing dying down into catcalling. They were easy pickings now. I fired, aiming for the shoulder or anything other than the head. Alas, two weeks is not enough to become a professional sharpshooter and I ended up hitting the water beside her. She got the idea, flailing in the water faster.

"You're supposed to go away you idiot, not come closer," I hissed, adjusting my rifle. The dropping darkness made it a lot harder to see and I almost had to squint. I let off another round. This is serious. Instead, she pushed forwards towards the shore.

"Great," I scowled, standing and moving down to the pebbly shore, "stop!" I yelled, letting off another round at her feet. She stumbled back into the shallows.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" She cried, her eyes wide and her body shaking. For her apparent stupidity, she was incredibly brave to be crossing the waters in such low temperatures, I could feel it definitely lingering in the negatives.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" I called, her hands were shaking in the air, "move down the river, and back to your friends," I barked.

With no other painless option, she began to move, frustration evident on her face. The other four members of her crew hanging on the far side of the river, still shooting wildly into the forest. I used the girl as a human shield as I escorted her to the edge.

"Hurry up," I motioned. "I don't want you to get hypothermia,"

The shooting briefly ceased as she passed and I used that moment to merge into the tree line. I was almost safe when a paintball shell shattered on the tree bark next to my head. Furious, I whirled around, shooting wildly like a madman. I accidentally hit the shivering girl, sending her falling into the shallow rapids.

The shooting ceased after that.

...

As the other team went home to lick their wounds, the night was mostly silent. Us on the other hand, had a certain sense of grim celebration. Sarah and Tracey had both taken welts to the arm. Jane took over on watch as we debriefed.

"We really need fortifications in that first tree line," Sarah insisted. She'd taken one to the left shoulder where her padding didn't protect her and another on had grazed a welt on her arm. She had a lump of snow on both.

"The siren was a good idea," Charlotte approved and I grinned. It was my idea and it had worked really well, "I think they'll want to attack either at dawn or later in the afternoon tomorrow,"

"We should launch our first assault," I grinned, euphoric with our first 'win'. "Persistent attempts to get through all throughout tomorrow. Let's make this quick and easy. I don't want to be starving on our final days,"

There was a grim sense of approval. High from the win, I was ready. We can do this!

"Alright," Charlotte sighed, organising the sticks and pebbles, "this is how its gonna go down,"

...

We spent the next day fortifying the tree line. Using fallen trees and branches as a makeshift wall. Somewhere in the late afternoon they tried again. Spreading out this time, all five along the waterline. Jane was on surveillance and we heard the call through the persistent toot, toot, toot followed by a peppering of paintball bullets.

"That sounds urgent," Charlotte jump up and started sprinting through the forestry. She never let her gun stray any further than an arm's length away.

"You guys cover the Western flank!" I barked to Sarah and Tracey, they gave a grim nod, running into the bush. I followed Charlotte to the Eastern side of the arena. It was a quick sprint through the woods. Taking less than a minute for me to assess the situation and to start firing.

All five members were on the beach, attempting to cross at equally speed points. With the full river in view it was pretty much easy pickings. Tom, probably their best shooter, held down base and covered everyone's backs. She stood defiantly on the water's edge, shooting wildly into the tree line.

Both Lou and Jerry, who were crossing at my end of the river held a black object in their hands. I could see that they were doing their best to keep it out of the water.

"What are they holding?" I shouted to Charlotte.

"I don't want to find out!" She shouted back, letting another round rip.

The urgency of the situation only upped when I noticed that Sarah was aiming towards our side of the river. Soon enough, I found out.

Lou was the first to throw her item. She was halfway through the river. It was a solid toss, landing just before the tree line, fire sparking out of it.

"Cover!" I shouted. It exploded with enough force to push me back with a solid 'oof'. I gasped, my vision blurring from the sudden bright light. Distantly, I could hear the peppered noise of paintballs. A shout or two. I groaned, sitting up, shaking the dancing spots out of my vision.

Get up, a part of me cried. I stumbled to my knees, blindly searching for my gun. It took a few more seconds before I re-focused again. Lou was almost onto the shoreline and in a show of force, I let a few rip. They hit her with impeccable accuracy; square in the chest and she stumbled and fell backwards into the water.

Jerry then lobbed her bomb. Less lethal and more designed to stun, it hit the wooded area where Charlotte was hiding. I sent a few at Jerry who also fell back into the water.

I could hear gunfire coming from further up the river but at this moment, I had to trust that the girls had it under control.

Charlotte began firing again. She was okay. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. I came back with an angry revenge. Recklessly I stood, taking aim at Lou, then Jerry and then firing at Tom for good measure. I made my way over to Charlotte, assessing the situation further upstream. Both Anjie and the other girl from last night had found rocks to stand on and were just firing wildly into the tree line. It was almost comical.

"You okay?" I asked a focused Charlotte, she was waiting on the reactions from a stumbling Lou and Jerry who were squirming on the beach.

"Yeah," She shouted as she let off a few warning shots at Tom who was retreating to the trees.

"I'm gonna go ahead with the plan," I shouted, "cover me,"

"Marian, wait-!" Charlotte shouted but I'd already broken the tree line and began sprinting past to the river. I was aiming for the rocky rapids where the girls had tried to cross last night. It was dangerous but Anjie and co were too busy with their own survival to turn around and attack.

Summoning the younger me who spent her childhood darting across rocky beaches, I sprinted, leaping from one rock to another was easy. Avoiding the waters wasn't.

I heard a rebuttal of fire ahead of me, Tom finally decided to join the fun. A flew splutters from behind me called in reply. Charlotte was covering my back.

I hit the opposing shoreline faster than I'd expected. Soon enough, I was sprinting up the sandy pebbles to where there was better grip. Another splatter of ammo. This time I was hit; straight in the shoulder. Probably revenge for last night.

Shocked by the sudden pain, I stumbled back. The ammo had hit my left shoulder; my firing one.

"Stay focused," I hissed, biting through the tears. They'd hit the thinner area of my undershirt where it was unprotected by the vest.

Instead of stumbling back, I pushed forwards, entering into the tree line a mere ten meters from where Tom had taken up her position.

The trees were thicker over here. I struggled to find direction; moving in no particular array. Surely I'd be able to find a campsite or two where they'd set up the flag like our own.

I slowed to a lopsided jog. I couldn't tell if Tom was following me or not. I was lost and the location of their flag, which had glimmered tauntingly in the moonlight previously, was lost to me.

"Crap," I swore. The deciding that some movement was better than none, I pushed forwards.

It took me some time to find their campsite, unlike ours it was closer to the Western Flank and was raised in the trees, off the ground.

I was definitely not the climber of the group, for good reason too. But I was also the best chance we'd gotten in the past day to finish this. Slinging my gun over my shoulder, I started scaling the most centralised tree. The one that I was sure held the flag atop it.

"C'mon," I hissed, as my arms protested, my shoulder whining. The sounds of gunfire in the distance was dying out and my time was slipping. I found pre-established nooks in the tree, a godsend, and began hoisting myself up faster.

A horn in the distance, one, long sound. It was the call to begin an attack on the opposing bank. That probably meant that the other team had retreated into the tree line and my time was even less.

I reached the first platform. From here, the campsite spiderwebbed out to different areas. I could discern a cooking and sleeping area as well as one that had a lookout with a clear view of the riverbank. While it wasn't exactly fair that they had that such an advantage, I began climbing up into the thinner areas of the tree. I spotted the flag; large and taunting, a clear blue that heavily contrasted our red. A grimace of victory. I was almost within reaching distance.

The flag was hanging downwards. Unfortunately, there was nothing more to hold onto. I could see new scratches in the tree bark; they'd obviously hacked away at any branches that could've provided as a ledge to the flag.

I looked down, distantly I could see figures quickly making their way back through the forestry. Now I had even less time.

With my body clinging to the side of the tree, both feet on seperate branches, I used my one remaining hand to search my vest. I pulled it free. The slingshot. It was the kind that one swung around wildly. The flag wasn't too secure, in fact, one could probably shoot it down with an arrow. If I was lucky, perhaps I'd be able to drag it down with the slingshot.

I prepared it according to how Sarah had instructed us; loop it over the fingers, load it, make sure it's clear of your body and swing.

I began to do so, armed with only a pebble that I liked the look of from the riverside earlier. Once, twice, on the third time, I reached a little farther and snagged down half of the flag, entangling the slingshot in the other half.

With a solid tug, I wrenched it free. Luckily it was snagged otherwise it would've drifted to the forest floor. I clenched to the blue fabric with all of my might. Victory was-.

A burst of firing from below. I felt the aim hit the branch beneath my foot and a few other shots sailed past my head. Four of the girls crowded at the base of the tree.

I am so fricked.

I need to get down to their campsite, I realised. Instantly, I began shimmying down the tree. One by one, they began scaling the tree.

Where's my team? I wanted to shout, hitting the wooden planks with a heavy and ungraceful thud. Letting off a few rounds into the face of my pursuer was my first priority. It both slowed her down and pissed her off.

How can I get out of here? I wondered, whirring around, my eyes fell onto their misshapen 'weapons storage'.

Maybe I don't... I launched forwards, reaching the precariously-created storage area in a few paces. Searching, I found what I was looking for; the hunting bow and quiver of arrows. I wrenched an arrow out and the bow. My pursuer, an angry-looking Lou was almost at the platform. Using my knees for balance, I let off another round aimed directly at her. She squealed in the process.

"Can you not, you asshole!" She cried. I didn't care, I was too busy wrapping the flag around the shaft just behind the point.

"Sorry!" I called, letting off another round from the gun that was resting on my leg. I notched the arrow, aimed towards the far side of the river, pulled back.

Deep breath, I thought, taking one in before firing. Summon your inner Katniss Everdeen.

The arrow ripped through the wind, dragged by the freer parts of the flag. I scrambled for the air horn at my side, letting off one, continuous sound.

From what I could see, the arrow had made it to the other side. Now it was up to the other girls to find it and attach it to the baton, signalling our return home.

Back to the present. Lou was now on the platform, she had a gun in her hand and a savage look in her eyes. She got a few rounds before I did, splattering most of my leg. I fired back defiantly, taking steps back towards the weapons storage. I was trapped.

"I'm not going to spend another week stuck here," Lou hissed.

"Looks like you might have to," I chuckled. We were standing across from one another, Western cowboy style, both guns drawn and both, with a vicious determination not to loose. It was a standpoint.

I shuffled back, maybe if I could use one of the loose ropes lying down, I'd be able to get close enough to drop to the forest floor. There was still a few maple leaves littering about down there, maybe enough to make a soft landing.

Then there was Lou to deal with, not to mention her other team members who were also making their way up the tree. Yep escape via rope and tree was looking like my best option at this time.

"Step back," I warned, "or I'll shoot,"

"Or I'll shoot," Lou snapped back, her clothing already stained with dots of red.

"You don't have a vest," I reminded her, "its gonna be a lot more painful for you than it is for me,"

"I still have plenty of places to choose from," She hissed, levelling her gun at my head.

A pang of sadness ran through me, "What happened Lou? Where did we go wrong? What really happened?"

Lou was shaking, I could see that. Something was going on, she looked like she was going to cry, hastily blinking back tears.

"Eli," She hissed, I could see tears swimming in her eyes, "Eli was supposed to choose me,"

A lump formed in my throat. Oh.

I'd been dropped into the midst of a previous love affair that I had no knowledge of. So that's why Lou was so, incredibly, unhappy with her pairing of the day of the ceremony. That's why she always came back from the weekend throwing bitter and rueful looks at me. I'd stepped across the line into her territory. I'd taken Lou's guy without even realising it.

"Eli chose me," I cried, fumbling over my words, "it wasn't up to me, you know that,"

"No," Lou hissed, "he was forced to choose you. He didn't want you because he loved me,"

"I'm sorry!" I cried back, she was slowly moving forwards, like a lioness approaching her prey, "I'm sorry, I had no idea,"

"You better be sorry," Lou began to openly sob, "because of you, we've been torn a part. Because of you, I've been pared with someone who I don't even love while I'm forced to sit and watch someone who I thought of as my friend sleep with the love of my life!" There was a crazed look in her eyes. Lou was a bit too far gone for a simple misunderstanding.

I raised my non-gun hand in a sign of peace, inching back as much as I could. "Lou, please, we know the system doesn't work in our favour, but we've got the cards that we've been dealt. So we just have to-,"

"I don't care about the cards that I've been dealt," Lou howled. "I want my boyfriend back!"

It sounded incredibly childish if she wasn't aiming a paintball gun at my face. It was stupid of me to think that simple goggles would protect me.

"If you go and I recant, then there'll be a chance that Eli and I can finally be together again!"

"Exactly!" I cried, "Lou, please, understand. I don't want to be here,"

She paused, the tip of her gun lowering ever so slightly. "You... don't?"

"No," I whispered breathing heavily, "I never wanted to be here, I was kidnapped out of a car crash. I had no idea about this place, about any of this,"

"Wait... what?" Lou gasped, her face wrought in confusion, "I thought this place was like a retreat for you as well!"

"I don't even know where I am!" I pleaded, "Lou, trust me, I want to be gone as much as you want me gone. But pushing me off a tree fort is not the way to go,"

Lou considered this for a second. Her eyes flicking up and down, thinking. Her gun slowly lowered completely, "I wasn't really going to push you off the edge, you know,"

I sighed a breath of relief, "Well I wish I'd known that beforehand,"

A siren called in the distance; signalling the end of the game.