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I needed to think, I needed time, a little more time to think. Think!

“Wait! Wait!” A final shout, and then hearing the dead pause of her march, I let out a heavy breath and tossed the flag over towards her. “Just take it, go on, you win... I concede.”

I waited again, peeking ever so slightly out the corner, waiting, bracing... and it happened – movement, bending forward, a hand reaching for the flag. I immediately sprang out of cover, aiming forward, finger squeezing the trigger, and...

The echo of a gunshot rang out.

Irene clicked her tongue, irritated, her bullet splattering across the surface of my weapon. “Missed...”

Too exposed, too outclassed, I didn’t dare try – I sprinted into the thick cover of the trees, heading further and further away from the base, flagless, defenseless.

.....

Hopeless.

Irene didn’t give chase, she didn’t have to, not with the flag secured, fuckin’ handed to her on a silver platter. All she had to do was head back to base just like that. That’s what I get for trying to be crafty, probably should just leave the scheming to the experts.

And you know what? I haven’t seen red, or green, and neither did I blue just yet. Maybe I really should just leave the scheming to the experts, and see how they fare instead.

It wasn’t even a full minute after that I heard it, music to my ears – the sputter and crackle of a firefight echoing close by. I followed the signature noises of a scheme gone right, the cocky cackle of a euphoric green, the jeering and taunting of a smarmy blue, and the silent delight of a satisfied red.

They had Irene beset on all sides. Utilizing the high terrain to their advantage, poking at her blindspots, coordinating their strikes in a precise way that left her no time to focus on one before the other.

To her credit, she was putting up a fight alright. Even with the trio’s combined effort, Irene wasn’t going down easy... but alas, I knew their intent was never to eliminate but to deplete, and it was only a matter of time before Irene no longer had the means of resisting.

And when that happens... I could just so easily swoop in, deliver the finishing blow, and make off with the flag – victory guaranteed. All I had to do was wait, all I had to do was watch. Do nothing, just sit back, relax, and bear witness to her valiant struggle... trying so hard to wriggle free from the tightening clutches of defeat.

Not fond of losing, red said. I see what she means now. Exerting so much of herself, this entire session, all this effort – it’s actually kinda admirable.

Futile, of course, but admirable.

And to think, she wouldn’t be in this current predicament if I didn’t add that extra stipulation to the bet, a little spice to sweeten the deal – in a way, you could say she’s only doing this...

Because of me.

...

Damn.

From Irene’s side, the sputter of gunfire had stalled, it had gone quiet... she had gone empty.

Bravo had realized it too, gradually advancing onto her, still suppressing her still with hails of bullets.

I had a clear opening forward, it was now or never, the window was closing, victory was slipping – I gritted my teeth, my nerves, and spurred into action.

Everything happened so fast. I remembered running, firing, taking...

I took her hand and didn’t think twice. In a blink, in a second, I took us out from the line of fire and into the cover of the trees.

Deeper and deeper, I led us forward until we were far beyond out of sight and it was there and then that Irene realized what just happened, the flag firmly in her grips, her gaze, and gasps for air resounding her utter disbelief.

“You could have just taken the flag,” She said, almost reprimandingly, as if the thought had never occurred to me.

“Could have, yeah...” I said, gasping back. “But I didn’t,” and without a second to waste, I waved her off. “Keep going, I’ll hold them off for you.”

“Hold them off?” Irene needed a second, and when that was done, she took another one. “You want to lose?”

“Lose, who, me?” I remembered spouting, too distracted by the sound of a growing stampede nearing. “One could also say that I want you to win.”

She studied me for a few seconds more, doing an entire forensic investigation of my expression alone, and once she had concluded I was actually being serious, quickly scampered off... sparing just a single glance back at me as I waved her farewell.

Once I saw her disappear within the thick greenery, I took my final stand – a lone piece of wood, and a half-empty magazine as my only defense. I planted myself down and waited, a second later, a blue streak emerged out into the open, followed by blazing green, and a stumbling red.

They spotted me instantly, dodging my shots and moving into their own pieces of cover. Then blue erupted into a chuckle, peeking out, her eyes brazenly shaped into an amused smile.

“It’s the boyfriend, of course!” She said between laughter. “And here I thought we missed an extra one from her squad!”

“What’re you doing bugging us for?!” green demanded. “The flag’s with her, you blind? We almost had that!”

Red was more disappointed than anything. “You said you’d handle it...”

“I am handling it!” I fired, both literally and figuratively.

“Yeah, I bet you are,” said blue again, her laughter gradually coming to a dead stop. “So then – this is your great sacrifice, huh? Slowing us down, buying some time for her?”

“Pretty much,” I said, continuing to pepper the landscape with splatters. “As much as I can give.” Then with one squeeze of the trigger after, I heard it click – empty.

“Well,” blue began, rising out from cover on cue with the others. “That wasn’t much at all.”

Then, with three echoing gun splatters reverberating in the silence of palm trees, Charlie Platoon was officially no more.

I walked my lifeless corpse into the shambling pile of other walking lifeless corpses, peppered from head to toe in red, green, and blue splatters.

But regardless, I entered the sidelines with my head held high, because as far as I was concerned – that winning buzzer buzzing shortly after sonorously declaring the end of the match was a victory to me too.

From all around me rippled the bitter grunts of defeat, as well as the cheers and clamors of triumph. It would have been all well and good if it weren’t for the fact that it was Charlie Platoon going hip-hip-hooray instead of Bravo, who even more bizarrely, were hanging their heads in shame.

I turned my head, staring up at the leaderboards, and my bafflement reached a whole ‘nother peak, seeing Charlie at the very top of the display, proudly and boldly with a winning score of five to its name.

While the rest of the platoon was toasting drinks and going for group hugs, I was desperately scouring about for an answer, and I believed I found one – spotting a peculiar colorful trio, helmets off, and making a beeline straight for the lockers.

They noticed me approaching, and by the time I reached them, they had the biggest smile on their faces.

“Notice the scoreboard, did you?” Blue asked, beating me to the punch. “Nope, that’s not a glitch. Congratulations, you won the bet!”

“The detective didn’t make a break for her base...” green elaborated, her gaze blinking mystified. “She went for yours, gave you the W instead. Psycho just threw the win.”

“She – what?” I did a double-take on the board. “Why the hell would she do that?”

This time it was red’s turn in the spotlight, drawing my attention back with a stifled fit of laughter.

“You can be pretty dumb at times, you know?” She said to me, her giggles ending with a sheepish smirk. “Part of your charm, though... not bad at all...”

Blue nodded in agreement. “At the very least, it finally gave us the answer to our question.”

I was still quite at a loss, and though I had to affirm her statement, I just had to ask. “What question?”

“You seriously forgot? We asked you before, remember?” Green took the pleasure of reminding me what, wagging a playful finger and digging it deep into my chest. “Why you?”

“And now we finally know why it is you, out of hundreds, out of thousands even. And I must say, she made a fine choice indeed,” blue said with a cheer, throwing me a thankful, waggish look. “So thanks for playing, boyfriend”

“It’s been fun, boyfriend,” said red.

“Loads fun, boyfriend,” Green drew her finger away, and together they departed for the lockers once more, seeing me off with a hearty wave. “We’ll play again sometime soon, yeah?”

Why does it feel like I’ve just been christened with an official title?

“And...?” I urged them on. “What conclusion did you arrive at?”

But green discouraged me from pursuing, stopping me there with a shake of the head. “It’s an answer that goes beyond words, boyfriend. Just leave it at, ‘kay?”

“For now...” Blue looked back at me again, nudging in the direction over my shoulder where a lone figure was slowly emerging from the arena. “I suggest you go on and claim your winnings with her.”

“And you guys?” I asked, looking back at them. “Where are you going off to now?”

“Dunno,” green shrugged for them collectively. “We already had our fun here.”

“I suppose we’ll just go find some more fun somewhere else,” blue suggested. “Like we always do.”

“No goodbyes?” I wondered aloud. “Irene not gonna go wondering where her ducklings went?”

“She’ll be fine without us,” red softly assured. “We come and go all the time anyway.”

“Yeah, and besides...” continued blue once again. “I’m pretty sure she has someone else more important in mind right now.”

“Go on, shoo!” then barked green, nearly kicking me. “Look, we’re giving you some alone time, take the damn hint! Go be a boyfriend, boyfriend. Don’t forget your chocolates neither.”

And with nearly bruised knees, I decided to indeed take the hint. I smiled, waved goodbye, and turned right around.

“One more thing!” shouted a muffled blue through the slam of a door. “If the detective does end up performing, you’ll get it on video for us, right? Won’t you? Will you?”

I just continued walking away, officially hanging up the towel on any more crafty schemes.

“Sorry,” I responding, heeding their call to the bitter groans of dissappoiment echoing back. “Invitations only.”