| Michal sighed and smiled as she pulled off the highway and onto a small dirt road. She traveled the short distance to the parking lot and parked her car, grabbing her bag out of the back seat before heading into the old farmhouse. She opened the door and waltzed in, smiling and nodding to Jake and Preston as she set her stuff on the table. She lit a cigarette and headed over to the counter to chat with Steve. “The usual?” “Yup.” She pulled out a small wad of money and dropped it on the table as Steve disappeared into a small closet behind the counter. “We’re out of green glitter – you want orange?” She smiled. “You know me too well.” He laughed and disappeared, reappearing a few moments later with a box of 1000 orange paintballs. She thanked him and carried the box over to the rest of her stuff. *** “Thanks, man.” Mark Tremonti, Scott Stapp and Scott Phillips took their rental guns, headgear, and paintballs, and plopped on the couch to wait for their friend Preston. Preston walked in a few minutes later, wearing camouflage and carrying a bag. He pulled out his gun and filled it with paintballs, then helped Tremonti, Stapp and Phillips with theirs. After a few minutes of game-explaining from Preston, Tremonti turned to see who walked in the door. A girl of about twenty was also wearing camouflage (though hers was a bit tighter and more becoming than Preston’s) and carrying a large bag. She nodded at Preston and his friend Jake, who had just met Tremonti and Phillips, then dropped her stuff on a table and walked over to the counter. Tremonti couldn’t hide his staring, which Jake noticed and followed his gaze, smiling when his eyes came upon her. He nudged Tremonti, then nodded at her. “Cute stuff, huh?” Tremonti smiled and nodded. “Hey, Preston – I need to ask you something.” “Sure,” Preston said. “The main reason I called you to see if we could play with us today is that we got a call from the Make a Wish Foundation. We’re supposed to be meeting someone here – her wish is to play paintball with us, and we figured you would know her,” he said, his face solemn. “Who is it?” “Uh…” Phillips dug through his pockets and fished out a piece of paper. “Her name is… uh… Michal Bradley?” “Yeah, she’ll be here all day, most likely.” Tremonti and Phillips nodded. “So are there any good players today?” Stapp asked, toying with a paintball. “A few, yeah. Lucky’s here.” “Who’s Lucky?” Tremonti asked. “Lucky’s the best there is,” Preston said. “Is he here right now?” Tremonti asked, glancing around the room. “Yeah,” Jake said, smirking. “Hey, Lucky,” he called. “You’re here awfully early, Michal,” Steve said. “Yeah, the team’s practicing all day, but I’m not here for that. I’m getting my wish today.” “So I noticed,” Steve said, smiling. “Hey, Lucky.” Michal turned around to see who called her name, then nodded at Steve before heading over to talk to Jake. *** Tremonti’s jaw dropped as the girl turned around. “Th—That’s Lucky?” Preston just nodded as she made her way over. “Are you serious?” “What do you want, Jake?” She smiled and sat at the table, flipping her ashes into the tray before taking another drag off her cigarette. “How’d the tournament go?” She shrugged. “Okay, I guess.” Tremonti watched her as she put out her cigarette and unzipped her bag, pulling out her paintball gun. She stood and took it over the counter to get it filled with CO2, then walked back over and sat down again. She screwed on the barrel and put the plug in before filling the hopper with the orange paintballs she had just bought. “Did ya’ll win?” Preston asked. She nodded. “We didn’t do so hot though. Made some stupid mistakes.” “Did you get hit?” She smiled and unbuttoned her camo shirt to reveal a tight black tank top. She lifted the side and exposed a large bruise on her stomach. “Ouch. How did that happen?” “It was after the game. Some idiot was trying to clear his chamber and didn’t block the cocking screw, so it fired, and since he wasn’t shooting into the can it hit me instead. That’s the only time I got hit.” Jake shook his head and laughed. “So who are these guys?” She smiled at Stapp, Phillips and Tremonti. “Oh,” Preston said, “Sorry. This is Tremonti, Stapp and Phillips.” She smiled and shook their hands. “Do ya’ll have first names?” “Mark,” Tremonti said, “And this is Scott and Scottie.” She nodded and lit another cigarette. “I’m Michal. Glad ya’ll could make it.” Tremonti and Phillips exchanged glances. “You guys play much?” She filled extra cans of paintballs and strapped them in her ammo bag. “Nah,” Phillips said. “First time.” She nodded and put her camo shirt back on, then strapped her ammo bag onto her back. “Well, have fun and watch for flyin’ paint. I’m gonna do a quick game with the team and then ya’ll get your chance to kill me,” she said with a smile as she headed out the door. Tremonti watched her go until Jake elbowed him in the ribs and nodded toward the door. “Let’s go, man.” Tremonti nodded and grabbed his gear, following Jake, Phillips, Stapp, and Preston out the door and toward the courses. He saw Michal heading toward the courses as well, a few hundred feet in front of them. She stopped at a picnic table and dropped her extra gear off before jogging over to a group of guys to talk. They dropped their stuff off at another table and headed over, just to see the group put their headgear on and head onto the course. “You might want to put your mask on,” Jake said. “There’s holes in the netting and sometimes you can get beaned pretty easy.” They put their headgear on and sat down on the bench next to the course. “What’re they playing?” Phillips asked, watching the group split up and start playing. “Annihilation,” Preston said. “Whichever team ends up getting the other team out first wins. Watch Lucky – she’s awesome.” He nodded at her, crouching behind a large spool. They watched silently as Lucky’s team quickly beat the other team. A few minutes later, the game was over and the teams made their way off the course. “That was a fast game,” Tremonti said quietly. Jake nodded. “Yeah, Lucky’s team is the best in the nation, and she’s the captain.” “Does that make her the best in the country?” Phillips asked. “I guess so, yeah,” Preston said. “Just don’t tell her that. She doesn’t know how good she is.” They watched her empty her chamber into the nearby barrel and take her facemask off. She walked over to them and smiled, wiping the sweat from her face. “Good game, Lucky,” Jake said, tousling her hair. “Hey, watch the hair, man,” she said, laughing and running her fingers through her short, auburn locks. “It takes time to make it look this messy.” Phillips laughed. “That was a fast game,” Preston said. “Yeah, it was okay.” “Were you the last one?” “Nah,” she replied, shaking her head slightly. “Me and Tarzan were left. Speedy and Chipper were out in the first few seconds,” she said, sighing. “You want to play center flag with us?” Preston asked, standing. “Sure,” she said. “They’re on my team, since they’re here for my benefit,” she said, nodding to Stapp, Tremonti and Phillips. He nodded, and they all stood. Michal headed over to her table and took a few drinks of water before grabbing some armbands from her bag. She walked over to Tremonti, Phillips, Stapp, Preston, and Jake. “Here,” she said to Tremonti, Stapp, and Phillips. “We’ll be bands.” She carefully put the armbands on Tremonti, Stapp, and Phillips, and then herself. “We’ll walk,” she threw over her shoulder at Preston and Jake. As they headed to the far side of the course, Michal explained the concept of center flag. |