Fight or Flight (2)

With great speed. all five teenagers pulled the flag down from the mast immediately. Afterwards, Elliott folded the flag in halves a few times until it was small enough to fit within a pocket. Then, he passed the flag to Nick solemnly. Nick, who seemed to always be casual, simply took the flag without saying anything and placed it within the pocket at the front of his pants. Afterwards, all 5 students walked towards the large boxes that was placed behind the mast.

Within these boxes were multiple weapons that suits many different purposes. There was also 5 military uniforms of different sizes that seemed to be tailored to the boys placed within one of those boxes. Elliott took the military uniforms out. On the back of the collar of the green military jacket, where the logo was supposed to be, sewed the name of each student, indicating whom each uniform belonged to.

The 5 people immediately stripped down until all that was left was their underwear. Then, they quickly put on the new military uniform that was purposefully made for them. Arnold was slightly confused as to the reason why they had to change when Nick came over and explained, "These military uniforms had senesors that were sewed within the materials. When a bullet or a melee weapon cause an impact with these sensors, they will gauge the damage caused and see if it would be fatal if the weapons were real. If it was, the sensor will generate electricity and tazer you until you're unconscious."

Arnold really had nothing to say about the harsh standards of the military.

"Oh and since your head is not covered by your clothes, students are not allowed to hit anywhere above the shoulders to prevent from unwarranted injury, so make sure not to shoot for the head, or you will be disqualified." Nick warned.

Arnold nodded in acknowledgement and went back to the boxes in order to pick a weapon for himself. He decided to pick up two pistols along with a strap and placed them across from his shoulders, letting them hang on his sides. He also hung the magazines below the pistols. Then, he wrapped another strap around his waist and grabbed two military knives. Of course, since the bullets for the pistols were made from rubber and wouldn't do anything except cause some pain. The knives were also not lethal as they were made from a durable synthetic plastic. However, the knives themselves weighed and felt the same as the real ones, making the whole thing seemed more realistic.

Darius, who was next to him, had took the same weapons as Arnold, except for the fact that he also grabbed some protection gloves and wore them on. This was to prevent his knuckles from getting hurt in hand-to-hand combat.

Elliott and Lucas, on the other hand, grabbed a P90 for themselves, hanging it in front of them with a strap. It seemed that they were more familiar with these sorts of weapons than they are with pistols.

Finally, Nick simply took the only sniper rifle with him. The rifle was placed within a trombone case, allowing for him to be able to easily carry it around with him in case he needed to move.

There were also other accessories like earpieces, flashbangs, movement sensors, heat sensors and even a drone for the boys to use. The earpieces and flashbangs were distributed evenly between the students, with 1 each; the sensors were given to Nick, as he needed it the most since he will be camping most of the time. Lucas was given the drone.

With all the weapons distributed among them, they started running in different directions, with Nick, Arnold and Darius moving south while Lucas and Elliott heading west. Since only Elliott had the map with the locations of each individual member of the team within, the others could only guess the locations that the other went at any given time.

*

After running for a few blocks, Nick had found a vantage point he liked. It was a rather tall building at least ten stories high. Like all the buildings in the era of the apocalypse, the facade was entirely gone and the only thing left were the steel bars and the cement floors that still remained. As Nick ran up the stairs to the top of the building, he placed a few movement sensors along the stairs to prevent himself from encountering any danger. The heat sensor morphed into the scope of the sniper rifle, turning his scope into one color-coded from blue to red, depending on the heat of the objects Nick was pointing at. Meanwhile, Arnold and Darius went together into a shorter building that was adjacent to Nick's.

When Nick finally arrived on the 8th floor, where the view was the best, he placed himself within the building in order to hide in the shadows. Then he laid down on the floor and placed his sniper rifle in front of him, scanning around for enemies. Afterwards, all three boys seemed to be idle for awhile, leaving all the action to Elliott and Lucas.

*

Lucas was operating the drone with a remote. The remote was actually a small 6 inch tablet, which was convenient to carry around. With the drone floating in the sky a few meters above the two boys, they would be able to see anyone coming from at least a kilometer away. However, they still have to look out for their opponents as they could suddenly appear around the corner or blindspots that both him and Lucas, along with the drone failed to see.

The two students decided to head to the middle of the arena as it was the most optimal place to scout for the opponents. With them hiding within a building in the middle, they can simply move the drone to search for their opponent's hiding places. Also, being in the middle allows them to reach each corner of the arena at the quickest pace.

After a few minutes of jogging lightly, they arrived at the middle of the arena. However, the terrain of this place was less than optimal. There was a short, three-story tall building that sat right at the center of the arena. However, the closest building was at least a kilometer away, leaving a wide open space that can leave anyone exposed for quite some time. Elliott, who already saw the issue when he looked at the map, simply decided to hide with Lucas in one of the buildings that were close to the center but not that close -- 3 blocks away in addition to the 1km no man's land.

With this, the capture the flag game had become a cat-and-mouse game, with each side hiding from each other while trying to find them at the same time with the drones. Of course, Elliott couldn't discount the fact that their opponents may have other means to take care of them. However, he did not expect that their opponents would make a move at such an early time!

*

Lucas, who was operating the drone, had already moved the drone a few kilometers from their current location. He felt that this technology was quite handy, as the range of his remote could actually reach the radius of a few hundred kilometers. However, just as he was getting used to operating the drone, someone suddenly threw a projectile at it!

From the cameras, Lucas could faintly see that the object was a rather long spear. Before Lucas could react, the spear immediately penetrated through the drone, causing the piece of technology to explode and collapse. The remote instantly turned blank. "Damnit!"

Lucas threw the remote to the ground in anger.

"What happened?!" Elliott came over. He seemed to be looking at the younger boy in surprise.

"Those lower-level scum have destroyed our drone!" Lucas gritted his teeth and said.

"So fast?! I thought with the vastness of the arena, it would take a much longer time before we would encounter each other." Elliott said. He placed his thumb and index finger on his chin, giving a thoughtful look.

"It's probably not a coincidence," Lucas analyzed. "Since we know that coming to the center of the arena is the most optimal course, our opponents would think so too. Therefore, it isn't that surprising that the drone were able to encounter them so soon."

Elliott nodded. "What method did they use to destroy the drone?"

"They seemed to have threw a spear at the drone. Obviously, it was filled with spiritual energy, as a normal spear would not be able to penetrate the metal hull of the drone. The only good thing that came out of this was that, from the way that the spear flashed against the camera, the spear must have approached the drone in a really fast speed. That means after the impact, the spear would fly for quite a long time before landing, meaning one of our opponents have just lost a weapon of theirs. Should we go in the direction of the weapon in order to seek them out?" Lucas asked Elliott for direction.

Elliott gave it a thought before nodding, "Sure. We should at least take a look."