Boys vs. Girls – Water Fight

[https://i.imgur.com/0V74omI.jpg]

Art by MysticSwordsman

Part 2 - Picked Off

I yelled but it was too late. The thread tore with Goat's next step and a barrage of water balloons hidden by a nest of leaves splattered all over him.

As pink ran over her clothes, she looked even more annoyed as she stomped off in the direction of the other camp. I staggered on my feet.

I was down to five men and they were up to eleven girls.

With those numbers, they could just surround us. I had no idea why they'd resorted to these run-and-gun tactics with traps. Despite my concern about losing Goat, I also felt relief. The extra one had been forfeited. I wouldn't particularly miss him.

But I did wonder if it was a better idea to have teams instead of a long unit. Without means of continuous communication in the forest, we would have to be in autonomous groups like Whale. I signaled Rubber and Flannel to approach. With Flannel's right hand pushing Rubber back a bit, they kept their distance. Runt trudged close enough to find out what had happened.

He leaned on the tank and murmured, "Not Goat too…" I told him what happened, and his hands flew to his mouth. He looked around as though even the birds fluttering above could be stealth bombers. "Traps everywhere…geez! They've got us for sure!"

Flannel scanned around as Rubber's eyes darted to some of the places Runt's trembling gaze fled from. I brought my hands together soundlessly and gave a small cough. With the oppressive quiet above the afternoon wind rustling and flapping of wings, it had the effect of shouting. Everyone turned to me.

I didn't wait long to propose my idea. "Two teams. One shield each to guard both. The shield man watches and scans for traps. The other provides cover fire." I didn't like the idea all that much, but our options were getting scarce. I could bring Whale back in, but I still liked him where he was, assuming they hadn't already converted him.

Of course, the next question was who would be in which team and what the roles were. I decided to keep roles about the same but rotate the teams. After a game of rock/paper/scissors, I was back with Runt. I preferred it to leaving him with Flannel. I took the shield.

I offered to trade the shield for Runt's tank a bit but he shook me off and lifted it carefully with his legs, the water sloshing about as he advanced bit by bit behind my shield. With the tank, all his tension seemed to vanish, as though he'd slipped his arms around a strange sort of security blanket. When he had to set it down, all the little nervous ticks returned, he primed his squirt gun, and crouched behind the cover of my shield.

We advanced slowly with Rubber and Flannel at the edge of our sight in front of us. In this way, we covered a good distance.

I thought back to the beginning. Krait met with their commander, Gale. He shook her hand on a bit of high ground, lingered for an odd moment, and then we went back quite a ways into the forest. Assuming they'd gone in about the reverse direction from us, we had to be nearing the edge of their camp.

I kept my eyes open, turned the squirt gun to 'mist' every so often, and sprayed a light bit of water just ahead of us. Looking ahead, I could see Flannel misting in front of his shield as well. Hopefully the water would collect in droplets along any hard-to-see tripwires. I didn't see any yet.

Runt watched me and seemed to mimic me as I aimed my gun around and sprayed the fine mist. The nanite-saturated water would have to make direct contact with a person to have any effect. If we continued on this way, we might loop around behind the other camp while keeping to the far end of the stream.

In my head, I wondered if the girls were sticking to the stream. It was a possibility I pitched to Krait, just follow the stream because your enemy would have to go to a source of water eventually. He pointed out that it would be a resource quagmire and heavy firefights were to be avoided.  

Since he was with Gale now, I had to wonder what strategies she was formulating. The traps may have been one of them. I heard a sudden whistle up ahead. Flannel raised his hand quickly and then crouched. I followed suit with Runt plummeting to the ground behind me.

After a moment of silence, I approached the front team with the shield rotating around us for protection. A close cluster of trees blocked some lines of sight.

I leaned over to look where Flannel had stopped. Just in front of his shield was a dark bit of fishing line beaded with droplets. I took a moment to smile that my strategy had worked.

Then, I looked ahead.

Beyond this one, I soon sighted another tripwire weaving into the next like a spider web of fine filaments. Above us, in a dense cluster of unnatural leaves, we could just make out the forms of muddy-green balloons.

Leaning to the left and to the right, some started to reveal themselves in those directions as well, like faint twinkles in the shadows. The whole area ahead was heavily-seeded with traps. I glanced around and pondered if there was a way to trigger them from a safe distance to clear a path. Being close enough to pull on one meant being close enough to be splashed by it.

Flannel cracked his knuckles ahead of me and slipped something out of his waistband. It took me a moment to realize it was a knife.

I swallowed and wished he would put it away. I wanted to say something, but I knew if I did then anyone listening would consider it grounds for forfeit by our side. That kind of weapon was forbidden by the rules.

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Flannel seemed aware of what I was thinking. He looked around and announced, quietly and flatly, "I brought along a tool to keep rough bushes at bay."

That would be a stretch for anyone. Rubber curled his mouth in, and Runt looked too horrified to say anything. His eyes wide, Flannel looked to me with his "tool" out.

I paused but gave him a quiet nod. He cracked his knuckles again. We took several steps back from the area. When he was ready, Flannel chucked the knife at a bit of exposed line. It sliced right across it and planted itself in the grass.

I felt at first relieved, then concerned when nothing happened with the trap. The reason occurred to me quickly. The line, when pulled, disturbed the trap. Without the tension of the line, it remained as it was. It didn't help at all. With the traps still live, they could still suddenly go off for no reason.

Flannel's long sigh told me he arrived at the same conclusion. At least with the higher lines up ahead, we could pass under and around them.

We could also use the shields like small umbrellas but they would barely cover more than one person like that and still leave all sides open to a surprise attack. I rubbed my chin and considered our options. The breeze picked up and seemed to rustle the leaves above. I glanced over at the traps and wondered if we could throw some fallen sticks to trigger them. I doubted that would be enough and it would still put far too much risk on the thrower. It seemed to me the only good option was the most roundabout route which still kept us in the forest.

I opened my mouth to voice this idea when I got hit. My heart raced and I staggered back as quickly as I could. It was too late. Already, my clothes were shifting from their familiar cobalt to bright pink. My mind raced and tried to figure out why.

The others scattered. I was already lost to them. My wet, brown hair lengthened against my shoulder and my body shifted in my clothes. The nanites would make quick work of me. I felt a little smaller, but my clothes adapted to that. I tried to let go of my shield but the nanites would make sure I claimed it for the other side. My side now.

Looking around, I now had an inkling of the direction I had to go. It didn't feel far off. Such a shame that we were so close before I was lost to the boys' team. Carrying all the weaponry with me and the shield, I didn't have to walk far before I made it to the other camp.

It was busy. There seemed to be self-organizing teams here and there. I caught sight of Mustard's hair and Goat tying the ends of some balloons. She still seemed annoyed.

A girl with feathered, short blond hair the color of faded straw approached me and gave me a pat on the shoulder. "Welcome. You were Tuna before, right? Do you mind the name 'Shark' now? I'm Gale, co-commander with Habu. You probably knew her as Krait on the other side." Gale gave a little gesture to her left.

The commander looked much as she had when the surprise assault took her from us. Her hair was tied back in a functional ponytail and her eyes were just as focused as always. She checked a water pistol, passed it to one of the girls, and glanced over at me.

Slowly, she approached with her hands on her hips. "Welcome. I assume they're down to four, right?"

That count assumed Whale hadn't been converted. I tightened my lips and leveled my head at Habu. She took a step towards me. "There's no resisting. If this were a game of trades like a few ago then you'd have reason to keep your secrets, as would we. But this is a foregone conclusion. It's been settled."

My lip curled a little. "So, you've gone over to their side…completely?"

Habu stretched her fingers. "It's your side. It's our side. You're one of us now. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can join us for the greater good…."

It seemed like she wanted to say something more, but she just smiled before continuing, "No one wants this to go on any longer than it has to. I know Runt is scared and tired. I know Rubber just wants to have fun. I know Flannel deserves relaxation. I know Whale would rather rejoin her fellow snipers. And I know you understand…" Something of the commander's regular voice seeped into her girlish tone. It made me want to trust her. I felt the compulsion from the nanites to accept. But something was holding me back.  

For the commander, I nodded. I told her simply, "I understand." But, to myself, I wondered if this might be an opportunity to be a spy against the girls.

I surveyed the camp. It didn't appear as close to the stream as I'd suspected. Their tank was away at the moment. Habu put a hand on my shoulder and began introducing me. Azure, one of the heavy water weapons girls, had hair tinted the color of her name. She looked small. Still, she handled her weaponry quite well.

A pair Habu introduced as Metal and Whip were busy with filling balloons to be put into a small pack. Metal had black eye shadow and spiky hair. Whip was dark-skinned and quick with her hands.

The trio of Ice, Flame, and Thread were apparently off laying traps and scouting. Llama, as Goat was now known, and Mayo (formerly Mustard) were going from balloons to checking camp.

As I watched, the girls traded off roles every so often. Even Gale made a few water balloons. Their organization and fluidity of roles impressed me. I figured Habu had to be responsible for that. I looked to her and brushed back my hair.

I tried to speak with as much of my boy voice as possible in my words, "It seems the…boys don't stand a chance."

Habu folded her arms. "We have strength of arms and numbers. It's only a matter of time. If this side so wished, it would be over in an instant but that would leave some complications to our plans and we don't want that. That's why Lynx is picking them off…ah, here she comes."