Bunkered - By Mike VanGundy

Bunkered

My breath was heavy and labored as I ran firing my weapon. The tall grass and Blackberry vines gave more cover than expected. The incoming rounds made a cracking sound as they burst in front of me, showering me with speckles of green, white, and orange paint. I couldn't hold any of the positions so I just kept shooting as fast as possible and advancing toward the old tire bunker which was up the hill from me. My team mates had advanced on my right in order to achieve a flanking maneuver through the woods. Their only hope was if I could draw enough fire to let them escape into the open behind enemy lines. First, one of the enemy behind the tires moved his head up just far enough to show his black mask, his mistake. The entire front of his clear visor immediately turned orange as two rounds from my weapon found him unsuspecting. OUT!!! He stood up and staggered blindly back to the command post to wait for the next game. Two left. Second the one on my right was laying down shooting at me with surprising accuracy. He left a small portion exposed as he crawled out around the tire bunker. I ignored the steady stream of fire coming from the other enemy and jumped up to advance to the next cover about ten meters closer. I concentrated all of my fire on the small camouflaged shoulder which was exposed. OW OW OUT!!! It was unmistakable that my target had taken a lethal amount of abuse. I was now only twenty meters from the bunker and drew the attention of the other enemy positions. They began to fire on me in the grass. Will this be the end??? Have I advanced too far??? At this moment about three of my team mates erupted a hail of paint into the other positions as they began their move to advance out of the woods. I made a charge at the tire bunker using their moment of fear to my advantage. I never stopped firing at the lone enemy behind the tires until I leapt over the side of the bunker and fired into his body lying on the ground a scant six inches from my muzzle. He mentioned at that time his desire not to continue. I noticed that the other enemy clothed in a black sweatshirt was only about five meters away and was holding a key trail leading out of the woods into the enemy flag station. I dove behind the mortally wounded enemy lying between us and placed my weapon across his back.

There were thirty shots exchanged before my human shield managed to crawl out of the bunker and head back to the command post. The black sweatshirt now had small circular orange spots on it and was leaving with his hands above his head. I then took a moment to catch my breath. Lying on the damp ground wondering where the next enemy position was. There!!! No don't shoot him, he's one of ours!!! He raced into the enemy flag station and snatched it off of the pole. He never stopped running as he circled around the pole and ran firing his weapon in the enemy's position. I stood up behind him to protect his back and shot as rapidly as possible into the enemy's direction not knowing where they were. This covering fire gave him the opportunity to escape back the 100 meters back to our flag station to claim victory for his team!!!!