Capture the Flag

One of my favorite games is Capture the Flag. Especially in the woods. Especially at night. Lots of sneaking around and running. And … screaming, of course.

So when Mia suggested playing on Halloween Night, just for the extra screaming, I automatically agreed, I am trying to learn to make good decisions. Hmm. Well, a work-in-progress, I guess.

Ten of us met in Valence Park, and walked into the woods together. This is the perfect place to play Capture the Flag — dense trees, and almost no undergrowth. Never any large wild animals. Well, we never saw any before when we played there.

We walked to a spot about 100 yards deep in the woods, very dark, with just enough light to see about 20 feet away, filtering through the trees from the October hunter’s moon. It was a mostly clear night, but big clouds scattered about. The horizon looked pretty dark, but that seemed far away. A peekaboo moon is a perfect night for Capture the Flag. And other things.

When we got to the small clearing where we start, Amalia said, “For those of you who are new, we start in two teams…” then was talked over by Coop, of course. A few eye rolls, but we were used to it from Coop.

Pointing to the 4 largest of the group, including Cassie, the traitor, obviously pre-arranged, Coop said “You four are on my team, and you other four are on Rose’s team. We each set our flag about 100 paces in opposite directions. Whichever team brings the other team’s flag back here wins. Anyone tagged by the other team goes to their jail. That’s all, very simple game.”

One of the younger new kids asked “What if we tag someone from our own team?” I answered, “What if you tag a bear by mistake? Same thing, they bite your hand off.” After a brief silent pause, a few laughs. Hmm, a nervous group, I thought. Maybe because it is Halloween.

I said, “The moon is in the south, so we play east-west, to be fair. We will take west.” I gave Coop his flag, and led our group 100 steps west. From there, we could not see the clearing any more, or anyone from the other team. I shivered. “That is not like me,” I mumbled to myself.

When we reached a larger space between trees after the 100 steps, I pushed our flag into the ground, about 4 feet behind the largest tree. The rules are that the flag has to be visible and no closer than 3 feet to any tree or large bush. The moon went behind a cloud, and I could barely see the nearest trees. Wow, it is a dark night, but at least not stormy.

Suddenly, seeming from nowhere, the wind picked up and whipped my coat around, and nearly blinded me with my own hair. I stumbled, and heard an “Ooh!” and a few surprised “Ahhh”s, as everyone worked to keep their balance. The wind quickly died down, but was followed in a few seconds by several more bursts of wind, and then it became fairly steady, and annoying at best. Then

Thunder and lightning. “What?” I shouted. “The weather forecast said nothing about this, what is going on?”

“Um, it’s Halloween, I guess, all bets are off,” answered Mia.

“But we can’t play in a storm,” I said.

“Oh, it won’t storm, this is just dry lightning,” someone said.

“How do you know?” asked one of the younger ones. I think it was Tony. I had the same question. No one answered.

Then the wind calmed down, and the moon came out from the dark cloud into a hazy sky. There were several slow sighs.

“OK, I said, “time for us to start moving. Tony, you and Mia will take first turn guarding the flag. Tag any moving object that comes in sight. You both have strong penlights, use them wisely. If you stay within 10 feet of the flag, you cannot be tagged. You are new, Tony, if you have to go farther from the flag, the rule for tagging at the same time is that the person who tags closer to the ground wins. My new technique is dive and swipe, Coop doesn’t know that move yet.”

“Listen carefully, you will hear them before you see them. Mara, you and I will circle around toward the other flag. I will circle north, you circle south. Everyone, use the compass on your watch if you need to, but be careful to shield it so the other team doesn’t see it.”

“Got it,” Mara replied, and started off south. I started north.

After I had moved 10 steps, it suddenly seemed too quiet, like I was in a bubble. I couldn’t hear anyone, even the wind was dead. Oh, not a good word to think of right now. Then…

I stopped, for a moment knocked off my composure. “A coyote,” I told myself. I didn’t know there were coyotes in this woods, but I guess they are everywhere these days. I listened carefully for a bit, but nothing. Then, a small crackle of leaves in front of me, to my left. It was very dark, I couldn’t see anything. Whose idea was this, anyway?

I convinced myself the sound must be a player from the other team because… what else could it be? The coyote was much farther away. I crouched down into my dive-tag position and moved toward where I thought the enemy player was, slowly, soundlessly.

Crouched very low to the ground, I saw crocs just beneath the leaves of a small bush. I didn’t waste time looking up (maybe I should have), but dove to the right of the bush and swiped my left hand out onto the sneaker, and said just loudly enough for them to hear, “Tag!”. But the sneaker flew back, and a big weight fell, mostly on me. I almost screamed, but managed to stifle it. Just then, a sneaker moved into my sight, and I quickly threw my arm out, “Tag!” and then “Tag!” from just above me, as I was tapped on the head.

“Hey, get this off me,” I said, and I saw Kai bend and try to lift the stuffed body. I was able to drag myself out, and asked Kai, “What is that all about?” pointing to the dummy.

“Coop thought you would fall for it, and we could see what tag trick you would use.”

“Ah. Well, almost worked. But let’s go back to jail so I can get going again.” Kai agreed that I had tagged first and lowest, and we went to our flag and jail.

When I was finally back out on the way to the other team’s flag again, I felt relief. I admit I had been a little spooked when the dummy fell on me.

The moon had disappeared, and

the wind started howling. It was a creepy night, and not for the first time I thought maybe this wasn’t a good idea. But then I thought that maybe the only thing to be afraid of was the tricks Coop set up. I was wrong.

I walked slowly through the woods, being careful, and then my foot kicked a soft lump. I couldn’t see it in the dark, so I bent down to see what it was. The moon appeared in a brief flash. ’Ah!’ I shouted as I jumped back. Some kind of animal, apparently killed and torn apart by something bigger. But what was bigger in these woods? A coyote? Not big enough, I thought. Then I heard it.

A bear. Not too close, fortunately. But how could that be, in these woods? Did Coop set these up to scare me? Of course he did. That was probably a recording of a bear. Then I heard scuffling in the bushes from the same direction, and, snuffling sounds. I don’t think I was imagining it.

I quickly turned away from the sounds to go deeper into the woods, yet still toward Coop’s camp. He is not going to win by scaring me away. But… where was everyone else? Except for Kai, I had not heard or seen anyone. Am I the only one playing? Frightening thought. I wished then I was more of a quitter. I am, now.

I checked my compass and moved silently more to the south and east, too many horrifying scenarios flying through my head. All was deathly silent, until the moon appeared briefly, and then I jumped as a large owl flew very close to my head to disappear into the darkness. I froze in the silence. Really, deep silence. Then

I heard the owl, up ahead of me. All I could think of was some supposed Native American belief that a passing owl is the spirit of someone who just died passing. Halloween and dark woods are not a good combination for staying calm.

I walked on slowly, trying to be very quiet and to not think about owls and spirits of the dead. But then

That was a wolf, a real one, I am sure it wasn’t a recording. The moon disappeared again, but I am sure I saw a wolf-like shape and red eyes off to the north, in a brief flash of lightning after the howl. And then

I think the wolf found the dead animal. But there are no wolves in these parts! I am hallucinating, or someone is playing tricks. Anyway, it is busy eating, not coming after me.

I moved more quickly, perhaps not as quietly as I should have. But I know I was coming close to the enemy camp. I slowed down, crouched, and looked carefully all around.

There were low voices, voices I didn’t recognize, chanting some kind of ceremony. In the middle of the clearing there was a small fire, and on the other side I could see a tall figure in white with red, glowing eyes. I was sure it must be Coop, but he looked frightening, possessed. He held a long knife above his head. As the chanting rose to a crescendo, he plunged his knife down into what I now recognized as Mara, lying at his feet, with her eyes closed. When the dagger stuck Mara, the chanting ended in

a shout or a scream, and a long stream of blood spurted out over the fire, toward me. Mara’s eyes shot open wide, and I bit down so hard on my hand to keep from screaming that I think I broke a bone, and I nearly screamed from the pain.

I looked more closely at Mara’s face, and I could see her eyes were staring into nowhere, … but her mouth was … hmm, working very hard to keep from laughing. I looked around the circle, and the others were the same. All 6 of them, both teams. No one moved or made any sound, just stared into the fire.

I stood up as tall as I could, walked calmly into the circle, picked up the flag, and walked back into the woods. After 100 yards, I shouted “I win!”.

When I came back, we were all laughing. Until, that is, we heard

a cougar growling, not too far away. Silence. Everyone looking around, counting heads. Then someone asked, quietly, “Where’s Cassie?”