The Retreat | Enha multi ship

[Chapter 14]

Everything moved so fast once 8 am rolled around. The students were gathered, then immediately split into teams of four, before they announced what the days activity was going to be.

Capture the flag.

"Two teams at a time will be taken to a sectioned off area of the forest, bordered by bright orange rope. You'll be given a flag, and told to hide it. Then you will have twenty minutes to find the other teams flag, and whoever brings the flag back to their starting point first wins." Dahyun explains. 

She turns to Junhyuck who quickly hands her a square piece of fabric, then turns back to the students, holding the fabric in the air. 

"Flags must be hidden within the sectioned off area; anywhere past the orange rope is classed as out of bounds. The flag must also be hidden in an attainable place, so no burying it underground."

Yet again, she turns to Junhyuck, swapping the flag for a long strip of fabric.

"Every member of the team must wear a 'tail', which should be tucked into the back of your trousers. If your tail is stolen during the game, then you'll be eliminated and need to return to the starting point. If you have the rival teams flag and you get your tail stolen; you must place the flag back where you found it, before returning to the starting point. If all tails are stolen from a team, then the other team will be allowed to continue searching until the time is up." She adds.

"If neither team retrieves a flag by the end of twenty minutes, they will both lose. You will be called on multiple times during the day, so keep an ear out for the loud speaker. You can do whatever you want while you wait, but if you don't come when your team is called, you'll lose a point. Whoever has the most points by the end of the day will win a prize, good luck!" She finishes up, and all the staff start clapping, so the students join in.

____

Now everything had been explained, the groups were left to their own devices. Most people just huddled in their little groups, waiting for the first set of teams to be called. 

Luck did not seem to be on Jake's side during this trip, as once again, he was put into a group he didn't really belong in. At least his cabin roommates included Sunghoon, but this time, it's like he was thrown in with the sharks. An Yujin, Yang Jungwon, and Kim Jiwon, could he have got a worse combination of teammates?

"So-" Jake tries to suggest they strategize, but is instantly shut down by Jungwon.

"No, I just want to sit here in silence until we're called." Jungwon snaps. He kneels down to the grass below them, and sits with his legs crossed.

Jake knew it wasn't anything personal, since Jungwon was actually quite nice to him now he was friends with Sunoo, but it was clear that something was putting him in a bad mood. Still he would prefer not to be snapped at.

"Someones bitchy this morning." Yujin mumbles as she sits down.

Jungwon narrows his eyes on her. "You don't wanna go there with me." He says in a warning tone.

The girl simply scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"If only I still lived for gossip, I'd have so much to report on with you two." Jiwon seemed pretty oblivious to how inappropriate her timing was right now. She glanced around for the cleanest spot of grass she could see, to avoid getting her sparkly pink tracksuit bottoms [which matched her sparkly pink tracksuit crop top] dirty. Once she had settled on her chosen spot, she was quick to pull out her phone, opening the voice memo app. "While we're here, could I get an interview from either of you?"

Jake couldn't really describe the way Jungwon and Yujin looked at Jiwon, but even he was terrified. His team really wasn't off to a great start.

____

You'd think that being paired up with two of his football teammates, and a cheerleader, that Sunghoon would be in the best position. However, despite having Heeseung, who was a perfect choice for a teammate, he also had two noticeable handicaps.

"Do you think if I eat the flag it'd be counted as unattainable? Like if someone punches me hard enough, I'll throw up, so technically it wouldn't be against the rules."

Handicap 1: Riki - the boy who wants to eat the flag.

"Oh no! My hair tie snapped! This can't be happening right now!"

Handicap 2: Wonyoung - the girl crying over a hair tie.

There was no point in trying to build a strategy with them, since they were probably gonna do their own thing anyway. Sunghoon knew that he was basically on a two member team, so he had to plan around that.

"I reckon we wing it during the first match, and assess the game properly." Sunghoon suggests.

"Yeah, sounds good. We're still not sure how they'll be." Heeseung replies, nodding his head in the direction of his other teammates. "Riki's used to being a defender, so he'll probably go crazy trying to steal tails. Then I have no idea what Wonyoung will be doing. If I had to plan something now, I think that as long as one of us is guarding the flag we'll be fine."

Sunghoon hums in agreement. 

____

Considering how dysfunctional the other teams appeared, Sunoo was really pleased with the group he was in. Jay, Gaeul and Rei were all determined to win this challenge, but no one was overbearing or taking it too seriously, so the moral stayed high.

 Jay naturally took the role of team leader, starting the discussion of their strategy. "Okay, wherever we hide the flag, someone's gotta stay near by and guard it."

"They're gonna need to be strong to defend it, that means it's gotta be you." Gaeul chimes in.

"True, I'll defend it then." Jay knew he was the strongest out of all of them, so he had no qualms with the decision. "For the other three- someone needs to go after the other teams flag, someone needs to actively steal tails, and someone should act as a distraction, pretending they're defending the flag." He looks to his group mates for their input.

"All my years of sneaking around to get gossip will come in handy. I should be able to find their flag without being caught." Rei states confidently. "Plus Jiwon's sent me to some pretty crazy places, which kinda trained me to be good at tracking. No matter how big the area is, I'll find my way back to the starting point without getting lost." 

It almost seemed unfair to have Rei on their team, but Sunoo was incredibly grateful that she was.

"If Sunoo's okay with being a distraction, I can steal the tails." Gaeul veers her gaze to Sunoo, patiently waiting for his response with a sweet smile on her face.

"Sure." Sunoo agrees, smiling back at the girl.

"We're all set then." Jay smirks, excitedly patting the shoulders of his teammates. "We got this in the bag."

____

After about ten minutes of waiting around, a sudden loud beeping noise blared through the speakers, catching all the students attentions.

"Team A and Team G- please report to the game area."

"Team A? That's us." Jake mutters nervously. "Why do we have be first?"