Capture The Flag

"The object is to find the flag for your team, and not be killed. No this is not a joke, and no the guns are not loaded with paint. These are real bullets and the test is very real. This is going to be just like a war zone, where you are required to extract a person or object in very dangerous circumstances. While you will work on teams, it is also every man for himself. On another note one of you here is already considered a hero by many in this Country but let's see if he can find the flag that we have hidden and make it out of this exercise alive." The Commander stepped in front of Southerland and sneered, then lifted his gun into the air and pulled the trigger, starting the exercise.

Southerland took a deep breath and tried to steady his nerves. Even in basic training he had a reputation for being the go to guy to find things that were missing or hidden, but this time it seemed like The Commander wanted him to fail. Sounds of gunfire filled his head, so he ducked behind a wall. He drew his gun and swung it around in both directions as he tried to figure out where he should be heading to find the flag.
Most of his colleagues would be trying to make their way to the middle of the complex, where one would assume that the flags would be hidden. However he knew that they wouldn't make it that easy, they really wanted to test the abilities of the soldiers they assembled. He would bet anything that the flags would be at either of the entrances of the complex. Once again he raised his gun to make sure that he was safe to start making the trek across The Complex, he seemed to be in the clear.

Slowly he started to make his way through the maze of walls. The sounds of guns firing at a rapid pace was calming him, for a moment he forgot that the opposing team would be searching for him. His hands stopped shaking and he stopped looking all around him, there didn't seem to be anyone on his tail. Just as his focus turned solely to the flag, a voice distracted him. "So you think that you can take credit for saving the President and be allowed to join this Special ops team? I don't think so."

It was a voice that he had heard before, but he couldn't place it. "I never tried to take full credit for the rescue, as a matter of fact I have said several times in different interviews that it was the work of the entire Task Force that should be praised for saving The President."

"Sure. Sure. Mr. I find everything. Of course if everyone knew that it was my lead that resulted in the find, how would the press and the rest of the country react to you?" It finally dawned on Southerland that it was his former Task Force rival Montgomery Simpson that was behind the mask and stopping him from finding the flag. Simpson raised his gun and his finger played with the trigger. "I should just shoot you and end this whole damned thing. I would get the reward and the entire world would know what a fraud you are."

"Then do it." An escape route was needed, he wanted to find the flag and be put on this team more than he had ever wanted anything before. Adrenaline took over for Southerland, he lowered his head and ran at Simpson's abdomen. A groan escaped from Simpson as he went down but Southerland paid no attention.

He ran faster towards the doorway. One of the bullets hit him in the shoulder, sending a searing pain throughout his body. Blackness threatened to overtake him but he pushed through and finally made it to doorway. On the corner of the door, he saw a red and white flag that he was to take but he wasn't sure that he would be able to. Sucking in a deep breath, he grabbed the flag and a loud siren played out over The Complex. It signaled that the competition was over.

Or so he thought. A loud explosion and white light pushed him to the ground. For a very long moment he couldn't tell if he was alive or dead. Nobody rushed over to him to see if he was alive or dead but then nobody did that in a warzone either. He began to test his fingers and toes, when they moved he stood up.

Had he misjudged the facilitators and they actually did have the flags in the middle? It didn't make sense to him but neither did rigging the doorway with a bomb that could and should have killed everyone in the vicinity. The blast had attracted the attention of his teammates, they were all rushing over to him.

He realized the blast and sound wasn't designed to kill him but to detour him from finding the real flag. It was one last red herring, Southerland made his way into the hallway and found that his theory was correct, the red and white flag was on a pole, just waiting for him to claim. He grabbed it and ran back out on to the field.

He waved the flag wildly as his teammates rejoiced in winning the competition. The cheers of joy and happiness filled him. Malik's voice filled the arena, "Congratulations team on finding the flag. Had this been a battlefield we would be a man down because of a miscalculation on the part of one team member but for now let us convene and celebrate the winners."

Southerland was whisked to the nurse to have his wound bandaged, before he joined his team. Once he did, Malik placed a special medal around his neck to show that he would be one of the first to join the new Special Ops team.