Chapter 604

"With guns?" I ask, glancing up at him.

"Or other weapons," he says with a shrug. "Paint-coated dulled knives, the like. The point is - you get paint on you, you're dead. We're watched from above," he says, pointing up towards the sky, "with cameras. If you die you'll get a notification to clear the field." He taps on his earpiece, making it clear where that notification will come from.

"Oh," I say, glancing up as we reach the wall of rock behind us and Jackson - mountain goat that he is - starts up a very narrow trail that I might not have noticed without him here. I start up after him. "What happens if we kill everyone?"

"Then we win," Jackson says over his shoulder. "Last team standing takes the victory."

"So, what's the strategy?" I ask quietly, looking out over the landscape as we climb. It really is a deep ravine that we're fighting in, with two sheer cliffsides facing each other and a river at the bottom. Each of the cliffsides has many plateaus built into them like the one that our helicopters landed on. An interesting battlefield, for sure - but one that's certainly built to favor my own brand of sniping. I smirk, pleased and wondering if the Captain trained me in part with this in mind.

"Our strategy," Jackson says, continuing to hike up the steep path, "is to let everyone come to us."

"Really?" I ask, focusing on his powerful shoulders as he moves ahead of me. "Why?"

"Because we're little," he says, grinning over his shoulder at me. "And we have you. We're going to let the enemy come to us and shoot them as they approach."

"Oh," I say, my eyes going wide. Because, I mean, I knew they put a lot at stake to get me - but I still didn't know I was so central to the plan. Jackson and I finally reach what looks like another plateau, though this one is much, much smaller, and I'm panting a bit as I look around. Jackson, annoyingly, waits for me to catch my breath, looking completely un-winded.

"Our worst case scenario is if the other two teams are clever enough to band together and assault our team together. We won't last long under that." “Oh," I say, looking up at him, kind of worried now. "So that's what they'll do?"

"We think tensions and mistrust will run high enough between the teams that even if they do, it won't last. Someone will start shooting the other, given enough time. So, we're not doing a big offensive - just...waiting it out and seeing what happens. And you're going to be a big part of that."

I look up at my mate with wide eyes and nod my agreement, perfectly eager to help in whatever way I can. "Um," I say, glancing around, a little awkward. "How do you want me to do that?"

Jackson grins at me and turns,

leading me over to a set of bushesnoveldrama

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just by the edge of the cliff where he crouches down, waving for me to do the same as he pulls a map and a little red pen out of his pocket. "We're setting you up here," he says as I kneel next to him, peering at the paper that he spreads out before me. "The locations of the other bases are marked on the map with red x's. We want you to take some time to get acclimated with the gun and then the rest of your time scanning with the binoculars."

"Really?" I ask, looking down at them, wondering what they can do.

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"They're digital - very high powered," Jackson says, slipping them off of my head and showing me their details, demonstrating the extent to which they can zoom which is seriously impressive. When I understand the basics, he hands them back to me. "You can report where troops are and how you're seeing them move and we'll message it down to Rafe - it will be incredibly helpful to be able to mark their movements on the map. And then when they get close enough, you can shoot them." He shrugs like it's all very simple.

I pause for a second, looking up at Jackson. "Wait, we'll message it down?" Jackson stares at me with a slight frown, not understanding my hesitation.

"Jackson," I say, quirking my head at him. "What is...your job today?"

"Guarding you, obviously," he says, settling comfortably down behind the bushes and gesturing out over the ravine.

I just stare at him, my jaw dropping

open a bit, a growl growing in my chest. He starts to narrow his eyes at me, not understanding but also not liking my growl.

"And Rafe agreed to this?"

"I didn't give him much of a choice," Jackson says, his chin dropping dangerously. "Did I?"

"Jackson," I snap, glaring at him hard. "Absolutely not."

"Are you defying your commands, Cadet?" Jackson asks, leaning forward towards me, quirking his eyebrow.

"You're damn right I am," I say, leaning forward too to glare up into his face. "Which I am entitled to do, when they're really stupid.”