Bab 572: Love In The Battlefield, Part 4

She was getting closer, too damn close for comfort. I move, I die. I fire, I die. Any way I look at this, Irene would always be faster on the draw.

I needed to think, I needed time, a little more time to think. Think!

"Wait! Wait!" A final shout, and then hearing the dead pause of her march, I let out a heavy breath and tossed the flag over towards her. "Just take it, go on, you win… I concede." 

I waited again, peeking ever so slightly out the corner, waiting, bracing… and it happened -  movement, bending forward, a hand reaching for the flag. I immediately sprang out of cover, aiming forward, finger squeezing the trigger, and…

The echo of a gunshot rang out.

Irene clicked her tongue, irritated, her bullet splattering across the surface of my weapon. "Missed…" 

Too exposed, too outclassed, I didn't dare try - I sprinted into the thick cover of the trees, heading further and further away from the base, flagless, defenseless.