The Hijinks War

20. Capture the Flag

-.-

The warning came early in the morning, serving as an alarm clock to many of us. Students weren't happy about it. Being commanded around was annoying, but Hijinks was our source of entertainment and merriment. It was how we got out our aggression and irritation , or what we used to distract ourselves from them. Without Hijinks, what would everyone do?

I'd spent the better part of the day fending off questions from people who thought I'd know something. Aside from being able to say that the ceasefire wasn't because Kellen and Katia were suddenly friends now, I didn't know anything else.

I supposed the summons I'd received had something to do with that. As I sat in the Thunderbirds lounge, waiting for Kellen's announcement, I was a lot less nervous than the last time. I already knew what Kellen was going to say, or at the very least the reason behind what he would say.

"Okay people, we got intel late last night that Corbis is tightening security around Waterbridge, including residence. He saw someone on the grounds after curfew."

"How do we know this is true?" Dev glanced at me; if the intel hadn't come from him, then it was from me.

"Katia and I verified the intel this morning. There was a completely new dormitory guard this morning."

"There's no—!" Dev protested. 

"Oh, yes there is!" Leon cut in, "They were gone by the time classes started, but there were guards posted at all exits this morning, and I bet they will be there this evening after curfew."

The silence after his words was absolute. Guards? But why? Surely one student out of bed didn't warrant a lock down. How were we supposed to do anything now?

"There was a meeting last night to re-evaluate the Code," Jackson said as if reading everyone's mind.

Kellen slapped a paper down in front of each of us, "From now on, there will be no attacks unless they are approved by the three of us. All activity will remain in residence itself. All s will approach their Sergeants first. If there's a chance that any part of the execution will catch the guard's attention, it is out of the question."

I looked down at the paper in front of me; it was basically what he'd just said but in more detail. My eyes scanned the part he hadn't spoken of yet, and I asked, "Capture the Flag?"

"The game they made us play on that team building retreat thing, first week of freshman year?" Lark looked unconvinced.

"The exact same." Kellen nodded. "Katia's little kidnapping stunt gave us an idea for a new game. Each side will set a flag—an item or a person—and notify hijINKs. The point is to figure out who or what the flag is, and capture it before they can get ours. Capture the correct flag and hold it for three days, our side gets a point and both flags are reset. If a flag is captured, we get three days to steal it back. If we do, we steal the point, like when we flip a prank"

"Sounds like fun." A few eyes swiveled to me and I shrugged; didn't these people have any exciting bones in their bodies? Ignoring their gazes I looked to the Trifecta, "How do flags get picked?"

"Flags are picked by Kellen or Jackson," Leon conveniently left his own name out. "They can be anything from a favorite book to a younger sister."

"Me?" Jess squealed in surprise.

"He didn't say it was you," Jackson pulled a face at Jess. "He said it could be you, or a girl I'm seeing, or my favorite pair of shoes, or—"

"Or your Blinky?" Jess grinned as everyone snickered.

Jackson rolled his eyes, taking her jab in stride. "Yes. It just has to mean something to us."

"Human flags will be notified," Leon looked at Jess, the only person in the room likely to be chosen as a flag. "You can refuse, but remember you'll most likely be asked again. People near the flags will be notified, so they can either throw off suspicion, or defend the flag."

"What about everyone else?" Camille asked, scanning the sheet of rules in front of her for an answer.

"Only those necessary will be notified, including you guys. Everyone else is free to speculate, but do so covertly because Hellhounds will be listening—"

"If you guys figure it out and feel like dropping wrong hints, there's no problem with that." Jackson quipped, cutting Kellen off.

"Is there a time limit on a flag?" Lark asked.

"Huh!" Leon grunted. "We didn't think of that. I say we leave that up to hijINKs—they can decide when it's been too long without a capture and we'll reset the flags and start over."

Kellen nodded and tapped out a message on his phone. Absently, without looking up from the device in his hands, he dismissed us. "Alright, go tell your people now."