Paintball Pirates

Just then, the buzzer announced Jeff’s presence.  Dan picked up the knapsack and hustled over to the entry system by the front door.  He pushed a button and spoke into the box on the wall.  “I’m coming right down”, he said.

The drive to the park was nice.  The guys seemed impressed with Dan’s achievements, but that only made sense.  He’d done quite well for himself in a pretty short time after graduation.

But when he suggested that he captain the team, that didn’t go over so well and one of the other guys was chosen.  That would be a mistake.  Chris may have done this more often than the others, but he wasn’t really the leader type, and he didn’t have much of a sense of strategy.  While Chris was changing into his painball clothes, Dan tried to reassert control, but the other guys didn’t bite.  Damn.

Dan badly wanted to win.  He wanted to win at everything he did.

Chris pointed down one of the three paths in front of them, signaling for Dan to head that direction.  Dan took a few steps and looked back, but Chris and Brad had already left the clearing and, as he had already guessed, they were already invisible in the dense brush.  Dan continued into the forest for a few more steps, pushing through a large fern.  Coming out the other side, he found himself looking right down the muzzle of a paint gun.  “Shit!” he muttered.  The game wasn’t five minutes old and he’d been captured.  He knew that Chris’s idea wasn’t going to work, but this was ridiculous.

The soldier who’d captured him wore the green ribbon of the opposition, but Dan couldn’t recall the face.  “Drop the gun,” commanded his captor, and Dan did as he was instructed.  The gun was snatched up by a second green commando.  This surprised Dan that the green team would dedicate two players to one capture.  He’d have to find out their strategy at the end of the game.

“Turn around”, the first captor said.  Dan again obeyed wordlessly.  He was surprised when the second opponent grabbed his wrists and firmly tied them together.  This week’s game was far more intense than last week’s.  Dan smiled briefly – he liked it this way a lot more.  This game could become addictive.

One of the other men, grabbed Dan by the shoulders and spun him around, so that he faced them again.  Then, they pushed his shoulder to the right, indicated with their guns that he was to walk in that direction.  That seemed odd, as it would take them even further away from base camp, but perhaps these guys had a complicated strategy.

One of the captors held Dan by the shoulder, while the other followed close behind, as they walked further into the forest.  After about five minutes, they came upon a large wooden utility shed, the kind that must have been used to store the tractor and gardening equipment in the off-season.  The first man opened the door, and the second captor pushed Dan into the dark space.  The men followed, closing the door behind them.  One of them turned a light on, casting a yellowish glow to the empty room.  The other fumbled for Dan’s hands and undid the knot holding his wrists together.

Dan turned around, rubbing his wrists though they weren’t at all sore.  He expected the others to lock him in the shed and return to the game.  “Take off your coveralls, shoes, and socks”, the leader said.

Dan was confused by the order.  “What?”

The first captor motioned with his free hand.  “You still haven’t been hit – we don’t want you walking back into the game.”

Dan smiled and nodded.  These guys were really clever.  “OK, I get it.  You guys have played this game before I can tell.  I just hope my buddies are clever enough to win it for us.”

The other two men smiled at each other.  “Your friends don’t have much experience, nor do they know the terrain here.  I wouldn’t bet on them rescuing you and winning the game”, the second man said.

Dan shrugged his shoulders and unzipped the coveralls, letting them fall to his ankles.  Then he bent over and pulled them over his sneakers, throwing them towards one of his competitors.  He then removed his sneakers and socks.  When he stood upright, he faced his captors clad only in his T-shirt and boxer shorts.

“Now we have to secure you in here,” the first man said.  The second man stepped forward and held out his hand.  Dan lifted his hand and the man grasped it.  The man wrapped it carefully in a thin foam bracelet, then he reached into his vest and pulled out a leather handcuff.  He wrapped it tightly around Dan’s wrist, pulling the buckle as tight as he could.  Dan laughed nervously.  “You guys came really prepared,” he said.  Neither of them looked at him or responded in any way.  The first man walked behind Dan and the second man raised Dan’s arm to the ceiling of the shed.  The first man bolted the other end of the handcuff into a hole in one of the cross beams.  Dan felt clammy with sweat, but still did not resist.

The two men stood back and Dan hung uncomfortably from one arm.  The ceiling was not so high that he had to stand on tiptoes, but his right heel couldn’t touch the ground.  One of the captors grabbed Dan’s other wrist and placed it a cuff, attaching it to the cross beam.  Dan was hanging stretched out in front of them.  The two men stood back and smiled.  Dan knew something wasn’t right here.  “So, I guess you’ve got me out of this game,” he said, trying to overcome a slight tremor in his voice.

“Could say that,” one of the men replied.  But still they stood there.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only ninety seconds or so, Dan could contain himself no longer.  “When are you guys going back to the game?”

“We’ve got a lot more interesting game going on right here,” the leader replied, a smile crossing his face for the first time.

It felt to Dan like he’d been kicked in the stomach.  He couldn’t breathe for a second and he felt the blood rush to his face.  “What do you mean?” he choked out.

The first man reached out and touched Dan’s side, stroking the pectoral muscle under the light T-shirt.  “We’ve got everything we want right here.”

Dan kicked towards him, but they had planned this out perfectly.  At the first kick, one guy grabbed his foot and pulled it as hard as he could.  This stretched Dan out and he could only flail with his free foot, which the other captor easily grabbed.  The two men quickly wrapped his ankles in leather cuffs and fed a chain through the cuff.  No matter how he struggled, the men held tight.  One by one, they bolted the other end of the cuffs into holes in the floor, separating his feet by about three feet, stretching his legs.  Dan hung before them, stretched full out … entirely exposed.

Again, they took a step back, but this time they smiled broadly at Dan, who screamed as loudly as he could.  One guy walked around behind him and put duct tape over his mouth to muffle the screams.

Dan’s lifted up his head and looked directly into the first captor’s eyes, pleading for mercy.  The man smiled back at Dan and stroked his ribs.  Dan’s nerves spasmed at the ticklish sensation and he wriggled away as best he could.  Meanwhile the second man revisited each cuff and bolt, tightening each element in turn, securing Dan more thoroughly.

Once complete, the two men stood back from Dan a few feet and admired their prize.  Dan had always been attractive.  He had even modelled a bit in university.  Although he had a longish face, his chin and cheekbones were very strong.  His strawberry blond hair, redder at this time of the year, was stylishly parted in the center but cut over his ears.  His blue eyes pleaded with this captors.  Dan’s long, sinewy legs were lightly dusted with reddish-blond hair.  His feet were long and tapered, with beautifully shaped toes and well-clipped nails.  It was certainly a promising beginning.  They had only to unwrap the rest of the package to appreciate their catch.

One of the men reached into his belt and drew out a hunting knife.  He reached up and inserted the knife just under the collar of Dan’s T-shirt, cutting the strands of fabric.  He reached up with his other hand, and ripped Dan’s T-shirt from top to bottom in one violent pull, revealing hairless, well-developed pectoral muscles, washboard abdominal muscles covering Dan’s stomach, and quarter-size pink nipples.  The second man murmured in appreciation, while his partner leaned forward and lightly licked Dan’s chest and nipples.  Dan tried to pull back, but couldn’t move