4th Place – Senior Essay
Josh Tarr
Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy
Paintball’s an extreme sport. It has often been said that humans provide the best hunt, and “playing” paintball provides that same rush. This sport is so intense that it cannot be contained inside, and so we must play outdoors. The forests of the North Shore at Paintball Command are ideal for paintball games. The tall grass and thick tree cover provide perfect covering places for quick ambushes, hidden snipers, defensive positions, and sustained forward assaults. Frontal attacks have always been the key ingredient for a paintball match, indeed any military engagement, but I prefer not to stay in a crowd, where I can be hit by a random and lucky (or unlucky) shot. No, I’d rather stay by myself, a sniper, a loan ranger, hunting and stalking my prey, taking them out one by one.
The markers (guns) issued at Paintball Command aren’t very good. The Tippmann Carbines are reliable and rugged semi-autos, but not accurate. They are good wood markers when you have a big group in front of you, not when there is only one target. The first match began. I was given a purple armband, signifying my team. The purple team consisted of 20 to 30 people. The first game was pretty straight forward. Our team needed to defend the “castle,” while the other team needed to take it. The game ended when our castle was taken, a red team position was overrun, or when time ran out. Some team members decided the best defense was offense, and rushed to bring it to the enemy. I opted to stay and defend the post. I climbed up the tower, and set up my position. No one would pass without taking me out first.
The platform I stood on was ten feet tall. A chest-height wall protected us defenders. The walls were simply thin sheets of plywood. A ramp protruded out of the back, a quick exit. Three other purple team members stood guard with me. The tower was the first line of defense, the castle being maybe 100 feet away, out of sight thanks to trees. Surrounding our position was 30 feet of ankle high grass, after that was just forest. My teammates and I held our ground, waiting. Silence. The noon sun burned over us, I was sweating in my mask. Paintball markers use CO2 to fire, so they are very quiet. This being the case, I had no idea if any fighting was going on. Fifteen minutes passed. A bird at the edge of the forest attracted my attention. Lank, our group leader, stood facing the direction where the most likely enemy attack would come from. His eyes were peeled for a barrel or face mask sticking out from the woods.
I turned back to the bird, but it was gone. I heard a swish, and felt a splatter on my right arm. I looked down and saw that Lank had been hit in the facemask.
“Incoming!” I yelled, and the rest of us ducked. Hundreds of paintballs thundered against the plywood as an unseen enemy shot at us. Lank was not allowed to move because he was shot, but he could still talk.
“Tarr,” he said. “Get back to base and tell them our post is going down.” I wanted to stay and fight, but Lank insisted. “Run!” he commanded. While my two remaining comrades provided cover fire, I ran down the ramp to the forest. I didn’t stop running until I got to the “castle.” I told the defenders my news. The team commander nodded grimly and told me I was welcome to fight with them.
“With all due respect, sir, I would rather go out and slow the enemy down.” I told him. The commander said he didn’t care, so I trudged into the woods. I knew that I would never be able to stop the whole enemy force, so I decided I would hide, and take down as many as I could. I moved slowly though the trees, looking for the enemy, and a good spot to hide. Out of the quarter of my eye, I saw a depression in the ground, maybe four feet deep. The trench was twenty feet long, and on the other side dissolved into forest. On the side closest to me, there was a white picket fence. There were two inch slits in between each fence board, perfect for sticking a barrel out. I laid down behind the fence, I could be hit through the cracks, but it would be hard. The important thing was that I was invisible.
Soon the enemy showed up; there were twelve of them. They snuck through the forest slowly. I was waiting for all of them to enter the depression and be trapped, when five allies ran into the clearing. Everyone froze, and then everything went wild. Both teams were in the open, and they dove for cover. I lost any clear shot. A big shoot out had erupted. Outnumbered, but with better cover, my team mates quickly eliminated the enemy. Only two “unfriendlies” remained, pinned behind three oil drums. They would pop up their heads and fire a couple of shots before ducking again. My teammates were being hit. I placed my iron sights where one head kept popping up. I waited. Pop! His head came up, my finger went down, and a yellow paint stain erupted on his facemask. That was my first shot the whole game. I positioned my iron sights over the next head, and waited. Pop! He was down too. The match was over, purple had won!
I was greeted as a hero after the game ended. Lank and the team commander congratulated me. The teammates I had saved thanked me. Even the enemy expressed their admiration at my skills. I guess it just goes to show, you don’t need a big frontal assault team to take down an enemy. I walked over to the white fence, it was now yellow, purple, red, and green.
