There was dull thud, followed almost instantly by a muffled scream. I dared a glance around; Josh was lying flat on his back, clutching his stomach. His gun and ammunition sprawled out beside him. A bead of sweat trickled slowly down the side of my face. Even in the brilliant light of day I couldn't determine where the shots where coming from. All around me I could see people collapsing to the ground, doubled over in agony. I had no bullets left. I stared longingly at the center of the field, where a bright blue flag was displayed. That was when I decided, I was going to go down fighting. Throwing my gun to the floor, I leapt out of the safety of cover, picked myself off the ground and ran. I could hear the sound of bullets whistling past. My vision transfixed on that little blue flag; terror pulsing through my veins. My legs where aching like I had never felt before, and my heart was thudding violently inside me chest, but I carried on, too scared to give in, too scared to give up. Suddenly something hot hit me square in the back, I stumbled with the force. It happened again, in the shoulder this time, pain shuddered through me. I realized now that I was not standing anymore, I was on the ground. My face was wet, and I knew it was not just perspiration behind the mask any more. The world was rapidly loosing colour. I could feel something hot and red between my fingers as I clutched my shoulder. I heard shouting, and a whistle, but they were worlds away, as if I was listening from a distance. Shutting my eyes, I let the world escape me.
During the months following Christmas 2005 I had watched in awe as a friend of mine had rapidly gone through as many ideas for her birthday party as there were hours in the day. Her expectations of the party were minimal; with one simple characteristic she was adamant it would feature; an age limit of 13. Whether she honestly couldn't decided or was just being purposefully annoying I will never know, but to this day I cannot figure out how she managed to spend almost half a year just deciding what she wanted to do. Eventually, to the relief of just about every person she knew, she decided upon paintballing. I couldn't help but smile as she broke the news; it was something I had always wanted to try. And so in the days leading to her birthday, I was overcome with anticipation.
I awoke that morning to heavy rain thundering down on my window, and even though it had cleared by the time we were set to leave, it had left in its wake a country clogged with muddy fields and vast puddles. So it was in poor spirits that we trudged down the base. The company she had chosen was 'Delta Paintballing' which was situated in Hemel Hempstead. Finding it was relatively simple, it wasn't well signposted but the directions given post-event were clear and helpful. Because it's situated in the countryside you will also find that locals are willing and able to be of assistance if you do get lost. Not that im implying that people who live urban areas are rude. The time that had been set for arrival was 9:30am, but the event started behind schedule to allow latecomers time to arrive.
After trudging down a long, crowded and extremely muddy path we were greeted by staff to check in. They pointed us in the direction of the supply house and we joined a long winding queue. The supply house was basically an oversized chicken shed. They hurriedly handed out overalls and masks before turning their attention to the next in the queue, leaving us to find our own way to a table. This was where we changed, and kept all supplies. We bought gloves, and an extra value pack of paintballs, before being assigned a team. There were around 6 - 8 teams altogether. The teams were set up in pairs, and the team they joined you with would be your opposition for the day. We were green, fighting purple.
A long safety demonstration followed. This was both effective and well thought out. Whilst the instructors were comical, they also know when to be serious. The game was explained to us, as was the gun. At this point they made it extremely clear that the guns were dangerous. But it was only when they explained that the paintballs would be traveling at speeds surpassing 200mph, and had been known to knock careless people cold that the realization of where I was, and what I was about to do hit me. The overalls were chaffing my skin, and would provide little protection.
There were a total of 6 game areas, which we would pass through in turn throughout the day. Each area would provide two, five minute games. It wasn't only the surroundings that would differ, but also the game play and rules with each new area, so we were warned that we should be flexible. Unfortunately we hadn't chosen the center with the most variety, the majority of the areas consisted of trees, and although they all offered different characteristics, such as a massive ditch, or huts or a fortress, it soon became repetitive. There was one area in which we played speedball that mimicked a farm, with haystacks stacked up to offer minimal protection. This was by far my favourite.
After the safety demonstration we waited for half an hour before being led off into the game area. Individually our helmets were checked, before being asked to pick up a gun from the stacks and follow the leader. I found the guns incredibly unreliable, they packed up on me at least twice during the duration of the day, which left me in rather uncomfortable situations as you can imagine. The walk down to each game area was an event in itself, they were rocky and uneven. With the mask restricting your view I saw many people stumble. It also became stuffy and hot inside the ninja suit.
Within seconds of arriving at the first area, and positioning ourselves a whistle blew twice to indicate 'game start'. It took a while to adjust to the equipment, and form tactics. Five minutes later I arrived at the 'safety zone' hot, sweaty and covered in dirt. One of my friends had been taken back to base after being shot in the face, and I could hear groaning all around me. I myself could feel a number of bruises forming. The second half of the game was easier, as it involved the same objective as the first half and by now I knew my way around. This time I stayed on till the end, and our team won. It was hard to feel a sense of pride when every muscle in my body was complaining about the way it was being treated. The hike back to base was even more difficult than the one there, as by now we were exhausted.
Two more game areas followed, before being allowed a welcome break for lunch. This consisted of either burgers or hotdogs with complimentary salad. We wolfed these down with no problem, paintballing works up a real appetite, and then watched in dismay as someone, im not mentioning any names (Jessica) eagerly got through thirds and fourths. The time which remained was a frantic rush or cleaning guns and masks at the specially designed booth, restocking paintballs and gaining five minutes rest and relaxation. Before we knew it a bell had gone signaling our return to the game.
The remaining games were reasonably uneventful. Striking an uncanning resemblance to the first few. They passed in a whirlwind of adrenalin, and I am hardly even able to recollect them. During the last game an event occurred which I was involved in. Someone was stretchered out of the arena and the opposition was disqualified. This won us the game. It was dealt with promptly and strictly by the instructors, showing a great deal of professionalism.
I limped for a week after that day. If I look closely I can still see the remains of some of the bruises. But I don't think it would have been paintballing without this agony. There would have been no sense of danger, no sense of adventure. Despite the painful side of it, paintballing is something I will always hold closely to my heart, and I will always remember the people I met, and the funny moments. I would advise anyone looking into trying paintballing, to check out Delta Paintball.
More contact information is available on http://www.deltaforcedirect.co.uk/
very helpful
very helpful
helpful
