text: [Themes: family friendly]
  
  Jonathan's much faster than Finn is. You'll need the element of surprise when dealing with him much more than you would dealing with Finn.
  
  You creep forwards, getting as close as you dare without being heard. Jonathan pauses suddenly, looking around. Has he heard you?
  
  You can't risk it. You charge out of your hiding spot, touching Jonathan's shoulder as he whips around, then immediately sprinting towards Finn. Finn turns to run, but she's reacted too slow, and you're able to tag her before she gets away. "Rats!" says Jonathan. "I didn't see you there. Which way to jail?"
  
  Good, that means they don't already know where it is. "This way." You head towards the tree, and feeling pretty good about yourself. You've already got three members of their team out, and the game has barely started. Things are looking optimistic.
  
  Of course, when you arrive at the tree, Harriet is gone.
  
  You scowl. This isn't too unexpected—Alexsis was nowhere in sight when you ran into Finn and Jonathan, and the jail was totally undefended. Still, it's pretty irritating.
  
  The worst part is, you now have the exact same problem as before, except slightly worse: Instead of having one prisoner to find a guard for, you have two. And now Alexsis and Harriet are loose in your territory. And you still don't know where Katherine is.
  
  You're hesitant about leaving two people unguarded at the jail. But you have a flag to protect, and that's more important. Mike is very observant, but he's not fast, and if Harriet and Alexsis try to use their superior numbers to gang up on him, there won't be much he can do about it.
  
  On the other hand, maybe it's time you went on the offensive. Or, well, the offensive while still being on defense. Alexsis and Harriet are still out there, and you know the area much better than they do.
  
  > go out and look for Harriet and Alexsis
  This is one problem you'd like to nip in the bud. You don't want to sit around and just wait for Alexsis and Harriet to make their move. This time, you're bringing the fight to them.
  
  "Alright, this is the jail," you say to Jonathan and Finn. "You guys don't dig any escape tunnels."
  
  Jonathan turns to Finn. "You bring a shovel?" You don't hear the answer though, as you're already leaving.
  
  You decide its best if you stick close to the jail and flag area. Alexsis and Harriet are more likely to be around here, and they'll definitely do more damage in this area than anywhere else. You begin to search.
  
  You search in a grove of tight pine trees, but you don't see them.
  
  You see blueberries growing on one of the bushes.
  
  You don't find them by the big rotted log.
  
  You double back to the jail. Finn and Jonathan are still there, but Alexsis and Harriet are not.
  
  You spot some deer tracks in the mud.
  
  You stop to take a breath, but pause when the sounds of movement come from your right.
  
  After listening for another moment, you hear someone have a quick whispered conversation, and from the sound of their voices, it's definitely Harriet and Alexsis. Grinning, you start to creep forwards.
  
  You stop, as a twig snaps loudly beneath your feet. You look down, and cringe. The ground in this area is littered with sticks, and pine cones, and crinkly leaves. No wonder you were able to hear them so easily.
  
  It worked in your advantage then, but now it's working against you. You're not sure that you're going to be able to successfully sneak up on Harriet and Alexsis, not with the ground like this.
  
  Of course, you could just try to charge at them, despite the distance. But if you missed, you'd risk having to search for them all over again.
  
  > Charge for them
  You take a deep breath, getting yourself ready. You'll have to put on a serious burst of speed if you want to pull this off. Three...two...GO!
  
  You bolt forwards. Harriet whirls around to face you, while Alexsis takes off immediately. Rats, you think as she sprints away. But Harriet doesn't react as quickly as Alexsis, and you just manage to tag her shoulder as she's turning to run.
  
  "Not again!" she exclaims.
  
  "Jail's this wa—"
  
  "Yeah, I remember."
  
  You head through the woods as quickly as you can while not leaving Harriet behind. You're still pretty uncomfortable leaving Finn and Jonathan without a guard, especially now that Alexsis is god-knows-where. You exhale in relief when you arrive to see Finn and Jonathan are still there.
  
  "Hi guys," says Harriet.
  
  "Hi Harriet," says Finn. "What brings you here?"
  
  "Oh, just dropping by."
  
  You're feeling pretty good about yourself, when you remember: You still haven't fixed your problem: Alexsis is on the loose, and you've now got three people to guard in jail, Mike is the only one guarding the flag, and you still don't know where Katherine is.
  
  > stay and guard the jail
  The consequences for leaving the jail undefended are just too high now that there's three of them here. You sure hope Mike can handle Alexsis alone.
  
  Jail guarding is pretty boring, but less so now that there's four of you here. You're getting into a pretty intense argument about baseball vs. kickball when you hear noises coming through the woods. You jump to your feet, but relax once you see who it is—It's Katherine, bringing a tagged Alexsis with her. "Great job, Katherine!"
  
  "Awful crowded over here!" Katherine laughs when she sees how full the jail is. "Is Liam the only one on their team left?"
  
  You scan the group. "Must be. He's probably guarding the flag."
  
  "Stacy and Corey must be out," notes Katherine, and she turns to the jail. "Hey, are they out?"
  
  "Yeah," nods Jonathan.
  
  Alexsis swats his arm. "You don't just tell them that!"
  
  Katherine turns to you. "Let's go over right now. I bet we can find their jail, and if not, we can definitely take Liam if he's guarding the flag."
  
  "We'll go talk to Mike first," you say. "I haven't seen him in a while."
  
  "Great, let's go," says Katherine, heading towards the flag.
  
  > stay and guard the jail
  "Katherine, I'm going to stay here," you call. "Just in case."
  
  "Oh no, no need to worry about us," says Alexsis in mock-innocence. You ignore her.
  
  Katherine sighs. "Alright, if you feel like wasting your time." She heads off towards the flag.
  
  You make light conversation with everyone in jail, but you're pacing back and forth as you do so. You'd much rather be conferring with Katherine and Mike, or better yet, mounting an offensive on the other team. You're pacing so much, and the group is talking so loudly, that you almost don't notice the rustling coming from the woods.
  
  But you do notice it. You notice it, then you identify its location, and then you take action.
  
  You lunge into the trees, just as Liam breaks out of them. The two of you collide with each other, and each fall over backwards. "You're out," you gasp, climbing to your feet.
  
  "Sorry," winces Liam, rubbing his forehead.
  
  You look around. "Oh wait, that's everyone. Does that mean we win?"
  
  "I vote we make them search our territory for the flag," says Alexsis.
  
  "I am not waiting around in jail that long," says Finn.
  
  At about that moment, Mike comes out of the woods. He raises his eyebrows when he sees you. "'I'll be right back,' huh?" Right. You did say that.
  
  "You may find this hard to believe," you say, "But I have not one, but several reasonable justifications." You gesture to the five people in jail. "Exhibit A."
  
  Mike does a quick head count. "That's the entire team. Wait... does that mean we win?"
  
  "Yes," says Finn, quickly, before Alexsis can get a word in.
  
  "HEY KATHERINE WE WON!" Mike yells, as loud as he possibly can. You cringe, and rub your ears.
  
  "WE WHAT?" yells Katherine.
  
  You grin. "I'll go get Stacy and Corey," you say, already jogging out of the clearing.
  
  "I propose a rematch!" calls Alexsis.
  
  "Alright," you call with a grin. "How about rock paper scissors?"