I sat there, watching them run by me as I laid down on the frozen grass. I couldn’t believe that it was only 5 pm and it was already pitch black. It was New Years and there were 2 other parties going on down Rock House Road, with lots of screaming. We had a lot of kids playing manhunt with us so the teams were big, there was Robbie, Emily, Zac, Charlie, Andrew, Johanna, Drew, Sumer, Chris, A.J., B.J., David, Carson (my brother), Peter, Teddy, Cody, Logan, and Alex. I can’t remember who was on my team, but I do know that the base was about 30 feet away with 3 people guarding. I was surprised that Chris and Alex were already there, they are really loud. About an hour before, we had made the teams. I was glad that there was only one girl on my team, Sumer, I have known her since 3rd grade and she knows her way around our yard pretty well to not need to stick around with me. The other team started counting to 30, so I made a run for the barn. Everyone followed me at first but then found their own place to hide. I don’t normally hide, I try to stay on the move for as long as possible without being heard, but the defending team got to thirty before  I had a chance to make it to the edge of our property.

“Pst! Caroline, is that you?”

I couldn’t tell who it was at first.

“Caroline, it’s me, Alex!”

Alex was Cody and Logan’s older brother. I crawled over to him from behind the bushes. I could tell he was out of breath even though we just started. I heard voices coming our way, their flash lights went right past us. We needed to get by them fast, we were losing players and wasting time. I grabbed a rock and gave it to Alex, he is a baseball player. “Throw it at the tree trunk” I whispered.

I couldn’t tell if he hit it or not, it was to dark to see it but I drew them away from us. We had about a few minutes before they would give up so we made a run for the road. We found Peter looking for a hiding spot, i’m surprised that he hadn’t gotten caught yet. He is only 6 and doesn’t know our yard too well so we brought him with us. We had the base in sight.

“We have to sneak past Cody and Chris. Alex, you go with Peter. I will go first and try not to get caught. You guys go after me once I get to the base while they are distracted. Ok?”

“Ok.”

I made my move. Cody saw me first but it was too late. I had already got there. Cody and Chris started to talk and I signaled them to come. Peter made it first but Alex tripped and Chris started to run for him. Alex ran towards the wood pile and behind it he ran to the other side instead of the woods, Chris went down about halfway when he realised that Alex tricked him. All three of us made it. I was relieved that we got that part over with, we were all really tired. Two more of my teammates made it to the base and the rest of them were still in jail. My team had won.