Of course, he felt that some of the players might return to the same area for revenge. He dropped his C-4 pack (his tenth kill had given him one to spare) into the area and ran for cover.
Spencer watched as two foes sprinted back, zigzagging between cover. It was hard not to just aim and shoot, but he didn't want to give away his position. When the two soldiers arrived, he clicked the detonator. Boom!
Unfortunately, after the tenth kill streak, additional rewards only came after every five kills. He needed three more to get to fifteen and increased accuracy. Spencer watched the open area. Since no one else was approaching, he decided to leave. As he turned, however, he saw an enemy soldier crawling past his hiding place. Spencer waited until he passed and made sure no one else was with him. Then he stabbed him in the back and moved on.
He dodged and weaved through the shacks that littered the open plain. The map represented the outskirts of an African slum, presumably Mogadishu. It combined a semi-rural outskirt of shacks and outhouses amidst a landscape of scattered brush, dried earth, and a few trees. Along the way, he killed five more men. By now he was certain to be pissing off at least a few of the players on the other team. When that happened, their quest for revenge would often make them careless. Indeed, Spencer killed five more foes that tried to rush where they thought he was hiding. Spencer managed to stay one step ahead.
At this point, his teammates were now respawning around him after they died elsewhere on the battlefield. He had additional fire support as six more soldiers tried to surround Spencer. If he'd been alone, he probably would have died, but now his teammates absorbed the bullets and grenades meant for him. Every time a teammate dropped, Spencer would return fire and take down the foe as he was changing clips or looking in the wrong direction. Spencer had twenty-four kills.
At twenty, he picked up a faster melee swing so that he would beat any opponent in a knife fight. His twenty-fifth kill would give him increased explosive power and he still had an extra grenade and a C-4 pack. It was nearly time to put them to use.
By now, most of his team had spawned around him. Several of them were ‘campers’, which meant they liked to hide in one place and ambush anyone who entered their field of fire. Spencer hated campers; he preferred running and gunning. It was time to hunt.
Two of his teammates were already heading down a dried-out riverbed that twisted its way through the map. It was an excellent way to get around unseen, though it was also an excellent way to get ambushed. Spencer followed, allowing the other two to be his guinea pigs. The first died in a landmine explosion, which gave away their position. Two foes popped over the riverbed and fired down, catching the second teammate unaware. But while they focused their fire on the player, Spencer took them both down with a short burst from his XM-8.
Even with the extra ammo from his kill streaks, Spencer's was running low. He rushed forward, grabbed his teammate's gun, an FN F2000 and tossed a C-4 pack as he retreated down the gully. He lay flat in the weeds. Sure enough, the same two players returned, only this time they ran through the riverbed. Boom! Spencer's screen indicated four kills! His increased explosive damage caught two other soldiers following behind that he hadn't even seen.
He had 30 kills and was rewarded with silent movement.
His stereo headset allowed Spencer to hear which direction gunfire, footsteps, or even the character voices were coming from. Spencer could move silently across any surface. More importantly, he was rapidly reaching his personal best, a kill streak of 35. He’d reached it twice, but each time he was killed before he could enjoy the kill streak perk of ‘sixth sense’ that allowed him to detect any mines and tripwires the enemy had planted.
Spencer continued a short distance down the riverbed before climbing up to the plain. A series of buildings were located just ahead. He could crawl to them and remain unseen, but the game was nearing its end. He wanted to try and tie his record of 35.
He knew it was this kind of recklessness that often got players killed, but this time it worked. Luck was on his side since the majority of his other teammates were attacking from a different direction. Consequently, the enemy was focused in that direction. They didn't see or hear Spencer coming. He looked through the window of the building and saw a concentration of soldiers. Seven in all. If he opened fire, he wouldn't even have enough ammunition in his clip to take them all out. He had to use his grenade. He tossed it in and dropped to the ground. Boom!
His screen lit up! He received bonus points, more ammo and one extra grenade for seven instant kills.
Spencer couldn't believe it. He'd passed his own record and had nearly tied Deathdirge's streak of 42. Was there a chance he could actually make 50 before the end of the round? There wasn't much time. If he wanted 13 more kills, he'd have to continue playing on the run.
He ran to the neighboring building where four more soldiers including one sniper, were hiding. They had heard the explosion and were facing Spencer when he looked through the window. Spencer was fucked. His screen was already turning red from the incoming fire. Then all four players were dead. His teammates had sprayed the building with gunfire. Spencer couldn't deny that he'd been lucky numerous times. He hoped it would hold up.
He left the building and circled around the riverbed. Using the scope on the F2000, he picked off three more players from a distance. He had 40 kills. His kill streak bonus gave him explosive ammunition. Each round was an instant kill.
He heard one of his teammates warn that the enemy had gathered on a rocky hillside and were sniping. Spencer wasn't far from the hill. He jumped back in the riverbed and worked his way toward them. He looked up just long enough to see movement along the ridge. He stared through the rifle scope and released short steady bursts of explosive rounds along the ridge. Any snipers would have to run for cover or face death. By chance, his random bursts killed two players and wounded another.
He emptied his clip, dropped down, and reloaded. He checked the timer. There was only 90 seconds left in the game. He had no choice. He had to rush the enemy.
He climbed out of the gully and charged, spraying the rocks with short bursts to keep their heads down. Between bursts, someone fired on him from his left flank. Spencer shifted his fire and charged straight toward the soldier. He made it across the open space and then used the rocks to weave his way upward. His ‘sixth sense’ allowed him to bypass the hidden mines and trip flares that had been set up. Swinging around, he caught the soldier who had so carefully booby-trapped the perimeter completely unawares.
Forty-one.
He came around the corner of another rock and found a soldier heading down the path.
Forty-two.
He climbed up near the top of the ridge and picked off two snipers.
Forty-three and forty-four.
With the game about to end, he decided to throw his last remaining grenade into a rocky gully. To his surprise, he killed two soldiers lying in ambush.
Forty-six.
The clock started ticking down the last thirty seconds. He loaded in a fresh clip and charged.
Spencer realized that even if he achieved invulnerability, he wouldn't have any game time to enjoy it. But that wasn't the point. It was all about the achievement.
He fired at anything that moved. The explosive rounds were devastating. He didn't even need a direct hit to score a kill. Forty-seven and forty-eight came quickly, but now there were only ten seconds left.