[ WP ] An aging veteran gets dragged to a paintball facility by his grandkids . Another elderly man is there with his grandkids . The two quickly realize they ’ ve faced off on the battlefield before .

There was a strained silence in the car, broken only by Ben on the backseat slowly making his way through a giant bag of what was essentially nothing but processed sugar. Jake had spent the journey out absorbed in his cell, but now just spun it around in his hand, looking out the side window. 
 
 He turned to his grandfather, who was driving, opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the crinkling of Ben in the back seat. Jake looked at his younger brother, and then reached into the large black backpack at his feet. 
 
'Want to borrow my headphones, Ben?' 
 
'Your beats?' 
 
 Jaked nodded, smiling. Ben's eyes widened and he nodded back furiously. Once he was set up, ensconced in a world of Let's Plays and sugar, Jake turned back to his grandfather. 
 
'You were in the military, were n't you Grandpa?' 
 
'I was.' came the reply. It was the first thing he had said since they had left the paintball facility. 
 
'And you were in Korea?' 
 
'I was.' his voice remained serious. 
 
'What was it like?' 
 
 His grandfather paused before answering. 
 
'I do n't rightly like telling people...' 
 
 Jake interrupted. 
 
'You just got us kicked out half-way through the game. i think you owe me something.' 
 
 His grandfather sighed. 
 
'I'm sorry, and you're right. What do you want to know?' 
 
'Did you fight?' 
 
'I did.' 
 
 Another pause followed. 
 
'Well...' began Jake 
 
'Just give me a minute, alright? It was a long time ago and it bears telling properly. 
 
 Jake listened in silence as the stories came pouring out. Battles, skirmishes, friends made and lost. After an hour, silence returned to the car, until Ben broke it from the back seat. 
 
'Did you kill anyone?' 
 
 Jake look around to see his brother with the headphones on his lap. He started angrily. 
 
'What the hell kind of question is that?! You ca n't just...' 
 
 Again, his grandfather interrupted him. 
 
'Leave him be, Jake. I remember you asking me the same question before.' 
 
 He looked at Ben in the rearview mirror, making sure to make eye contact. 
 
'I did, Benjamin. I'm not proud of it, but I had to.' 
 
 Ben looked serious for a few seconds, then'Cool' and placed the headphones back over his ears. 
 
 They drove in silence for a few minutes. Jake still stared out of the window. He turned back. 
 
'Odd that there were two grandfathers today.' 
 
'It was.' the guarded tone returned immediately. 
 
'I mean, normally we only get a few parents, and they sit in the drop-off building drinking coffee, but today we end up with two grandfathers actually playing.' 
 
'If you say so.' 
 
'The other guy, he looked sort of Korean to me.' 
 
'I ca n't really say I noticed.' 
 
 Jake turned, exasperated. 
 
'Did you know him, Grandpa?' 
 
 Another pause, followed by a sigh. 
 
'I did. Or at least I think I did. Once you get to my age, it becomes more and more difficult to tell.' 
 
'They have rules against what you did, you know.' 
 
'I know.' 
 
'They said that we could never come back.' There was no malice in the tone. 
 
'I know, and I'm sorry.' 
 
'They said that the only reason they were n't calling the police was because the other guy fought back just as hard.' 
 
'I know, Jacob. I was there.' His grandfather raised his hand to point at the cut above his eye. 
 
 They paused, while they both tried to hide their grins. They made eye-contact in the rearview mirror and both started laughing. Ben looked up, confused. He saw they were almost home and started putting away his tablet. 
 
 Jake and his grandfather both started speaking at the same time. They stopped. 
 
'I was just going to ask if you boys wanted to go paintballing again next week?' 
 
 They both nodded. 
 
'Maybe without the swearing this time, Grandpa?' 
 
'Alright, Benjamin. I'll be on my best behaviour.' 
 
 They pulled up into the drive. 
 
'Now remember boys, I walked into a branch and slipped. You were both my valiant rescuers, which will get you brownie points from your mother and $ 50 each from me. Understood?' 
 
 They nodded again. 
 
'Good.' 
 
 They climbed out of the car together. Their mother was waiting, and straight away saw the plasters on her father's face. 
 
'Oh dear, what happened? Are you alright? I knew it was a bad idea you going out with them. What is it?' 
 
 This last question was addressed to Ben, who was pulling at his mother's sleeve. 
 
'Mom, what's a gook?'
