The birds were chirping sweetly and a light breeze tickled my clothes. The leaves underneath me rustled when I readjusted my position. The morning smelled fresh and dew trickled from a nearby tree branch. As I pushed myself up from the ground, I noticed that my knotted hair had a few twigs in it and my clothes were caked in dirt from the night before. Actually, all of yesterday was pretty crazy. I looked at my arm, where the blood had dried from a cut on my wrist. I stood up, stretched and became aware of bruises on my shoulders, back and legs. My head was throbbing and I was still pretty groggy. I needed water. I picked up my black backpack that was now ripped and began to walk through the woods in search of water.
Within a few minutes I heard the rushing of stream. My pace quickened as I pushed through branches and stepped on wild shrubbery. The trees opened up to a calm river. I knelt down to cup the cold water in my hands. I rubbed my face to wash away the dirt. I brought some water up to my lips. I splashed it on my clothes and body to wash away some of the mud. There was a rip in my jeans across the knee and the rest of my clothes were artistically covered in earth as camouflage. While freshening up, I reminisced on the previous day.
Yesterday morning began with me leaving my report where my friends would find it and then walking out of my school. I just couldn't endanger the Gallagher Academy when the Circle was after me. Of course, everyone at the Academy is perfectly cut out for that sort of dangerous situation, but I just couldn't do it to them. After I left the school, I went to Solomon's cabin. I was all by myself for once. I was vulnerable and isolated, but not terrified. Panicked—oh you bet. I did some pushups and sit ups and tried to think of what to do next. I needed to go someplace where no one would find me. Well, you can say that I didn't exactly accomplish that.
In the midst of a minor panic attack, I passed a window and my heart stopped. Three men were emerging from black cars. They didn't exactly look happy. They wore expressions of determination. Their walk was of purpose.
My training kicked in and I raced around the cabin. I grabbed a backpack and stuffed it with supplies, (I was in Joe freaking Solomon's cabin, of course there was an excellent selection). The backpack flung over my shoulder, I was halfway out the kitchen window when I turned around to see a big scary looking man break down the door. I dashed out and ran. I just ran. Faster than I knew I could, I sprinted through the forest outside Solomon's cabin.
Where could I go? It's not like there are safer places than the cabin nearby here. Plus, I was kind of counting on these bad men, who are undoubtedly from the Circle of Cavan, to be caught up in some traps left by Solomon. I focused on keeping my breathing steady as green and brown whooshed past me.
"She went that way! Get her!" a brusque voice shouted from the distance. I ran faster. My legs were flailing at the speed. I glanced behind me to see someone in my pursuit and the next thing I knew I was tumbling downwards. I guess there was a hill that I should have noticed. I rolled down the hill, hitting roots, bumping my head and all sorts of other body parts that I would have rather liked to keep undamaged. When I finally stopped rolling, I stopped moving too. I wasn't recovering as quickly as I should have. I heard some groans and another body landed some yards away from me. Get up! You have to get up! You cannot die. Get up! My head was foggy and my limbs were heavy as I urged myself to move. I heard the man next to me rustling and that snapped me to my senses. In a terrifying, but controlled moment, he took a few laborous steps towards me and I could tell that he was limping. He weighed approximately two hundred pounds and was close to 6'2 in height. I would have to use his weight against him. Luckily, my training had taught me to do exactly that. When he was close enough, I swung my leg against his ankles and he tumbled to the ground. I jumped up immediately and landed a few kicks to his side. I aggressively placed my body on his and pressed the side of my forearm to his neck. The man had brown eyes, expressionless eyebrows, and a tight mouth and was breathing heavily.
"Who are you?! Who do you work for?" I growled. My voice did not sound like my own. I sounded fierce and strong.
The man took a deep, controlled breath before saying through his teeth, "The Circle will find you." in a heavy Estonian accent.
"There!" another man yelled and pointed at me to two other men at the top of the hill. I took that as my queue to leave.
I got up off the Estonian Circle man and kicked him another time in the side for good measure. He curled in pain as I sprinted off deeper into the woods. I did not have much time. There was blood dripping off my wrist, but I didn't have time to bandage it. This was a problem because I knew that these men would certainly be able to track me from the blood that I was leaving on the forest floor. It was now little use running, so I picked a tree and began to climb.
I latched onto branches and pulled myself up, higher and higher each time I pushed off with my legs. Once I was a considerable distance from the ground, I leaned against the tree and found cover in the foliage. I can't believe I didn't pack any first aid equipment in the backpack. Okay, I know I had like ten seconds to pack and men were knocking down the door, but seriously. I remembered flashlights, knives, compasses, food, a snazzy watch that I'm sure has awesome extra features, money, but no bandages? Not even a little Neosporin? Good job, Cammie. Really, well done.
Improvising, I pulled out knife and held it between my teeth while I took off my shirt. I didn't want to rip my jeans even more and I thought I could afford a little less of my t-shirt. Plus, it's just the hem (a term that Macey taught me), I'd put it back on and I'd still be perfectly covered. I started it with the knife and tore the rest off with my hands. Taking the fabric, I wrapped it tightly around my wrist and tied a knot at the end to secure it before putting my shirt back on.
I leaned my head back against the tree and listened for footsteps. They came. They were slower though. The men were no longer running; it almost seemed like they were giving up for now. One of the men cursed in Russian. I translated in my head, one of them directing the others onward. The men left. I waited about thirty minutes just to be safe. I was tired, and I didn't want to run anymore or fight anyone for tonight. Once positive that I was safe for now, I eased down from the tree and began walking. I walked in a different direction than the men had left. I kept kneeling down to collect dirt and leaves to rub on my clothes. Camouflage is good. Eventually, I stopped walking and slept for the night.
At the river, I drank some more water and then sat back on a rock. I pulled a Power bar from my backpack and began to eat it. I was almost done when I felt a pair of strong arms around me and warm breath in my ear. I flung my right elbow behind me and heard a man's nose break. His arms relaxed and I spun around. I threw a punch that hit his face and kicked his groin. He crumbled to the ground as another person hit me and threw me to the rocky terrain alongside the river. My head hit a rock and I felt warm blood oozing from my left eyebrow. I was losing consciousness. This man rolled me onto my stomach and began to tie my hands behind my back. I heard a helicopter nearby with its blades chopping the air. I heard a woman's voice, "Get her in."
The man tied my ankles together and flung me over his shoulder. I was drifting in and out of coherence. Barely aware of what was happening, the man carrying me walked closer to the helicopter when suddenly I dropped to the ground. My ribs landed on a large rock and I could feel them bruising. A fight was going down. One guy was getting seriously hurt. One guy was down and knocked out. A new pair of hands was on me now. They were familiar hands.
"Cammie! Oh no, Cammie, come on! Stay with me, you can do this. Come on, Gallagher Girl." I had never heard Zach sound so concerned. He untied my ankles and hands. I narrowly opened my eyelids to look him in the eyes. His eyes were so beautiful. They were dark green and the crinkles around them suggested worry. "Oh, you're alive. You're alive." Zach was now relieved and cursed in Portuguese. "Okay Gallagher Girl, let's go. Let's get you out of here." He easily picked me up and carried me in a piggy back ride. Zach set me down on a motorcycle and sat behind me. His hands worked quickly as he took a black belt, wrapped it behind his back and clicked it secure over my waist so that I was strapped to him. He revved up the engine and it took off away from the scene. I could still hear the helicopter. I think it was chasing us. Zach winded through trees and skillfully drove the bike.
"Bex!" he yelled, I'm assuming through a comms unit. "bring it over to the north side now!" Zach took a sharp turn and sped through the woods for about a minute before he started to slow down. He slowed way down when he drove up a small ramp into a jet that was waiting idly. Bex knows how to fly a jet?! How come I didn't learn?
The jet took off from the ground and Zach undid the belt that kept me secure to him. He picked me up and carried me through a door fireman style. He laid me down on a leather seat and my eyes closed shut. The last thing I remember hearing was my best friend's British accent from the deck, "Is she OK?"
I woke up in my bed at the Gallagher Academy. I heard my mother talking with Joe Solomon in the hall. I rolled over, opened my eyes and saw Zach, sitting in a chair near my bed.
"You're up." He warmly smiled before leaning over and kissing my forehead. Zach reached his hand over to brush aside my hair and gingerly touched the wound on my left temple.
"Zach." My voice was hoarse. I practically croaked when I said his name.
"How are you feeling, Gallagher Girl?"
I sat up and leaned against the headboard. "I'm fine. How did you find me?"
"Come on, I think I know you well enough to find you when you run away. What were you thinking? You almost died! Do you know how many men my mom had on the job to abduct you? Thirty. Thirty." Zach kind of sounded angry now.
"Hey I was doing fine! I took out one; I had already avoided four the other day. I didn't need you to come and take me back here." I fired back, getting a little irritated, myself. I knew it was irrational to be mad, but I didn't care.
"I saved you. You were all tied up and bleeding and that man was this close to taking you to Circle of Cavan headquarters. You'd think I'd at least get a thank you." Zach held up his index finger and thumb to demonstrate how close the Circle was before returning to his normal playful tone.
I gave him a pointed look. I knew that he was right about that, but I didn't want to be here at school. I was right back in the same dilemma as before I had left. Finally, I looked down and gave a sigh. I looked back up at Zack and said in a softer voice, "You know I can't stay here, Zack. I left for a reason." His lips pulled together a little bit and he just stared at me.
"Yoo hoo!" Bex suddenly appeared in the doorway and knocked on the frame.
"Bex!" I cheered. I hate to say it, but I really missed my best friend.
"Cammie, you crazy girl!" She hugged me. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Everything's good. "
"Good." Then Bex punched me in the arm. And I know better than anyone, Bex's punches really hurt.
"Ow! What was that for?" I asked in shock while rubbing my arm.
"You left! You didn't tell us where you went, when we found you, you were all cut up and covered in dirt. Macey washed you, by the way. She and Liz will be here any minute. You left us behind, with some sort of report that doubles as a note?! Sorry, Cam. But that just doesn't cut it. You leave again, and I'm going to do a whole lot more than just a punch on the arm. Do you know how worried we were about you? Your mum was freaking out. Liz was going insane on her computer, hacking into every database she could trying to get a hold of you. Macey and I didn't know what to do. We were just pacing…trying not to think of what…of what could have happened to you."
"I'm sorry." I said after Bex had let me have it.
"Yeah you're sorry—" Bex was cut off when my other two best friends entered the room.
"And you're going to take us with you next time." Macey added. Liz looked like she was about to cry as she threw her arms around me. I swear Liz is going to strangle someone with her love someday. "Face it, Cammie, you need backup. And we, your best friends and uh—" Macey paused and looked at Zach, "—man friend are excellent backup."
"Fine, fine." I grinned at all these wonderful people in my life. Zach raised his eyebrows at me. He knew I had other ideas in mind.
"Did Bex already hit you?" Macey asked. I nodded and rubbed my arm again. "Good. Now I don't have to."
"I'm just glad you're safe. We were all so worried, Cam." Liz told me.
"Thanks. I love you guys." What else was I supposed to tell my friends? Hey thanks for saving me and all, but I gotta go. I mean, I couldn't stay at the school and my friends were obviously not going to let me leave. Just then, someone cleared their throat. I looked up at my mom and Mr. Solomon.
"Guys, we should go." Bex said to my other friends. My mother nodded and they all got up and walked out my bedroom door. Zach hesitated, but after a look from Mr. Solomon, he too left. Then Solomon closed the door, no doubt my girls were trying to listen in from the other side of it.
"Cammie." My mother sounded relieved as she rushed to my side and gave me the biggest, most motherly, comforting hug ever. "I'm so glad you're safe. What were you thinking?"
"Leaving by yourself wasn't wise, Cammie." Solomon added.
"I know, I know. But I didn't want to put anyone else in danger at the school. I mean, you guys are bending over backwards trying to protect me. It just seemed a whole lot easier if I protected myself and took everyone else out of the equation."
"Don't do that." My mom sounded like she was scolding me. "You're safe here. We can take care of you. I don't want to hear another word of leaving again or any plans that go against this school and finishing your education. You're lucky to have friends like Zach and Bex who found you and saved your life."
"I know." I said, a little guiltily.
"You should get your rest. You've been through a lot." She kissed me on my forehead and got up to leave.
"Glad to have you back."
"Thanks Mr. Solomon."
"I love you, Cammie." My mother said from the doorway.
"I love you too, mom." I told her as she shut the door and turned out the light. I didn't sleep well. Liz, Macey, and Bex tip toed into the room to go to bed at some point. I wasn't asleep, but I pretended to be. I didn't know what to do about my prospects of leaving again. And to be honest, I was a little scared. As a spy, you're not supposed to be scared. You're trained not to be. But I guess I wasn't scared for myself. I was scared for my friends, for my mom, for Zach, for Solomon. I was scared for every person that would have to sacrifice their safety, maybe their lives, because of me.
After waking up for the umpteenth time, stressed about what to do and unable to get into a REM cycle, I got up to wander. This was one of my favorite things to do at the Gallagher Academy. I had already learned all of the secret passageways after spending countless school breaks here and they were nice to revisit. I roamed the halls, crawled through tight spaces, ducked under fireplaces, and taken short cuts to nowhere in particular, when I found myself outside Zach's hall. I didn't really feel like turning around, so I decided to just creep quietly through and be on my way. Sure, it would be totally awkward and embarrassing to run into anyone here. But I really had nothing else to do. Besides, I'm the chameleon. I should be fine.
I walked through the hall, and was almost passed Zach's room when a door opened. I ducked behind a statue. Why? I couldn't tell you. It's not like it's a fool proof hiding spot, I'm pretty sure the person could see half of my legs and my shoulders.
"Gallagher girl?" It was Zach. Perfect. I would have rather run into Mr. Solomon in footie pajamas and bunny slippers.
"Um, yeah? Oh, hi." I stood up from behind the statue and took a step towards him. He was only wearing a towel. And he was wet! Come on! I looked at his toned abs and chiseled chest.
"Are you checking me out?" Zack laughed a little bit and grinned in a jokingly arrogant way.
"What? No!" I immediately looked away. Zach laughed again. Ok, I was so checking him out. You wouldn't have been able to help it either. "What are you doing taking a shower at two in the morning anyway?"
"Couldn't sleep. What are you doing wandering around at two in the morning?" Zach raised his eyebrows and looked at me seriously. "Cammie, you cannot run away again."
"I wasn't running away. I just couldn't sleep either."
Zach took a step closer to me. He looked down at his feet before looking directly into my eyes. "You know, when you left, I was so worried about you." He traced the side of my face with his fingers and then held my face with his hand. "I would never have been able to forgive myself if I hadn't found you."
I gave a deep sigh and noticed myself leaning into his hand a little bit. "Zach, you know I can't stay here." We looked at each other for a while. Then he drew in and kissed me. His hands moved into my hair. I was kissing him back. I hadn't really realized how much I had missed him until then.
My hands were holding his face and then they moved to his chest. Zach had his arms around my waist and was pulling me closer and closer to him as we kissed. I ran my hands over his muscular arms and soon, I became very aware that Zach only had a towel on.
"Zach?" I pulled my lips away. We were both breathing heavily. He touched his forehead to mine.
"Mm?" He responded softly.
"Maybe you should get dressed." I chuckled a little bit. He looked down at his naked chest and towel wrapped waist. Zach seemed to have forgotten his lack of clothes also. "Then we can talk about all of this." I didn't know how much talking we would actually be doing.
"Good idea." He grinned at me. My stomach flipped. "Be right back."
I waited about two minutes out in the hall. I definitely liked Zach. But how serious was he about me? There were times when he seemed pretty into me, and other times it seemed like a game. I'd have to have Macey decode the last five minutes Zach and I just shared. Zach opened his door, "Ready!"
"I forgot you don't have room mates" I said as I stepped into his room.
"We can talk over here." Zach led me to his bed, which was neatly made, and we sat down. "So what are you going to do?"
"I have no idea." I shook my head. "I don't even know how I'm going to sneak out of here again. It's kind of hard to fool Macey, Liz and Bex twice."
"Run away with me. I can get you out. We'll go out together. I know we talked about it before you left, but we can do it." Zach proposed this idea sincerely. I looked at him in hesitation. "We can protect each other. We can track down the Circle together. Look, you can't do it alone. I can't do it alone. Let's go after this together. We can even set something up to let the girls know where we are. And your mom."
"They'd pick us up and make us come back." I reasoned.
"Not if you persuaded them." Zach was making a lot of sense.
"Where would we even go? I went to Solomon's house first and they found me there."
"Where ever. I say, we just start moving. We catch a train, a plane, rent a car, steal a car—whatever! We just leave. You're right, we can't endanger everyone else here anymore. We won't tell anyone where are until we're leaving. That way your family and friends are in the loop, but they'd only know where we last were if anyone came looking for them." Zach had got me hooked. It seemed like the best option so far.
"What if I said yes?" I hinted at my overall response.
"Then we'd leave tomorrow."
"Ok. I'm in." I smiled a little bit, he smiled back at me. Then I leaned over and kissed him. We spent the rest of the night packing, hiding our bags to quickly leave tomorrow, and writing a note explaining to everyone else. I knew my roommates were not going to be pleased with that. We hashed out every detail we could and I ended up falling asleep in his bed. I woke up with his strong arms around me and thought about the days to come.