Chapter 7
I needed to be calm and I needed to be careful if I ever wanted to escape. I removed all the bugs around the room I could find, and destroyed them (by stomping on them really hard). Then I grabbed all of the coke cans I could find in the mini fridge (they totaled around twenty) and all of the batteries from the various electronical sources. I immersed the hinges and lock of the door with the coke, and broke apart the batteries. I took the battery acid from the batteries and smeared them onto the hinges. Then I waited. And waited. And waited.
I would just like to point out to my mad chemistry teacher (a.k.a. Dr. Fuller who happens to be a distant relative of Einstein), that yes this is proof I have been paying attention throughout all the classes (even the ones I haven't been there for.) And all of those tests that I've aced much to his disbelief, have been well earned perfects. I mean, if you can steal the answers at a spy school, you have to be pretty good(e). And right about now, I should be feeling pretty darn satisfied with myself, except, NOTHING WAS HAPPENING.
After thirty three hours and twenty nine minutes, I began to reconsider destroying my gaming system. Was this really the best move strategically? And all of that coke gone to waste – I've been forced to turn to water. Plain water. I felt like I was living in a real jail cell (minus the Jacuzzi and the waterbed of course.)
I was forced to turn to a plan B. Clearly trying to break away from the COC by force would be a mistake. They were stronger and more powerful and force would only leave me with another headache.
I needed a better plan, but for some reason my usually Zach is winging it plan's wouldn't come to me.
"You idiot, that is never going to work," There were voices outside my door. I leapt up, broken pool stick in one hand. Crash. Dust made me blink several times. I must be seeing things.
"What did I tell you Bex, the Grant method always works." Grant said, flexing a muscle, and swaying slightly side to side from the impact.
"That was probably the stupidest way to open a door I have ever heard of. You probably would have had some serious brain damage had the hinges not already been partially corroded by an acid of some sort." Jonas muttered, shaking his head and observing the damage.
"Woah, dude, too much science." I was speechless. My roommates couldn't be here. Bex couldn't be here. And Cammie…
"Zach, are you okay? Did the Circle of Cavan do anything to you?"
"They must have conducted some sort of experiment on him because his oral capabilities seem to be nonfunctional. Perhaps they…" Liz stammered off.
"They stuck little chips into my brain to test whether or not I'm an actual human being or an alien from mars. No you idiots, I'm just surprised to see all of you here."
"You could be a little bit more grateful, since we are rescuing you." Bex snorted.
"You shouldn't have come. Why on earth would you ever bring Cammie if the COC is trying to kill her off? I mean you practically just delivered her to their front door."
"Woah. First of all no one brought me here. Believe it or not I came on my own will because I thought you needed help. But seeing as you have it all under control Blackthorne boy, we might as well be leaving." Cammie snapped. I blinked. She is really hot when she gets angry.
"Maybe if you thought things out before you tried doing stupid things, you would realize how stupid they are. How many times are you planning on getting lucky?" That one must have hit home. Cammie turned away to leave.
"Jeez, are you sure those two haven't been going out all this time? They sure do bicker like a married couple." Liz said.
"Perhaps, we can wait until we get out to argue some more." Jonas pleaded.
"It won't matter. The COC knows you're here. Whether we live or die entirely depends on them. Look, even with all your co-ops missions, and your tests, fake obstacle courses, etc. All of those are geared for spies in training. The COC has been around for hundreds of years and has never been infiltrated, not even by the world's top organizations. They are that good. So if you think a bunch of teenagers can just sneak in here because they have enough skills and enough talent, think again."
"So are you suggesting we just wait around until they come and find us and surround us with taser guns. At least we are going to put up a fight." Bex said. Grant nodded in agreement.
"I'm just saying it won't matter either way."
"Zach, right now, you are being a real jerk." Grant said. Ouch. That hurt a lot coming from him.
"Shh… there are heat sources rapidly approaching us," Liz said, staring down at some little device in her hand. Jonas ran over to double check. Everyone else strained their ears to try to here footsteps. I rolled my eyes.
"Let me see that," I snatched the device away from Liz. Something was off about the little red blotches. They were too little. "Either these are pygmy people coming to attack us or…" I grabbed my broken pool stick and swung backwards. It hit something.
To this day, I'm not exactly sure how the COC members got into our room. I've always felt frustrated at myself for not being able to find the other entrance to my jail cell. All I knew was the next moment the six of us were surrounded by several people that could have replaced Jackie Chan if they wanted a career on the big screen.
Cammie was the next to recover. She grabbed a napotine patch from her pocket and tried to slap it on her attacker. I heard a shattering of broken glass behind me, followed by the strong stench of vodka and an "Oopsy daisy." Meanwhile Grant attempted to bowl over his and Bex's attackers, even though Bex wasn't the one who needed saving. I'm not exactly sure what Jonas was doing, but all I can say was there was a lot of smoke.
Too much smoke. There was another "Oopsy daisy," amongst all the coughing, but this time it was Jonas who said it, not Liz. I got down on my hands and knees, trying to stay below the fumes. Cammie was spluttering. I gestured for her to follow me. We crawled to the exit. Then I bumped into something. Something that stood on two legs and reacted with a kick when I touched him. "Mr. Solomon?" Cammie called, "It's us."
He didn't say anything to us when we left the room full of smoke. Outside the secret COC headquarters was swarming with CIA agents. Liz, Bex, Grant, and Jonas were all lined up against a wall, looking a little sheepish. A very stern looking Mrs. Morgan patrolled the lines, as if she were examining each and every one of the members of the rescue crew to make sure they weren't hiding anything. It was enough to make Grant have a look of sheer horror on his face, the kind of look he gets when he realized that Jonas has been reading his secret stash of playboy magazines beneath his pillow.
"We have Mr. Goode," said Solomon over the intercoms unit. There was a fuzzy response back.
The rescue troop was lead in silence out of the COC building. To my shock, from the outside it appeared to be a normal office building in the middle of London. A van was parked outside, with a driver that I most definitely didn't want to talk to right now, Dr. Stevens.
"I hope, Mr. Goode, that you have recovered from your mononucleosis."
I smirked, "And I hope that you Dr. Stevens, have recovered from your temporary blindness."
"We were quite aware that you were not present on campus for a fair amount of this semester."
"But you were not quite aware where I was then?"
"Your absences will be taken into account when the school board decides whether or not to invite you back next year."
"I go to a school to learn how to be a spy. I'm only spending my time trying to enrich my education to the utmost fullest it can be. Where better to learn to be a spy than in the real world?"
"I do not appreciate your tone."
"Well, seeing as I'm not sucking up to your ass, I suppose that you wouldn't appreciate it." I thought to myself. "Did the CIA catch any members of the COC?"
"That is restricted information."
"Fine, is Cammie's life still in danger?"
Dr. Steven refused to answer, instead it was Joe Solomon. "Yes." From then on, I didn't care which of my dad's henchman had gotten caught. I only knew that he was still out there.
Disclaimer: Obviously don't own Gallahger Girls