Chapter III
Evie's Notes: Hope you enjoy the new chapter! Let me know your favorite part in the comments!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in bold, only my OCs
The students all reconvened in the hall twenty minutes later, ready to hear more of Cammie's adventures.
Cammie wasn't exactly thrilled that her future thoughts and actions were being read aloud to all of her sisters. But she reminded herself that Ginny had praised that everything they were reading was super important. Cammmie knew, even from the little bit they had read so far, that she would take any amount of embarrassment if it would keep those that she loved safe,
Mr. Solomon offered to read the next chapter, so once everyone had gotten comfortable he began.
"Here's the thing about covert operations: the really bad things always happen when you least expect them. The bad guys don't give you a heads-up when you're going to be attacked. They don't let you wait thirty minutes after eating. And they never, ever let you stop to put on comfortable shoes. So training for that kind of life means one thing: spy school is never really out of session.
Grumbles of reluctant agreement filled the hall.
I thought about the piece of paper in Macey's hands and told myself that it could have been an innocent mistake, a change of plans. It didn't mean that our teachers had intentionally drawn Macey—and by extension, me—onto a roof with some kind of terrible test in mind. It didn't mean we had a fight coming. It didn't mean my heart had reason to race. But still I looked at my roommate and asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Macey shrugged. "Our teachers wouldn't do anything in front of him." She gestured to Preston, who was leaning over the railing, staring down at the chaos on the street below, completely oblivious to the dark spot that was on the horizon and moving in fast.
"True. If we had planned a test for you, the boy would not be there" admitted Professor Buckingham.
I thought about Preston's missing itinerary. "Maybe he wasn't supposed to be here?" And with that, Macey let her piece of paper fall; I saw it flit and float in the air, and swirl around us as the chopper hovered lower. It was as if Macey had let her cover fall as well. The hotel was full of people who would only see the candidate's daughter, but right then—right there—there was no doubt who Macey McHenry had to be.
"Go Macey!" Screamed Toni, Macey's chem partner.
"Hey, you guys, look at—" Preston said, finally noticing the helicopter above us. He stopped suddenly as a rope fell from the chopper and dangled between sky and roof. I heard a click, a metallic creak as the door to the roof opened. But instead of Charlie, two masked figures stepped into the glaring sun. And then I couldn't help myself; I screamed, "I'm on summer vacation!" /p
"Really Cam?" sassed Bex.
"Cut me some slack, it's a tense situation" shot back the girl.
I felt Macey at my back, saw Preston staring at a dark figure rappelling from the helicopter as if he'd somehow stumbled into a video game—or a nightmare. "They don't look like undecided voters," he said, as if sarcasm were a weapon he'd relied on his entire life and he really didn't want it to fail him then.
"He needs to get out of there," muttered Tessa. "You all do".
The masked figures didn't rush toward us. They weren't sloppy. They were deliberate. They were good, moving with purpose, keeping an even spacing as Macey and I stood back-to-back, bracing ourselves in the center of the roof. "Preston!" I yelled. "Get down!" I wanted him to hide. I wanted him to be unconscious or blind. I wanted him anywhere but there. I already knew too well how having a civilian boy in the middle of a CoveOps exercise can turn out. It was a chapter I didn't need to read again.
'Why do I keep bringing up Josh?' wondered Cammie.
"This isn't"—I said with a grunt as I parried the attacker's first blow—" a very"—I took a half-step to my right and landed a kick at one of the masked men's knees—" good time for me!" A masked man stood in front of me. Blazing white teeth shone behind his dark mask. For a split second I thought it was the smile of Mr. Solomon. The first attacker who had come from the chopper had the unmistakable curves of a beautiful woman, and a part of me wondered if it was my mom. But then from nowhere I felt a punch in my side, a perfect blow, and as I fell onto the sticky tar-covered roof, I saw news choppers beginning to swoop and swarm around us—and I knew. I knew no one at the Gallagher Academy would be this careless. I knew my mother and Mr. Solomon would rather die than risk exposure of our school on this kind of stage.
"Damn straight" snapped the man.
I knew there was something more behind the punch—not in the attacker's fist, but in his eyes. And then, more than ever, I knew I had to get Macey and Preston off the roof. I don't know how to explain what happened next, but in that instant, all the P& E lessons I'd ever had came back to me. In that moment, I knew surviving wasn't just about punches and kicks; it's about geometry and it's about timing; it's about having your reflexes speed up while your mind slows down. Maybe it lasted a minute; maybe it lasted a month. All I really know for sure is that one of the men moved toward me. I ducked as his fist flew, narrowly missing my head, and yet my focus was already somewhere else—my eyes were scanning the roof, looking for a weapon, a way out, or both. And that's when I saw it—a narrow window washer's plank dangling off the side of the roof. It had rails on both sides and was attached to a pulley system. My heart pounded. The wind roared in my ears as I grabbed Preston's hand and screamed, "Come on!"
"Good thinking Cameron" praised Professor Buckingham.
There were footsteps behind me—a hand on my arm. I spun around, but before I could land a blow, Preston pulled back his free hand and punched the man in the throat. It was a perfect lucky shot, but I was willing to take any help I could get as I pulled the potential first son out of harm's way and onto the narrow plank. "I hit a guy," Preston said, staring at his fist as if that were the most shocking thing of all. "I know. Good job," I said, reaching for the controls; but then for the first time Preston seemed to notice that I had guided him onto something that was dangling off the side of a sixty-story-building.
"It's about time" laughed Jess.
"Wait!" he shouted. "You'll be fine," I told him. "But shouldn't I…" he muttered in the manner of a boy who knows he should be chivalrous but doesn't quite know how. Behind me, I heard Macey cry out in pain, but I kept my focus and hit the green button, knowing somehow that getting Preston off that roof was my mission at that moment. "Hang on!" I yelled, and in the next instant gravity took over and Preston dropped twenty stories to safety.
The whole room let out a sigh of relief when they heard the civilian boy was safe.
I might have savored that fact, but the attackers seemed to refocus, and I watched the woman raise her hand and point to where Macey was taking her place by my side. "Get her," the woman ordered. I stole a sideways glance at my friend, the daughter of a United States senator and one of the wealthiest women in the world. My friend, who had been featured on every newsstand in America. My friend, who would be any kidnapper's dream. Macey and I were retreating slowly, coming closer and closer to the wall behind us, and I knew we were cornered.
The girls all held their breath, worried for their sisters.
"No," I cried, as if that was all it would take for them to stop. And then I saw it—a rusty vent ten feet to the right of the door I'd given up any hope of opening. I dropped to the ground, kicked the vent as hard as I could, and felt it give slightly. I kicked again while, behind me, the men lunged for Macey. I heard a sickening snap. I turned and saw my roommate clutch her arm and fall to the ground, howling out in pain, so I kicked harder, and this time the old vent buckled under the pressure. It popped free, and I hurled it toward the head of one of the men who was reaching for Macey. I heard the crash of metal against skull, but I didn't stop to survey the damage—I was too busy grabbing Macey and pushing her toward the hole in the wall that the vent had left.
"Hurry Cammie" urged Bex, Macey grasped Cammie's hand so tight that her nails cut into the skin.
I started to follow, but someone grasped my shoulders with a steel grip holding me to the spot. I clawed against her; but as I tried to pry myself free, my hand brushed against a gold ring engraved with an emblem that I could have sworn I'd seen before. For a split second my mind went still as I tried to place it, but then I heard a frail voice say "Cam," and I remembered my friend—my mission.
"Don't let yourself become distracted. You need to get Macey out of there" snapped Mr. Solomon.
I clawed harder, leaning forward, praying that my momentum would take me through the gap in the wall to a safer place. Suddenly, I remembered the Winters McHenry campaign button on my blouse. I heard my shirt rip as I pulled the button free and jabbed the pin into the hand on my left shoulder. The woman behind me howled in pain as I pushed Macey all the way through the vent and followed after her. "Run, Macey!" I screamed. "Go!" I wasn't thinking. No strategies came to mind. No flash cards. No vocabulary words. It was the age-old case of fight versus flight. I looked at Macey, whose arm hung at a strange angle; I felt my side and knew my ribs were bruised at best and maybe broken, and I knew that fight wouldn't be an option much longer—that we had to get out of there and soon.
"Go," I told her. Behind us, I heard the metal door open again. A flash of light sliced across the cement floor, illuminating a pair of long legs bent at an odd angle, protruding from behind one of the room's massive machines. I heard Macey whisper, "Charlie." We pushed past the churning machines and skirted a decade's worth of broken furniture and hotel relics until we reached the elevator that had brought us there. And then for the first time, I honestly felt like I could cry. The elevator's doors stood open. Mangled wires protruded from the control box, still sparking where they'd been pulled out of the wall and sliced in two with professional precision. There was no place we could run. No place we could hide.
Cammie saw tears streaming silently down her mother's cheeks and swore that she would never make her this scared again.
I turned to look at the three figures, approaching us in perfect formation—a hunting party with a helicopter ready to take my friend to someplace I didn't dare imagine. I glanced around for a weapon, found a rolling cart and pushed it toward them with all my might, hoping it might serve as the greatest bowling ball in history and knock the black-clad figures down in one swipe. But the man in front merely tossed it aside. "Cam," Macey whispered. She was growing paler. Her left arm had swollen to twice its normal size, but still she managed to point with her right toward a square hole in the wall—a shaft or chute of some kind. I didn't know what it was or where it led. And I didn't have time to ask. I just dove, pushing Macey ahead of me. One of the men lunged forward. I heard a cry of "no" reverberating down the shaft, but it was too late. Gravity had taken over, and I was hurtling toward the unknown, praying that it would be better than the place I had just left.
The student body were all silently praying for the same thing.
Free-falling, I felt my head bang against the metal shaft. Something hot and wet oozed into my eyes, and still I felt… grateful… hopeful. Dizzy. There was a soft thump. The ground beneath me seemed to roll, but at least there was ground. I turned and squinted through dizziness and pain to see a red drop fall onto white sheets. Macey lay unconscious beside me. I lay my head back and felt the world begin to spin. In the distance, someone yelled, "United States Secret Service, open up!"
"Oh thank god" croaked the headmistress.
And through a hazy fog, my mind drifted back to the last time the world had gone upside down. A boy was dipping me in the center of my school and kissing me. For a moment, I could almost see his face leaning toward me, as if my life were flashing before my eyes. And then the whole world faded to black."
The room let out a collective sigh as the teacher finished reading. The girls were with the secret service, they were safe… for now.
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