Cam POV

We found a little house to rent on the edge of town. It was surrounded by fields and woodlands, almost reminding me of Joe's cabin. We were able to pay in cash, the owner didn't ask any questions, in fact, they barely raised their eyes when seven young adults appeared seemingly out of nowhere asking to rent a property he hasn't used in over a decade.

The appliances were old, the taps were leaking with a constant small drip, and the heating wasn't working. Whilst everyone was getting settled I stood on the edge of the back porch looking at the mountains in the distance and the soft fog rolling across them. The trees swayed in the breeze.

Here, right now, I had a strange sense that we were close to something big.

The door opened and closed behind me. I didn't turn around but I knew exactly who it was.

'Have you found it?' I asked

'Yep' Liz said, shivering from the cold 'It's about a ten-mile hike North East. It's right where the boys said it would be'

'Did my dad's journal mention anything?'

Liz shook her head.

'Nothing. Same goes for Gillian's journal. Bex showed me the photos she took but the pages that could have been useful were ripped out'

'It's strange, don't you think?' I pondered

'What?'

'My dad's journal goes missing and then pages are ripped out of Gillian's? Doesn't that seem a little coincidental to you?'

'A little…' I looked over at Liz, she looked smaller than usual. Her petite frame tucked in.

'Are you okay?' I asked. She nodded, not looking at me. 'Liz…'

'I made an escape plan like you asked' She said

'Okay…what's the problem?'

'I don't want to use it. I mean, I know that you don't want to either but I don't want to because of Jonas'

'What about him?'

Liz sighed and adjusted her glasses. She looked at me.

'He's a good guy. I know he is. Bex has her Baxter feelings, you have your gut instinct and Macey just has her own intuition and I'm trusting my own knowledge. The chances of him betraying us is too low'

'Liz' I held her shoulders to stop her from rambling into hyperventilation 'I trust you and if you trust him, then that's good enough for me'

Liz visibly relaxed under my hands.

'Thank you, Cammie'

'Don't worry about it. We're sisters at the end of the day'

Liz smiled and gave me a small hug.

'I guess I should get packing for the hike. We're going to need a lot of equipment'

'I'll be inside in a sec'

Liz walked off, a bounce in her step that wasn't there before.

'Liz…' I spun around just as she got to the door. 'What about the other two? Grant and Zach? What are the chances of them betraying us?'

Liz opened her mouth to answer

'Actually, never mind' I cut her off and turned back to the view. Professor Smith's words echoing in my ears; you both should know better than to ask questions you won't like the answer to.

Zach POV

We set off on the hike just before dusk began to set, usually we would wait until the dead on night to move, but with the girls warning us about Liz's clumsiness, it was best to have some light with us.

Grant and Jonas were ahead, clearing the path for any traps or wires that could be lurking nearby.

Cammie was holding up the back of the group, her face not showing what she was feeling. I paused for a moment to hang back with her.

'Are you still mad at me?' I whispered as I fell into step next to her.

'Why would I be mad?' She asked 'I didn't tell you about my home and you didn't tell me about yours. It's fair'

'I meant about killing our lead'

'Oh that. Yeah, I'm still pretty pissed about that' Cam stopped, which then made me stop 'Why did you kill him?'

'I'm train-'

'Don't give me that bullshit. Why did you actually do it?'

I huffed, looking at the landscape around us and not at Cammie.

'Because I thought he was going to hurt you' I eventually admitted 'And I don't want to see that happen'

Cam looked at me as if she wanted to believe me; part of her did and part of her didn't. The conflict was evident in her eyes.

'Cam…' We turned to see Bex a few feet away 'You're not going to believe this'

The forest was dark and still. Only the faintest hint of stars and moonlight shone through the dense canopy of trees. Cam stood next to Bex who had raised one finger, as if to say, listen closer. I tried not to smile as I heard the familiar distant rumble, low and steady, drifting through the trees.

'Come on, Gallagher Girl' I nudged her 'Your carriage awaits'

We continued walking until the leaves overhead began to thin, and we were back under the open sky. Soon, we were staring over the side of a massive cliff, listening to a deafening roar.

'What is that?' Macey yelled, peering over the edge.

'That's our ride' Grant replied

Cammie peered over the edge. I studied her face in the moonlight, the colour slowly drained from her face.

'What's wrong, Gallagher Girl? Scared of heights?' I teased

'I jumped' She muttered, barely a whisper that was overpowered by the water. I don't even think that Cammie realised that she said it. I looked just above her and made eye contact with Bex. She gave me a grim expression. She heard it too.

After plunging off the cliff, following the falling and the flailing and the gagging and the swimming and the is everyone all right-ing, we came to a stop on the river's rocky bank. The wide open field in front of me, whilst behind us, sheer steep cliffs rose straight up into the sky and the river still roared deafeningly loud in our ears.

'No fences?' Bex noted

'No need' I pointed to the river and the cliffs

'Besides, this isn't the kind of place people are anxious to visit' Grant added

The girls looked at us with arched eyebrows. The three of us guys shrugged.

'You'll see'

We continued to walk for a little longer, Cam was with the girls in the middle as I was carrying up the rear. I hadn't noticed that Bex had slowed down until she was walking in sync with me.

'You heard that, didn't you?' She asked. I nodded. 'Do you think she's been here before?'

'No' I shook my head 'No one goes to Blackthorne. It's been abandoned for ages. Probably seeing the water triggered a memory for her'

'She had a nightmare the other night' Bex didn't look at me as she offered this piece of information. She kept her steely eyes focused in front of her.

'Another one?'

Bex nodded 'Her brain is trying to make her remember. But I don't think she'll like the outcome'

'She might not like the outcome, but she'll drive herself crazy without knowing'

Bex sighed. 'I hate that you're right'

'Get used to it, I'm right a lot'

We eventually came to a stop. We should be looking out at Blackthorne, a quiet, deserted compound. But we weren't. There was a hive of activity below us, searchlights, lots of movement and a fence covering the entire site.

'So no one goes to Blackthorne, huh?' Bex raised an eyebrow at me

This was not good.

'How the hell are people there?' Grant whispered. We'd found a small cave to camp in for the night, the boys and I were a little freaked out so suggested we spend the night doing observations and surveillance.

'I don't know' I hissed back 'Joe said that it was off the radar, no one knew it existed! There's a freaking waterfall protecting it'

'It doesn't appear on any maps. Not even government satellites, it's just woodland'

'Did you get a look at their weaponry?' I asked. Both boys nodded

'Long-range missiles' Grant said 'Looks like they had infrared too'

'I counted at least ten boxes of semi-automatics' Jonas added 'Whatever they're planning, it's big'

My gaze fell to Cammie who was setting up the synthetic fire with Liz. Her brow was furrowed as the orange flames danced across her face.

'Do you think the tombs are still operational?' I asked, turning back to the boys. The boys looked at me with wide eyes.

'Dude, you must be mad to even consider that! Joe told us that the tombs are called that for a reason. No one gets out'

'Yeah, well Joe says a lot of things' I muttered.

'Zach' I turned to see Bex and the girls standing with their arms crossed 'What's the plan?'

'We're going to split off, try to gather as much intel as possible. Macey, Grant and Bex will look around to find any weak spots in security, any point of entry, looking at guard patterns, cameras-'

'The usual stakeout stuff?' Bex arched an eyebrow 'We've got this'

'You also need to find a spot where Liz and Jonas can try to gain access to the mainframe. That's all'

'And what about me?' Cammie asked.

'You and I are holding down the base'

'Are you benching me?' Cammie huffed as everyone around us began to drift into action.

'Come on Gallagher Girl, you haven't slept properly recently, get some rest'

'But-'

'Look. You're on my turf now. I can't afford sloppy work right now'

'You think I'm sloppy?' She seemed offended

'Just listen for once!' I snapped. Cam stepped back slightly in shock at my tone.

'Fine' She hissed back before moving away from me.

Cam POV

Everyone had been gone for probably two hours (1 hour and 57 minutes to be exact) and within that time, Zach and I hadn't spoken. He was sitting at the cave entrance whilst I was trying to sleep in my sleeping bag.

As hard as I tried to sleep, I couldn't. I laid on my back looking up through the cracks in the cave, staring at the stars. They were almost too bright. I wanted to turn them off.

'Fuck it' I hissed to myself and made my way towards the cave entrance with my sleeping bag around me.

'Go to sleep, Gallagher Girl' Zach said. He didn't turn to face me. He just leaned against the cave's entrance, staring at the mountain peak that loomed overhead. He stared so intently at it that I wondered if he had X-ray vision and was trying to see what lay inside.

'So he does talk' I quipped. He didn't react. 'Besides, I can't sleep'

'You should try' He replied

'And you're out here not taking your own advice because…' He wasn't biting what I was throwing. I slid down next to him, our shoulders barely touching. We stayed like that for a while, just staring at the sky.

'I forget there were this many stars' I commented

'I can't see them,' he told me. I turned my head to look at him, only to find his face inches from mine 'I just see you'

'That's one of your cheesier lines' I told him. He chuckled

'It's the altitude. I don't have enough oxygen in my brain' His gaze flickered to my lips

'I see' I swallowed. Zach's gaze landed back to meet mine.

'You jumped' He said.

'Excuse me?' I leaned back slightly

'When we were looking at the waterfall, you said that you jumped' He tilted his head 'Though I don't think you realised you said it yourself'

I squirmed a little bit, looking at anything that wasn't him.

'I had a nightmare the other night that someone was chasing me through the woods. To escape, I jumped off a cliff'

'What happened after that?' He asked. I shrugged.

'I woke up'

Zach brushed a piece of hair out of my face, cupping my cheek till I was facing him. He didn't speak, his eyes were just darting across my face.

'What?' I asked

'You look so beautiful in the moonlight'

He tilted his head, brushing his lips across my mouth, lightly at first, teasing. Tasting. And then my lips parted, pulling him in. I pressed up against him, wrapping the sleeping bag around us. Cocooning ourselves in a small safe bubble before it would soon burst.

And the next day...it did…

Author's note: Hello everyone! I've finished my degree and I'm FREE! Well, until I get my results. Anyway, here it is! Blackthorne, but not as the buys remember. Who is there? What will they find? A cute little Zammie moment for you all. Credit to Ally Carter for the majority of that last scene. In the next chapter, be prepared for some heartache...See you all soon xxx

gymnast1150: Catherine may or may not be Zach's mother in this. I'm not giving you any clues! Mwhahaha! Zach really is in love, but like you say, how long will he stand by and wait for her? Heartbreak in the next chapter! It's one of the saddest I've ever written - gut-wrenching, tear-jerking, tissue grabbing kind of scene (or at least that's what I'm hoping for!). Who was the person telling Cam to run...hmmm...friend or foe? hehehehehe I'm super excited for what's to come! Thank you so much, I'm glad that you're enjoying this story and thank you so much for all your continued support, truly it means so much to me xxx

Fanfix2.0: Thank you! The person who told Cammie to run may come as a surprise...xxx

covertoperative456: Glad that you enjoyed the Zammie moment. The nightmare may just be a bad dream or it could be a memory. What do you think? xxx

Kayla: Thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter too! xxx

Allycarterfan101: Thank you so much for all your support! xxx

Tessa Jane: History DOES repeat itself! In more ways than one...! Thank you so much! xxx

Moodreaderkc: Thank you so much! That's a very specific fanfic you're looking for, I have a few stories with Zammie breaking up and moving on with their lives only to be reunited (Somebody Knows; Something Missing; Selling Our Soul) Though I would also recommend my fav writers: gymnast1150; Smiles180; Covertoperative456. Their stories are great! xxx

Smiles180: You're going to have to wait a little while to see what Blackthorne looks like. The circle might be there...or is it someone else? Cammie died for cover, but someone still found her. I guess she can't escape anything, not even death. Here's a cute little Zammie moment for you too. Hope you liked it! xxx

Bball101: The upload is here! It would have been earlier but with the new UK restrictions being announced, some plans had to be changed ASAP. xxx