*Chapter 27*

Cammie didn't care that her leg was now also cut she just kept walking, Derik by her side and Grace and Graham chatting casually behind. She knew she was on the right path, she felt it in her bones, but she hadn't found them yet and she hoped beyond hope they were on the same path. The trees all looked the same and nothing seemed to change, ever, like she was just on a treadmill. Derik hadn't lost any hope, he ran backwards and forwards sniffing around happily.

"30 miles is about 10 hours walking, which means because we have been going for 5ish. If I'm correct they will be near." Cammie looked around before and stopped when she heard a soft thump then the sound of somebody moving through the trees. Grace was also looking around wearily, she was the one who spotted the gun, yelling she pulled Cammie round and Cammie stared at it. She began to laugh, what on earth? Cammie walked over and grabbed the barrel of the small pistol and pulled. Grace watched as a handsome, young boy with tousled dark brown hair and very green eyes appeared from behind the tree. He was also laughing, they looked at each other for a moment and Grace noticed how he ignored her weird appearance and just seemed thrilled to see her. Cammie placed her hands in Zach's and he grinned down at her,

"You really did scare us all Gallagher Girl." Zach mumbled, Cammie rolled her eyes,

"Ye of little faith, I was fine! Zach I am as capable and…" Zach shut Cammie up by pressing his lips to hers for a few seconds. "Oh fine, I'm sorry." Cammie grinned and hugged him.

"OY GUYS!" Zach stepped away from Cammie slightly and yelled to the group, "ITS CAMMIE!" A certain amount of foreign swear words, bangs and running followed. Grace looked at the boy, he was about 17 maybe 18 and carried himself like a dangerous bit cat of some sort, his black leather jacket and grey hoodie made him look like some sort of hiding billionaire. Cammie although seemed to be totally calm in his presence. She wondered where he had come from and what he had done to be so dangerous looking. Her thoughts were calmed when the boy put his arm around Cammie and moved the tiara so it was in the perfect middle.

"Oh my god." Graham muttered as 6 teenagers appeared through the trees. Grace had to agree with him, a powerful looking boy with short hair was pushing an exotic looking girl in a wheelchair, a slightly spindly looking boy was standing next to what looked like a model with a diamond nose stud and finally a frail but smart looking girl was standing next to a boy who looked like the stereotypical kinda-good-looking geek. They all engulfed Cammie in hugs and the boy with green eyes stood behind watching with a smirk on his face, he turned to Grace and Graham and Grace made a tiny step behind Graham who also tensed a bit.

"You must be Grace and Graham," He said, his voice was calm and like an adult but also had the air of a boy behind it, "Thank you for saving Cammie." He gave them a smile and the dog bounced over and Graham watched amazed as the boy crouched down and scratched its ear as if he was a child. No, this group was not normal, a model, a nerd, a geek, an exotic goddess, a thug, someone who looked like an accident, Cammie and this boy.

"Guys! Calm down, look this is Grace and this is Graham. Graham is Ex-MI5 which is how come he can out swear you Mace and Grace is an ex-doctor I guess 'cause she patched me up amazingly." Cammie pointed towards them, Zach made a small coughing noise and Cammie giggled, "Oh and there is Derik, the dog that found me." The Goddess rolled away from the group and grinned at them,

"Thank you so much for saving Little Miss Bond Girl over here, if Zach couldn't find her your dog must be gold dust." She pushed herself out the chair and shook their hands before Grace demanded she sit back down. "Anyway guys, we need to go. It's already 4:30 and we have 5 hours of walking to do!" She rolled off, Graham noticed how strong her arms were, he needed answers and he caught Cammie who caught the green eyed boy.

"Urm Cammie," He sent the boy a look, the boy shook his head.

"I'm Zach by the way, and you will be nervous of me like every other adult is because of who my parents are and because I'm able to kill somebody in 2 seconds." Zach sounded dejected and walked away, Grace walked to catch up with him and Cammie and Graham followed.

"Actually I think it's because you act like a big cat." She said blankly, Graham sighed, she was always saying things like this, Zach cocked his head to the side slightly and Cammie laughed, "I mean you look powerful, like strong, and then you seem really calm. I just really hope you're not going to pounce."

"He is a softy." Cammie grinned from behind him, they were at the back of the original group now and she was holding his hand again, "Trust me, he would only hurt a person if they hurt one of us." Zach scowled at the phrase 'softy' and Grace recoiled slightly, Graham however laughed, he was the sort of person he could see Cammie with. Cammie watched Grace recoil and she glanced at her,

"Cammie, I don't think…" She started and Zach cut her off.

"We are very rare, the 8 of us are totally unique. Most of the people in school are normal teenagers, gossip, learning and arguing. Oh and hating us, it's a high point of their lives to hate me and Cammie." Zach laughed lightly and Cammie giggled, "But if the leadership want to send you away leave it to us, we will get you in. You obviously have skills none of the rest of us do, you could be extremely helpful." Graham glowed and Grace smiled slightly.

\_ (O.-) _/

The lift began to move downward, the 10 people and dog stood silent. Grace and Bex had finished talking about injuries and Graham had been quiet most of the time. The rest of the group was looking as Zach and Cammie, wondering how they were going to get out of this one. They had a plan though, Cammie wandered over to the switch and flicked it. The lift stopped,

"Right, you 6 when the doors open peg it. We have a chance to get out of this, you don't as much. Got it?" They all nodded and Bex wheeled over to the doors so she could get out faster. Zach and Cammie moved in front of Grace and Graham, not blocking them but protecting them from Buckingham's guards. The doors began to slide open, the minute they were wide enough 6 people shot out between the guards, one of them caught Macey's jacket but she just dropped it and continued to run. Cammie looked at the guards, 5 of them had bruises on their temples and 5 just looked miffed. Buckingham stood arms crossed looking disapproving, Grace and Abe were looking from behind her half disapproving and half nervous, Townsend stood right at the back just in view silently clapping. Zach fought a smile, knowing this wasn't the time.

"Who is behind you Cameron?" Buckingham's voice was cold but Cammie didn't crack, she was better alive and in good spirit than dead or grumpy to Buckingham, which meant she couldn't hurt Zach or her.

"My saviours," Cammie said simply and when Buckingham raised her eyebrow she continued, "Grace and Graham, Graham is Ex-MI5 and in my dreams I said highly secret information. They knew it from my night time murmurings. So for no fault of mine they know extremely high level information."

"Abe go get the memory…"

"No." Cammie said simply and everyone was taken aback by the power her voice had, except Zach who just marvelled how amazing his girlfriend was. "They get given memory potion and as me and Zach know they will just remember it in 16 or so years, then they will hate us and tell the Circle as Graham can get hold of them easy. They stay, they know how to survive in the real world much better than any of us and Grace is an ex-doctor." The final bit seemed to turn Buckingham, she began to smile,

"Really? Oh my, I didn't know. Would you two be okay to stay here?" Grace Baxter stepped out from behind Buckingham, "I'm Grace Baxter and this is my husband Abe, this is our head Patricia Buckingham and this is our trouble maker in residence, Edward Townsend. Your son is more of an adult than you." She called back and both Zach and Townsend made a face. Graham actually smiled as Buckingham began to talk to him,

"MI5? Do you think you could teach survival skills in the wilderness here?" Graham began to smile and nodded fervently, Buckingham stewarded him though the group of guards as Grace and Grace went with them talking about Bex and her chair. Zach took Cammie's hand and pulled her along after him, she didn't argue as she was tired but when she noticed students looking at her she ran past Zach and began to drag him up the stairs. Skidding along their corridor she banged into their room and slipped in her wet shoes, Zach caught her again and placed her on her feet. Finally looking around she saw the group all standing around Macey who was reading something,

"Macey?" Cammie asked and they turned round, the boys all looked pale and the girls were all grinning.

"There is a ball." Macey said, "Due to the circumstances they decided to boost the students…"

"Girls." Grant interjected.

"…Morale by having a ball which partners as our C&A exam." Macey grinned; Cammie noticed a steady thump on her shoulder and glanced at Zach who was banging his head against her shoulder in exasperation. "Zach! You will be a star!"

"I… Don't… Give… a… f...kutomba." He changed to Swahili at the last moment.

"Well our group is done, unless Zach is going to ditch Cammie. I'm kidding!" Macey threw her hands in the air, "We are getting given 1 day in the capital of Scotland to go shopping." She threw Cammie the letter and Zach caught it in front of Cammie's face,

Dear Alpha Team,

The other students will be told when we deem it appropriate. For this you are allowed to mingle but Grace assures me it won't be a problem. Also she says to Zach that we are not doing this on per purpose to annoy him. The adults will be scarce throughout the night and it will be a masked ball, just to warn you in advance it is an actual ball.

The majority of students will be departing the day after we tell them to Edinburgh, you 8 however will be given disguises in be leaving the same day with Abe, Grace and Townsend who assures me that he won't be a twat. They will be in nearby coffee shops and in nearby shops, we will be hiding them too as we can't have Townsend picking up a girl or two.

You will need to keep this silent for the foreseeable future; we have enclosed a picture of the sort of clothing we will be letting the others buy. They will all be in small groups with an adult which will buy everything, so we will be keeping regulations.

Buckingham.

"Sounds great." Zach mumbled very sarcastically, "I cannot wait." Cammie pulled out the small photo and everyone crowded around, they hadn't noticed it before. It was a hand drawn picture of a full length dress, it was pale blue had a band beneath the bust then a long skirt that looked floaty the girl had no face but she had mid length mousey hair and next to her was a boy in a casual suit with quite a thin tie. The boy had messy brown hair and again no face. Glancing at the bottom corner she saw it was signed, Townsend,

"Townsend can draw too." Cammie grinned at Zach who cocked his head at the photo and smiled, he then slid across to his bag and rummaged through, moving back he twiddled the pencil between his fingers and rubbed out the arm of the girl then the arm of the boy. He stole the picture from Cammie and began to scribble, finally smiling he passed it back. The boy and girl were now holding hands, "Really?"

"Well he wasn't being subtle was he? That was one of the first things he learnt about us if you remember." Zach stuck the pencil in his pocket and smirked, "As long as this photo isn't used in the presentation they will give the others I don't care." Cammie rolled her eyes and pocketed it, Macey was already diving for her bag as the door bounced open.

"It's Buckingham!" Abe breathed, "She collapsed and is in hospital!" Macey dropped her bag and they all flew after Abe down the corridors, Grant pushing Bex to go faster, at the hospital they all stood in the corridor as a girl from the year above Cammie came out in scrubs.

"You must be here for Buckingham," She asked her face fell when they nodded, "Well she is alive. She had a cardiac arrest, I would guess she won't be up to all of this at her age. I don't know what is going on in her room they have just finished getting her stable. Sorry no visitors but Buckingham has asked if somebody called Graham could take her place with somebody called Abe as his helper." The nurse shook her head, finally composing herself she walked back into the wing and shut the door gently behind her. Cammie watched through the small panel of glass and saw a man wearing glasses, he turned to look at her and pulled his glasses from his face. She kept his gaze and felt her head begin to hurt. She looked away.

"We are screwed." Preston sighed, "No head…"

"We do have a head, Graham and I." Abe kept his face composed, "I guess she sees something in Graham. I can take over her lessons and everything can run smoothly. Where will Graham be?" Everyone shrugged, Zach took Cammie's hand and squeezed, she squeezed back. They began to wander, the group followed them but they didn't know where they were going. It was nearly Christmas, Cammie's least favourite time of year, the time everyone would be getting presents from parents and brothers and sisters. Cammie always loved the 4 presents she got from the girls, but when they had 20 to open it could get quite depressing. The prison didn't show this though, everything was boring and dull like always. They passed a group of students, who all clumped together as they passed, they ignored them.

"Look, I think I found Grahams room." Cammie pointed to a room which had a dog in the entrance wagging its tail, "Derik!" She called the dog and it bounced towards her and jumped so its paws were on her shoulders, then it looked at Zach and began to bark. He then jumped down and bounced over to the room and barked again. Cammie followed him and found Graham in a large classroom, the tables were on the back edge and the power point had a large green screen saying, Fire. He turned around, he was frowning at a suit over his arms.

"Do I have to wear this to teach?" He asked Abe, who laughed, "I mean I can see why they would want me too…"

"I'm sorry but as head you will need to." Abe pointed to it, and Graham's jaw dropped, "Buckingham is in hospital, she is alive, and she said you must become Head along with me." Abe smiled weakly as Graham looked down at the suit.

"I guess I need to wear this now then." He sounded dejected, and Abe shook his head before ushering him out. "Why me?" Was all he managed as the two men and the dog wandered into the corridor.

"We need to go for food." Preston muttered from the back and they all followed him to the hall, Cammie tried to move after the group but her feet were stuck. The rest of the group had gone and she was alone. She just sat down facing the open door, her stomach was hurting for a reason she couldn't place.

"Cameron?" A man's voice said, Cammie turned around to see the man with glasses, "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself, Dr Steve head of CIA." He bowed but his eyes didn't leave Cammie's, "You okay?"

"My head feels wrong." Cammie didn't think about what she was saying, just heard herself saying it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Dr Steve sat down in front of her just as Zach and Bex flew to the door, they saw the two of them talking, Zach tensed at the sight of the man but Bex just dragged him away.

"What's up with you?" Bex whispered at him, he just stood with his back against the wall scowling, only then did he notice Bex was standing up. He gently pushed he into her chair, "No answer me Zach."

"I don't trust him, Joe was my director whatever everyone else said." He whispered back, he couldn't hear the conversation over the noise from downstairs. "He was the one who forced me on that first mission." Zach tried to step away from the wall but Bex placed her foot on his stomach and pushed him back. He didn't feel like arguing with her so he stepped back.

"Why did Cammie not follow us?" Bex asked, Zach shrugged. He still felt his muscles tense when he saw Cammie and Dr Steve sitting facing each other, he walked slowly past hoping Cammie would notice him but she seemed locked. Zach remembered Preston coming back from a meeting with Dr Steve, he seemed a bit off and nobody could explain why. Zach ignored the thought that something was up and instead followed Bex into the lift and down to the hall.

"Where is Cammie?" Macey asked when she saw them walking alone, Bex explained and Zach began to chew his cheek in concentration.

"Zach?" Jonas asked from next to him, Zach didn't jump, he had trained that out of himself. He just turned to Jonas, "What's wrong?"

"Not much." Zach answered simply, Jonas, knowing Zach well enough, didn't pursue it. Zach put his head on the table, the night he had re-met Cammie in that tower playing in his mind, she had been a wild animal then. Zach hoped beyond hope nothing like that returned, he loved Cammie as she was.

Love u all so i might just do a few more xxx