Spy School: Life After School

Chapter 5

Abandoned Hut
June 11, 2026
0800 hours

Erica's POV

My grandfather pulled up to an abandoned hut. I was confused as to why we were here. We were somewhere in the forest in North Virginia, but I followed him out nonetheless into the small hut. There was barely room for all 4 of us, but my grandpa quickly pressed a wooden plank on the wall and the bottom below us transported us down.

After a quick ride down, we appeared into a high tech bunker with numerous computers, TV screens, and cameras that displayed the outside world. He quickly went to a computer, typed in a few lines of code, and then smiled when he saw the monitor flash "Secure Connection".

"How long have you known about this place?" I asked him.

"For a few years. I figured it was a good, secure point in case the CIA ever got compromised. It seems like a rich owner had plans to make this his, but they were scrapped when he sold the land back to the bank. I have come down here for the past couple of months installing the highest tech software I could find." Wow, even at his age now, my grandpa is still prepared as ever for anything to go wrong. I went over to the computer grandpa had secured, and hacked into security feeds from across D.C. I saw agents teeming through the most popular places, like around the White House, The Washington Monument, and The Pentagon. I even saw some back at Spy School. It really did look like we were on our own.

"So our working theory is that the director of the CIA is working for the enemy?" Alexander asked.

"It's either that, or someone else hacked our video call, which shouldn't have been possible," Cyrus said.

"Why don't we try and find out as much as we can about the director?" Catherine responded. "It could help us out, a lot."

"Good thinking," Cyrus replied. Them 3 quickly scurried over to empty computers and secured their connections, then began digging through the internet for any info they could find.

I found myself playing with Ben's lock of hair again. It calmed me down as I looked through security feeds. I decided it was time to revisit what happened to him.

I hacked into the CIA database once more, and then went to Ben's file. I saw all of our missions and the reports, and then finally, Operation Sneaky Grizzly. Ben had been successful, but was not able to save his life. I went to evidence. There was all the evidence he had come back with. He had done a startlingly good job, one that maybe not even the best agents at the CIA could do. I scrolled through, then at the bottom, found a video file under the name "z-ripley death capture". I braced myself.

I opened the link. I recognized the area. It was back near the Eiffel Tower. Ben quickly slipped through an alleyway and into an underground tunnel, and the cameras then cut into an assumed underground bunker, where Ben emerged through a door. He cased the room, then grabbed all the files from around the room and left. After 30 seconds, I began to get confused. Then, the room blew up.

I sat back, in shock. The CIA had had an adamant stance that Ben was dead. That there wasn't even a possibility he was alive. But now, their own death capture, the one that matched up with the written up report, showed that he most definitely was not in the room when it blew up.

Erica, stop. He probably got hit by some debris. He probably died anyway from something else if that wasn't the case. The CIA wouldn't cover up one of it's own agents deaths. Thats stupid to think Erica. Calm down, you need to get a real sense of your situation right now.

But yet, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he might be alive. I had missed him so much over these past years that I couldn't help entertain the possibility. I looked up at the clock.

A circle....

Ben.

A circle....

Ben.

Wait.

I quickly reached into my utility belt and pulled out the gray circle thing that was in the package. It looked like a really thick coaster. Then, everything fell into place.

"Mom, can I speak to you please?" I asked.

"Of course darling," she responded. She let me out of the room, to where the hallway connecting to the elevator was.

"I need to go back to Washington."

"Why, honey. We can't right now. You know they are looking for us."

"This is important." I could tell she recognized the look in my eyes.

"What are you thinking?"

"Did grandpa ever tell you that one time I dressed up as a beach girl while Ben was in Evil Spy School?"

Uh oh. What is Erica going to do next? I guess you'll have to wait and see. Sorry for the long wait and thanks for reading. :)

If this is wrong, you're wasting your time.

But if this is right, I could finally be happy again.