Up to No Goode

Chapter Nineteen

We hit the ground at the same time, this stretch of grass that ran between the buildings and I was thankful for the rain and the clouds covering our everystep, making sure our whispers weren't heard and our movements weren't seen. Cammie crouched low and ran through the space between the buildings. She banged on the metal door that there was no way that someone didn't hear. But I guess that was the point.

"What are you doing?" I hissed but she continued, talking in a gruff voice.

"Hey can one of you guys give me a hand with this?"

I looked at her as if she was crazy, and I guess I wasn't too far off the mark. The door opened and she pulled one of the guards out by his collar. He looked confused but she knocked him out with one well placed punch and slapped a napotine patch on his forehead for good measure. Needless to say, I was impressed.

"Nice one" I say "Did you learn that in P&E?"

"No. Buffy the Vampire Slayer." she says, but I'd never watched it. Blackthorne boys weren't allowed TV and my younger self couldn't watch TV. ( It's hard to watch TV when you live in places without a satellite... or electricity at times.)

Cammie studied the man who lay in front of us, who I'd last seen leaning against a classic car in Roseville. Cammie dragged the man into the nearby weeds and we started digging through his pockets.

"Comms" she said, handing the little earpiece to me. She went to go peer the the dusty windows and as I listen through the comms I realized something was seriously not good. As I listen to the voices shouting orders throught the comms unit, I made sure to count. I leaned close to Cammie "They've got at least fifteen guys"

"What do you hear?" But I held out a finger to her.

I heard Dr. Steve's voice. "Is the plane here yet? We need to get this list out of here."

"We've almost got it sir" said a guard

"Excellent"

Cammie studied my face "What is it Zach? what's going-"

"Cammie, Listen to me." I said "I don't know where he's going or what he's planning on doing with that list, but..." I trailed off as my eyes fell on an object in the distance. "I think I know how he's getting there" I grabbed her shoulders to face the direction of a blinking red light. She whispered into her comms unit. "Guys, we got a change of plans."

We were outnumbered and outsized- Dr. Steve didn't take any chances on girls, because they weren't just girls. They were Gallagher Girls. I heard the planes landing gear groan as it started down, and saw the silhouettes of men exiting the building. There was no time left, and we all knew it.

Bex jumped from the roof, flattening one guard and then swept another off his feet with one smooth motion. "They're here!" the man yelled out as he fell, but it was too late.

Gallagher and Blackthorne, girls and boys. We had joined forces - and together we were unstoppable. All around me fists flew and kicks landed. On the Comms unit I heard three men rushing over. I yelled to Bex and Grant "Three men are coming around the southside if the building- go!" and in a flash, they were off.

I took on one of the guys who was at the ball. He grabbed me, but I shifted my weight and threw him over my head like a rag doll. I heard his wrist crack ad I knew it was broken. I slapped a napotine patch on him and he passed out, clutching his wrist.

The plane touched down at the end of the runway. Through the rain I saw the man in the blue jacket and Cammie was rushing toward him... but Liza got there first. She had been squeezing the neck of a man four times her size when he managed to throw her off and she flew through the air knocking out the man in the blue jacket without so much as a single punch.

All around Dr. Steve guards fell one by one. A guard with huge muscles went after Liz who cowered into a ball. As he raised his gigantic fist, I lurched between them taking a punch to the side of my face. I clutched the growing bruise and stumbled back. When I looked up, I saw Cammie staring at me.

"Go!" I screamed and she ran. The plane had reached the end of the runway; it's propeller still spinning. A blur of water and light as Dr. Steve dashed through deep puddles and damp grass through the open door of the plane. I watched Cammie run, soaking wet, yet her feet were oddly light as she ran through the darkness to protect her sisterhood. "I think you have something that belongs to us" She said, her voice steady and calm. "You're not leaving with that disc." She said with such confidence that I would have dropped the disc right then and there. And that's when I caught sight of Bex slowly making her way behind Dr. Steve.

"Oh." said Dr. Steve "I think you're a little... too... late" But then he stopped talking, because well, he couldn't. Bex was holding his neck, squeezing tight. Dr. Steve crumpled to the ground and Bex followed.

"You're not taking this anywhere" said Cammie "You're not getting on that plane"

Maybe if I hadn't been so distracted by Cammie, or maybe if I was less tired I would have noticed the van behind Cammie and the man coming out of the plane. I wouldn't have been so surprised to hear the voice that was so familiar to me.

"You're right, Ms. Morgan. He's not." said the voice of Joe Solomon.

Every head turned toward the plane, not quite understanding what was going on.

"Are you alright, Dr. Sanders?" asked Joe, stepping out of the plane. Cammie stared on in disbelief.

"You." she said "you did this?"

"Well," said Joe "I had some help" He smiled at the woman who was descending the plane steps. It was... headmistress Morgan?

"Good Job everyone" she said, smiling. "Rebecca?" she said and Bex loosened her grip on Dr. Steve, but didn't completely let go.

Joe looked at his watch. "Forty-two minutes. Not bad. " He turned and called into the darkness. "What do you think, Harvey?"

No. Way.

Mr. Mosckowitz stepped into the planes open doorway completely unharmed. This guy wore a fake mustache to the ball, he had the least amount of field experience out of the entire Gallagher staff. He smiled at us and bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Hi girls" He said brightly "how did I do?"

The rain grew lighter and lighter all around us, and Cammie spoke the question that had come to all of our minds. "It..." she stumbled over her words, clearly exhausted "It was a test?"

"Our job isn't to get you ready for tests, Ms. Morgan" Joe corrected "Our job is to get you ready for real life."

I saw spotlights flash, felt the dim sky growing brighter and brighter until the mist formed a massive rainbow over the ugly abandoned buildings and empty lots.

I stood there, transfixed at that strangely beautiful sight thinking about how that scene was a little bit like me. I wasn't all bad, but I wasn't all good either.

And it was up to me to make that right.

"So you wanted to see if we could do it for real?" asked Tina Walters

"No." Said headmistress Morgan "We had to see if you could do it together." She looked at all of us standing side by side. We all had bruises and cuts and gashes.

We were all the same.

Out teachers turned and started through the light drizzle toward the waiting vans while the plane began to rush down the runway, it's lights fading in the distance.

"Oh" said Joe "and welcome to sublevel two"