Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 56: The Attack

  There were a lot of things I remembered about that night. I was a highly trained operative, that was my job. I remembered every hit, kick, scream, and awkward moment. Now bear with me, because this is going to get confusing. There were a lot of events that lead up to the conclusion of that night. A LOT. So let's start at the beginning.
Zach drove. Townsend, Chase, Diana, Adalind, and Amelia came. (The twins were getting coveops extra credit) Zach pulled up to Josh's family pharmacy. He came in hot and the tires squealed. I leapt out of the car. The kids stayed inside, but Zach got out. I cringed.
"Honey, you might want to sit this one out. I think it will go a bit smoother if I'm the one to do it," I said. I saw the skepticism in his eyes. "It'll be quick." He nodded. He pulled me into a tight hug and kissed me quickly on the forehead.
I opened the door and the bells went off. The store had hardly changed over the years. "Welcome to Abrams and Son Pharmacy, how may I help you?" I put my regulation sunglasses on the top of my head.
"Cammie!" DeeDee exclaimed. She ran out from behind the counter and hugged me tightly.
"Hi, DeeDee. I know this is a weird question, but I need to know if a girl has come in here recently. She'd have curly brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles," I told her. A look crossed DeeDee's face and I knew that she knew something.
"Cammie?" A voice said, emerging from the back. I turned and saw Josh. He looked so different. His hair was longer now and he had a beard. He looked tired and sad. Let's face it though, he was still kinda hot.
"Is she here, babe?" Zach said from behind me. I jumped. I have no idea how he entered the pharmacy without ringing the bells. Why he called me babe? That was all for Josh. I also don't know why he didn't just wait in the car.
"Zach," Josh stated. Okay, so that's why Zach didn't stay in the car.
"Jimmy," Zach said with a nod.
"Josh," he corrected as he pointed to himself.
"Don't care," Zach said. He didn't snap, but he also wasn't happy. It was just a statement to him. Like he was rattling off a fact.
"Is Anna here?" I asked, getting to the point. DeeDee and Josh shared a look. Josh gave DeeDee a questioning look.
"A girl came in here. She said she was being hunted by people and she needed somewhere safe. She looked so tired and scared. We had to take her in. I'm sorry, Cammie, but I can't send her with you. I don't know if it's safe," DeeDee answered. It felt good to know that they took her in. They were willing to protect Anna. It meant more than they would ever know.
"I would hope she'd be safe with me," I said with a chuckle. "I'm her mother." Josh and DeeDee's eyes both grew huge.
"Plot twist," Zach said with a grin. "Now where is she?" Josh held up a finger and went into the back room. He came back with my little girl in tow. She looked defeated. She knew she was compromised.
"Hi mom, hey dad," Anna said with a very guilty look on her face. I didn't hesitate, I threw my arms around her.
"Annalise," I sighed. Then I pulled back and forced her to look at me. "Why would you run? Why would you go anywhree alone? You know it's dangerous." I watched as my daughters eyes welled with tears.
  "I know mom," she said, her voice cracking. "That's why I had to leave. I couldn't put anyone else in danger. I've been doing that my whole life and I didn't even know."
"You put yourself in danger when you left, kiddo," I countered. Anna locked eyes with me. She opened her mouth and prepared to speak. She never got the chance.
  "Wait a minute," Josh said, confusion thick in his voice. "Anna's your daughter?"
  "Guilty as charged," Zach said sarcastically.  He turned to Anna. "We've got to get out of here."
  To this day I still wish Anna would have fought us. I wish she would have told us that she wasn't coming. I wish I had never looked at her and said "you need to go home." Anna's eyes changed when I said home. She nodded, as if everything made sense.
  "Thank you for keeping me safe," she said to Josh and DeeDee. Their mouths dropped open.
  "Now you hold on," DeeDee expressed. "What's going on here?" Josh mirrored her confusion. Anna sighed.
  "I was trying to outrun danger. Turns out that you can't. You have to fight it. I'm safe with my parents," she said with a firm nod. Zach made a 'hmph' noise as he turned with Anna and started for the door. I rolled my eyes. I gave DeeDee a tight hug and turned to Josh.
  "Thank you for keeping her safe," I whispered. He smiled. He nodded his head and mumbled what sounded like 'anytime'.
  I started to leave when I heard Josh shout, "Cammie?" I spun to look at him. He was reaching for me. Maybe if we had lived a different life I would have gone into his arms. But this was the life I had chosen. A life with Zach, danger, and our children. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I knew that Josh understood as he nodded. He grinned. "Tell Anna she's a lucky girl." I closed my eyes and shook my head once. I turned and I didn't look back.
  That was the moment where I thought that everything was fine. To me, our plan was simple. We load Anna into the car and go back to the Academy where she's safe. Then, Zach and I would explain the whole truth to her. We would leave, we have other children to attend to. But, she would know the truth and the risks. We knew that she would be safe.
  But every good spy knows that nothing ever goes to plan. Like ever. Seriously, I don't think I've ever had 1 successful plan. You can imagine my surprise when I walked out the pharmacy doors and saw 4 kids backing closer to me with terrified looks on their faces. You can imagine the terror I got when Zach turned to me looking utterly terrified. His mouth hung open and he grabbed our daughters hand.
  Now take all the terror we were feeling. Now multiply it by 10. Agent Townsend was on the ground. I think he got knocked out by some sleep spray, but I'll never know for sure. One look at the row of a huge men closing in on us told me my plan was definitely not going to work.
  We all stood silent for a few moments, sizing each other up. Zach turned to us and we all watched as he shouted "now!"
  Like I said, I remember everything that happened. I remember the determination on Adalind and Amelia's faces as they lunged for attackers. I remember the way that Adalind quickly got one in a choke hold and how Amelia swiped his legs for her sister.
  I remember how Diana did more dodging than hitting. She dodged every hit and when her attacker was tired, she layed a few punches to his face.
  I remember how Chase flew at the men and took on 2 at the same time. He grabbed one of the attackers heads and used the momentum to fling himself onto the other attacker. I'm pretty sure the force of Chase on the attackers neck snapped it and killed him, but I've never looked at the autopsy.
  I remember the way that Zach scooped Anna up like a football and ran her back towards the pharmacy. He set her down and told her not to move. He turned around and ran up onto the hood of our car, then fell from the sky, crushing an attacker with his weight.
  I planted a kick square in the nose of one of our attackers. I used the old fashioned slap on another, making him cripple to the ground. I moved from attacker to attacker, sending blows to each of them.
  We were good. The problem was that Zach and I were the only highly trained senior operatives. We were facing other highly trained senior operatives. And who was our backup, you might ask. It was 4 spies in training, children. Our odds were not super great.
   I looked over to Anna, who was standing back watching everything that happened. I watched as an attacker slipped away from the group. She thrashed and gave him some good kicks. He was sure to have a broken nose. But then he clamped a rag over her mouth. I knew she would lose consciousness with every second I waited. I felt a punch to the face and knew that I wouldn't be the one to get to her.
  "Zach!" I screamed. He jerked his head up and made eye contact with me. I gestured to Anna. His eyes went wide and he threw his knee up, getting his attacker in the throat. He ripped free and charged at the man gagging Anna. He trucked into the man and he slammed him into the wall. Anna fell to her knees, struggling to stay awake.
  "Anna!" Chase shouted. I turned and saw him take the arms of each of his attackers and jump back. The force made his attackers slam into each other. He sprinted to his sister and fell to his knees beside her. She was drifting further into sleep.
  I gave a swift kick to my attackers head and ran to help Zach. He was rolling around on the ground with the huge man. The man threw Zach against the wall, pinning him there. Zach gave a hard head butt and was dropped to the ground. I heard the click of a gun being cocked. The big man pointed it right at Zach.
  "No!" I screamed just as a black blur sprinted across Zach. The shot rang out and I watched the blur collapse to the ground. Adalind and Amelia were already on the gun men, knocking him to the ground.
  "Townsend!" Zach screamed at the blur on the ground. He shook him. Zach ripped off his shirt and pressed it onto the growing red spot on Townsend's shirt. "Ed, wake up! Dad!" Zach's voice cracked when he said dad. My heart broke. Diana made her way next to Zach and looked at the wound. She slowly flipped him over.
  "Exit wound. The bullet missed every muscle that could have been fatal. As long as we can stop the bleeding he should live," she told him.
  "Dad," Zach said, sighing with relief. Chase had Anna scooped into his arms and was carrying her towards us.
  "She's not conscious. It'll take a few hours for the serum to wear off," Chase told us. "Is papa Ed going to-" He stopped short and shook his head.
  "He'll live," I said confidently. "He's a fighter. He's strong," Chase nodded. "We've got to get out of here. We need to take Anna back to the school."
  "Go," Zach said. His shirt was covered in blood, as were his hands. I gave him my jacket to press against the wound.
  "Zach," I said softly.
  "He took a bullet for me, Cammie. He was willing to die for me. I can't leave him," Zach said firmly. "I won't."
  I nodded and kissed his forehead. I had to take the kids back to the school. I had to make sure they were safe. Diana had already called an ambulance. I heard it down the street. I had to trust that Zach would be okay. That even if more men came Zach could take them. I pulled away from him and drove back to the school. I was crying by then. I had swore I would never leave Zach alone in a dangerous place to save myself. The only thing keeping me from turning around was knowing that Zach wanted this. Knowing that I had to save the kids.
  "Are we just going to leave him there?" Chase asked. I sensed the fear in his voice.
  I just let the tears roll down my face. My voice cracked as I whispered, "yes."