Spy School Revolution

Regrouping

Streets in Proximity to the Academy

CIA Academy of Espionage

Washington, DC

0200 Hours

I had fled across the courtyard. It felt wrong to wildly sprint around the school at night when nobody was currently chasing me. Our professors had drilled it into our heads that stealth was always the go-to strategy. 

I also went directly to the main school exit. It wasn't actually very secure for a government campus. There were cameras, of course, but I had anticipated that.  I ran out into the road as far as I could go. I had made it about two blocks before I collapsed, sucking in air, my lungs burning with each inhale. The street around me was empty at this hour, the glow of traffic lights illuminating rows of closed shops and restaurants. This was the first moment I'd had to fully take stock of the situation. 

 I was irritated at myself for getting caught. As if proving Erica's innocence wasn't already challenging enough, I just had to be seen trying to help her. But the trip hadn't been a complete waste. Despite this, I was secretly proud that I had managed to keep my cool. 

I typed 'Brown Bear Café' into my phone. It was a coffee shop about ten minutes away from the school.  One thing at a time, I thought. A light spring rain pattered down upon me, the cool droplets returning me to the more urgent task at hand: sneaking into the school I had just escaped.

Two years ago, Erica had introduced me to a secret entrance to the school from the outside. It was a concealed tunnel that could only be opened by entering a specific PIN number into an ATM kiosk. Once under the school, there was only the matter of navigating the subterranean tunnels.

Which wasn't easy. I had been down there more times than the average spy school student, but there were miles of tunnels. In fact, I spent a solid twenty minutes being lost, mindlessly circling around until I had finally, finally made it to the right part of the campus, which was the student quarters. I calculated how many steps down the hall it took me to get to my destination normally, then reenacted it in the tunnels below it.

Directly above me was a cheap ceiling panel, which I prayed would lead me to the right room. I boosted myself by virtue of a box of canned peas and some handy pipes running along the wall. Once I was precariously balanced inside the ceiling, I briefly pondered the life choices I had made to get to this exact place at this exact time, then I inwardly sighed.

I knocked softly against the floor above me. I held my breath, obsessively rechecking my calculations. Then the floor panel popped open, revealing a pair of green eyes attached to a very surprised Zoe Zibbell. 

"I'm sorry I'm so dusty. I was inside the floor," was all I could think to say. She stared at me for a second, then helped pull me up into her room. 

As she did this, someone behind me said "Well, fancy seeing you here."

Mike was sitting with his back to the door, looking relieved to see I was alright. I realized Chip and Jawa were also there, staring at my rain-soaked, dust-caked face. I figured they were holed up in Zoe's room discussing my ostentatious escape from the academy grounds. I flopped onto the floor from tiredness and mumbled "Yeah, hi everyone."

"Dude," Chip said, breaking the silence. "Why are you even here?"

" You'll be seen by the cameras!" Jawa added.

I shook my head from my position on the floor. "There aren't any cameras under the school, and I needed to talk to all of you."

The only thing stopping me from passing out right then and there was pure force of will. I pushed myself to a sitting position and addressed them. "Alright, here's the situation."

I recounted my encounter in the Hale Building, as well as the receipt I had found.

Chip examined the receipt and muttered "Couldn't the Ice Queen make one part of this process non-cryptic?"

Mike clapped his hands together, looking calmer than the rest of us combined. "Alrighty," he said cheerfully. "When are we going to check this coffee place out?" 

I looked at their expectant faces and felt a pang of affection for my friends, who were willing to risk their reputations and futures to help me out. "Look, guys," I began wearily. "You all weren't the ones who got caught. You can return to your rooms now and claim innocence if anyone asks tomorrow morning. I wouldn't blame you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Jawa  and Chip said in unison. 

"Yeah, we're with you." Zoe and I met each other's eyes for a moment as she said this. I wanted to hug her, I was so relieved she was on my side. 

Mike grinned. "Anything to get out of my math test. What's the plan?"

"There's a timestamp on this receipt. 11:50 AM." I pointed to it. "Normally I'd assume that was just the time the food order was taken, but maybe that's when Erica wants us to meet with her."

"But we can't rule anything out. If Erica's being blackmailed by another organization, it's a crafty one," I continued. "They set the bomb up perfectly so Erica would take the full blame for it, and they knew she had a believable motive for doing it: lack of recognition from the CIA for her missions. They're definitely keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't have contact with any of her friends or family. If we let them know we're on to them, she could get hurt."

Zoe frowned, then uncertainly voiced what we were all thinking. "This organization...It couldn't possibly be SPYDER, could it? I thought we took them out for good."

I realized everyone was looking at me for an answer. I cleared my throat and said "I kind of doubt it, there's no way they could come back from the blow we dealt them. But I guess anything's possible."

Nobody seemed very comfortable with this notion. I almost hoped we were up against SPYDER, because at least I knew how they operated. But I had a dark, uneasy instinct telling me that we were up against something entirely new. If they had managed to blackmail Erica Hale, there was no telling what they would do to us.

A/N: Thanks for sticking with the story so far! I will do my best to continue getting a ~1000 word chapter every day. If you want to see more, please do me a favor and leave a comment or a vote. It really means the world! Have a good day everyone :)