Zach smiled and yelled, " Insane means fewer cameras!"
I didn't think it was possible, but in the next second I could have sworn the water started rushing faster. The roar became louder. Through the light of the moon, I could see the water stretching out before us, and then . . . nothing. It was as if the river before us had fallen off the face of the earth.
"Zach . . ." I didn't try to hide the panic in my voice. "Zach, why did the river disappear?"
I asked, already dreading the answer. "Zach!"
And with that, the ground, the water, everything fell out from beneath us and we rushed over the falls. It was like a roller coaster - but faster. And wetter. And far less comfortable as we tumbled through the night sky, waiting for the splash.
______________
HOW TO BREAK INTO BLACKTHORNE
(A list by Operatives Morgan, Baxter, Sutton, and McHenry)
Step 1. Become slightly crazy.
Step 2. So crazy you actually volunteer to go over a fifty-foot waterfall.
Step 3. Swallow a lot of very cold river water.
Step 4. Cough and gag.
Step 5. Repeat Step 4 until it feels like maybe your lungs aren't inside your body anymore.
Step 6. Remember that a really cute boy is beside you, so try to cough in a far more attractive manner.
Step 7. Be grateful you're still alive.
_____________
The first thought that came to me after the falling and the flailing and the gagging and the swimming and the "is everyone al right-ing" was that I was lying on my stomach on the river's rocky bank. There was a wide open field in front of me, while behind us, sheer, steep cliffs rose straight up into the sky and the river still roared deafeningly loud in our ears.
"No fences?" I asked.
Zach studied me. "No need." He pointed to the river and the cliffs. "Besides, this isn't the kind of place people are anxious to visit," he said flatly. I started to speak, but he cut me off. "You'll see."
Grandpa Morgan always says that to know a piece of grass, you've got to see the ground that grew it. Maybe that's why I remember every detail of that night, every inch of ground we covered, as I followed Zach to the place that had made him, seeing them both with fresh eyes.
In the moonlight, I could plainly see a long-distance rifle range thirty yards away. "Are those . . ."
"Yeah," Zach said, as if he didn't want to hear the rest of the question.
"How far away are the targets?" Bex asked.
Zach turned to us and whispered, "Far."
We passed a massive trench that had been hand-dug into the ground. Heavy ropes hung form the highest branches of tall trees. And beyond it all, there were muddy paths and rocky hills. I knew that despite the natural wonder of it, nothing about Blackthorne was beautiful; I knew that even in the sunshine, something about that place would always be a little dark.
Finally, we reached a fence that was at least fifteen feet tall. Moonlight glistened off the strands of barbed wire that circled at the top.
"Subtle," Bex said, staring up at it.
"This is the perimeter of the central grounds," Zach said. "As far as the general public knows, Blackthorne ends here. Follow the fence, and two hundred yards down you'll find a data access point that all of the electronic security runs through." He looked at Liz.
"You know what you have to do?"
Liz beamed. "Yes."
"You're up to it? Because you're only going to have sixty seconds to run the hack. Sixty seconds or we don't make it in. Or back."
Liz looked insulted. "I know."
"She's got it," Macey told him.
Zach took a deep breath. "Yeah. I know. I'm just . . . it looks different form this side, you know?"
Not for the first time, I wondered whether or not Zach had dropped out of school at Blackthorne, where he was living, how he was surviving, but this didn't seem like the time to ask questions. He probably wouldn't have answered anyway.
"Security between here and there?" Bex asked.
"Walk softly and you'll be fine."
Still, my three best friends in the world looked concerned.
"Bex and Liz can handle the perimeter," Macey said, turning to me. "Maybe I should come with you."
"The more people who go, the more likely we get seen," I countered.
"Yeah," Zach said. "Which is exactly why you should stay here."
"You said yourself you don't know exactly what's in there, Zach. Going in without backup is foolish."
"Then let me be foolish."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I have to do something, okay? I can't sit tight and . . . be patient . . . I need to do something."
No one said anything for a moment. We were all too wet, too sore, and we'd come entirely too far to turn back.
Then Macey stared right into Zach's eyes. "We're leaving her with you," she warned.
"I'll be fine, Macey," I said, but it was as if she hadn't heard a word.
"We're leaving her with you," she said again. "And if you make us regret that . . ."
" I won't," Zach said, and somehow I believed him.
The Operative was led through a series of gates, doors, and really muddy ditches. The Operative did not, however complain about ruining her favorite pair of jeans. (Even though she really, really wanted to.)
On the other side of the chain-link fence, I guess I thought the world would change. And it did. Just not in the ways I was expecting.
I have seen the Gallagher Academy on the coldest of nights and the hottest days. I have crawled through its deepest passageways and stared out of the highest windows. I have walked across it in deep snow and heavy rain.