I, Spy [Zayn]

Chapter Seven

"I hate you."

"I know," Harry replied after sliding down the ladder to land at Mila's side. She knew it had taken longer for her to climb up then down each carriage only to do it all over again but after her first jump, she'd decided against trying it ever again.

"See? It's a lot easier to use the ladders," she informed him as he moved past her to tug open the fifth carriage door. They'd covered four, like he'd said and the new one sounded safe enough to enter. Mila followed close behind Harry, her hair now hanging loosely around her shoulders after the wind had tugged it from its confines. The same had happened to Harry, and she was surprised to see the full shoulder-length of hair.

"A lot more time-consuming," he told her, flashing her a grin. "God knows if Louis and Zayn have made it further than us yet."

"Don't you carry phones?" Mila asked. "Walkie-talkies maybe?"

Harry gave her a confused look. "Why would we do that? They'd just take up unnecessary space that could be used for weapons."

"But how will you know if one of you is in trouble? What if you need to send backup?"

"We die before calling more troops in to help us. It's a term of being a part of the Association. We're strictly forbidden to call for backup as it would only put more of us in danger."

Mila's jaw fell open. After everything she had been told about the spy corporation, she began to wonder just how hard everyones' lives were. It seemed to be a sad, lonely life. Trying to imagine a life where she had to isolate herself, live alone and live under harsher laws of being a spy was too awful to bear.

"Do you still keep in touch with your family, Harry?" Mila asked.

"Yeah, I do. They know what my choice was. They don't blame me - helping the world in whatever way possible is all it takes to get a smile from them. I never mention them to anyone though - their lives are my life. If anything were to happen to my family because of me..." He looked down all of a sudden, as if finding the right words to say. "If my spy status was the reason they were harmed, I'd never be able to live with myself. I'm discreet; I only visit them a few times every month so not to bring them unwanted attention. Never, have I told their names to anyone either. Names is all it will take to track someone down nowadays."

"Don't you find it hard?" Mila wondered. "Being unable to live a normal life?"

"In some ways I suppose. My Granddad was part of this corporation. He joined the Association at sixteen and told me all the great stories of being an agent. It sounded cool at the time, so I decided I wanted to try out."

"And your parents were OK with that?"

"Strangely so. My Granddad was very persuasive. Besides, I'd shown an interest int he spy life from a young age - buying toy guns, ski masks and such."

Mila laughed, amused by the enthusiasm Harry showed not only in his adulthood but his childhood also. People like Zayn had had no choice but to join - his family were ex spies and so the Association had been led to believe they had to train their son too.