To Be A Warrior

Chapter 50: Easy To Forget

My heart thrums in my chest, my pulse racing as a few birds twitter and fly around to land on snow covered branches. I can hear the river, water flowing endlessly, peacefully.

But there is no peace here, not right now.

"They've ducked behind those rocks!" Jones shouts. "Keep laying down fire, boys!"

I flinch at the sound of gunshot, ducking my head down as bullets fly above me, Janine and Amelia.

"Okay, we've lost a crate of Sage's medical supplies, no one can agree on how, and now people are shooting at you!" Sam forces out a panicked laugh. "This is not how I wanted to start off my New Year."

"How do you think we feel?" Amelia hisses, and she tenses when Jones yells again.

"Oh, I see you there, Colonel De Luca." He laughs mockingly, and I twist around to try to find him. He looks a lot like he did before, tall and large with thick, coily hair. It looks a bit more well-kept, but that doesn't make him look any less intimidating. He's still got that scar on his face, going from his temple to his lips.

His laughter ceases after a few seconds, and he yells at us again. "It's me, Jones! I know you remember me. And I remember you, Runner Five, and Ms. Spens, as well. Surrender and we'll take you alive."

Amelia rolls her eyes. "Yes, of course I'm willing to trust you, because I've completely forgotten that you're a conspiracy lunatic who took me hostage!"

His reply to her is more gunfire, and I let out a squeak when a bullet ricochets off the rock I'm hiding behind and hits a tree.

"If I recall, Mr. Jones moved to New Aberystwyth," Janine whispers. "Colonel Sage has been helping people like him find lost loved ones. Perhaps he's discovered what happened to Jones' wife, Millie."

"Maybe," I say with a shrug, before peeking out from the rock once the gunfire stops. "Jones, I think there's been a misunderstanding! Abel is New Aberystwyth's friends, remember? We have an alliance with Colonel Sage!"

He laughs again. "Oh, that's what you want me to believe. But Colonel Sage trusted you to deliver meds, and you stole them! I saw you break into the crate myself! You're here to salvage it."

I groan and curse under my breath as I duck down again. This day just keeps getting worse.

"Guys," Sam murmurs lowly, "Veronica's revised her calculations. If Jones can't see the crate from that outcrop, it's probably further down river."

"Five, we cannot allow our allies to suspect us," Janine says before narrowing her eyes at Amelia. "We are not Ms. Spens."

She scoffs. "Not with that attitude, you're not."

I nod in agreement with Janine. Sage is doing me a real solid by helping me find a cure for my and Peter's immortality. He's doing me an even bigger solid by keeping this confidential. He's even keeping it from Peter, which is a pretty big thing since Peter's been working with Sage and will continue to do so. He's actually been staying in the settlement some instead of traveling back and forth to Abel, which hurts a bit, not going to lie, but he's happy.

The fact that Sage is keeping this from someone in his own settlement is a big thing, and I owe it to him to fix this.

I watch with wide eyes as Janine slowly stands from her crouch. "Mr. Jones, we always intended to deliver the crate. We know where it is. We can lead you there."

It's not exactly easy to see his expression from where he is, but I'm sure he's narrowing his eyes at her in suspicion. "No tricks, Colonel. You lead, my men will follow behind you. One wrong move, and we shoot. And you better keep up a good pace. There are zoms around."