To Be A Warrior

Chapter 54: Thrown A Bone

"Janine, Five, head for the glass building on the hill," Sam instructs. "We're meeting Jones up ahead."

Amelia scowls from beside me. "This is, just to clarify, the same Jones who has now twice tried to murder me."

"Well, to be fair, he just pointed a gun at your head."

Her scowl deepens. "I'm not sure why we need to be fair. He wasn't exactly fair to your wife when he hit her across the face with his gun."

Sam sucks in a sharp breath at the memory, and Amelia glances at me, looking almost proud that she hit a nerve. I roll my eyes.

What she doesn't know is that five days ago Sam's wife fell off the top of the beacon and survived.

The bruises took a day to heal, but the bones and organs only took a few hours-a few excruciatingly painful hours that had me going in and out of delirium. Sage's concoction definitely slowed things down, although he has sent a few private messages saying he doesn't think it was necessary, so Peter won't have to take it if tests continue to go well.

I can't wait to actually get the treatments with the nanites, or whatever replica Sage is trying to make. The thought of microscopic robots in my body, turning off the acceleration regeneration in my cells is a bit... unnerving, but it's the only way to make me human again. Plus once they've done what they need to do my body flush them out like it does with everything else.

The faster this gets done, the better. Paula may not have said anything else since our last conversation about my scars, but I'm not dumb enough to think she's simply forgot about it. And I'm not stupid enough to think others won't start to notice either. There's already quite a few people who know about my immortal predicament.

"Mr. Jones is employed by Colonel Sage" Janine says to Amelia, snapping me out of my own thoughts. "We have discussed Jones at length. His rehabilitation is ongoing, but Colonel Sage believes that, just like Mr. Lynne, being busy and active is the best thing for him. And for us.

"Jones used to be a toxic waste disposal specialist. The Colonel has seconded him to help unearth the missing fragment of the Edda of the Wakened Warriors from beneath the burn cube explosion. He should prove an invaluable resource."

The blonde simply scoffs. "Or he could murder us in our sleep. I can hardly wait to find out."

"Well, you won't be in suspense for long," Sam says. "The rendezvous is the coppice at the end of that track. Get going."

A huff leaves Amelia's mouth, and while normally I would give a sly comment regarding her poor attitude on a mission, I can't help but side with her on this one. Jones is unstable, and even though he's getting help, it's hard to know just how well or badly this could go. We know he never really liked me, or Janine, and no one likes Amelia. Jody was the only one he liked and of course she's the one that isn't with us today.

It's hard to know if we can trust Jones. Janine seems to believe that because Sage says he's trustworthy, he is. I do trust Sage to an extent, but... I'm not sure what it is, but there's something about Jones that just makes me feel uneasy, like I always need to keep my guard up. And I'll do so until he proves to me he can be trusted.

It's still cold, but the mushy snow is mostly gone, leaving behind cold, damp ground for us to run on. There's less of a chance of slipping so I'm happy with it. I do, however, like my electric blanket more and would rather be at home wrapped up in it reading with Sam.

I like to think that maybe that can be something Sam and I do all the time once we get that bit of the Edda and found a cure for the V-Types. I say once, but I mean if. It's always an if, since things never go to plan. I mean, Jones is supposed to help us get the Edda out from under Mount Seneca settlement, but we're nowhere near the cliffside. Amelia could be right, and he very well may try to kill us, and then we'd have to get away and report it back to Sage and we'd be back to square one in trying to get the Edda out from under all that rock.