To Be A Warrior

Chapter 71: Tears of Gold

"You're... and you're sure it was Jones that you saw?" Janine asks me, and I nod frantically.

"I-I saw him and I heard him," I reply. I grip the sides of my chair to keep from trembling. I'm not exactly sure what I'm trembling of. Anger? Fear? Possibly both.

Sage's right hand man was making V-Type zombie pills. He was the one who created the pills that killed all those people in the Exmoore Militia, and then Sage had the audacity to act nervous, afraid!

He told Sam not to radio Exmoore security, that we'd handle it. Did he do that because he knew transmissions would be blocked later on? Why would be put himself in danger of being there if he knew what would happen?

Janine sighs through her nose. "We need to take action as quickly as possible, but we cannot do so without a plan. Not only that, but Runner Five, you must be exhausted as you've spent the last few hours running back and forth. You should get some rest, and I will devise a plan that can help us get to Colonel Sage and Mr. Jones."

My laughter is bitter. As if I'm going to get a wink of sleep after what I've seen tonight. As if any of us will get any sleep after what we've seen tonight. I can feel Peter staring at me from a corner of the room, his arms crossed defensively. He doesn't really care much for Jones, but he still believes Sage isn't at fault.

He hammered me with questions when I got back to Seaside, asking if I'd seen Sage there or if Jones had mentioned these plans were from Sage or anything of the sort. I answered truthfully, but Janine still believed Sage needs to be questioned. I understand that. Jones is Sage's right hand man, closer to him and more loyal than anyone else.

He was so easily swayed by the Ministry he would have done anything they told him to. Who's to say he wouldn't have done the same for Sage? Sage could have asked him to do this, and he would have in a heartbeat. And it would have been the perfect way to get the Exmoore Militia out of the way so they couldn't take over and lead against the V-Type uprising, leaving only Sage as the option for leader.

I keep my head hung low, refusing to look up. Janine's left already, and I think Sam's gone back to our room to try and get some sleep. He'll be tossing and turning for the remainder of the night, and I can't find it in me to go in there and join him when I know I'd just go through the same restless phases as he could.

I can still feel Peter staring at me. I force myself to look up at him, tired and annoyed and upset that he's looking at me as if I'm the bad guy.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," He replies, but it's not nothing. The slight pitch in his voice and bitterness laced in his tone tells me that, along with the sarcastic smile he wears with all teeth and no joy. "I just find it funny how you jump to blaming Sage when we have no real evidence that he was any part of this."

"We're not jumping to conclusions. I saw Jones-"

"But not Colonel Sage."

"No, but Jones is his right-hand man."

"I'm pretty close to Sage too. If it had been me, would you have assumed it to have been his fault?"

I suck in a deep breath and stand. "Peter, listen to me. Sage told us when we were at the Exmoore celebration not to radio in the guards, and by the time we realized an attack was going to happen, the signals had been blocked. And now Jones was the one making the pills. Can you really tell me that's a coincidence?"

"Uh, yes? You thought it was just dodgy plumbing when you went to check it out! Sam wasn't even going to send you that way, but Janine wanted you to be extra thorough."

I grit my teeth. "Okay, fine. Let's say that it was a coincidence. Do you really think Jones came up with this plan on his own? The man is not very bright. We were able to subdue him fairly easily-"