Ben and Jackson exchanged a glance. That city was one of the possible intelligence reports of where the enemy had been gathering.
“When did they leave with the item?” Jackson asked.
“Someone came and picked it up about an hour before you showed up,” he answered.
“Did they have transportation?” Ben asked.
The scientist shook his head. “Not that I saw, but he might have.”
Ben walked over to Jackson, the pair moving away from the rest of the group to speak in private.
“If we assume that they were on foot, we could theoretically catch up with them on horses,” Ben said.
“And if they had one of these vehicles working, then they would probably already be in Johnson City,” Jackson replied.
“We came all this way to stop these people from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Ben said. “If we turn back now, we’ll be coming home empty-handed.”
Jackson considered this a moment and then nodded. “I’ll go. You take the rest of the scientists back to Asheville.” He headed for his horse, and Ben rushed forward to try to stop him.
“You can’t go in alone. You don’t even know what you’re facing,” Ben said.
“I joined the military to be able to handle myself during these types of situations,” Jackson said. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not sure about that,” the scientist said.
Jackson paused before he could mount his horse. He turned around and glared at the scientist. “That a threat?”
“He’s right,” Ben said. “Johnson City is their main hub, and a mission this important, carrying a component of a nuclear device, I’m sure they will be well guarded. You track them alone and there’s no guarantee that you’ll come back. You’re going to need help in order to get through this.”
Jackson gestured to the men and women they had saved. “And what about them? We can’t take them all with us; they’ll slow us down.”
“Leave us,” the scientist said. “It’s clear the enemy doesn’t want us anymore, or they would have kept chasing. They have other orders to follow.”
Ben walked over to the scientist and then handed him some of his rations. “These should last you long enough to get to Asheville.”
“And what’s in Asheville?” the scientist asked.
“Help,” Ben answered. “You go there and tell the military personnel that you were with Colonel Jackson, and you tell them what you told us.”
Jackson walked over, removed his patch from his shoulder with a knife, and slammed it down in the scientist’s hand. “Show them that. It’ll help give you some credibility.”
Ben also handed over the schematics and drawings he managed to steal from the portable before he blew it up. “These should help as well,” Ben said. “Just make sure you get back alive.”
The scientist stared at all of the documentation in his hands. He looked back to the others that have been imprisoned with him. “I’m not sure all of them will follow me. Some of them might try to go home. I’m sure not all of their families are dead.”
“What about your family?” Ben asked.
The scientist shook his head. “I don’t have any family. Not anymore.”
“Why did you still build it for them then?” Jackson asked.
The scientist stared at the blood of his hands, unable to look away. He seemed fascinated by the sight of it. “Because I am a coward who wants to live.” He looked up. “I just need to figure out why.”
Ben could see that this man was struggling to find a purpose. He had been there himself several times throughout his life. “What’s most important right now is getting back to Asheville. The easy part is over. Now comes the difficult part of trying to come to terms with what you did.”
The scientist nodded and then joined the other engineers. Ben walked over to his horse and mounted the animal. Jackson did the same.
On their way out, Ben turned back around to look at the people they’d rescued. “They should bury Daniel.”
Jackson kept his attention forward. “I doubt they will. They’re scientists. They’re not religious people.”
Ben thought that was an oversimplification of a much broader issue. “Sometimes people can surprise you.”
“I hope not,” Jackson said.
Ben was quiet for a moment, letting the colonel’s words marinate.
“That thing you said about the hard part the scientist had coming, it reminded me of something my father used to tell me,” Jackson said.
“Yeah? What was that?” Ben asked.
“He told me that there is always an easy part, and a hard part, in everything you do in life,” Jackson answered. “We don’t always get to pick which part comes first, but we do most of the time. He said life is all about the choices we make, and we can choose to take the hard part first and then have an easy time later or be a slacker and take the easy part first and the hard part later. I always liked to take the hard part earlier myself.”
Ben nodded. “Same.” He gestured to the camp where they had just come. “Do you think that was the easy part we had earlier or the hard part?”
“I’m hoping it was the hard part,” Jackson answered. “But something tells me that I’m not going to get my wish.”
13
Willie had always been an opportunist. And after witnessing the debacle with the food situation, he sensed an opening to better his position at the facility.
Willie was used to being top dog, but he recognized that he wasn’t the big man on campus here, not something he enjoyed. But in order to change his position, he needed to determine where to place his loyalties.
The moment he met the Riker family, Willie immediately disliked them. And it wasn’t just because of their daughter and her little friend. They had an arrogance about them that he didn’t appreciate. He had been around those kinds of people his entire life, and they always looked down on him.
But after hearing Jane speak, Willie realized that the Percy family was a group he could get behind. It was clear to him that the
