THE ENEMY WITHIN

THE ENEMY WITHIN Chapter 13

13.

After ditching their bikes in a mall parking lot, the quartet holed up in a coffee shop across from the Zion station. Crowds arrived and departed, but there didn't seem to be any signs of threat. The hardest part was watching time slip away while Vincent carved nuances into his lion sculpture. How the hell could he focus on that with so much riding on what came next? Max tried to urge him on to a decision, but Vincent ignored him.

Jamie had suggested to the two police officers that they move on. There was now nothing between the four and the train. Perhaps Vincent was in contact with the Eye and was somehow scanning the area for danger. But if not, they were wasting precious time. Again, Max looked outside to see if anyone was giving passing strangers too much attention. "What are we waiting for? The longer we sit here, the more suspicious we seem."

"If the train stops, if cops or soldiers board, we have nowhere to run. We'll be in the middle of nowhere and they'll hunt us down," Noah said, surprisingly cogent after finishing a pint of bourbon.

"What do you think a roadblock will be like?" Max shot back.

"There are just too many ways for it to go south. And if we have to run, we're on foot. You don't see the problem there?" Noah said.

While Max continued to debate, he knew Noah wasn't wrong. If things did unravel, they were screwed. But for the moment, short of the Eye coming down and giving them a lift to the lab in Arizona, there didn't seem to be any alternative. He turned back to Vincent. "You're in contact with the Eye. We'll get a warning if anyone dangerous tries to board, right?"

"If the Eye sees it, we'll be warned," Vincent said without looking up from his work. "But just because we're warned doesn't mean we're saved. And it's possible the Eye won't see it at all. It may think something threatening is actually no danger at all." And, with that, the pendulum swung back again.

Max sat back in exasperation. "OK, then if there's no way to know, let's just minimize the risk as best we can. We'll go in pairs, sit in different sections of the train. First sign of a problem, we bolt."

"After the first sign it'll be too late," Noah said, although from the tone it sounded like he'd accepted defeat. Maybe he was just spent. They were all pretty ragged at this point.

"Roads are blocked, we don't have another way," Jamie said, backing Max up.

The trio looked at Vincent waiting for some kind of answer, but he merely turned the lion on its side and carved out the paws.

Max grew impatient. "What do you want to do? We can't sit here all day."

Vincent looked up sharply. "Every decision I make is about how to keep all of us alive. Don't push it. Only an idiot rushes in without considering every variable."

"You know this is the call – if time is everything, stop wasting it," Max said, pushing away from the table. He went outside letting the cold air cool him down. There wasn't going to be any kind of divine inspiration. They had to provide their own salvation and this was the way. Flying wasn't an option - they'd be snatched before they even reached the security checkpoint. Even if they could hire a charter, four teenagers doing so would probably raise enough of an eyebrow that police might be waiting for them when they landed. On a train they had anonymity and a direct route. What more did Vincent want?

As if in answer, Vincent emerged a minute later with the others. Max glanced at Jamie. She gave a relieved nod. They were going on the train.

Max was about to ask Jamie to join him. Vincent put the kibosh on that plan. "Max, with me. Jamie, stay with Noah. Make sure he doesn't do anything."