Chapter 8
…Its Finally Come to This…
Daniel half expected Jack to go missing much earlier than this, 'If I were a dying, de-aged Colonel where would I go?' Daniel asked himself as he scanned the corridor. Rushing to the elevator, Daniel hoped he was not too late.
Jack had swiped a key card from one of the guards, and even though he had used the elevator briefly, he did not use it to ascend the mountain. He found his way to the ladder access and climbed his way up and out of the mountain. As he exited the tunnel and closed the lid, Jack felt a heavy hand come down on his shoulder.
Turning, Jack startled to see Daniel standing there with a frown on his face.
Jack took a ready stance, unsure if Daniel was going to rat him out or not.
Daniel rolled his eyes as he put a finger to his lips.
They heard some SFs in the distance and froze.
As the voices faded, Daniel gave a follow me gesture.
Jack shrugged and followed the man.
Once they reached the line of trees near the road Daniel turned to him and gave him several hand signals that meant, "Stay here. Wait. Trust me."
After a long moment, Daniel drove up in his red jeep.
Jack quietly got into the vehicle and buckled the seatbelt.
Daniel drove out of the gates and out past the outskirts of town then parked the red jeep.
They sat there for several long moments. Jack tensed expecting the worse. Daniel resigned to his fate.
"I expected you to go truant much earlier than now," Daniel said quietly.
"Why did you help me?"
"That's what friends do, Jack." Daniel said as he rested his head on the steering wheel. "I hate the idea that you're dying."
"How'd you know I'd be out there?" Jack asked as he changed the subject.
Daniel scoffed, "Are you kidding? If I were in your shoes, I would have done the same thing."
"So, what's the deal here, Daniel?" Jack asked impatiently.
"I'm here to extend the invitation for you to be my student if everything goes well and you wind up not dying," Daniel said quietly, barely above a whisper.
"What the heck would that mean?" Jack asked as he looked at the Immortal like he had two heads. He snorted in amusement and continued, "Reading, writing and arithmetic."