Jack knew what his role was. He didn't like it. It was impossible, it was too much to ask for, he was going to fail just like how he failed to keep the General trapped. And if Jack failed, the mission would fail.
Jack decided to not think of his inevitable failure. It was still a while away. Still a lot of things that could go wrong. A lot. Jack was pulled back to the present by Astrid's orders.
"Jack, open up the air duct," she said. Jack knew that "open up" actually meant rip the cover off so they could climb through. Jack complied, and soon the team of eight was crawling through a cramped air vent.
"Are you even sure this leads out? We have no idea where we're going," Jack whined after five minutes. He was starting to feel claustrophobic.
"No. I'm not. Anymore questions, Jack?" Astrid snapped. Jack decided to keep quiet. Everyone was on edge because of how uncomfortable it was.
Jack was last in the line of kids, with Katie right in front of him. He was extremely surprised Katie was serious about helping them. He thought it was just a trick of hers to get them all to trust her.
But she was here, crawling through a cobweb-filled air vent with them. Jack looked over Katie's head to see how Brianna was doing. She technically wasn't supposed to be moving at all, still. But Jack knew it was a longshot trying to get Brianna to stay put.
"Okay, turn here," Katie called ahead to Astrid. They turned and found themselves facing a wall. "The outside should be on the other side of this wall."
"Jack, you're up," Astrid said and motioned for everyone to move to the side. Jack squeezed past everyone to get to the wall. He started breaking a hole in it and sunlight streaked in.
"Nice, Katie. Weird, knowing the air vents, but nice," Quinn said. Katie laughed.
"Well, you never know when it might come in handy," she said. By then Jack had made a decent sized hole.
"Let's go," Edilio said. He gave one end of the rope to Jack and threw down the other. "Diana can go first."
"You better not drop me, Jack," Diana muttered as she made her way down the outside of the building.
"Jack, can more than one person go at once?" Astrid asked. Jack nodded, he felt like he was holding onto a laptop. He wished he was holding onto a laptop. Soon everyone except Jack was slowly making their way down the rope.
"We're down! Now your turn!" Astrid called up to him. Jack punched two holes through the side of the air vent and threaded the rope through, tying it. He then started his descent. Jack didn't really understand why they couldn't have done that from the beginning. He just knew Diana wouldn't because she was afraid of the "rope-breaking-while-they-climb-down cliché." They got Diana to agree by having Jack hold the rope, and then he could climb down with less of a worry because he was the smallest out of everyone else. Jack complained at first, saying it was pointless and the rope wouldn't break. He stopped when Lana started staring daggers at him.
"Okay, now what?" Jack said when he reached the ground. Astrid rolled her eyes.
"We've been through the plan a million times. Now we steal a car and drive to where Caine, Sam, and Dekka are," she said. She sounded exasperated. Jack decided to keep quiet, again. It took them a while to find a car with the keys in it. But even people in the CIA are irresponsible enough to leave keys in the ignition. The van they found had five seats, two in the front and three in the back, and its trunk was accessible from the back so it was safe to put someone there.
Edilio took the driver's seat, and Katie rode shotgun. Jack was unwillingly sharing the middle seat in the back with Brianna. Astrid and Diana were on either side of him, and Quinn and Lana were in the trunk.
"Comfortable?" Edilio asked as he started the engine.
"No," Jack said. Edilio smiled.
"Then let's go," he said and started driving. It was a 20 minute ride to where the General was. Jack didn't mention the fact that it was possible the General changed his location because he expected a rescue. Jack also didn't mention the fact that if the General didn't change his location, then it could very likely be a trap because he expected a rescue. Jack honestly hoped that it was the former.
"How much longer?" Brianna moaned.
"Ten more minutes," Katie said from the passenger seat. Brianna groaned.
"This is super uncomfortable! Half of me is sitting on the seat, and the other half is on Jack's bony leg!" she complained.
"My foot lost circulation a while ago," Jack mumbled. Diana rolled her eyes.
"Kids, stop complaining and enjoy the family road trip," she said. Quinn laughed from behind Jack.
Finally, they arrived at the place they planned to stop at. They pulled over the side of the highway and drove through the desert until they couldn't see the road. They were going to walk the rest of the way. As soon as the car stopped Brianna climbed over Astrid and bolted out of the car.
"Freedom!" she yelled as she ran in circles, kicking up dust behind her. The rest of the kids took their time leaving the van.
"Alrighty, let's start walking!" Brianna said when she finally came to a stop. She was beaming, happy to be outside running again.
"Jack, you and Brianna run ahead. Brianna will make sure everything goes as planned, and then she'll come back after you get… situated," Astrid said. Jack knew what situated meant. He knew Astrid knew he was scared to death at what he had to do, so she tried to not mention it. Jack nodded.
"Race you there!" Brianna yelled to Jack. He was about to say no thanks, but she was already gone. Jack sighed and started running towards where the building was supposed to be.
"Slow poke," Brianna said when Jack arrived. She had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot like she's been waiting for a long time.
"Brianna, how am I supposed to do this? The General won't believe me for a second," Jack said. Brianna uncrossed her arms and walked over to Jack. She put her hand on his arm.
"You'll do fine. You always do a great job, you just need more confidence. And if he doesn't believe you, punch him in the face and say it's from The Breeze," she said with her cocky grin. And then she was gone. Jack sighed and headed inside.
The soldiers scurrying around didn't notice Jack walking through the main entrance. Until Jack asked to see the General. Then they recognized him, grabbed him, dragged him into a room, and tied him to a chair. The General entered soon after.
"Well, well, well," he said. The General looked at the ropes around Jack's arms, wrists, and legs. "You don't need to pretend to be trapped, I know better than that."
Jack unbound himself from the chair and rubbed his wrists. "I want to make a deal with you," he said.
The General smirked. "Go on, humor me," he said.
"I will improve your Extractor; make it work better than Dr. Weigman ever could. But only if you don't hurt me or Brianna," Jack said. He hoped he managed to keep a poker face while the General studied him. Jack knew you were supposed to keep eye contact when you want someone to think you weren't lying, but Jack couldn't bring himself to look the General directly in the eyes.
"Hmm, I don't doubt he could make it better," the General muttered to himself. Jack stayed silent; he knew that it was a one in a million chance the General would believe him. "But why should I trust you?"
Jack sighed. Astrid told him exactly what to say to this question, although he didn't like it.
"You wouldn't know this, but in the FAYZ, I never stayed on one side for long. No one could fully trust me. I was used and got protection in return, and then I ran to the other side when it seemed better," he said. Even though that used to be true and it wasn't anymore, it still hurt Jack to say it. But the General seemed to be considering what he said. The General put a hand on Jack's shoulder, making him flinch. All Jack could think about was how scared he was at the moment.
"Hmm," the General said and let go of Jack. He started pacing and Jack held his breath.
"Alright, I agree. I won't hurt you or the fast girl, as long as you truly do make the Extractor better. But you also have to use it on your three friends. If you don't use it on them, they I will know that you were trying to trick me," the General said. Jack carefully hid his triumphant smile. Astrid predicted the General would make Jack use it on Caine, Sam, and Dekka. That was the main point of him pretending to help the General. Everything seemed to be going as planned, but Jack had a nagging feeling eating at the back of his mind that it was a trap.