Babel Found by Matthew James Page A

Todd replies, on the same page.
    I don’t answer. I’m not happy about going there.
    “Hank?” Todd asks, weary.
    “I’m here, Q ,” I say, using his callsign. “I agree, but I don’t like it.”
    “Neither do I, my friend, but I think it’s our best option right now. We have all the necessary equipment already on location and ready to rock. All we’ll have to do is get there and plug ENVY in.”
    “Okay, do it,” I say, trying to sit straighter. “Keep trying to get a hold of the others and arrange their transportation. Ben’s way out of the way, so we’ll have to operate with the assumption that he’s not coming home.”
    “Will do, Hank. Stay safe.”
    And with that Todd disconnects, no doubt already starting on his duties to bring everyone back alive.
    The safe house...
    It’s a place I never thought I’d have to go again. Not only was it a literal lion’s den— wolf den, actually—but it’s right smack in the middle of a small suburban town. The last thing I want to do is bring this fight there. But like Todd said, they know our response in D.C. We’ll be sitting out in the open.
    “Fish in a barrel,” I mumble to myself.
    “What?”
    I look over to Nicole and see a welt on her forehead and a scrape on her chin.
    “It’s fine,” she says, seeing me staring. “Road rash from when you tackled me.”
    “Sorry.” I groan and sit up, the nausea subsiding enough to function. Now, instead of feeling like a beat-to-hell drunk, I only feel beat to hell. My head has cleared a little too, making it easier to see, not having to squint to keep my headache from worsening.
    “Why sorry?” she asks.
    “For the chin,” I say reaching out. I tilt her face just enough for me to get a better look at it, but not enough to force her eyes from the road.
    “You saved my life three times in the matter of a few minutes,” she replies, her eyes flicking to mine for a second. “I should be the one to thank you.”
    “You can later.”
    She slaps my shoulder.
    “I meant a beer and an ice pack!” I yelp, cowering away.
    She just laughs, shaking her head.
    We ride in silence for a couple of minutes, zigzagging from street to street while still heading north.
    “You saved me too, you know,” I say, breaking the stillness.
    “Well,” she says, shrugging, “technically the Jeep saved you. Not me.”
    “What about when you almost showed the guy your assets ?” I smile, trying to coax her into a tease fest Kane would be proud of.
    She ignores me, however, not taking the bait.
    I look back to the road ahead, and watch as several police cars and ambulances, blow by us, no doubt headed to Ocean Drive.
    “Who the hell are these people?” I ask myself aloud.
    “Isn’t it obvious?” Nicole asks me back.
    My silence answers for me. I have no idea what she means.
    “My children will rise soon, and be led by the worst of them.” I know where she’s going with this, but I’m not sure if it’s connected or not. “From under the ruins, they will come, at the beginning.”
    I don’t want to admit it, but… “I think you’re right.” I then tell her what Susan said.
    “So it is her kids?” she says, fully believing her own hypothesis.
    “Looks like it.”
    “Do you think this guy was the worst of them like the warning suggests?” I ask.
    “I don’t think so,” she replies. “He felt like more of a soldier—a pawn.”
    As much as she trusts my judgment, I trust hers.
    I breathe in deep, running the possibilities through my head. I don’t like any of them, and instead of tiring myself worse, I just recline my seat a little and close my eyes.
    “I gotta get some rest,” I say. “Think we can make it to northern Georgia by tomorrow?”
    I peek over and see her nod. “So we’re skipping the airport?”
    Now it’s my turn to nod. “Better safe than sorry. Stopping now doesn’t’ seem like a good idea. May as well keep going and not loiter for too long. I’d like to take full advantage of