Scene 45

Franklin, North Carolina

Matt returned with a small group of people early in the evening.

He turned to one of the men with him. “He’s over there,” he said, pointing to David.

The new man, obviously a doctor, quickly went to David’s cot and began examining him.

Matt turned to another man with him. “There’s the one you want,” he said, pointing to Greg’s body.

This other man quickly passed us. I noticed a priest’s collar poking out of his shirt.

“The Father will take care of him,” Matt said to Mike. “I brought the doctor to take care of the other one.”

The doctor looked up from his examination. “What happened to him?” he asked.

“The FBI,” Mike answered.

“Oh,” said the doctor with a worried expression. He immediately turned back to his examination.

“You’ll have to stay here overnight, out of sight,” Matt continued. “There is plenty of food and water in the cupboards and blankets so you can all get some rest.”

“What about transport?” Mike asked.

“Someone will be here at first light. They’ll get you back to South Carolina.”

The priest came over to us. I noticed that a few men had picked up Greg and were carrying him out of the shelter.

“We’ll take care of him,” said the priest. “He will get a proper burial, although it will be a small, quiet service. Does he have any family?”

“He had a daughter,” said Julie. “I know how to get in touch with her.”

I noticed that tears were again running down her cheeks.

“Very well,” said the priest, nodding. “Good luck to you all.” He turned and followed the other men from the room.

The doctor left David lying on the cot and came over to us.

“I’ve done all I can,” he told us. “They’ve used a lot of drugs on him and without knowing what they are, I can’t risk giving him anything else. He needs as much rest as he can get to let them work out of his system.”

“Okay,” said Matt to all of us. “Eat something and then get what rest you can. I’ll see you in the morning.”