"You are," Burke told Scanlon, "what we in Army Intelligence call a dupe. You know what that means? It's a technical term."
Scanlon didn't answer. The major laughed, happy with the response. Jimmy Scanlon was exactly his kind of jackass. He'd deliver a very quick victory for Burke.
Fifteen minutes later, they reached Ballymena. They took the turn for Glenariff. "This route takes you through the mountains to the coast. I figure this is where they'll hit you."
Scanlon: Hit you?
Amos instantly had regrets: don't, he warned himself, undermine the victim just yet.
People want to live forever — even the cynical, even sacrificial lambs, even suicides: everyone wants to live forever! Ain't that odd. It was why Major Burke held so little to heart. Humans were unpredictable. He believed in Claire; she was rock solid. But traitors like Scanlon sometimes saw themselves as immortal gods.
Meaning just that fools grew like weeds.