OF THE NIGHT ∘ Seth Gecko

07 | Into the Lion's Den

The word 'might' sticks out to me and questions about what the ranger has been through pop up in my head, but before I can even open my mouth to ask, Seth talks to the man again. 

"Thanks for the tip, but it's the end of the line for you."

"Leaving him behind is like pulling the trigger," Jacob says, his gun still pointed at Seth.

Looking at the preacher, I wonder if he will really shoot Seth if it will come down to it. My guess is that he won't shoot him in the head if he will shoot at all. One of the reasons why I'm don't think that Jacob will actually kill Seth right here and now is because Kate is here. She's a good girl and I don't think that she'll be fine with her dad shooting someone like this. It might be stupid of me, but I hope it won't come down to a certain thief getting hurt or shot.

Suddenly, Jacob adds, "I say we vote on it."

My jaw drops in shock as I wonder what the hell he is thinking. Then, I look at the people next to me and realize that Jacob counts on his daughter and Tanner to make the choice that he thinks is right, which they probably will do. He probably thinks I'll make the same choice, but I won't.

"Does this look like a parish hall to you?" Seth asks and turns to look at the preacher, his voice rising angrily.

Jacob's voice raises as well and he says loudly, ''All those in favor of leaving the Ranger, raise your hand!"

A moment passes by in which nothing happens. No one moves. I look at the said ranger and feel conflicted until I remind myself that it might come to us or him. I raise my hand. Seth soon follows, momentarily releasing one hand from the man in his hold to show his position. Then, I see Kate slowly raising her hand and I turn my attention to her, surprised.

"Kate?" Jacob asks, just as surprised.

"I'm sorry, daddy, but you saw what happened to those bikers. He could turn on us," she explains.

With not many choices left, Ranger Gonzalez says, "Professor?" Tanner, who looks uncomfortable, raises one of his stakes. "Come on, give me a break."

"I'm sorry, sheriff, it's purely academic."

As bad as I feel for the Ranger, I honestly think that he has a chance of making it out alone if he won't turn into a culebra. He has been deeper in this place than we all did and who knows what he has lived through until he got here — he's a warrior in my opinion. If it was someone else in his place, maybe I would have voted differently.

Luckily, Jacob doesn't try to change Kate's mind, or anyone else's. He lowers his gun and looks at the Ranger. "I'm sorry."

Even though the Ranger is visibly upset, he nods at Jacob and replies, "It's okay. Thank you."

"Okay, let's this party going," Seth says and pulls Ranger Gonzalez to a standing position, his gaze traveling around the bar. It sets on something before he starts walking somewhere with the other man dragging next to him. "C'mon, cowboy."

In the background, I hear Tanner announce that he's going to gather up every weapon he can find, and Jacob talking to his daughter. I look at Seth until I see he's managing to tie the ranger to a poll on his own, then I sigh and walk over to Tanner. 

Without paying too much attention to the professor, I grab any kind of weapon that I can find and place it in his bag. I can feel him watching me, but I ignore it and go to take back my knife from where John threw it to. It's dirty with blood and without a choice, I wipe it against my jeans and put it in my front pocket.

As I head back to where our collection of weapons with a few more wooden stakes that I found along the way, I see Seth walking away from Ranger Gonzalez.