DIE ANOTHER DEATH :- THE UNDERWORLD RELOCATED

DIE ANOTHER DEATH: CHAPTER 11

          “Give me a gun,” said Sean. “If I’ve to hide my involvement in your escape from my people, I’ll have to take some precautions.”

           Gareth pulled out a Tec 9 machine pistol from his back-pack and offered it to Sean. “Here, take this. It has come in handy on a couple of occasions.”

           Sean took the gun and looked Gareth straight in the eye. “Take my advice and don’t return.”

          “I won’t. I’ve had enough of you supernatural guys to last me a lifetime,” said Gareth. He clasped Sean’s hand warmly.

          “Thanks a lot, bro, you’re now like a brother to me. You’re doing more than what my own brothers could have ever done for me. Thanks again.” He removed a gold sovereign from his left breast pocket and gave it to Sean.

           “Please have this. It’s been my Lady Luck all this while. It will perhaps bring you luck, my friend, to help you along in your noble endeavour.”

          Sean took the coin and turned it round in his fingers. The coin was engraved with a regal lady with a veil and a magnificent tiara on her head.

          “Queen Victoria,” said Gareth, watching Sean’s face. “It was my pop-pop’s, and I’ve had it ever since he gave it to me.”

          “It’s beautiful. But you need it more than I do. So you keep it,” said Sean, holding out the coin to Gareth.

          “No, no, it’s now yours. I’ve my God with me to help me through this crisis.” Gareth pulled out a silver chain from inside his shirt and showed a finely carved, heavy platinum cross attached to it.

           Sean’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the cross. Religion was another aspect of his former life that he had to leave behind. Religion and vampires did not agree with each other. One could not embrace the other. They were quite like oil and water, totally immiscible, and there was no soap or surfactant that could possibly bring about their amalgamation.

           “Tell your men to retreat immediately,” he said, cutting short his tangential spiritual thoughts.

           “The comm.’s down; I can’t reach them,” replied Gareth.

           “Well, try again. Or better still, get hold of them yourself. Do it quick.”

           As Gareth fiddled with his transmitter, Sean grabbed his shoulder. “And leave the injured behind. They are as good as lost........forever.”

          Gareth was totally against the notion. But then he realized Sean’s meaning. “You mean they will now transform and become like you?”

          “Yeah, pretty much that, unless they are killed by some of these blood-thirsty creatures.”

          Gareth tried to raise his mates on the comm. After the third try, he succeeded in getting across his orders.

          “It worked. We’re going to ......,” his voice trailed off as he found that Sean had disappeared.

          “Goodbye, friend, I hope we meet someday again so that I can know the name of the guy who literally saved my neck, and thank you on behalf of all the lives you are saving now.”