Free Vampire Apocalypse: Descent Into Chaos (Book 2) by Derek Gunn Page B

the nail in the coffin
if Von Kruger’s men were to find it.” He looked at Rodgers as the
man considered the new plan.
    “It might just work,” he replied slowly as he thought
it through. “We’d have to make sure they found it, of course, but
I’m sure we could arrange that.” He burst into a wide grin. “You
are an evil bastard, you know that, Harris? They’ll tear each other
to pieces.”
    “And we’ll be here to make sure that there aren’t any
cool heads ruining it for us.”

Chapter 6
     
    Sandra Harrington sat in the small room and fumed.
The committee, minus Peter who wasn’t due back until tomorrow,
shuffled around or sat talking in low tones around the large table.
The air was filled with chatter, scraping chairs and the tinkle of
crockery as some poured themselves coffee and tea from the table in
the corner. Won’t be long before the coffee runs out, Sandra mused
as she watched Phil Regan talking to his cronies before they took
their seats. Then the world truly will end.
    There was something different that she couldn’t put
her finger on at first. It wasn’t just the obvious presence of a
public gallery that disturbed her, though it hardly helped. The
outcry from the debate had left a room full of angry people
demanding an explanation for what had been revealed. The shouting
had been so loud that it had attracted others who had not attended
and it wasn’t long before word spread throughout the community. Of
course, the whispered reports of what had happened had been
embellished each time it had been repeated so that the story had
been blown out of all proportion very quickly.
    Sandra had tried to calm the room but her injuries
had flared up again and she did not have the energy to take on such
a mob. It had been Regan who had finally managed to calm the room,
and he had suggested that a small representative group should come
to the committee so they could put their questions directly to
them. Sandra was well aware that the situation was playing
perfectly to Regan’s plan but she had no other choice but to agree
to his terms, and the crowd had begun to disperse. Though there was
still an air of angry outrage amongst them that did not bode well
for an understanding audience.
    There was only room for twelve men and women in the
room as well as the committee. The same number as a jury, she
thought idly as she scanned the angry faces of people she had known
for only a few months. There were no reassuring smiles from any of
them.
    Despite the strained air, though, there was something
else. She had noticed it as soon as she walked into the room,
something in the air, but each time she thought she had it the
notion would dissipate like fog caught in an early morning breeze.
It nagged at her and made her already black mood far worse. And
then, suddenly, it came to her. For the first time she could
remember there was a definite feeling of division in the room. The
gallery sat away from the committee, though the table was large
enough to accommodate them all. Even among the committee, people
had chosen seats that set them within one camp and away from others
leaving an empty space in the middle of the table that seemed to
scream its presence at them like the tolling of their own
destruction.
    Everyone had been informed of what had happened and
she could see by the grim faces around the table that they were
more than aware of the repercussions that they could anticipate.
She fully expected Regan to be severely censured, but throwing him
off the committee would only play into his hands. She knew that no
matter what they did, it was too late. Word was already sweeping
through the community and anything they did here could only be a
matter of damage control.
    The committee had changed a lot since their early
days when they had met secretly in their hideaway in the docks.
Sometimes she fancied that she could still smell the petrol and
fish fumes that she always associated with those times. For a
moment she