Casino Royale : Vesper Lynd

Chapter 24

For a moment I thought I was imagining all of this. People shooting guns and blowing up cities seemed like a dream, an unreal scenario. But during my stay here I did get my fair share of threats but I never thought until this point how endangered we were. 

James pulled out his gun before I could get my mind straight and he pushed me behind his body. 

"Who are you after?" demanded James as he spoke to the man in the hallway.

"You should know." the attacker answered. "Hand over the girl." he demanded.

"What do you need her for?" hissed James.

"Oh she knows." he answered and I felt my heart drop. He was a SPECTRE agent for sure.

"She knows nothing." answered James. "Now explain what you want from her." 

"Oh, it's just a little thing called..." he started but James cut him mid-sentence and shot him straight through the skull.

"Bastard." spat James and he turned to me. "Are you alright? Do you have any idea what that man was rambling on about?"

"I have no idea." I lied, "But he did scare me." 

At that moment we both realized who was shot at the first fire. We turned to the door frame and we saw Gareth struggling to get up from the ground. He was shot through the stomach and blood was oozing out of the wound rather quickly. He was reaching out to us and I ran over to him as quickly as I could and crouched beside him. He was in bad shape and he well knew that he would go.

"You're safe." he mumbled, hissing as the pain grew stronger in his stomach.

"You protected us." I answered as I knew that he would be gone soon.

"That was my job. Protect the lady and watch out for the alcoholic idiot." he managed to joke.

I smiled as I took in his last bits of humor. James crouched beside him and I knew that it was hard for him because him and Gareth were pretty good friends, having gone through some training together. 

"Come on Gareth, you can make it through." said James, not ready to let one of his best friends go.

"You know I'm dying." Gareth answered simply, "The incurable shot through the gut." he said and James pulled a grim face.

"You did a hell load for us, for M, for the Service, your name is going to be on that wall. I'll make sure of it." said James. 

I had no idea what wall he was talking about but I am sure that it had to be important if James was talking about it in such a way. I stayed silent as Gareth and James were exchanging their last words. Gareth started coughing up blood and James and I braced ourselves for death. 

"Don't forget about me, and make sure England wins the World Cup one day..." he said and the man was gone, his body now limp and motionless.

The life has gone out of him and I couldn't help but cry because of such an event. Once again I have killed people, indirectly but I did and I couldn't live with it. Thousands in London and now some of James's closest friends. I cannot keep living like that, it is too much suffering on the other side and I must do whatever I can to protect James and his friends.

"Goddammit." said James as he looked up a me. "Why does everyone that I care about die?" he asked.

I answered in silence before I spoke.

"I don't know, James. It's your job. Your job is making this happen. He wouldn't have been dead if we didn't have this blasted mission." I answered.