Demon by Erik Williams

shit.”
    Mike relayed everything he’d seen and thought about the massacre. Glenn didn’t interrupt him once. No grunts or laughs. After Mike finished, it was almost a full minute before Glenn said anything.
    â€œAnd there are no signs of further contamination now?”
    â€œNo,” Mike said. “They’ve got a quarantine team on-site, and readings are negative. There have been no further outbreaks, if you can call it that. No one’s shown any symptoms of nerve agent exposure. It’s like whatever got out has faded away.”
    â€œNo sign of the missing worker yet?”
    â€œNo.”
    Glenn was silent again for a few moments. “What do you think?”
    â€œI think they got lucky. Whatever happened here seems to be an isolated event. They should bag the bodies, fill in the hole, and pray Henry Prince is drunk in a bar somewhere.”
    â€œOkay. Appreciate you running this to ground. The initial reports were all over the place. One gave the impression a nerve agent had been used. Another made it sound like an insurgent or Revolutionary Guard chemical attack. This allays my fears somewhat even though it bothers the shit out of me no one can figure out what happened.”
    Mike’s grip on the cell phone tightened. “You thought the RG might have sprung some kind of chemical attack and ordered me up here without giving me a heads-up?”
    â€œI said the reports were all over the place. I doubted the nerve agent and saw no reason to worry about sending you in. The RG concerned me more. If the Iranians had penetrated that deep in-country and attacked Americans with chemicals, I would have needed firm intel as soon as possible. Do you know what the president would have done if that had been the case? Before I let my commander in chief make any such call, I’m going to ensure he’s got reliable intel. You were the closest and most reliable asset I had in the area.”
    â€œYou still could have shared the reports with me.”
    â€œGet over it, Mike. It goes with the territory. I told you the reports were interesting and that there had been an attack. As far as this goes now, keep your ears open and stay close to those Marines.”
    â€œAlready am.” Mike hung up. “Asshole.”
    Glenn’s actions didn’t surprise him, but he hated the fact his boss had still sent him in under such conditions. All to get real-time intel.
    Well, I guess you know what’s more important now .
    And he did deep down. After all, that’s why he’d signed the contract and taken the oath. He had to be willing to die for information. But if he was going to die, he wanted a knock-down drag-out fight or to get picked off by a sniper and not see it coming. Dying like the poor bastards surrounding him was no way for someone to go. Shit, thinking about going crazy and losing control gave him the shakes. No way to go at all.
    Mike let his anger at Glenn fade as Greengrass marched toward the tent. In the long run, he couldn’t say he wouldn’t have done the same thing. There were plenty of reasons to hate Glenn, but this wasn’t one of them.
    The tall major ducked as he entered and removed his helmet. “Still no sign of this guy Prince.” Greengrass wiped sweat off his face with a brown rag. “Anything on your end?”
    â€œNothing,” Mike said. “I thought your boss was coming.”
    â€œYeah, his helo has been delayed due to some mechanical foul-up. He’s en route now. Can’t wait to explain the missing man to the good general.”
    Mike shook his head. “Wish I had something more for you.”
    â€œMe too.”
    â€œMajor Greengrass!”
    Both Mike and Greengrass turned to see Gunny Lowe march into the tent.
    â€œWhat is it, Gunny?” Greengrass said. “Tell me you found Prince.”
    â€œNo, sir.”
    Mike watched the hope drain from Greengrass’s cheeks.
    â€œWe have another