3 AM Demons

Nick usually didn't have any trouble falling asleep.  He went to bed every night at eleven, even on the weekends, and was usually fast asleep within minutes.  The trouble started when he woke up in middle of the night and tried to get back to sleep.  After a quick trip to the bathroom he would lie down on his bed and the demons would visit.  He had several demons and they took turns tormenting him.

150 Seconds

This would be my 14^th death.  I studied the drone imagery of the target site one last time before Becker took the tablet from me. 

“We have to do it now,” he said to the rest of the people in the room.  In his dark suit Becker looked out of place among the medical staff in their pale blue scrubs as they strapped me down to the table.  He looked nervous as he spoke into his encrypted phone.  If something went wrong his career was through.  I would be dead too but that wasn't his main concern. 

A heavyset nurse swabbed my arm.  Her expression stayed neutral as she injected me with the drug mixture that would stop my heart.   She was the only one who had ever done the injections and I couldn't help wondering how she ended up with the task. 

I concentrated the target site in the seconds before I lost consciousness.

When I could see again I was looking down at my body on the table.  It was still weird to be outside of it like this.  But I didn’t have time to dawdle.  The medical staff was already getting the defibrillator and other items ready to bring resuscitate my body two and a half minutes after my heart had stopped.  I visualized the target site and then I was there. 

It was an enclosed compound on the outskirts of a city.  Tarpaulins covered the courtyard and blocked observation from outside.  I zoomed down to street level and passed through the compound’s outer walls.  Guards openly carrying automatic weapons walked around the covered courtyard and among the half dozen expensive vehicles parked there.  The guards couldn’t see me of course.  I checked license plate numbers.  So far everything looked good but I needed to see more.  I guessed I had about a minute left.

I drifted past a guard at the entrance to the main building.  He jerked and quickly looked around.  Some people can sense my presence when I’m out of body.  I’ve mentioned it in my mission reports and the eggheads of the Delphi Project are stymied trying to explain the phenomenon. 

All the targets gathered in a large room on the ground floor.  Time is running out and I quickly went through the rest of the building.  I had just finished going through the living areas upstairs when everything went black.

The shock of resuscitation was the worst part.  I was completely disoriented at first.  Becker’s voice cut through my mental fog.  He pushed aside one of the doctors and leaned in close to me.

“Are we good to go?” he asked again.

My mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton but I managed to croak out two words.  “Targets confirmed.”

Becker stepped away from the table and spoke into his encrypted phone.  “Missile strike has a green light.  Do it now.”

150 Seconds was inspired by this post on io9.

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