Free Easy Day for the Dead by Howard E. Wasdin and Stephen Templin Page A

“That might confuse whoever tries to figure out who did this.”
    Pancho navigated with his GPS, giving Leila directional headings. Leila returned to Abadi Abad, then drove southwest out of the village. No one followed. When they passed beyond sight of the village, she headed off-road, west for a few kilometers, before driving completely off-road to their true course to the northwest. Leila drove carefully over spots of soft sand and around dunes, ravines, and other obstacles. She kept a steady speed for most of three hours until they arrived at their insertion site—five klicks away from their target. Leila parked in front of a group of dunes. Over time the wind had blown sand into piles that stood more than two stories tall, blocking the sight and sound of the Outcasts from the chemical lab compound. The SEALs stepped out and covered Leila inside her vehicle with a camouflage net. For a moment, Alex felt as if he were wrapping her in a death shroud. Now wasn’t the time for feelings. He put his feelings in a box and closed it. Now was the time for killing.
    The SEALs shed their Iranian garb—underneath they wore their cammies. They put the Iranian garb in their backpacks. John kept his backpack nuke and buried his main backpack in the side of a dune. Alex and Pancho buried their backpacks, too. They would need to move fast, and they didn’t need the extra weight and bulk hindering their movements. They patrolled around the dunes and saw the lab, a complex of five multistoried buildings. Hunched over to make their profiles small, the SEALs patrolled toward the lab. Pancho signaled everyone to stop. They did. Then Pancho lay on the ground. Alex and John did, too. The sound of helicopter blades beat the air—probably coming from a helo pad inside the compound. Alex took out a pair of compact binoculars and scanned the area. He couldn’t see the helo, but a guard stood inside one of the buildings facing Abadi Abad. Alex wanted to get near the complex’s center to plant the bomb—he didn’t want any reinforced underground floors surviving because they planted the bomb too far out. Alex put his binoculars away and signaled for Pancho to take them from the southwest corner to the southern edge.
    The SEALs patrolled around to the southern edge and dropped down again. Alex looked through his binoculars. He couldn’t see any guards in their direction. He motioned for Pancho to take them forward. They stood and crept forward.
    Abruptly, a helo lifted from the lab complex and flew toward them with its floodlight brightening the ground below it. The Outcasts dropped to the ground and froze. The helo flew over them before turning and flying northwest. It continued northwest until it disappeared.
    Alex tapped Pancho on the shoulder. He rose to his feet with Alex, followed by John. They resumed their trek and continued until reaching an earthen wall surrounding the compound. The three men climbed over it. Inside, they dropped to the ground and crawled on all fours. The compound floor was made of concrete. They low-crawled, slithering across the concrete like snakes.
    All of the buildings were lit on the outside, but some were lit more brightly than others; and there were gaps in the light between buildings, creating shadows for Alex’s team to use for cover. They crept in the shadows toward the center.
    Suddenly, a siren blared and red lights flashed. Was Leila captured? Did we trip an alarm? Are they watching us now? Two armed Revolutionary Guard soldiers ran out of a building toward them. The SEALs stopped, lying flat on the concrete. Alex emptied his mind and imagined himself as concrete, hoping to defeat any sixth sense the soldiers might have. The two soldiers kept running, but they didn’t aim their weapons in the SEALs’ direction. One of the soldiers almost stepped on Alex’s head as he ran past, but they continued on and entered another building. Maybe we’re