Bryce hurried upstairs and saw Eddie holding the spyglass. "I count seven body bags . . . eight." He handed the instrument to Bryce.
What shocked Bryce was not just the number of bags being loaded in the helicopter but the body language of the soldiers. Men were pacing nervously, and flinching when someone nearby coughed or sneezed. One man tore off his respirator and though Bryce couldn't hear his words it was clear that he was loosing a verbal howitzer. If language could kill, Bryce thought, guys would be dropping . . .
One man did drop. The shouter stopped his yells and gathered with the others, blocking Bryce's view of the fallen man. Then he stepped away, took out his pistol and put his mouth over the barrel. As some of the others noticed, a red spray bloomed from the back of his head and he dropped.
"You see that, Ed! Guy ate his gun!"
"Saw something," a pale Eddie said, lowering his binoculars.
Bryce heard wheezy, phlegmy breathing. Leon stood atop the stairway, short of breath with one hand on the bannister.
"They're losing it," Bryce said, shaking his head.
Erin's voice erupted from below: "Colleen! COLLEEN!"
Leon turned to go back downstairs. He stumbled and Bryce hurried to his side to keep him from falling. Eddie followed. But it was Margot who entered Colleen's bedroom first. She yelled Colleen's name over and over.
By the time Leon, Bryce and Eddie entered she was wailing.