The Nightmare (The Mist Book 2)

The public announcement of the death of the Thornhill Killer at the hand of the special unit of the Fourth Division was received with extreme euphoria by the distressed population of Cordell. We used the picture I had snapped of Darryl with my phone for the press. However, not before doing some Photoshop retouches to tweak his appearance in case he had created this body based on an existing innocent individual like he had done with Tate.

The agents’ morale within the agency had never been so high. For months, they had felt helpless, fighting a losing battle while watching the men and women they had sworn to protect get slaughtered in the streets. Worse still, they would go on missions and watch their colleagues, some of whom they had grown to consider as brothers and sisters, get split in half by beings far too powerful for them to ever defeat.

No wonder so many of them had terrible nightmares. Judging by the database I had put together, a little over a third of the Nightmares that had crossed over had indeed been spawned by members of the agency, mainly the men and women on the frontline. The now compulsory psychotherapy sessions I had with each member on a regular basis helped them cope with the stress and trauma of their profession.

Even with the Squad by their side, some victims still died in terrible ways, but thankfully, rarely during missions. After that battle with Darryl inside the base, a strong bond had formed between the agents and the Squad. I wouldn”t call it friendship, but there was an undeniable protective ownership from the Walkers towards their human colleagues.