He wasn’t the only one who’d seen it. A nearby soldier began yelling into a transceiver held tightly to his face. “Roger that, Desert Eagle, Bio Mitigation Plan Alpha is underway. We’ve marked the target and are evac’ing.”

A C-130 broke through the clouds, its propellers whining as it changed its pitch and dropped low at the far edge of the herd.

“Get back!” someone yelled as white smoke billowed from the back of the plane. The thick mist settled across the herd as the plane angled upward again.

Suddenly, a flash erupted within the cloud.

With a loud whump, the cloud burst into an orange blanket of impenetrable flame.

The heat washed over Nate, singeing his eyebrows. He grabbed Alex’s arm and pulled her back toward the nearest chopper. The whine of the Blackhawk became deafening as he practically tossed her into the cabin and climbed up after her. The helicopter lifted and banked away from the hellish devastation.

Nate held tightly to a nylon strap and watched as the C-130 strafed the herd again with the combustive cloud of chemicals. The wind brought the smell of charred flesh to his nostrils, and his throat tightened with emotion.

It’s begun. Today it was only a thousand head of cattle and a dozen people. But could this be the beginning of something much much worse? What about when it’s an entire city full of people? Where does this end?

Chapter Nineteen

The scent of manure and freshly cut timber wafted through the barn where the ranchers had been gathered, many of them with bloodshot eyes and stunned expressions.

Nate looked to Carlos, the translator. “Is everyone ready?”

The translator addressed the ranchers sitting on wooden benches. “¿Estan listos?”

The men nodded.

“Okay, let’s begin.” As Nate spoke, Carlos translated for the Spanish speakers among them. “Men, I realize today is probably one of the most difficult days of your life. You have lost coworkers, friends, maybe even family. None of this should have happened, and none of it is your fault.”

He paused for effect. “I’m going to share with you a secret.

“This isn’t the first time an event like this has occurred. One thing we do know… someone has created a poison.”

The men stiffened with expressions of shock.

“I’m going to need your help to understand what exactly happened today, so we can prevent it from happening again. Any little detail may be the key to solving this mystery. So I’m going to ask you some questions, and I want you to tell me everything you can. Okay?”

Carlos finished translating, and the men nodded. “Si.”

“Good. Let’s start from the beginning: how early in the morning did work begin today?”

The translator finished talking seconds after Nate did and the men in the semicircle began talking amongst themselves. They all began pointing to two men sitting next to each other.