He was drawing a blank on guessing.
Gene never liked mysteries or suspenseful movies, he always fast forwarded to the end.
But he supposed he would find out shortly.
He landed in Billings and a government car waited for him.
He did ask the driver if he knew what was going on, to which the driver merely replied, “Something happened in Hardin.”
Thinking, ‘Well that narrows it’, Gene’s thoughts reverted back to it being something really bad when he saw the roadblock. Not only had the police and military blocked the road, but tons of news vans lined the highway.
The news kept a distance, held back by police and military officials all wearing half mask respirators.
“Okay,” Gene said. “This is more than I thought.”
When they stopped at the roadblock and showed their credentials, they were immediately handed masks and instructed to put them on before going any further.
Gene felt completely out of his league.
Something biological was not his forte, and clearly that was what happened.
“We’re supposed to meet Director Diel up there at that truck stop,” the driver told him.
“Thanks.” Gene kept his gaze out the window, he didn’t see anything yet.
The blockade was a half mile from the town’s city limits, and as they drove that last little bit the truck stop came into view.
He knew instantly, it was something no one could figure out.
The county health department van was there, a Department of Agriculture sticker was on the side of a blue sedan, even more worrisome was not only the presence of the coroner, but the Center for Disease Control as well.
“What the hell?” Gene spoke his thoughts out loud.
The car pulled to a stop, Gene shouldered his bag and when he stepped out, he saw Susan.
Susan Diel was always put together, whether she wore a dress suit or casual. But wearing jeans and a blouse, she looked out of sorts.
“Gene.” She extended her hand. “Thank you for coming.”
“Well, you said I had to be here. Now … I’m curious.”
She exhaled with almost a whistle, then pointed back to an older tan, SUV. The driver’s side door was open and two individuals in full hazmat suits stood there.
“Jesus, Susan, what is going on?”
She handed him a pair of gloves. “Put these on and try not to touch anything. Not that I think it matters.”
They walked to the tan SUV.
Gene saw the cell phone on the ground by the open driver door, and the arm that dangled out.
They moved around to the other side of it.
“County emergency received a call from this man,” Susan said. “A short call for help, stating everyone was dead.”
Gene stopped walking as they passed the SUV completely. “Everyone is dead? You mean here?”
Susan widened her eyes and tilted her head almost as a point. Gene turned around and looked, not far from the truck stop, a man lay by a tractor trailer. Across the street was a gas station and while there were cars at the pumps, Gene could see no one standing.
“We have a meeting with everyone at the Holiday Inn in Billings shortly. Let’s walk into town,” she said.
“Do I want to?”
“No. But you have to. Every division you can think of is here to figure out what occurred.”
The town wasn’t far, in fact, they were a mere block from the business section and clearly it showed signs that whatever it was that happened, happened fast.
Immediately he saw four wrecked cars. Two had hit into each other, one went through a bank window, the last one wrapped around a telephone pole.
Dead people spread about the streets, groceries scattered on the ground, spilt, take out coffee in puddles near the bodies. There were officials everywhere walking around, most of them looked like CDC.
“Do they think it’s biological?” Gene asked.
“That’s the general consensus,” Susan replied. “Perhaps a weapon.”
“But, you don’t think so?”
Susan shook her head. “Neither should you.”
As soon as she said that, Gene knew he had seen the sight before. Not that he wanted to see a body, but Gene needed to.
He walked a little further down the street and paused at the next body he saw. A woman, probably dressed for the office, lay on the sidewalk. She was huddled like a turtle. Her knees to the ground, arms back, her body arched forward, head to the sideway. A small pool of blood surrounded her head. He crouched down and looked at her eyes and wide open mouth. After standing, Gene walked over to another body, that of a man. He was propped up against the side of a pharmacy.
He just stared at him.
“Gene?”
“This has all the telltale signs of a limnic explosion,” Gene said. “But there are no lakes.”
“No.”
“Obviously, there is something here that made you bring me in.”
“There is.”
“What is it, Susan?” Gene asked. “What is it that out of all your geologists you had to call me? I’m good. But there are others who are better.”
“Not about this,” she replied. “This is you. When you see, you’ll know why.”
His curiosity piqued again, Gene followed Susan. Wherever they were going was in walking distance, but not close. She picked up the pace.
The first thing Gene saw, parked in the lot of the Big Horn Body shop and towing company was the blue van marked, Earthquake Studies Offices. Gene wasn’t familiar with anyone who worked there, but he had often received reports from them. The doors at the back of the van were open, and he saw a younger woman with a tablet. Her fingers swiped across.
She turned her head his way, it was hard to see her expression with the mask.
Gene approached her.
Susan introduced them. “April, this is Gene Taylor from my department.”
“How
