As the ungulates organized themselves, a low fluttering noise drifted in the wind from afar.
A few miles away, a black helicopter hovered as it lowered containment team Delta to the ground. Transgene had rapidly alerted its hired mercenary assets to carry out the rapid containment policy that was now being pursuing in all areas effected by the contaminated stream. Clicks filled the humid evening air as the black uniformed men and women cocked their weapons and tightened kevlar straps, prepared for imminent hostiles.
Minutes earlier, the team had been briefed on the situation. Otter Falls was lost. Infected civilians, pets and native fauna roamed the small town and the surrounding countryside searching for easy prey. A captured Squirrel animorph had confessed that the new plan among those animorphs who were organized was to infect whoever they could so as to build a band sufficient to manage a society of their own or force remaining humans to accept them and abandon experimental research fantasies. So the orders were to kill animorphs on sight, "show no mercy for the infected are not themselves". They had also been informed that the virus perpetuating this outbreak would become dormant in the local watershed in the coming days.
As the hired muscle hit the grassy floor of the forest surrounding Otter Falls, Sergeant Donner laid out the orders from the top.
"The containment area assigned to Delta has a total groundspace of 2.5 square miles," said Donner, "Support and assault squads have been assigned to the town itself while Sniper teams will patrol the surrounding woodlands. Is this clear?"
A resounding "SIR, YES, SIR!" echoed through the forest.
"Ready your night vision, and prepare for action. You have the green light to nerf any animorph on sight!" yelled Donner as operational maps were passed throughout the 25 person squad.
Sniper team Charlie, Dan Summers and Ashley Yearling examined their map.
"Looks like we got the local Dairy farm," said Dan, polishing his M40 with a handrag.
Ashley smiled, "Easy pickens," she said.