...We saw the earth swell. The swell rose up like a bubble-a bubble about two hundred yards in diameter-and then the surface of the bubble dissipated in a column of dust or smoke that rose up perhaps five hundred feet from the valley bottom, stayed a moment with the lowering sun behind it...
...The moment we saw it, a tremendous cheer went up in the shelter, and then the cheer cut off in its own echo. Our closed-circuit system was color television, and this column of oil was bright red.
..."Red oil," someone whispered.
... Then it was quiet.
......
... "It's not red oil," someone said.
... "Goddamnit, it's not oil!"
... "The hell it's not! It's oil."
......
... Someone touched it and put a hand to his mouth.
...."It's blood."