A few days later…
The sun was barely over the valley when Allison woke up. Shutting off her alarm before it woke her uncle, she got up and went through her morning routine. Leaving him a note, she left the trailer and went out for a run.
Her iPod playing her workout music in her ears and her feet hitting the valley floor, she enjoyed the peacefulness of the early morning. Coming to a spot in the valley, she stopped to catch her breath and watched the clear blue sky. It was at times like this that Perfection Valley really did seem perfect.
Then she felt her wrist-sizmo go off. 'Spoke too soon' she thought and immediately got on the highest rock in the area. She kept her ears open and her eyes on the ground. She heard El Blanco just over the ridge…but she didn't see him. She didn't see the Graboid. 'That's strange. Usually I see his dust or something'
Hopping across the rocks, always staying on the high ones, she heard the noise of the Graboid again, but this time the noise reminded of the stories she was told after she moved in with her uncle. 'That sound…but El Blanco can't re-produce. Can he?'
Looking down, trying to see if there was any ground disturbance from the nearby Graboid, she noticed something. Bending her knees, she carefully and quickly picked up what she saw off a low rock. Holding the object in her hand she swore she recognized it from somewhere…
'That's it!' she thought as recognition clicked in her mind. About a month after she had moved in with her uncle, she was introduced to the former residents of the valley who stopped by to visit. One of them being Earl Basset, who besides telling Allison stories had also brought his wife Kate. Kate had brought a fossilized pre-Cambrian rock, which had been a spike from a Graboid.
That meant this spike belonged to a Graboid and the only Graboid in the area was El Blanco.
Inhumane cry!
There it was again and the noise made her heart break, even it had come from something that could kill them. Taking off across the rocks in the direction of the noise, she found El Blanco.
Lying next to one of the tall rocks was the Graboid, who was missing half his spikes. Allison could see them scattered across the desert floor. On the nearby rock she noticed some blood.
Right then the Graboid let out another cry before its tongues came out, spitting out bits of fur, probably belonging to its recent meal. After seeing some paw prints in the dirt, her mind started to form a rough idea of what had happened.
El Blanco most likely rose up to grab the animal and on the way either up or down, scraped its body against the rocks, injuring itself. To make matters worse, this was not a good spot for the Graboid to be land-ridden. There was no shade and no food or water within reach.
'If El Blanco dies, then the valley is no longer protected.' She remembered this from what Nancy and Jodi had told her. Some creep named Melvin, who had lived here ages ago, had tried once to get rid of the Graboid so that he turn the Valley into some kind of suburbs or something. Allison hated that and knew if she ever met this Melvin, she would kick the greasy haired weasel where the sun didn't shine.
Shaking her head away clear of vengeful thoughts, Allison knew she had to give the Graboid some water before she went to go get help. Throwing down a few pebbles, the tongues came out and she poured some water from her canteen on her side onto the ground. The tongues lapped it up before retreating back into the creature's mouth.
'Okay, hydration is taken care of. Now I just have to give it some shade. Maybe some brush…'
Looking around she realized she might need Burt's help for this. Running back to town, she saw Jody was by her car. Running over she asked, "Hey where's Burt?" Usually he was sitting outside the store this time of the morning.
"He's gone for the week." 'There goes that idea.' "Where are you going?" she asked Jodi, seeing that she was getting ready to go somewhere.
"I'm headed into Bixby to stock up on supplies for the store."
'El Blanco needs food and shelter. I can fix something temporary until I can get a hold of Burt. I'll radio him later.' thought Allison. "Can I come?" she asked Jodi.
"Sure. I would appreciate the help." Stocking the store was always a hassle, so having two people would make the job a bit easier.
"Okay, just give me a minute." Running inside the house and grabbing her allowance she had saved, she counted it out. But after figuring the amount she wasn't sure if it would be enough. Then hearing some noise coming from the garage, she ran outside and found her uncle tinkering with the Jeep. "Hey Uncle Tyler, can I have some money?"
"Going with Jodi to Bixby?" Tyler asked his niece.
"Uh-huh," she nodded.
"Okay," he said giving Allison $50.00. "You can help me with some upcoming tours."
"Thanks," she exclaimed and hugged her uncle before going back to to Jodi. Getting in the car, the two of them went into Bixby.