Once they got back to town, Burt told them that they were alright for now. He explained that they found nothing so far. Tyler and Wes were going to send off some of the belongings to Casey and regroup back up with them. Burt wanted to know what all had happened since now there was no sign of any movement.

Doctor Casey Mathews was testing plants and water when the two showed up. She looked up to see Tyler and a young man whom she had not met yet.

"Doctor Casey Mathews, this is Burt's son Wes," Tyler did a brief introduction. "I would be friendlier but right now we have a situation. Nineteen hikers are missing. It's not a graboid. We think it might be Mixmaster. Can you help us?"

Casey was taken aback. "Sure." She was hesitant. "What do you have for me to help you? There is a new scientist in town too, maybe she can help."

"Tried that, she won't do it," Wes sighed. "She told me to go to you."

Casey inclined an eyebrow. "So you must be the military guy they put in place here. Okay. Did she now? Well that's something new." Tyler brought in the sack that had all the bags. He dumped it on the table. She stared wide eyed.

"Here is all of their stuff," Tyler looked in her the eyes. "Is Roger here to help you? We can stay. Burt is with the rest of the hikers gathering information."

"Yes, that would be helpful," Casey picked up a bag and looked at it. Roger came by with some supplies. Casey quickly got him updated. The three of them followed Casey's lead and direction.

Back in Chang's. Burt was trying to settle down the scared hikers.

"One by one, not all at once," he held up his hands to them. "Now, while you were hiking, where were you in the position?"

"Position?" One of the questioned. "Well, we, the leaders, were in the front. There were four leaders in total now only two. The rest were supposed to be in a buddy system following one of us leaders. We didn't notice that we were missing some of the members until after we did a short check. We decided to head back to the van since it was a short distance and regroup so the rest wouldn't go missing when we would look for them. That's when it happened again and now we are only down to six."

"We ran and screamed back to the van as we saw some their stuff just lying there," another hiker added. "It all happened so fast. You'd turn around and the person you thought would be there was gone."

"You ran and screamed back to the vans?" Burt crossed his arms. "And did you see anything?" All of the shook their heads. "None of you saw anything? Nothing?" Burt sighed and tried not to get angry. Jodi caught on and started to comfort the hikers. Nancy took Burt over to counter.

"Burt," Nancy looked him straight in the eye. "You can't be so hard on them. They just lost their friends."

"Nancy, we have nineteen missing. Nineteen!" Burt was exhausted. "It's not some damn magic show and poof they're all gone. I need more information or Twitchell is going to have us by our necks if we don't find them. Have you heard anything from Rosalita or Larry?"

"Rosalita says all of her cows are there, and Larry is still in the barn," Nancy answered him.

"I'm going back out there to check again," Burt started to head out. "Tell the two when they come back to meet me there. I need more information!"

Rose had gotten back to her trailer in time. She didn't look through the documents she just retrieved and instead got out the blueprints, new and old. She double checked to make sure there were no other entrances. Rose then looked at other entries such as ventilation systems. She counted a few of them in different locations. Rose grabbed her phone and hit redial.

The three at the lab looked over to Wes. He gave a soft smile before pulling his phone out. He was a bit surprised to find out who it was. "Miss?"

Rose smiled at that. "There are a few ventilation systems that connect to different parts of the area. Where was the exact location of this attack?"

"Just outside the old mine shaft right out of town," Wes informed.

"There is one that connects to there," Rose followed the ventilation back to the main facility. "It connects to different vents back at the lab. Mostly from the labs from mammalian and microbiology. Did you find anything that can clue you in the appropriate creature?"

"We are working on that as we speak, here at Doctor Casey Mathew's lab," he informed her. "We gathered up the belongings from the area in question and are now processing them."

"How did the ground look?" Rose questioned as she looked over seismos around that area. She quickly wrote a note down that she needs to put gadgets and systems at each of the vents. Rose grabbed a few of her pens to start writing. There was a bit hesitation. "How was it disturbed?"

"There was some," Wes started to explain.

"Some?" Rose sighed in disbelief. She started to mark the map.

"I have some pictures of the area, I will send it to you right now," Wes pulled away from his phone and started to send what he had.

Casey leaned over to Tyler. "Who is he talking to?"

"I think that would be the scientist who I believe has him by the balls right now," he watched him. "I didn't know he took pictures. That would have been nice information." Casey nodded her head in agreement.

Rose moved her phone away to look at them. She zoomed in and around the supposed areas. None of the areas were disturbed enough to be qualified as something underground. This was quite weird. "Call me when you have more information." Rose sounded as if she wasn't there. She was about to radio Burt but thought better of it.

Wes looked to the rest and shrugged. They continued on working. Casey took some swabs of a backpack that had some sort of goo upon it. Thirty minutes later, Casey was looking at it under a microscope. She had some other samples going through different machines.

"This looks familiar," Casey started to speak of what she saw. "This sort of goo is actually venomous saliva, likely found in cephalopods."

"Cephalopod?" Tyler scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Octopi, and it looks like there is some mucosal strains with it," she moved the slide around.

"Don't they need water?" Tyler asked another question.

"Yes, but since we are dealing with Mixmaster, who knows what else it is crossed with," she zoomed in on the slide. "I may need to look at the other slides to get more information, but you can still call her to see what she has found."

Rose was looking through the pictures and none of the ground was disturbed. She even thought about driving over there to see for herself and place her gadgets but it would have to wait. Rose looked through seismographs again. Nothing was disturbed enough to even be on radar. She heard the call on her phone. Rose clicked answer and put it on speaker phone. "What did you find?"

"Casey found traces of venomous saliva and mucus that would be from cephalopods on some of the belongings we found," Wes put her on speaker as well.

"Hmm," Rose was thinking. "That may be why everyone thought it was a creature pulling it down. The pictures show no signs of deep disruptive holes in the ground like one would see with moles and graboids. Seismographs do not show anything that could have made an impact that would suggest a creature like that. The ventilation system has some size restrictions so a cephalopod would be able to maneuver quite well no matter the size."

"So what are you saying then?" Wes asked as everyone was listening tentatively.

"Isn't it obvious? These hikers were taken upwards. They were in an area with trees, cephalopods such as octopi and squid like to be in a fortress type area," Rose explained. "And are quick learners. It probably learned how to escape watching others. Although if it's a true cephalopod it will need water or it will shrivel up."

Casey switched in a few more slides, she was looking for anything else that was strange.

"Aha!" Casey spoke up with excitement. Rose could hear her. "I think the other part of this creature is spider. I found silk mixed in with the mucus. At first I saw it, and didn't think anything of it, but this piece of silk is quite huge compared to a normal spider."

"Although I am on speaker," Rose was a bit annoyed. "Check to see how strong it is. If its Darwin Bark Spider silk, we will have a bit of trouble then."

"Darwin Bark Spider?" Roger looked to Casey.

"It is the strongest fiber on earth, six times stronger than high grade steel per weight," Casey explained. "If it is we would need the teeth of limpets just to cut it."

"Limpet?" Wes asked.

"Aquatic snail," Casey looked up and smiled. "It is not Darwin Bark spider silk."

"Good," Rose smiled. "Now good luck on retrieving those that are missing." She hung up the phone and started to rummage through the files that she had gotten.

"She has you by your short and curlies, if you know what I mean," Tyler muttered to Wes. "Besides you were holding out on us. Pictures? We could have guessed to that conclusion without her."

"She's one of my bosses," Wes gave him a pointed look. "What she says, goes. Besides that is the reason why I am here, is for her, so if it looks like I am doing everything she says and making sure she gets information first, then that means I am doing my job."

"Yeah, but it doesn't seem fair," Tyler kept his voice low. "She's somewhere hidden, probably safe, and here you are in Perfection cleaning up the mess from the labs."

"She actually has it rougher than me," Wes smirked. "I watch her and the town, she is cleaning up the mess in the labs. Depending on how far a creature goes, she has to clean it up. Not me."

"It doesn't seem like there is anything else with this creature, but I would say be on the lookout," Casey looked up from her microscope. "I would get this information to Burt right away and see if you can save them. I will try to create an antidote for this venom if any of them had gotten injured."

The two nodded and headed on out. Tyler started to radio Nancy and Jodi until Burt overheard and sent them his way. The two got out of the truck and headed to Burt who was looking at his seismo.

"What did you find?" Burt looked over to them.

"Casey found traces of some sort of venom that comes from an octopus," Tyler explained. "Mixed in with spider silk. The other scientist said that may be why everyone though it was underground. She didn't find any seismic movement but a ventilation coming out from the mine."

"Let's hope it's not like the first monster that came out from there," Burt stared wide eyed. "So where is thing hiding out."

"The scientist said in the trees, octopi like to make a fortress," Wes stared up into the trees. "They're quick learners too. This thing might have moved on."

Burt and Tyler started to look up in the trees. "Alright, split up. Try not to get nabbed, see if you can find any of them," Burt started to bark out orders. "Radio in when you do." The three split up and kept on looking upwards.

Tyler had almost tripped over some roots coming up from the ground. He caught himself before falling to the ground. This sound reached the creature. It woke up and clicked its beak a couple times. "Huh? What was that sound?" Tyler started to look around. He looked up to see where the noise was coming from. He saw something move. He grabbed his radio. "Tyler, here, I think I might have found the creature, or it might have found me, over." Tyler was scanning the area. He spotted something a white grey looking body wiggling back and forth. "I found one, over."

Wes and Burt started to head over to where Tyler was as fast as they could. The creature blended into the background and using branches to hide it.

"Can you see it? Over," Burt panted as he ran.

"No, not really, but I saw something move, over," Tyler was slowly walking around a clump of trees but not too far as to keep one of the hikers in sight. Wes reached Tyler first. Tyler pointed up into the trees. Wes tried to find the line of sight where Tyler was pointing at. Burt finally came and looked with him.

"Where's the hiker?" Burt asked.

"Over there," Tyler kept his voice hushed. "This thing has it cocooned in the tree. I bet there are more."

"Did you mark you spots where you found the belongings?" Wes asked them.

"No," Tyler was confused.

"Yes," Burt nodded. He looked over to Tyler. "Always mark any spot that was used in any scene, it could be used later on, especially now. Alright, we are going to need something to cut them down, catch them safely, while someone else keeps watch of where this thing might be and possibly shoot it down."

"Right," Tyler agreed. "Should we call in for back up?"

"Not yet," Burt thought about it. "But we can call someone to get us some supplies. We need a net of some sort, scissors or a machete, and something to kill the thing without hitting those still in the trees."

"I have everything," Wes looked over to Burt. Burt glanced over to him and looked back to Tyler before whipping his head back to Wes. "Yes. I have it all, even rock climbing gear." The two looked at him in wonderment. "I have it in case the scientist needs help or saving." He shrugged his shoulders.

The three headed to his truck and started to work on supplies. They setup the net in the middle of one area where the hikers were picked up.

"Okay, so who is going to be the brave one and climb up there and cut them down?" Tyler was looking up in the trees.

"I'll do it," Wes answered before anyone else could. Burt was about to protest. "Can either of you get up in the trees without having to take a break? And then once you're up there focus on cutting them down without having the fear of looking down." They shook their heads. "Didn't think so, besides, I was trained for these kind of situations." He started to put on his climbing gear and strapped on his machete.

Wes started to climb up one of the trees. He looked around for anything out of the ordinary. Once he was near the wiggling cocoon, he hammered one of the climbing pitons in. He fastened himself to it in case he fell. Wes slid his machete out while he scanned again. He cut some of the silk off still waiting for it. After he was done with the majority, he stabilized the wiggling human and moved it in a way so when he cut the last silk keeping it attached, it would fall into the net safely. Wes cut the last string and heard the cocoon gave a muffled scream. Tyler began cutting the cocoon away from the person as fast as he could. Wes unhooked himself from the piton and moved onto the next cocoon. Burt was watching with keen eyes trying to find where this creature was at.

Three more people were saved. Tyler was using pulling away the webbing away from the hikers' faces.

"Hey you're okay," Tyler saw them take a breath. "Shhh!" He told them. "I'm going to get you out." The hiker nodded. After he got the first one undone. The two were then getting the others out.

"Okay let's move the net to get the rest," Burt started to undo the empty net. He kept his eyes in the trees still searching. "Remember to be quiet." The group moved trying to be quiet while following Wes.

Rose sighed. She couldn't help but think about the situation they are in. It was not her job to clean up the mess outside of her boundaries, but it did escape the facility and this situation has become interesting to her. She looked at her watch to see that it was only a few more hours until sunset. Rose furnished her bag with goggles that pick up infrared, climbing equipment, a couple of jars, some meat that she put in the jars, and a few other things. She put her outfit back on and headed for her vehicle. Rose took off leaving a cloud of smoke trailing behind her.

Wes was getting more of the cocoons down, still not finding the creature. He trudged on. Ten of them were so far saved. Wes spotted the rest. He signaled down to Burt to where the rest were at. Burt nodded then whispered to the rest to hurry up and move. As they got moving, one of the hikers stepped on a dead branch. It cracked loud enough to hear it echo. The group stopped waiting for the creature. It had been watching them, learning what they were doing.

Rose sped through the town with the dust behind her. Jodi and Nancy looked to one another with confusion. They watched the white hummer drive off to the same place where Burt was at.

"Burt, Jodi here," she spoke while watching the hummer. "You're going to have company pretty soon. Over."

Jodi's voice boomed through the forest. Burt grabbed his walkie trying to muffle the voice. Tyler and Wes had left theirs in the truck. The others could see and feel the tension rising. The creature slithered around the trees to get behind them.

Rose slammed to a stop right behind their vehicles, put the goggles on her head, grabbed her bag and headed out. She had a harder time breathing due to the headscarf. Rose didn't want to her face to be seen. She moved with agility getting to them. Rose stopped when she saw a piton. She got out her climbing gear, suited up and started to climb the tree.

Wes looked around trying to see where the creature might be at before heading towards the rest of them. He didn't see anything and started to cut one down as fast as he could. The creature slithered towards him.

Rose was in the trees and saw Wes a couple hundred yards away. Something moved. She focused in on it, thinking it was a branch. It moved again, it wasn't a branch. Rose slipped the goggles over her eyes and clicked them on. She could see the creature. Rose moved them back up, maneuvered her bag to her front and started to rummage through it. She grabbed two of the jars and clinked them together.

The creature twitched and turned around. Rose kept the sounds going. She watched the creature's color change with the scenery.

"Magnificent," she whispered. Rose pulled out one of the jars and placed it between her knees. She placed the bag back on her. Rose clicked her phone to record the creature and the noises. She could hear the click of it's of beak.

Wes could hear it as well. He looked around to find a white figure in the trees. That's not- it couldn't be? He thought to himself. Wes turned back around and stepped up his pace. If that's her, we are both in trouble.

The creature slithered towards her. Rose felt her heart racing as she kept focus on it. Watch it. Remember it's been learning from them. It's highly intelligent. Rose decided to walk towards it. The size is tremendous, like a horse or a small car. She clinked her nails against the jar. The creature mimicked her sound. Rose was getting closer to the group.

Tyler was watching Wes when he spotted something moving towards him. He hit Burt and pointed to where he was looking at. The two spotted the white figure climbing towards him. The two also saw something move amongst the branches. It was the creature camouflaged into the surroundings.

"It's chasing whoever that person is," Wes whispered.

"I think I know who that is, and I'm getting a bad feeling about this," Burt whispered back. "Besides its not chasing her, she's leading it."

"She?" Tyler looked to Burt. "Is that the scientist?"

Burt nodded his head. The two watched as she got closer to Wes. They didn't let the others know, for it would cause chaos amongst them.

"You get the rest out of here quickly as you can without making a sound," Burt whispered. "Come back with heavy artillery and I'll send the rest your way." Tyler nodded and started motioning the others to follow him.

Wes had three more to go. He glanced around to see that the person in white was a couple branches away. Wes cut one down. Two more to go. He kept himself going as fast as he could. Rose walked around the cocoons to face Wes. The creature slithered to the side. She clinked her fingers in a pattern with hesitation and different notes. The creature didn't respond as soon as she liked. Rose got closer to the last cocoon. Wes had the second to the last one cut and headed over to the last cocoon.

"Hurry if you can," Rose spoke to him. Her heart was still beating with adrenaline.

"Why are you here?" He panted as he cut with long swipes.

"Curiosity," Rose breathed. "Be ready to duck when I say." She unscrewed the jar top and pulled out the meat, letting the smell drift towards the creature. She then put it back in, screwing the top on tight. The creature clicked its beak with a chirp. She sighed in relief. "It's curious. That means it's still distracted." Rose moved the jar to one and then the next. A tentacle was following it. She heard the last swipe of the machete and the last cocoon fell down unto the net. "Now!" She threw the bottle at the creature while ducked down. Rose jumped towards Wes as the creature caught it. She pushed him off the branch and the two fell into the net as well.

Rose rolled over watching the creature try to open up the jar. "It's just like a cephalopod. Look at the learning curve."

"Are you insane?!" Wes had gotten out of the net and started pulling her towards him.

"Do you think we can capture it alive?" Rose got herself out of the net. Burt had the three hikers undone and ready to run on his mark.

"I just saved nineteen people and you want this thing alive?" Wes was close to shaking her. "We have to make sure these nineteen people stay alive!"

Rose didn't hear him as she was undoing the net. He rolled his eyes and helped her. Tyler had come back just in time with some guns. He handed them to Burt. Tyler motioned the three to follow him.

"Would you two stop arguing and get going?" Burt came between them. "If we don't leave now, it's going to follow us."

"Of course it is," Rose looked up again. "We just took its food supply and left it with a jar that contained a slice of meat." She took off her pack and rummaged through it again and handed each of them another jar. "Here. It's a great distraction for now, but it will only give us a few seconds each time."

"It would be safer if you would just get back in your vehicle and get back in your boundary," Wes stared her down.

"Have you ever worked with a cephalopod before?" She asked him. "It would get into my vehicle and where would that leave us. Besides, it hasn't showed us all of its tricks yet. I want to see it spin webs."

Wes looked to Burt. "I'm just going to grab and go." Burt was confused until he saw Wes turned to her, pick the white figure up and placed over his shoulder. Wes picked up the net and turned to his dad. "Let's head out."

Rose was flustered by his doing. "Put be down! I can handle this myself, just leave them."

"Not a chance," he was jogging with Burt by his side. "You die, I got to jail for a very long time and I have no time for your nonsense right now."

"You are supposed to do what I say," Rose flipped her goggles down and tried looking for the creature. It was hard for her as she kept bouncing around. "And I say, put me on the ground and leave me here."

"Your command has been override by the danger that is infringing upon your safety," Wes was explaining to her. "As stated in the agreement, I make sure that your safety is number one."

"Military men," Rose muttered under her breath. "Always think they need the last word. Stop!" She slapped him on the back. "I lost it." Wes kept running. "You big lug, stop!" She kneed him in the gut and climbed out of his grasp tumbling to the ground. Rose got herself up and was searching in the trees. She took off the goggles and searched with the naked eye. Wes and Burt stopped and looked with her.

Burt sensed something by him. He looked up and saw a tentacle inching down to them. Burt pointed his gun upwards to it, firing at it without warning. Rose whipped around narrowing her eyes at Burt.

"What are you thinking?" She snarled.

"The damn things trying to get us, what else am I supposed to do? Do you want to be the next cocoon?" Burt barked back.

Rose turned back to the cephalopod as Burt targeted it again. Wes was hesitating at grabbing her again and getting her out of harm's way. He also wanted to shoot the thing down. The creature released black ink smoke that had a pungent smell. It covered the area. The two started to cough and Rose grabbed the both of them and pulled them out of the smoke.