"Was that necessary?" Wes stared her down.
"Yes," Rose didn't hesitate. "That is Casey's line of work. I have no reign over it. Besides, there is something off about last night. These creatures were in a frenzy. Similar frenzy that could be seen from sharks and certain species of whales that would attack a school of fish. If Burt and his gang asks Casey, she will find out what's wrong. While this is happening I will conduct my experiments on the captured creatures. Once everything is collected we will exchange information."
It dawned on Wes. "Oh, you don't want to take her work away. That's considerate of you. Though with whatever situation they have, you did happen to see the two campers waiting at El Blanco's fecal excretion site?"
"Yes," Rose headed back in with him following behind her. "We may need to report to HQ about town safety. Rosalita's brother, Roberto, is visiting. You know her background?"
"I'll let HQ know, you perform your experiments," Wes retrieved his cellphone while Rose prepared for the routine examinations.
Burt and Tyler took the small traces of rubber that were left to Casey. She took swabs and stained them onto microscopic slides. She even took one swab onto a petri dish to see what she could grow from it. Tyler looked at all the dishes she had accumulated. There were gross and disgusting to him. Some looked like mold while others had polka dots. Burt was waiting with radio in hand in case something was going to happen. He knew that there was going to be trouble but didn't know when it would start.
Casey didn't like what she was seeing. She remembered the incident with the cicada's. "Insect." She murmured.
"What?" Roger was recording all of their tests in the daily log.
"We have an insect infestation," she looked over to Tyler.
"No, you're not meaning those same damn bugs that we burnt up last time?" Tyler could feel his ears ring in pain already.
Casey shook her head. "Different. Those had ear piercing sounds. These are eating rubber. Grasshoppers have been known to eat rubber tires, mostly German made. Something in the rubber attracts them. Cockroaches have been known to eat rubber. Termites and silverfish. This is Mixmaster. These insects all can be mixed together so the tolerance of eating any kind of rubber is unknown. You said all of your tires were missing, gaskets, hoses, and even the car timing belts?"
"Yeah, but why was I the only one?" Tyler didn't understand.
"If they came from the lab, then there must be a depletion of rubber," Casey speculated. "They must have left their home for a food source. They could be more than likely coming back to eat more. Most of the Mixmaster creatures seem to be nocturnal. She didn't say anything on her end?"
"Wasn't her problem," Burt answered in a curt voice.
"It's not at the moment," Casey agreed. "They left her territory and are now in mine."
"She did seem distraught," Tyler added.
"They must have passed by her," Casey headed to her books she had brought. She flipped through some of the pages. "The first rubber scent would be her facility. If that happened, then she would be in the same situation." She looked up to confirm with Burt and Tyler. The two didn't have a clue if Rose had missing rubber. Casey looked back down while getting to spot she wanted to read. "Since she didn't let you know that her rubber materials were missing then that means they bypassed her and headed to Tyler's place. Next will be Larry's then so on and so forth. Why did they pass by her? If we are talking about a swarm here, they shouldn't have to be afraid."
"El Blanco did pass by the part of the lab," Burt pointed out. "Damned worm must have scared the things towards us."
"Possible, I don't see why not," Casey kept reading. "I'm going to try and find out what insect caused these sort of chewing marks. I'll radio you in when I have the full information."
The two left her to do her job while they headed back into Perfection. They stopped in horror as they saw Frank with the campers Burt had saved. The three were holding Jodi, Nancy, and Larry at gun point.
Burt parked the vehicle shutting it off. He brought his hands in the air. Tyler did the same thing. One of the gangsters pointed their gun at them.
"Look, we don't want any trouble," Tyler stepped out. "We can discuss this calmly. Just put down the guns."
Burt came out of the vehicle at the same slow pace. "I don't know who you are but you have a lot of nerve coming into our little town and threatening us like this. We can talk this out and cooperate if you put down your weapons."
"That's not gonna work you see," the gangster that was pointing his gun at them talked. "We are here to clean up this idiot's mess. We are looking for a key. Your damned slug ate our dear friend who had the key on him. It's been a while since he ate it and we searched through shit to find that there is no key. That means one of ya'll must have found it. My guess is that redneck Steve Irwin here has it." He looked over to Tyler.
"What key?" Tyler had no clue about a key.
"You know the key, the one for the locker," Frank believed he was lying.
The gangster hit upside the head. "Shut it or you're going to be first. Now, search him."
"Why me?" Frank rubbed the back of his head.
"You're the idiot who couldn't finish the job now do it!" The gangster snagged the gun out of Frank's hand. Frank was reluctant but went over to Tyler to search him. He patted him down and opened his shirt.
"He's clean," Frank sighed in defeat. He thought that Tyler had the key all along.
"Now, if it's not any of you, where's that scientist that is researching in the area, it must be on her," the gangster was talking about Casey.
The group stayed silent. It would be trouble if either of the scientists were named and their location was pointed out.
"Not gonna talk are ya?" The gangster was looking at each of them. "Then I'll start with the little Asian. She'll be the first one to go." He moved his gun towards her.
Just as he did, Rosalita and Roberto had come into town. Rosalita agreed to let Roberto know about her life here as long as he kept their act up on being Miguel's relatives. They walked around Chang's Market to the see the standoff.
Rosalita started to curse in Spanish. Roberto grabbed his sister to shield her.
"Well, well, well," the gangster smirked. He looked over to the two that came in pointing his gun over at them. "If it isn't the rest of the town. Don't move."
Another vehicle came into town but this one was all in black with dark tinted windows. It stopped in the middle of the road next to the commotion. The group all stared at who was coming out next. A young man in his thirties wearing a high priced suit and sunglasses came out.
"Boss, they won't talk," the other gangster who had been silent spoke up.
"We'll just have to make them," he smirked. He scanned the people that were held against their will. He stopped on Rosalita and Roberto. She was frozen in fear. "My, my. If it isn't the fiery Latina. Haven't see you in long while. You look different with a full set of clothing on."
This made her angry. She started to swear at him but her brother muffled her voice.
The guy let out a chuckle. "There's a key that has been misplaced. I want it back." He looked at all of them. "If I don't get it back, you're all going to be dead."
Larry tried to hold in his laughter. His fellow hostages stared at him in horror.
"You think this is funny?!" The gangster nudged him with the gun.
"Sorry, sorry, it's just," Larry kept laughing. "How are you going to find something that is missing if all of us are dead? That just makes your situation worse." He looked around to see the incredulous looks. He sobered up and remembered the situation. "Sorry. Sorry."
"It could make things easier," the boss smirked. "I don't have to worry about fighting or protests when I search all of your belongings."
Tyler thought of something on the spot. "This is a government sanctioned area. You're going to be in some serious jail time if they catch you."
"Are you hoping to rely on that government official named Twitchell?" The boss saw the hopes in their eyes. "He's right now delayed and distracted. He has no idea that soon the little town he was supposed to be watching over is eaten by that famous graboid, but then he'll won't have to deal with all of you. Makes both our jobs easier."
"There will be others," Tyler warned.
"What others? The scientist who is working in her dome with an assistant?" The boss knew about everything in the town. "As long as she keeps her nose to the grindstone and doesn't drive down, my guys that are watching her won't have to take her hostage. Your buddy Harlow, he can't come do to a traffic jam." He smirked at Rosalita. "Now, where's the key?"
They kept at a standstill. The boss then directed them to go all inside out of the sun. There he kept questioning them.
Rose had finished her exams. She came out of the glass case to see Wes biting his knuckles as he stared at the computer screen. "Is there a problem?"
"There are in a hostile situation," Wes pounded the table. "It's four against seven. The three must have guns pointed at them and the boss probably just showed up. They're looking for something."
"Gangsters became tourists to see El Blanco, both ventured off the trail to see him in action, one was eaten the other came back with another gangster for revenge, he two was eaten. Again the one from the first came back with the other's finance to seek revenge. She became a meal. Now three gangsters and the boss," Rose summed up the situation. "The one that first died must have had something on him or why else would they search through the feces and relentlessly keep coming back."
"Can anything be found after that?" Wes was talking about the GI tract in the Graboid.
"Yes," Rose took off her lab coat. "The usual, metal, bones, indigestible nutrients, and excess nutrients. I order you to rescue them and worry about that item later."
"Whatever they are looking for is around," Wes stood up. He started to equip himself.
Rose looked at the thermal spots on the computer. She zoomed out of the map to further read the situation and if there were any unusual beings lurking about. Rose switched to view the different heat signals. Nothing uncanny showed up on her screen. She then reviewed last night's readings.
Wes put his guns in his holsters. "I have a team coming in as well. Don't worry. I'll be right back." He started to head out.
"Not worried," Rose didn't even watch him leave.
He paused by the door with a smirk. "You're ordered to stay here." He headed out without looking back.
Rose whipped her head around to see the door slam. Her eyes narrowed. She then heard a small clunking sound. Rose jumped up to try to open the door. It wouldn't budge.
"You did not just lock me in here!" She pounded on the door.
The door muffled her raised voice. "You'll be fine." He headed out.
"That-that-that!" Rose paced back and forth. "I'm going to kill him before my research is done. Insolent! Ugh!" She paused. She then headed to the radio but stopped. If she said something now, then his plan would be useless. Rose went back to her computer. She memorized El Blanco's routes and expected arrival at certain points of Perfection. Rose got herself ready to head out.
Wes switched his radio to pick up on the current team coming in. He was in her hummer as he sped to the meet up location. The team met up, created the plan and started to execute it.
"So you have no idea what this key looks like, where it's at, or anything?" The boss summed up the lack of knowledge the town of Perfection had. "It's a silver Rijandael on a chain."
"A what?" Tyler didn't understand what he meant.
"It's a round key," Burt whispered to him.
"Oh," Tyler then understood.
Larry had the key. He didn't know that that key was the one. He had left it in his camper. He kept calm and tried to not them know he had it.
The boss kept explaining about the importance of the key while Wes and his team started close in on them. Burt was getting anxious. El Blanco should be coming through this way any minute now. Before the boss could speak another word, the group was surrounded by military men. Red laser pointers were all on the culprits. The gangsters put dropped their weapons in defeat. The team came in steady one by one keeping their guns locked on.
Wes took the citizens away from them one by one. Roberto and Rosalita were first. Then Nancy, Jodi, Larry, Tyler, and lastly Burt. The rest of his team proceeded to carry out detaining and reading their rights. Tyler informed one of the soldiers about the rest of the town's situation. The soldier radioed in backup to get the rest out of their predicament.
Burt started at his wrist seismo.
"Everything alright?" Wes kept his voice hushed.
"El Blanco was supposed to pass by three minutes ago," Burt clenched his hand.
"He could have eaten those gangsters that are keeping the rest of the town hostage," Wes made a logical guess.
"Likely scenario but he would still be coming by," Burt headed over to one of the seismo screens. The two saw that El Blanco was nowhere in the vicinity. "A meal doesn't hinder him from his routes." Burt looked over to him. "Where's the scientist?"
"Locked in her trailer," Wes hoped that she still was. He switched radio channels.
"Is everyone safe, over," Rose was repeating herself. She had binoculars and was standing on a giant residual boulder looking down at the town. In the sand were devices that pounded into the ground creating vibrations. They were used in emergency situations to attract El Blanco.
Wes clenched his jaw as he pulled out his satellite phone. He found her on GPS with El Blanco circling around her. Burt grabbed the radio out of his hand.
"Situation is under control," Burt looked at the phone. "So you have El Blanco, over."
"Yes, I thought a nice picnic would suffice between the two of us," Rose looked to where El Blanco was dismantling the devices one by one. "However, he's not too enthralled anymore, over."
"How long, over," Burt saw that the four had been put into vehicles. They were close to finishing up here.
"He will be done sipping tea in five minutes," Rose watched another device be ripped out of the ground. There is a sensor on the device that stops it entirely once it is out of the ground. Rose had set out six devices in total. El Blanco was halfway through. "And be expected at Chang's in ten depending on how much ruckus you make, over."
Burt relayed the information. The team doubled their pace. They left in ten minutes. Burt and the rest made sure the others were okay before freezing as El Blanco shook the town on his way through. Wes headed over to the Rose's location.
He saw that she was picking up the devices. Wes helped her. The devices were light enough to carry several by one person.
"Worm charmers," he speculated. "Next, you'll be riding the sandworm."
"Spice is life," Rose was putting them back in the tote. He handed them over to her.
"How did you escape?" Wes handed the devices he picked over to her.
"The roof," Rose shut off the devices. "We are going back to Perfection and I am getting my hummer back and you take your truck. Give me the keys." She stared him down.
He chuckled as he handed them over to her. The two headed the hummer.
Larry had gotten back into his camper. He found the key that he had picked up with his metal detector. He thought about who would be the most willing to drive him to Bixby without judging. There was only one. He put it back on himself and hid underneath his clothes. He wondered what exactly the treasures await. Larry became giddy and excited but remembered he had to remain calm. He heard a familiar vehicle stopping in town. He came out of his camper to see the town all together talking about the incident.
"How did you keep El Blanco away?" Jodi was curious as Rose took off her scarf.
"Special devices that create vibrations similar to prey," Rose explained.
"Like a charmer for a sandworm!" Larry knew that device. The two stared at him. "Hi I'm Larry. Never got to meet you. You're her. The scientist."
Rose smirked. She enjoyed reading his background. "Yes. I am her."
"This is amazing!" Larry shook her hand with excited vigor. "I know have a face to the mysterious scientist. You've eluded a lot of us for some time. Oh, I have not caught the invisabat yet. It's a bat that's invisible but you probably already know something about it."
This stopped Rose. "Who else knows about this bat?"
"Well that would be Tyler, Jodi, Nancy, Burt, two of the gangsters, Wes, my bloggers, and now you!" He had cocked his head to the side while thinking of the list.
"You have evidence of this bat?" Rose focused on the creature.
"Yeah! I got it on video, oh I'll go get it, be right back. Don't leave!" Larry hurried back to his trailer to retrieve his camcorder.
"Are you sure you want to indulge him like that?" Jodi watched him leave.
"If he has evidence, then it must be true," Rose turned back to her. "Besides his social manners are different to those who try to be normal. His is about references, comics, movies, television, fandoms. A truth seeker really. I don't see him being a person who could lie even if he wanted."
"Oh-kay," Jodi was taken back. "He does have his good points but he doesn't bug you on a daily basis."
"True," Rose nodded. "S.S. has already been on my nerves since day one."
"You mean Wes," Jodi bit her lip. "He seems nice. Charming in a military way."
"He coddles," Rose pointed out. "I got out of my facility by using one of the emergency exits since he believed it was a good idea to lock me in."
Jodi believed she heard way more then she needed. "You two have some serious issues."
Larry came back just in time to see the two were in awkward silence. "Here it is." He handed it over to her while pressing play. Rose watched and listened. "Did you see it?"
She handed it back over. "How far have you gotten with this bat?"
"I had it attack the two gangsters using hot dog as bait from a fishing pole," Larry shut the camcorder. "It hasn't taken the bait that I have been using."
"I'll send down a cage, try using insects or nectar as bait while using the cage," Rose gave him some pointers. "If the bat is invisible, it could be similar to dogs sniffing out cadavers or such things like that but this could be for finding hidden locations or certain materials that can only be shown under ultraviolet light. It would be interesting to find out the species. I entrust this job only to you Larry. You may get a reward."
"Yes, ma'am!" He saluted her.
"It's miss," Rose corrected him.
The three headed into the market as they heard the conversations.
"So you're not actually related to Miguel," Nancy was in shock.
"No, I'm not, I was a showgirl," Rosalita was explaining herself. Her brother was tense standing next to her. "I got in with some bad people and needed a new life. I heard about Miguel's ranch and with the help of my brother, we feigned being relatives and inherited the ranch. Well, I inherited the ranch. It was working so far so good, except those gangsters kept coming. I thought I would have to run for my life again."
"You didn't have to lie to us," Nancy tried to comfort her.
"It's not like I wanted to do so in the first place," Rosalita crossed her arms. "You saw how those men treated us. It would have been sooner rather than later; we might not have had the best of luck."
"You could have opened up to us anytime, we would have helped," Jodi chimed in.
"Don't you trust us?" Nancy added.
"This shouldn't be the first time we heard about this," Jodi pleaded. "We're your friends."
Rose didn't want to get into the conversation. Wes was thinking the same thing. The two of them knew about the situation beforehand. Tyler and Burt picked up on it.
"Did you two know about this?" Burt questioned them as if they were his children. The group looked over to them.
"Yes," Wes was honest.
"Wasn't my business," Rose challenged him.
This made Burt rethink his argument. He was about to speak but had to close his mouth. "Were you watching at least?"
"I am not Big Brother, I may work for the government but I won't sink that low," Rose looked at the rest of them. "There is a file on every one of you. You live in a dangerous place where the endangered species is ravenous without prejudice. Don't worry, I have a file too. Those who come close to this area all get on their watch list with files made in an instant no matter how long you stay. Even the tourists. If you want to keep the peace between all of you, I suggest spilling all your secrets now would be good. Now, I'll see all of you at the next pot luck, I have a wild game camera that needs to be watched." She turned around leaving them speechless.
"Does she annoy you just as much?" Jodi whispered to Wes as they watched her leave.
"In ways you can't even imagine," Wes shook his head. He knew that she was heading back down into the lobby.
He stayed behind to play mediator as the town of Perfection quarreled it out. At the end they left as friends. Rosalita was still going to take care of Miguel's ranch. Roberto was asked to come visit anytime he liked. Tyler spoke about his dad being in the military. Nancy vented about Mindy giving her troubles again. Jodi praised Larry for coming up with great ways to improve the store and the town even though he could be annoying at times. Burt was reluctant to say anything but he spoke a short paragraph about how nice it was for Wes to save them and have connections to keep trouble out of the town even though it was from the government.