The three set up a contraption to catch the flying squirrel. It consisted of having fishing line with bait hooked onto the end. Wes had placed it up in the trees. Burt would reel it back in at a safer location since the fishing line went through one of the holes inside the cage Wes brought over.
They waited by in the safe location with the reel on a broken off rod. It was stationed into a pipe buried into the ground. They sat on chairs in silence, waiting for the ticking of the line to move from the reel.
Daylight was a few hours away but the fishing reel started to make noise.
Click. Click.
It gained their attention.
Click. Click.
Burt took the rod out of the plastic white pipe, placing a firm grip on it.
Click. Click.
The fishing line was still being pulled. It then paused. The three held their breath and didn't release until it moved again. Burt reeled in just an inch. He held onto the handle. He felt a tugging of the fishing line. He reeled in a bit more. There still was tension. He kept reeling in until he felt the tension was gone. Burt stopped. His heart was pounding but he needed to stay calm. He reeled in the line again. This time there was a tugging sensation again. He kept on reeling until there was release.
CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPP!
The chirp of the flying squirrel made the guys cover their ears and close their eyes tightly.
Burt gritted his teeth and reeled as fast as he could. He could feel the off and on tugging sensation of the line. The tugging got so bad that it pulled him out of the chair. Wes and Tyler placed a hand on either side and got him to sit back down. They helped stabilized him as Burt kept reeling in the creature.
The chirping didn't stop. Every twenty reels the creature would chirp. The creature jumped and scampered trying to catch the lure. Every time it thought it would have it, the bait would slip through its digits and kept being pulled into the distance.
The sound of the creature jumping and scampering through the timber made their ears twitch. The grip on Burt tightened. The cranking of the reel and the breaking of twigs had the sound of their hearts pounding into their ears.
The creature stopped as the bait itself stopped. Its black eyes blinked and the whiskers twitched. The fuzzy tail twitched and stretched and went back into its 'S' formation. The digits wiped its mouth. It was waiting to see if the bait was going to move once again. Burt touched the reel and moved the bait just a millimeter. The creature jumped into the cage, grabbing onto the bait.
As it was focused onto the bait, the other side of the cage slammed down, locking into place. This scared the flying squirrel. It dropped the bait and tried to get out from all sides. It scampered and clawed. Chirped and bit. There was no use, it was inside of a clear cage.
Burt let out a sigh. "Ha. We caught the damn thing!" The three decided to see the creature they caught.
The creature was panting as it could not figure a way out. It needed to catch its breath. The three viewed the creature through the night vision goggles.
"You almost needed a bigger cage," Tyler suggested. Burt and Wes glanced at him.
Wes stepped away to call for an emergency pickup. He was met with a bit of setback.
"I know it's the holiday, but we caught a creature that needs to be transferred to the facility," Wes ordered.
"It's not going to happen," the driver refused. "I told you when I picked up the last load, I am not picking up anything on a national holiday! Today is the Fourth of July! I'll pick it up on the fifth! Good-bye!" The driver hung up on him.
Wes stared at the phone. He headed back over to Tyler and Burt. "We have another problem."
"Another problem?" Burt flipped up his goggles. "What could it be this time?"
"The driver won't pick up anything on a national holiday, today is the Fourth of July," Wes explained. "He will pick it up tomorrow."
"Are you saying we now have to babysit Rocky?" Tyler flipped up his goggles.
"Rocky?" Burt turned to him. "You named it, already?"
"Its Rocky, now we just need a moose and we'll have Bullwinkle," Tyler pointed his hands to the cage. Wes bit his lip trying to not laugh. Burt didn't know what to make of these two. He wanted this creature gone but now they have to come up with a different plan.
"Is your facility big enough to hold it?" Burt was thinking of places to store it.
"Woah, woah, woah," Wes waved his hands. "Those were only for those porcupine crossbreeds and smaller creatures. I am not putting Rocky in the camper. What if it escapes and starts flying-gliding around inside? Dr. Frankenstein will kill me if Rocky hasn't killed me already."
"Now putting this in a place where it will be fine? What if you put it back where it escaped from?" Tyler mentioned. "Yeah, that might work."
"Put it back?" Burt was the first to poke holes in that plan. "What if there is more?"
"Tyler's got a point," Wes agreed. "It's nocturnal, it came from the lab, it will be fine in the lab once more. This time I'll make sure it won't escape."
"Alright, it won't work at any other place, let's put the cage back in the pickup," Burt agreed with reluctance. It was a risk but it seemed most logical.
The three worked with great effort to put it back in the of the bed without it trying to claw and bite at the holes. Wes and Burt strapped the cage in while Tyler informed Urtzi and Casey that the creature was caught.
Wes headed back to the facility. He drove past it to the crane. Wes let out a sigh. "I feel like a kid being told no on a toy and having to put it back where I got it." He put it in park and turned off the truck. He had it backed up to hole. He got the controls for the crane and started to work on getting the cage back down in the facility.
When it was all done, Wes radioed Burt that the cage was back down in the lab. Wes drove the short distance back to the facility. He headed to bed when the sun started to rise.
The three were asleep while the rest of the town was waking up. They started their routine like any other day. There were not any visitors on this day. Nancy was setting up her table by adding another extension and more chairs. Jodi was making a few sides. Larry was looking through the comments on his blog. Rosalita had finished doing the morning chores with Harlowe. It was a nice hot day in Nevada for the Fourth of July.
Burt woke up before the other two about midmorning. Burt did a quick patrol and headed into town. The potluck was more of an early dinner that way they could still do some errands before the night. Tyler woke up a little before noon. Wes woke up at noon.
Tyler headed over to market still yawning and stretching. He sat upon the bar stool and rested both elbows on the counter top. "Coffee, black. Strong. Something." His eyelids began to get heavy. He started to fall asleep while sitting. He woke up with his head against the counter top. He jolted upwards. No one was around as he blinked trying to get awake. Tyler stretched again. He looked back at the counter to make sure he didn't drool. There was also no coffee cup waiting for him. "Ugh, coffee, strong?" He felt relieved that no one saw. "Hello? Ugh, Jodi?" He leaned up against the counter.
Jodi came behind him and touched his back.
Tyler jumped forward hitting the counter edge. "Ah!" He turned to see Jodi covering her mouth trying not to laugh. "You scared the living daylights out of me!"
"Well, Happy Fourth of July," Jodi chuckled. "Are you okay? You look like you need more sleep?"
"That I do," Tyler winced as he stepped away from the counter. "I thought you were close by and needed some coffee to wake me up."
"Oh, you don't need coffee this late in the day," Jodi shook her head. "Coffee needs to be drank between nine thirty and eleven for best effect. Its noon. You need something else. Let me make that for you. Just sit here."
"Thanks," Tyler sat back down.
"I heard that last night was eventful," Jodi walked back to kitchen area.
Tyler rubbed his eyes and then the rest of his face. "We caught the flying the squirrel, Rocky."
"That's good to hear," Jodi was grabbing ingredients. Tyler raised an eyebrow as he heard the stove being lit and items being taken out of the cupboards. "I didn't hear the semitruck to pick up the creature though."
"That's the thing," Tyler rubbed his sides, wincing as he hit himself pretty hard. "Can't get the driver to come out on a holiday."
Jodi paused as she was about to pour the boiling liquid through a strainer. "It's still here?" She looked at him through the chef's window. "Where is it locked up at?"
"It's locked up in a cage in the lab," Tyler explained with a hand raised trying to wave off her worries. She looked away with a shock looked on her face before going back to her task of pouring. "It will be picked up tomorrow."
"It escaped once before, what makes you think it won't again?" Jodi asked as she was finishing up the drink.
"Wes said he would handle that part of it," Tyler readjusted his hat.
"I hope so," Jodi came around with two mugs. She set one down in front of him while she blew onto hers before taking a sip.
"Thank you," Tyler lifted it up and saw the drink as he was about to take a sip and saw a golden liquid. He made a face as he brought the mug back down. "What is this?"
"Golden Milk Coffee," Jodi smiled.
"This is like some ancient, herbal Asian thing?" Tyler hinted at.
One of Jodi's lips twitched up in distaste. "It's Southern Asian, India, actually. It's actually called haldi doodh, and this is just a version of it."
"Oh," Tyler felt guilty. "Sorry." He looked at the drink again, sniffed it, and then took a sip. His face lit up in agreement that it was actually good. He then drank half of it in a couple of chugs. "I think this might be my new morning drink."
This made Jodi happy. "I'm glad you like it. It's been a while since I made this for myself. I'll make sure we have it when you come in."
Wes woke up to the alarm. He checked his phone as he still had no missed calls. He headed over to the computers in his underwear to check if there had been signs of movement from the lab. Nothing. The creature as far as he knew was still in the lab. Wes let out a sigh of relief. "I just hope nothing else goes wrong." He pushed play on the audio book and turned up the volume as he got ready.
"Seething, stewing, surging, bubbling like serpents' slime it rolled up and out of that yawning hole, spreading like a septic contagion and streaming from the cellar at every point of egress-streaming out to scatter through the accursed midnight forests and strew fear, madness, and death…"
Wes was spooked, goosebumps prickled his skin but he couldn't stop listening. He checked on the information again since this story made him paranoid that something could go wrong.
It was almost time for the holiday potluck. Burt had picked up Urtzi and was on his way back into town. Wes brought a side dish. Jodi and Nancy were happy as it was something other than beer.
"I thought Rose makes the dishes all the time," Nancy smiled.
"It's whoever wants to make it for that day," Wes shrugged. "Same with our meals. We share duties."
"Both exceptional humans, if I do say so myself," Nancy complimented.
Wes chuckled. "Thank you. That's how I was raised." He set out plates and utensils as Nancy put serving spoons to all the dishes.
Jodi was making the drinks. Larry was cooking the main dishes up. Rosalita and Harlowe showed up with dessert dishes. Tyler was counting seating to make sure everyone had a spot.
"It should be nine seats," Nancy had invited Casey and Roger.
"Ten," Tyler corrected. "Urtzi is joining us."
"Oh?" Nancy stopped. "That's right. I haven't seen him in a long time. That will be nice."
The group all gathered around, spoke their greetings before digging in. It was a nice dinner. Urtzi felt better being with people after the attacks. It just made him safer knowing they all had his back. They chatted once again when they were onto dessert. It was a nice potluck. The feeling of one big family, sitting around the table, telling stories, laughing, and just enjoying the company of one another.
El Blanco had gone deeper into the ground as it knew what time of year it was. The mutant flying squirrel was sniffing the reinforced cage that it was in. It nibbled the cage, getting a taste of the texture. The other creatures were scurrying around the cage. Chirping and clicks from all of the creatures stirred up the flying squirrel. It started to nibble at one of the air holes and continued into it could fit both paws in there. It kept gnawing away, moving and breaking the cage until it finally escaped. The creatures that sniffed around had gotten caught in the other cages left around. The flying squirrel gnawed at those cages too. When it was done, all of the cages were broken. Every creature that was caught was released.
The creatures headed back down into the lower confines of the lab, seeking protection from the intruding devices that were left in their ecosystem. The flying squirrel rubbed its muzzle with both paws as it looked once more back to the cages before crawling down after the small herd.
Rose's ear twitched. She turned to view the Las Vegas horizon out from the high rise.
"Something wrong?" Cota gave her a once over. She was always curious about what Rose was up to and wanted to go see where she was working at. Cota prodded her every chance she could get.
"Just a feeling," Rose turned back to her. "Are you and Luciana still trying at it? It won't ever work. My work is too much of a danger for both of you."
"That may be," Luciana brought a bottle to them. She topped them off. "However, Cota has a new line that needs to be advertised. Perfect place for a snake is the desert. Your work is in the desert."
Rose sighed. "Your safety is my top priority. Your lives are too important to me."
"Dangerous place," Cota smirked. "Rose and dangerous places equals a fun time. We want to join this time!"
"Let us," Luciana leaned on Cota. "Let us continue our peer pressure on our Sedusa- I mean Medusa."
"I am not a Powerpuff Villian," Rose took a sip of her drink.
"No, you're the boring Professor," Cota rolled her eyes. "Come on now, we won't be in the way. Just show us around the area. You don't even have to show us where you work exactly. We have a photoshoot to do."
"Let me think about it," Rose started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Luciana teased.
Rose glanced behind her. "To the bathroom, unless you're going to pester me there too?"
"No, no," Luciana shook her head. "We won't but it was wise for you to take your drink."
"Somedays you two, somedays," Rose chuckled as she walked to the other room.
When the two heard the bath room door shut and a faint click. They glanced at one another.
"You got things ready for this time?" Luciana raised an eyebrow in question. Her voice just under a whisper.
Cota smirked as her tone matched as well. "This time it will be easier. She took her own vehicle. I have several tracking devices already hidden all around and inside of it. The same with her luggage and everything else I could find. I have an idea where she might be working at but need to have the experiment to get the correct data."
Luciana chuckled. "She's going to hate us when she finds out."
"As long as you keep it secret, it will be fine for now," Cota glanced at her. That was the signal to switch subjects. "After this I have the flight back to Japan."
"Everyone is raving your collaborations," Luciana took her arm off Cota. "You started with the whole Asian area and then once that's done, which area are you focusing on next?" She raised both eyebrows.
"It will be the South American and Central American regions," Cota winked.
"Yes!" Luciana raised both arms in excitement. Rose came back to this scene. "She's going onto my culture next! Wooh-wooh! Let's toast! Toast! Toast!" The other two chuckled as they joined in drinking down whatever was in their glass.