The sagebrush was the same. The desert was the same. Everything was the same, Twitchell thought as he was driving the same route to Perfection. Everything was the same except for the problem that keeps happening in that tiny town. He hated this job but the pay was good. Plus side though, Burt usually took care of it. When Burt wasn't there the other townspeople stepped in, like Tyler. This time Tyler is with Burt. He hoped that Burt's son, Wes would be stepping up to the plate.
It was like being in an episode of the Twilight Zone. A new weird lesson to learn about life. When he drove up to Chang's he noticed some familiar looking vehicles. He let out a sigh before getting out of the government issued vehicle. He was always dressed nice to this town as someone else would take care of the problem.
He pushed through the door to see them all grouped together. Almost like a huddle. They flinched a bit. Twitchell tried to see what they were looking at.
"See it uses it like a human hand and just clasps together like a human fist," Cletus explained.
"So, it just grabs things," Larry was fascinated. "It's now eating one of those scorpion grasshopper hybrids. It looks like it really like those."
"It must be part of its diet," Donna concluded. "Not harmful to us, lets them be. They will be good at getting rid of pests. Plus, if something bigger does come out, they can eat them first before us."
Twitchell was curious. He moved around them to see a giant spider looking creature chowing down on a small bug. He gave look of disgust. "What is that?!"
"Ah, you finally came," Nancy was smiling. "Good, we need to let you know what's going on."
He didn't like the sound of that but he was going to have to hear about it anyways. The group informed him of everything that they knew of so far. Radio silence from Rose, Wes, and the new graboid fanatic, Lewis. Only scientists helping them were Casey and Roger.
Twitchell informed the group that the three scientists were doing their usual routine, nothing out of the ordinary there. He would get reports at least acknowledging that they were performing their duties. Nothing else.
Larry thought it was weird that Lewis wasn't studying the new graboids that were causing terror in Utah. He wanted to interject but couldn't has they were forming a plan to keep these things from escaping Perfection.
Twitchell explained the resources from the government they could use. It would take a day or so but he would be willing to bring whatever they could get here. They brought out a map, marking down where things have been happening all over the valley. Casey and Roger came in around lunch time with the information from the cactus. Those two were also fascinated by the giant arthropod.
They put all their heads together to try to figure what may come out next. They know they would have a better opportunity to withstand with help from the two from the inside but they had to remember that is probably not going to happen.
The group paused as El Blanco made their way through town. This prompted Donna to bring up the strange sounds coming from the lab along with El Blanco's weird behaviors. Larry, again, thought about how weird no showing of Lewis or any word was sent from him. He couldn't get it off his mind.
On a small dirt road, there were signs that had painted signs of graboids. The signs were on both sides of the road leading up to a larger sign hoisted on wooden logs. The lettering was fitting of desert whimsical. It read Dancing with Graboids.
It was an RV campground. Twenty-four plots open for a reasonable price but during the holidays and winter the prices do go up. Usually, it's a first come first serve basis but there are also reservations. The first come first serve was on the regular season, but the reservations were only for holidays and winter.
A log cabin was made that hosted the employees to run the park. An RV host would live there for a month then switch out to another employee. It made it easier that way. It was on land that had rocks so El Blanco couldn't reach it. They could see parts of the valley from their location. Some guests have taken their binoculars to watch the dust clouds as El Blanco moves about.
Jack alongside of Melvin were basking in the glory of their newest project together. It went better than what they had originally planned. People from all over were wanting to rent a spot. It was close but not too close to an endangered species that could kill them at any time.
The two were walking through the park. They headed over to the viewing site. They put stationary chairs, tables, and benches. A few fire pits. It was the prime selling point for the RV park. They watched a few guests watch their binoculars.
"Oh, what's that thing?" One of them spoke.
"There's something going on down there," another agreed. "Yesterday it looked like the cactuses were moving. Plus, those black semis keep rolling in and rolling out."
"I hear that monster hunter, Gumper, Gumbie, whatever his name," the first one moved around. "Is off in Utah to fight those graboids."
"Oh, that makes sense, this town is like Area 51," the second one laughed. "We should come here more often." The two of them nodded in agreement.
Jack and Melvin looked at one another. Moving cactus? The two nodded to one another. They thought this was their time to shine and finally help out again. Melvin drove while Jack was seeing all the things they could use to help them out.
As they were driving back to Perfection, Melvin could see a black tarp looking thing moving across the sand. "Hey, hey-HEY!" Jack stopped and looked up. "Do you see that black looking tarp over there?"
Jack tried to see what it was? Jack's eyes got wide. "I-I don't think that's a tarp. That's some sort of nope-rope Pokemon."
"Nope-rope Pokemon?" Melvin was trying to wrap his head around it.
"Yeah," Jack was nodding. "That tarp is actually a snake."
"How is that even a snake?" Melvin was perplexed. "This town!" He shook his head.
They were in Melvin's black suburban. The two were noticing the snake creature out in the distance but were not paying attention to their surroundings. Another snake creature shot itself off the ground landing on the windshield.
Melvin and Jack noticed how black it got in an instant. The two screamed as Melvin stomped on the brakes. The creature flew off as it scrapped the vehicle. Thankfully, the two were wearing their seatbelts as they didn't shoot out of the front window. The vehicle rocked still due to the movements.
"Was that the thing you were just talking about?" Jack leaned up to try to see it beyond the hood.
"I think it was," Melvin had both hands gripping on the steering wheels. His knuckles turning white.
"We better get to town quicker," Jack muttered.
Melvin nodded. He then let his foot off the brake and stomped on the gas pedal. The vehicle jerked forward rumbling over the creature. The vehicle ran over it like speed bumps. Jack looked back. "I think we just ran over it."
"Doesn't matter, need to warn the town," Melvin kept looking forward. "Keep a look out for El Blanco, it could be attracted to the car."
"Right," Jack got out his seismo watch. El Blanco was no where in sight. "Clear. Keep going and don't stop."
At Chang's the group noticed the familiar black suburban sliding into a stop. There were puncture and claw marks on it. The group rushed out to see it in person.
"Melvin? Jack?" Jodi was the first to speak up. "What happened?"
"We heard somethings were going on in the town and without Burt or Tyler we thought we could help," Jack explained. "However, on the way here, this snake like creature attacked us while we were on our way."
"It looks like a tarp but it's a snake with claws but more like a bat, I don't know really how to explain it," Melvin shrugged his shoulders.
"Come inside, explain it in more detail," Donna ordered them. Another creature is out wondering about. It's getting worse.
Jodi made some hot drinks to soothe the two while they explained what all happened. Larry sketched out the details. It had the head of snake; the body was large and rectangular with a protruding claw at different points of the body before tapering down into a snake body. The large rectangular part covered his whole windshield.
"It could probably glide then," Cletus thought out loud. "Snake gliders. It didn't spit out at you, did it?"
"We ran over it, so we don't know exactly what it all could do," Jack put down his mug. "We saw two, so there could be more."
"There will definitely be more," Casey was looking at the map. She marked where these two new creatures were at. "Twitchell left to get supplies, but this is the third creature coming out. We need to do routine checks. I know we all think Burt is over paranoid, but we need to follow his route he does daily to keep ourselves in check. We can't have these things continuing to spread and get a chance to live outside the valley."
The group agreed. People volunteered for different positions. They came up with a plan to gather up the snake creatures. As they were talking, the sound of a semi came roaring through the town.
"There it goes again," Larry watched it. He checked the time and wrote it down.
"What are you doing?" Donna came over to him.
"I am marking all the times when the semi goes through town," Larry explained. "It has been coming and going all the time."
Donna scrutinized the semi and the trailer. This is not like her. She's damaging the ecosystem if she is heading straight down to the second level. Unless there is no other way. God, I hope she's alright. Donna thought to herself.
That evening, the group was dispersed to do their work. Harlowe and Rosalie kept their end of the valley in check. Jodi would be the center point of information. Nancy and Larry took turns on top of Chang's to see if anything was coming their way. Donna and Cletus stayed in town while Casey and Roger went back to their lab to work on the findings. They captured another arthropod to study. Jack and Melvin took Tyler's touring jeep to make Burt's usual rounds.
The town agreed to be on code yellow, which was cautious but alert. Code red would only be if it started to get more creatures than they could handle.
Back at the lab, Andrew was laying on the bed with a lace cloth in his hand and a book in the other. He would periodically sniff it. His underlings had let him know they were almost done clearing the second level. It was only a matter of time before they reached the secret level. They should be reaching it midday tomorrow as it was only a hundred feet left on the second floor.
Andrew saw the videos, pictures, and from a safe distance the creatures in the cages as they hauled them into the trailer. Truly fascinating about what sort of things bred and thrived down there. He knew his pockets were going to be lined with money soon.
He updated his sister whenever he could. She did the same. Burt had killed the last graboid but he also had gotten injured after he killed the second one. She unleashed shriekers this time to keep him occupied. She said it was hilarious to hear that Burt was confused how four shriekers were on the loose when he had just killed the last graboid.
Andrew played with the lace cloth in his hand. He wished he didn't have to kill her but it was all apart of his sister's big plan. He was surprised to find this type of garment when he rifled through their belongings. What would a scientist who was supposed to live by herself have this type of sexy garment hidden in the drawers? He put the book down to take a sip from his wine glass. He leaned back on the pillow to fantasize about it. He also smiled as the package was sent off that day. It should arrive by the time they left the area.