CROATOAN
Evie's POV
I walked beside Dean munching away on some beef jerky, it's been a week since the crossroads hunt and while I was still pissed at Dean for what he did I'd let it go just not in the mood or mindset to hold onto the grudge not when my baby thought they'd mess around with my hormones and my appetite so much I was always hungry and not always for food…Dean's body was even more alluring than I'd ever found it.
"Go easy on the jerky Shortstack, you'll give yourself heart burn" I turned to glare back at him. "I'm just saying"
"Yeah well I'm starving" I complained.
"Starving, we only ate an hour ago and you went with a double cheeseburger with extra everything" I rolled my eyes at him wondering when he was gonna learn that you don't make fun of a pregnant woman's eating habits. "Maybe you're sick or something, have an iron deficiency"
"Honestly Dean quit worrying will you, I have a baby growing inside me right now so excuse me if I need more food that usual" I shot at him angrily snagging another piece of jerky out of the bag in his jacket pocket since his hands were full of beer since we were on our way back from a beer run.
"Are you ever gonna forgive me?" he asked and I scoffed.
"Nope" I replied popping the 'p' for good measure.
"Come on Eve, you can't keep being mad at me for trying to protect you" I rolled my eyes at him stopping and turned to face him.
"I'm not mad at you because you handcuffed me to the fence Dean-"
"Sure seems like it" he muttered cutting me off.
"Okay maybe a little but I more mad at you for what you did, you lied to me Dean"
"What when?" he snapped.
"When we talked in that bar, you said you wouldn't give up the chance your dad gave you but I know you and you thought about taking that damn demon's deal even if it was for a second and where would that have left me!"
"Eve-"
"No I'm talking!" I snapped cutting him off. "You're not serious about me Dean or this baby, I've always just been your convenience piece of ass and frankly I'm done" I added then started walking again.
"Hey hold on, you're not a convenience Evie!" I didn't reply and kept walking.
"I don't want to hear it Dean" I finally snapped and walked into the motel room but stopped not seeing Sam anywhere. "Sam?" Dean shut the door behind us right as Sam suddenly sat up off the floor between the two beds, his eyes were glazed over and he was struggling to breath which sent me to one conclusion…vision. "What was it?" I asked going over to him and helped him to sit on the bed.
"I uh…a kid…Dean shot him-" he stopped and we both looked up at Dean who was looking at us. "We have to go" he suddenly stood and started gathering up our stuff, I turned back to Dean and we shared a look before we started packing up as well once again following Sam due to a damn demon vision.
"Continue on OR-224 west" the GPS said in Sam's phone, we were back into the Impala in the middle of the night with no sleep…just another day.
"There are two towns in the U.S named Rivergrove" Sam told us.
"How come your so sure it's the one in Oregon?" Dean asked him.
"There was a picture of Crater Lake" Sam replied after a minute no doubt flashing back to his vision.
"Okay, what else?" I asked leaning my arms on the seat looking over at him, I needed all the information if I was gonna help from the sidelines again.
"I saw a dark room, some people and a guy tied to a chair"
"And I ventilated him?" Dean asked.
"Yeah" Sam replied looking up. "You thought there was something inside him"
"What a demon, was he possessed?" I cut in knowing Dean wouldn't just waste a guy for no reason.
"I don't know" Sam shrugged.
"Well all your weirdo visions are always tied to the Yellow-eyed demon somehow, was there black smoke, did we try to exorcise him?" Dean countered.
"No nothing, you just plugged him that's it" Sam argued and I frowned.
"Well I'm sure I had a good reason" Dean replied speaking as if it had already happened but if there was anything I knew about these visions of Sam's was they were subjective, the future could always change.
"I sure hope so" Sam said and I turned to look at him.
"What does that mean?" Dean asked chancing little looks at him between watching the road but Sam didn't answer.
"He's not gonna waste an innocent man" I told him and Sam just raised his eyebrows.
"I wouldn't!" Dean insisted.
"I never said you would" Sam defended.
"Fine" Dean spat.
"Fine" Sam spat back and I rolled my eyes at them. "Look we don't know what it is but whatever it is that guy in the chair is part of it, so let's find him see what's what"
"Fine" Dean repeated this time sarcastically.
"Fine" Sam agreed again.
"Oh my god you guys are children" I cut in leaning back in my seat again closing my eyes since I was gonna need sleep if this continued on.
I woke up when I heard two doors shut and looked up seeing it was daylight and that we were here and the boys were getting out so I sat up and went to open the door but Dean pushed it shut so I glared up at him.
"Do not even think about it Dean" I pushed on the door opening it and climbed out.
"Don't argue, we need to play it cool and three of us is gonna spook folks"
"We've done it before" I reached back pulling out one of my fake badges and held it up. "Trainee remember" he glared at me but I remained still and defiant staring right back at him, I had my bump covered in a thick coat and given the weather it wouldn't look out of place for U.S Marshals.
"We don't have time for this, you guys need to put whatever personal crap your dealing with aside" Sam said and I nodded.
"I agree"
"Whatever" Dean finally said rolling his eyes as he started walking towards one of the shack like houses where an older man was sitting on the porch with a fishing rod in his hand. "Morning" Dean greeted him and he turned looking up at us.
"Morning" the man said back. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah" Dean replied reaching into his jacket pocket and knowing he was going for his badge Sam and I did the same. "Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard and Danielle Mitchell" I refrained from rolling my eyes at Dean's ridiculous aliases, they were all members of the band ZZ Top except my name he'd girlified instead of Dan Mitchell. "U.S Marshals and our ride-along trainee" he said pointing at me with the trainee part so I nodded with a smile.
"What's this about?" he asked dropping what he was doing and turned to us.
"We're looking for someone"
"A young man, uh early 20's he'd have a thin scar right below his hairline" Sam explained describing this kid we were looking for and by the man's face I'd say he knew him.
"What'd he do?" he asked us.
"Well nothing, we're looking for someone else but we think this young man can help us" Sam replied.
"He's not in any trouble or anything, well not yet" Dean added and if I could have hit him I would have but Sam had positioned himself between us since no doubt he knew Dean and I weren't on happy terms lately. "I think maybe you can help us, master sergeant" Dean added when the guy just looked at us then down at his tattoo, it was a marine tattoo and Dean knew that given their dad had served, they guy smiled and nodded. "My dad was in the corps, he was a corporal"
"What company?" the guy asked as if testing Dean.
"Echo 2-1" Dean replied sounding proud and I knew he was, luckily this was already war enough for him or I reckon he'd have joined the marines as well if their lives had been normal and none of this supernatural crap happened.
"So can you help us?" Sam asked him.
"Uh Duane Tanner's got a scar like that" he replied looking back and forth between us. "But I know him, good kid keeps his nose clean"
"Oh I'm sure he does, do you know where he lives?" Dean asked him.
"With his family, up Aspen Way" he replied pointing to the right of us.
"Thank you" Dean said turning and we walked away walking past the Impala to walk there but Sam suddenly stopped looking at a telegraph pole.
"Hey" he called us back so we stopped and turned to him and he pointed back at the pole where we saw a word carved into the wood 'Croatoan' and my eyes widened in understanding as Sam matched my look.
"..'Croatoan'?" Dean asked clearly not recalling it but then Dean wasn't ever exactly a model student so I doubt he'd remember history.
"Yeah" Sam nodded but Dean just shrugged not getting it. "Roanoke, Lost Colony, ring a bell?" Sam asked him but Dean still looked dumbstruck. "Dean did you pay any attention in history class?"
"Yeah, the shot heard around the world, how bills become laws" I rolled my eyes.
"That's not school, that's Schoolhouse Rock!" I exclaimed at him. "Remind me never to let you homeschool"
"Whatever" he shrugged again, proving to me how un-serious he was about this kid.
"Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America late 1500's" Sam explained and finally it seemed Dean recalled something about it.
"Oh yeah, yeah I do remember that, the only thing left behind was a single word carved into a tree, 'Croatoan'"
"Yeah" Sam nodded barely above a whisper. "And I mean there were theories, Indian raid, disease but nobody knows what really happened, they were all just gone"
"Wiped out overnight" I added to add emphasize on the situation if this was the same thing and not just a kid playing tricks.
"You don't think that's what's going on here?" Dean asked scoffing in disbelief. "I mean…" he trailed off seeing Sam's serious face.
"Whatever I saw in my head it sure wasn't good" he admitted looking back at the word for a second before back at us. "But what do you think could do that?"
"Well I mean like I said all your weirdo visions are always tied to the yellow-eyed demon somehow so…"
"We should get help, Bobby" Sam said looking at me and I frowned not sure I wanted my father mixed up in all this. "Ellen maybe"
"Yeah that's a good idea" Dean agreed pulling out his phone flipping it open walking away but his phone just beeped. "I don't have a signal" I frowned as Sam and I reached for ours but saw we didn't have any bars either.
"I don't either" Sam replied and they turned to me but I shook my head before looking up and saw a payphone so I walked towards it and pulled the phone off putting to my ear but it gave me the no service dial tone despite me clicking the receiver a few times.
"Lines dead" I told them putting the phone back.
"I'll tell you one thing if I was gonna massacre a town that'd be my first step" Dean said and I nodded. "Let's find this kid" he walked over to the Impala so we followed getting in and he drove up the road the guy told us too stopping at the first house given there wasn't many on this road.
We got out with Dean giving me a disapproving look but I could care less and he wasn't exactly protesting with words so I followed them walking up to the house onto the porch and Sam knocked on the door with a younger kid opening the door.
"Yeah?" he asked in that typical teenager arrogance.
"Hi" Dean said flashing his badge. "Looking Duane Tanner, he lives here right?"
"He's my brother" the kid nodded looking between us before his eyes settled on me and he smiled and raked his eyes up and down my body making me raise an eye at him since he couldn't be serious, this kid was no older than eighteen.
"Can we talk to him?" Dean spat a little harsher than needed but I would guess he'd seen this kids flirtatious smile my way.
"He's not here right now" he said never moving his eyes off me and it was making me a little anxious.
"You know where he is?" I asked and he seemed pleased that I'd spoken.
"Yeah, he went on a fishing trip up by Rosalyn Lake"
"Your parents' home?" Sam asked him.
"Yeah they're inside"
"Jake who is it?" an older man's voice called and…Jake stepped aside as an older man stepped up beside him.
"Uh U.S Marshals sir, were looking for your son Duane" Dean said.
"Why he's not in any trouble, is he?" their father asked.
"No, no, no we just need to ask him some routine questions that's all" Dean replied.
"When's he due back from his trip?" Sam asked looking at the dad.
"I'm not sure" he replied and I moved my eyes to the side seeing the kid still watching me with sex eyes and I instinctively moved closer to Dean.
"Well maybe your wife knows" Sam added.
"You know I don't know, she's not here right now" he argued looking back into the house briefly.
"Well your son said she was" Dean protested and Jake turned to him.
"Did I?" he asked and I frowned since something wasn't right.
"She's getting groceries" the dad said placing a hand on Jake's shoulder. "So when Duane gets back there's a number where he can get you?" he asked looking at Dean.
"Oh no, we'll just check in with you later" Dean replied and we turned walking away as they shut the door but got to the bottom of the stairs and shared a knowing look. "That was kind of creepy, right?" Dean asked as soon as the door was completely closed. "Little too Stepford?"
"Bigtime" Sam agreed with him and Dean suddenly turned going the opposite way going around the side of the house with Sam and I behind him ducking when we came across some windows so we weren't spotted, we up onto the back porch and peered through a window seeing a woman tied up and gagged with the father and son standing over her.
What was more concerning though was the father cut the sons arm and he looked like he was going to bleed over an open wound so we pulled out our guns and Dean went over to the back door kicking it in startling them.
"No!" the dad yelled charging at us with the knife.
"Put it down!" Sam yelled at him but Dean shot two rounds off hitting him in the chest twice and the dad fell to the ground dead as the son ran and jumped out one of the windows and Sam ran towards it looking out with his gun raised but he didn't fire and when Dean and I met him there we saw the kid running off disappearing in the trees.
We helped the lady untying her figuring she was the kids mother and wife of the dad and got her to come with us, Sam settled her into the back seat as Dean came out carrying the dad over his shoulder throwing him carelessly into the boot before getting in the front seat.
"Sit upfront" Sam told me sliding into the back and while I didn't want to sit with Dean for once we didn't know what the hell was going on so I agreed just getting in and Dean drove back into town finding a clinic and Sam once again helped Mrs Tanner inside while I stayed back with Dean as he looked around cautiously before grabbing Mr Tanner out over his shoulder in a fireman's hold again and we rushed inside.
"Hey" Dean called as we got inside and a woman in a lab coat stopped turning to us, I guess she was the doctor.
"Is that…?"
"Mr Tanner?" Dean said jostling the body on his shoulder.
"Was he attacked too?" she asked him.
"Uh…no actually, he did the attacking and then got himself shot" I rolled my eyes at him.
"Shot?" the doctor asked shocked.
"Yeah" Dean nodded.
"And who are you's?"
"U.S Marshal" Dean replied. "I'd show you my badge but…"
"Oh sorry, bring him back here" she replied leading us towards the back and Dean was able to unload the body off his shoulders before the doctor worked on Mrs Tanner cleaning up her wounds as she explained what happened.
"Wait you said Jake helped him, your son Jake?" Dr Lee asked sounding shocked.
"They beat me, tied me up" Mrs Tanner replied sounding like she was still in shock herself and who could blame her.
"I don't believe it" the nurse said.
"Pam" Dr Lee warned looking over at her. "Beverly you have any idea why they would act this way, any history of chemical dependency?"
"No of course not" Mrs Tanner replied. "I don't know why" she added starting to cry. "One minute they were my husband and my son and the next they had the devil in them" she said and Dean turned to us.
"We gotta talk" he told us and we stepped away from the others into the other room. "Those guys were whacked out of their gourds"
"What do you think, multiple demons mass possession?" Sam asked him.
"If it is a possession there could be more, I mean god knows how many it could be like a frigging Shriner convention"
"Great" I muttered putting my hand over my stomach.
"That's one way to wipe out a town you take it from the inside" Dean added looking down seeing my action.
"I don't know guys, we didn't see any demon smoke with Tanner or any of the other usual signs" Sam argued.
"Yeah well whatever, something turned him into a monster" Dean replied walking towards the door but stopped at Sam's shoulder. "You know if you'd taken out the other one there'd be one less to worry about" I frowned at Dean.
"Sorry, alright I hesitated Dean it was a kid" Sam exclaimed.
"Not it was an it, not the best time for a bleeding heart Sam" Dean replied and I went to intervene before the started arguing but we heard footsteps behind us and turned seeing Dr Lee coming towards us.
"How's the patient?" I asked her.
"Terrible, what the hell happened out there?" she demanded looking straight at Dean.
"We don't know" he replied avoiding her eyes.
"Yeah well you just killed my next door neighbor" she protested angrily.
"We didn't have a choice" Dean replied again.
"Maybe so but we need the county Sheriff, I need the coroner-"
"Phones are down" Sam cut in.
"I know, I tried" she said sighing. "Tell me you got a police radio in the car" she added looking at Dean.
"Yeah we do but it crapped out like everything else" Sam replied.
"I don't understand what's happening" she sighed.
"How far is it to the next town?" Dean asked her.
"It's about 40 miles down to Sidewinder"
"Alright I'm gonna go down there see if I can find some help, these two will stick around keep you guys safe" Dean replied putting his hand on Sam's shoulder.
"Safe from what?" Dr Lee demanded.
"We'll get back to you on that" he said before disappearing out the door.
"Hey wait" I called going after him seeing him pause at the main doors.
"Stay-"
"I know I wasn't going to argue that" I replied cutting him off before he could tell me to stay here.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Just…be careful" he nodded and went to walk out again. "Dean" I called again quietly making him stop again. "I'm sorry about what I said last night, I didn't mean it" I told him and he turned looking back at me.
"Yeah you did" he said before walking out leaving me standing there.
After a couple minutes I wandered back into the clinic finding Sam and the doctor in a room with Mr Tanner's body covered up to his chest with a medical sheet with Dr Lee sitting not too far off looking at something under a microscope while Sam leaning against some of the metal tables staring at Tanner's body.
"You okay?" Sam asked seeing me walk in.
"Yeah" I muttered knowing he'd see straight through it.
"You and Dean okay, ever since the crossroads you've been distant with each other and it seems to have gotten worse" he asked whispering.
"I don't know Sam, I think I messed up" I admitted in the same quiet voice. "I said something I didn't mean…or maybe I did when I said it but I don't feel that way now and I don't know how to fix it, Dean hates me"
"He doesn't hate you" he replied nudging into me. "You guys we'll figure it out, you's always do especially for this little guy" he nodded with a smile down at my stomach making my frown turn upside down just for a split second.
"Could be a girl Sam" I told him and he laughed.
"Yeah that I could imagine, Dean with a daughter and if she's anything like the two of you your gonna have you work cut out for you's" I laughed nodding my head since I could imagine it, a daughter with Dean's green eyes, my hair and that Winchester stubbornness but I couldn't help picture a boy too that was a splitting image of Dean in every way and the thought made me smile since either way, boy or girl I knew I would love them unconditionally.
"Huh?" we heard Dr Lee suddenly say to herself interrupting the family moment and we looked up at her.
"What?" Sam asked her.
"His lymphocyte percentage is pretty high" she replied to which I didn't understand a word of it, I didn't speak doctor. "His body was fighting off a viral infection"
"Really, what kind of virus?" Sam asked walking closer to her.
"Can't say for sure"
"Do you think an infection could've made him act like that?" I asked her.
"None that I've ever heard of, I mean some can cause dementia but not that kind of violence besides I've never heard of one that did this to the blood" she replied then looked down at the slide.
"Did what?" Sam and I both asked her.
"There's this weird residue, if I didn't know any better I'd say it was sulfur" she replied and at the word sulfur Sam and I shared a quick discrete look out of the corner of our eyes.
"Sulfur" Sam muttered looking over at Mr Tanner's body, maybe this was connected to the demon after all.
We moved back into the room where Mrs Tanner was and the doctor told her she suspected Mr Tanner had an infection that could have caused his violent behavior but Sam and I knew otherwise just couldn't voice it until Dean got back so we just stood idly.
"I don't understand, are you saying my husband and Jake had a disease?" Mrs Tanner asked.
"That's what we're trying to find out" Dr Lee replied. "Now during the attack do you remember…did you have any direct contact with their blood?" she asked walking towards the woman.
"Oh my god" she replied and I thought back to what we'd seen before we busted in. "You don't think I've got this virus, do you?"
"Beverly I don't know what to think but with your permission we'll take a blood sample" Dr Lee explained.
Mrs Tanner looked down before nodding and reached out for the doctor's hand but then she flipped grabbing the doc's wrist screaming and hit her across the face, I don't know what I was thinking but reaction had me moving forward but she grabbed my jacket and threw me back with strength that wasn't natural and my back hit a glass cabinet before I slid to the ground feeling a stinging sensation from the glass as it cut into my skin and looked up just in time to see Sam hit her over the head with a fire extinguisher after she came at him with a scalpel and she dropped to the ground unconscious.
"Evie!" Sam yelled coming towards me right as I pulled a large piece of glass out of my forearm.
"I'm okay, I'm okay" I said holding my hand over the cut.
"Let me see" I sighed nodding my head and he helped me stand as I bit my lip because everything hurt but I didn't appear to have any other injuries aside from the cut on my arm. "There's no other cuts but the baby"
"Baby?" Dr Lee asked overhearing us. "Your pregnant?" she asked.
"Long story" I replied and she frowned.
"Oh my…come on back I'll take a look at you, I have an ultrasound machine" I looked up at Sam and he nodded at me so I sighed looking back at the doc and nodded but grabbed Sam's hand I wasn't going anywhere alone right now.
I sat on the table laying back and lifted my shirt with Sam standing beside me running his hand over my shoulder in comfort since these things always made me nervous especially without Dean which reminded me.
"Dean's gonna kill me" I whispered and Sam looked down.
"I think you mean he's gonna kill me" he added and I looked up at him just as Dr Lee came back with some gloves on and the gel used.
"Have you had an ultrasound before?" I nodded.
"Yeah one uh…about four weeks ago, I was eight weeks I think" I mumbled trying to put it all in place…I should keep better track of this.
"Okay so we should be able to see the baby with an abdominal scan" she clicked a few buttons then picked up the wand thingy after applying some of the gel to my stomach then pressed it down moving it around as I watched the screen. "There it is" she moved it around again until I could see a figure of a baby and couldn't help smile since it still amazed me that…that was growing inside me.
"So is it okay?" Sam asked as I sat tongue-tied.
"Everything looks fine" she pressed another button and a fast thumping sound filled the room making me look up even more.
"What is that?" I asked her.
"The heartbeat" my eyes widened as I stared at it.
"Oh my god" I choked back a fear tears as I smiled.
"So are you two-?" she looked up at me and Sam.
"No" we replied at the same time and she nodded.
"The other one?" she asked looking at me.
"It's complicated" I repeated and she nodded just taking that then turned off the machine handing me some towel to clean up the gel.
"Let me dress that" she nodded at the cut and I let her do it quickly not even flinching given I was used to pain with the amount of injuries I'd sustained that and she injected some pain-killers around the wound site which she said was safe for the baby and they made me feel relaxed.
Sam helped me stand once the doc was done and she left saying she was getting blood samples from Mrs Tanner while she was still out cold and once she was done Sam locked her up in a secure room where she couldn't attack us again before he returned seeing the doctor at work examining Mrs Tanner's blood.
"What if we all have it?" the nurse…Pam suddenly spoke up. "What if we all go crazy?"
"You've got to stay calm" Dr Lee said turning towards her. "All we can do is wait, the marshal's bringing help" she added and Sam and I looked over at them.
"I can't, I…no I…I gotta to go" Pam argued and made a moved to leave.
"Pam" Dr Lee warned her.
"No you don't understand my boyfriends out there, I gotta make sure he's okay" she persisted then left so Sam and I stood following her to stop her since she couldn't go out there no matter what, my boyfriend was out there too but you didn't see me panicking…okay that was a small lie but I was still worried about Dean especially since it's been a while now.
"Hey, hey, hey wait please" Sam said stopping her. "Look I know your upset alright but it's safer if you stay here for now, help is coming" he told her right before we both looked up hearing a car engine and I knew that roar anywhere. "There they are"
"Sammy, Evie open up!" Dean yelled and I breathed out in relief moving towards the doors behind Sam as he opened them and Dean walked in with the man from earlier.
"Dean!" I exclaimed throwing my arms around his neck and his went around my waist hugging me for a few seconds.
"Did you guys get to a phone?" Sam asked them and Dean let go looking back at him.
"Roadblock" he replied shaking his head. "I'm gonna have a word, doc's inside" Dean added towards the man.
"Alright" he replied walking back into the clinic.
"What's going on out there Dean?" I asked him.
"I don't know, I feel like Chuck Heston in The Omega Man, the sarge is the only sane person I could find" he told us and I reached out grabbing his arm. "What are we dealing with, you know?" he asked us.
"Yeah doc thinks it's a virus" Sam explained.
"Okay, what do you's think?"
"I think she's right" Sam replied and Dean spun around to face us again, he was severely agitated and I couldn't blame him this was some next level shit.
"Really?" Dean asked and we nodded.
"Yeah and I think the infected are trying to infect others with blood-to-blood contact, oh and it gets better the virus leaves traces of sulfur in the blood"
"A demonic virus?" Dean asked us.
"Yeah more like demonic germ warfare" I corrected him.
"At least it explains why I've been having visions" Sam added.
"It's like a Biblical plague" Dean sighed.
"Yeah you don't know how right you are Dean I've been poring through Dad's journal, found something about the Roanoke colony" Sam replied peering out the door every couple of seconds.
"And?" Dean pressed when he paused.
"Dad always had a theory about Croatoan, he thought it was a demon's name sometimes known as Deva or sometimes Reesha, a demon of plague and pestilence"
"Well that…that's terrific, why here, why now?" Dean asked
"I have no idea but Dean who knows how far this thing can spread, we gotta get out of here, we gotta warn people" Sam replied and I sighed reaching up playing with the bandage on my arm which brought Dean's attention.
"What the hell happened to you?" he demanded moving towards me and grabbed my arm below the bandage.
"Uh…" I went to answer.
"They've got one, in here!" the man Dean brought in yelled cutting me off before I could explain.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked as we walked back into the back rooms.
"The wife, she's infected" Sam explained.
"We gotta take care of this we can't just leave her in there, my neighbors they were strong the longer we wait the stronger she'll get" the guy told us and Dean wasted no time pulling out his gun heading towards the room.
"You're going to kill Beverly Tanner?" Pam asked us when they explained what they were gonna do.
"Doctor could there be any treatment, some kind of cure for this?" Sam asked looking at the doc and she looked around stunned by being put on the spot.
"Can you cure it?" Dean demanded when she hesitated.
"For god's sake, I don't even know what it is!" she exclaimed.
"Told you it's a matter of time before she breaks through" the Sarge said.
"Just leave her there, you can't shoot her like an animal" Pam argued.
"Sam" Dean said moving towards the door and I watched as they went over to the door with Dean and the Sarge pulled out their guns before Sam opened the door and they went forward aiming their guns at her.
"Mark, what are you doing?" I heard Mrs Tanner ask sounding fearful but after what she did I knew it was all an act. "Mark it's them, they locked me in here, they tried to kill me" she sounded like she was crying. "They're infected, not me" I scratched at the bandage again turning away from the door closing my eyes. "Please Mark you've known me all your life, please!" she begged.
"You're sure she's one of them?" I heard Dean asked and turned around seeing Mark was hesitating and saw Sam nod.
"Yeah she attacked Evie" Sam replied and I watched Dean go stone faced as he stepped further in the door before three shots rang out making me flinch.
The boys quickly ran out and gathered just about everything we had in the trunks arsenal and started going through it, I sat near them watching Mark look out the window before over at us with a worried look which I took as we'd been found and there was infected people outside.
"You okay?" Dean asked making me look up and saw him looking at me.
"Mm-hmm" I nodded not really giving him an answer and he nodded back before focusing back on his task stock piling our weapons loading up the guns and I soon joined them figuring I could help and didn't miss Sam looking at me but I just shook my head at him signaling I was okay as I started loading up the second sawn-off shotgun but we were interrupted by glass shattering and a scream so we rushed back to see what happened.
"You're clean, you're okay" Dr Lee said as we walked in and saw Pam brushing herself off with a blood sample tray on the ground with shattered blood samples on the ground spilling out blood.
"Why are we staying here, please let's just go" Pam complained for the umpteenth time.
"No we can't because those things are everywhere" Dean answered before the doc could.
"Oh god" Pam breathed out lowering her head into her hands as the doc calmer her down.
"She's right about one thing, we can't stay here we gotta get out of here, get to the Roadhouse, somewhere" Sam whispered to Dean, Mark and I as we stood off to the side. "Let people know what's coming"
"That's a good point" Dean replied. "Night of the Living Dead didn't exactly end pretty" he joked but now was not the time.
"I'm not sure we got a choice, lots of folks up here are good with rifles even with all your hardware we're easy targets so unless you got some explosives" Mark added and I sighed but watched Sam's eyes move up over our heads.
"We could make some" he said and we turned seeing a shelf full of chemicals as he walked up to it and picked up a bottle turning it to us 'potassium chlorate'.
"Hey let me in, let me in please!" we suddenly heard someone yell and bang against the front doors so we rushed to the entrance.
"It's Duane Tanner" Mark informed us and went towards the doors unlocking them and let him in.
"Oh thank god" Duane said coming inside as Mark relocked the door.
"Duane you okay?" Mark asked him as they walked past us.
"That's the guy I-" Dean asked clicking his tongue and made a slicing gesture over his neck.
"Yeah" Sam agreed before we followed them back.
"Who else is in here?" Duane asked making a move to walk further but Dean grabbed his arm.
"Hey, hey, whoa, whoa easy there, chief" he held him back then looked up at Dr Lee "Hey Doc, give Duane a good once-over, would you?" she nodded leading us into the lab.
"Pam?"
"Who are you?" Duane asked looking back at Dean as we followed him in.
"Never mind who I am, doc" he replied and Dr Lee nodded.
"Yeah, okay" she told him.
"Duane, where you been?" Mark asked him as Duane took a seat on the table.
"I was on a fishing trip up by Rosalyn, I came back this afternoon I saw Rodger McGill being dragged out of his house by people we know they started cutting him with knives, I ran I've been hiding in the woods ever since, has anybody seen my mom and dad?" he asked and we all shared looks.
"Awkward" Dean whispered towards me and Sam and I glared at his attempt at a joke since it wasn't funny.
"You're bleeding" Dr Lee suddenly said and we looked back seeing her looking at a cut on Duane's leg.
"Where'd you get that?" Dean asked moving an arm out in front of me pushing me partly behind him.
"I was running, I must've tripped" I frowned since that was vague and seemed like a lie.
"Tie him up, there's rope in there" Dean said looking at Mark.
"Wait" Duane protested.
"Sit down!" Dean yelled pulling his gun on him.
"Sorry Duane he's right, we gotta be careful" Mark said looking at Duane before leaving to get the rope.
"Careful, about what?" Duane asked confused.
"Did they bleed on you?" Dean asked him instead of answering.
"No, what the hell…no!" Duane exclaimed in protest.
"Doc, any way to know for sure, any test?" Sam asked the doc.
"I've studied Beverly's blood work" she replied.
"My mom?" Duane asked looking up at her.
"It took three hours for the virus to incubate, the sulfur didn't appear in the bloodwork until then so…no they'd be no way of knowing not until after Duane turns" she explained and I frowned since what the hell was this zombie apocalypse.
"Dean I gotta talk to you, now" Sam said leaning into Dean and he turned to look at Mark who nodded before Dean walked out grabbing my hand dragging me with him as Sam followed closing the door. "This is my vision Dean, it's happening" Sam told us as soon as we were in another room and Dean stashed his gun back into the waistline of his jeans.
"Yeah I figured" Dean replied.
"You can't kill him alright not yet, we don't know if he's infected or not"
"Oh I think we're pretty damn sure" Dean argued. "Guy shows up out of nowhere, got a cut, his whole family's infected"
"Alright then we should keep him tied up and wait and see" Sam protested and I agreed with him.
"For what, for him to hulk out and infect somebody else?" Dean spat back. "No thanks, can't take that chance" he added and I saw his eyes drift my way before he moved to walk out but Sam put his hand out against his chest stopping him. "Hey look man I'm not happy about this okay, it's a tough job you know that"
"It's supposed to be tough Dean, we're supposed to struggle with this that's the whole point" Sam argued.
"What does that buy us?" Dean asked him.
"A clear conscious for one"
"Well it's too late for that" Dean argued again and tried moving past Sam again but he stopped him again.
"What the hells happened to you?!" Sam demanded.
"What?" Dean demanded back.
"You might kill an innocent man and you don't even care, you don't act like yourself anymore Dean hell you know what you're acting like one of those things out there" Sam exclaimed and Dean tried pushing past him but this time when Sam tried to stop him Dean shoved him back making him stubble and headed for the door grabbing the handle and closed it behind him.
"Dean!" I exclaimed running towards it and tried the handle but he'd flipped the lock. "Dean open the door"
"Open the damn door Dean!" Sam exclaimed coming up beside me seeing Dean walk off leaving us locked in here. "Don't do it Dean, don't!" we saw him unclip the round in his gun checking the bullets before he clicked it back in and went into the lab.
"Dean!" I hit my fist against the door but it was no use so I stepped back and began pacing. "God how could he do this…again" I looked around feeling the walls closing in on me and I found it hard to breath. "Sam…Sam I gotta get out" he turned towards me.
"Hey, hey Eve breathe…just breathe"
"I can't the walls…oh god I can't breathe…Sam I can't…" I started to hyperventilate. "Sa…Sa…Sammy he…lp m…me!" I begged falling to my knees holding my hands over my ears.
"Evie…Evie focus on me" I lifted my eyes seeing him kneeling in front of me. "You have to calm your breaths, take a slow deep breath in" I followed his words sucking in a deep breath and let it go when he mentioned me to do so, we did this for a couple more times before I felt my breathing and heart rate slow back down right as the door opened. "Are you insane?!" Sam yelled walking up to Dean and pushed against his chest. "You know she gets claustrophobic and you locked us in here!" I looked up and met Dean's eyes but quickly looked away as I stood walking towards them but pushed past them.
We soon got to work making fire bombs in silence neither one of us looking up at the other as we did our tasks filling up the makeshift bombs with the liquids needed…well the boys were since I shouldn't be handling chemicals so I was handing Sam new containers when he needed and it went on like this for hours with none of us talking to each other until the doc walked in and I looked up.
"It's been over four hours, Duane's blood is still clean I don't think he's infected" she informed us. "I'd like to untie him now if that's alright?" she asked looking at Dean and he looked up at us, I gave him brief eye-contact before looking down.
"Sure yeah" Sam answered and she nodded walking back into the lab. "You know I'm gonna ask why?" Sam suddenly asked and I looked up seeing he was looking at Dean.
"Yeah I know" Dean replied holding up a bottle with a funnel in the top.
"So why, why didn't you do it?" Sam asked him.
"We need more alcohol" Dean said instead of answering the question and I rolled my eyes looking back down at my task counting how many bottles were finished, Sam sighed and I looked up seeing him walk into the supply room before back at Dean seeing his eyes on me and this time I didn't look away and just stared back hearing the door close before we heard a yell making us look towards it before sprinting towards the door but it was locked and Dean just kicked it open seeing Pam on top of Sam and not in the fun way which Dean wasted no time firing off shots into her back seeing her fall to the ground before we took steps towards Sam as he grunted in pain reaching out to us, Dean and I stepped forward to help but Mark grabbed our arms.
"She bled on him" he told us nodding down at Sam. "He's got the virus" our heads snapped down towards Sam and I felt tears start threatening to spill over.
"No…no" I cried looking up at Dean and ignored Mark's warning this time and helped Sam stand being careful not to touch the blood as we walked him to the lab and got Dr Lee to check is wound praying that she hadn't had the chance.
"Doctor, check his wound again would you?" Dean told her again for the fifth time but she hesitated looking down at Sam with fear. "Doctor!" Dean snapped.
"What does she need to examine him for, you saw what happened?" Mark cut in pointing at Sam accusingly.
"Did her blood actually enter your wound?" Dr Lee asked Sam.
"Come on, of course it did!" Mark exclaimed.
"We don't know that for sure!" Dean yelled back at him.
"We can't take a chance" Duane cut in.
"You know what we have to do" Mark added and I looked up.
"Nobody is shooting my brother" Dean told them.
"He not gonna be your brother much longer, you said it yourself" Duane said and I glared at him almost wishing Dean had bloody shot him.
"Nobody's shooting anyone!" I cut in.
"He was gonna shoot me!" Duane yelled.
"You don't shut your pie-hole I still might!" Dean yelled back pointing at him.
"Dean they're right" Sam suddenly spoke up. "I'm infected, give me the gun and I'll do it myself"
"Forget it" Dean and I told him at the same time.
"I'm not gonna become one of those things" he argued.
"Sam we've still got time-"
"Time for what?" Mark cut Dean off. "Look I understand he's your brother and I'm sorry I am but I gotta take care of this" he pulled out his gun but I moved grabbing Dean's out of his waistline and had it pointed at him in a blink of the eye.
"I'll say this once, you make a move on him you'll be dead before you hit the ground, you understand me" I spat at him as they all turned to look at me. "I mean do I make myself clear or do you really want to piss off a hormonal pregnant girl any further?" I added for good measure.
"Evie!" Sam snapped at me but I didn't care, we weren't losing anymore family.
"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Mark yelled at us and I looked over at Dean with the corner of my eye seeing him looking down at Sam before he turned to face me and reached out touching my hand lowering the gun for me before taking it stashing back into his waistline then he reached into his pocket grabbing his car keys and threw them towards Mark who caught them.
"Get the hell out of there that's what, take my car you got the explosives there's an arsenal in there, you three go with him-"
"No Dean" I cut him off. "I'm not leaving"
"-you got enough fire power to handle anything now" he finished as if I hadn't spoken.
"What about you?" Mark asked him and all Dean had to do was look at him.
"Dean no, no" Sam protested. "Go with them, this is your only chance"
"You're not gonna get rid of me that easy" Dean argued and I nodded my head in agreement when Sam turned to me as if asking my help with getting Dean out but we were staying, live together or die together but we remain together.
"No he's right man, come with us" Mark insisted but Dean just shot him another look. "Okay it's your funeral" he added seeing our minds were made up and they walked towards the door, I knew Dean wasn't gonna let me stay and would push me out the door if he had to so I pretended to follow the doc but she stopped at the door.
"I'm sorry, thanks for everything Marshals" she told us as he grabbed the door ready to close it behind us…them.
"Oh actually we're not Marshals" Dean admitted and I chuckled a little.
"Um…oh" she said Dean smiled as she walked out then turned to me but I quickly grabbed the door and slammed it shut standing in front of it forcing all my weight on the door so he couldn't open it.
"Evie!"
"I'm not leaving Dean"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not" I flipped the lock behind me. "I don't care I'm not leaving and there's nothing you can do to stop me, I'll break this damn door handle if I have to" he sighed angrily before turning towards Sam and I smirked a little since I'd won.
"Wish we had a deck of cards or a foosball table or something" Dean said after a couple minutes silence chuckling half-assed.
"Guys, don't do this" Sam said through croaky uneven voice that was coming from the tears in his eyes. "Just get the hell out of here"
"No way" Dean said shaking his head at Sam and I moved away from the door satisfied that Dean wasn't gonna throw me out it.
"Give me my gun and leave" Sam persisted.
"For the last time Sam, no" I said this time and Sam's anger boiled to breaking point as he threw the gauze he had on his wound to the ground.
"This is the dumbest thing you's have ever done"
"I don't know about that, remember that waitress in Tampa" Dean joked and shuddered dramatically so I knew he was kidding he was just trying to make light of this but it was to no avail as I turned to Sam and saw the tears spill over down his cheeks which made mine start.
"Guys I'm sick, it's over for me it doesn't have to be for you's"
"No?" Dean asked him.
"No, you's could keep going"
"Who say's we want to?" I argued looking him dead in the eye.
"What?" Sam asked looking at me as Dean crossed the room sitting on the edge of a desk pulling out his gun out.
"I'm tired Sam, I'm tired of this job" Dean admitted shocking even me for a second but deep down I think I knew it, especially with the crossroads hunt and that thought made the tears spill over as I walked over to Dean and wrapped my arms around his waist and he did the same but never tore his eyes from Sam. "This life…this weight on my shoulders, man I'm tired of it"
"So what, so you's are just gonna give up?" Sam asked him then turned to me. "I mean, your just gonna lay down and die, especially now you guys can get out if you want to…start a normal family, you have something to live and leave the job for!" I looked down at my stomach tentatively moving my hands over the small bump. "Look Dean I know the stuff with Dad had-"
"You're wrong" Dean cut him off before he could even start that sentence. "It's not about Dad…I mean part of it is sure-"
"Then what is it about?" Sam asked him but before Dean could answer we heard a door open and footsteps approaching our position, Dean stood up grabbing Sam's gun as well letting go of me before walking towards the door right as there was a knock, Dean unlocked it and opened it revealing the doc.
"You better come see this" she told us and we shared a look before all following her outside seeing the streets completely deserted with not a soul in sight. "There's no one, not anywhere they've all just vanished"
We went back into the clinic because we had to make sure and after five hours of torturous waiting the doc was examining Sam's blood while Dean and I waited outside leaning against the Impala's hood waiting for Sam to be done while watching Mark and Duane packing up a pick-up getting ready to leave.
"Dean I know things have been different lately, after the crossroads we've been different…distant and I know-"
"I'm sorry" he suddenly said cutting me off and I looked up at him.
"For what?" I asked confused.
"For lying to you" he admitted and my eyes pitched together. "Yeah I thought about that deal" I looked down. "But only for a split weak moment Evie" I looked back up seeing him staring down at me. "I'm tired of this job but that doesn't mean I'm tired of you" he grabbed my hand entwining our fingers. "I never want to hurt you but I've been doing that since day one"
"Dean-"
"No I'm talking" he cut me off and I found myself smiling as I recalled last night even though it felt like decades ago. "What I said in there…I don't know I thought we gonna die" he shrugged off but I could tell there was something he wanted to tell me so I squeezed his hand.
"I forgive you Dean, so long as you'll forgive me for doing all that" I nodded towards the clinic. "I know it was stupid and reckless and that I kept promising not to do shit like that but I got nothing without you and Sam and yeah I know I have my dad but things are different now, I feel like without you I'd have no reason to be alive" he nodded leaning his head on top of mine.
"I love you Evie and definitely want to have this baby with you"
"I know" I replied turning his found words of reply to the 'L' word back on him and he laughed. "I love you too Dean so let's not fight anymore"
"Agreed Shortstack" he replied just as Sam came out with the doctor behind him.
"Doc, the Sarge and I are getting the hell out of here, heading south you should come" Duane said looking at the doc.
"I'd better get over to Sidewinder, get the authorities up here if they'll believe me" she argued instead then waved at them. "Take care" Mark waved back before turning to us and gave us the thumbs up.
"What about him?" Dean asked nodding back at Sam who'd sat beside me.
"He's gonna be fine, no signs of infection" she replied before going inside as Mark and Duane pulled away and we turned to look at Sam.
"Hey don't look at me, I got no clue" Sam said answering our unspoken question.
"I swear I'm gonna lose sleep over this one" Dean replied looking around the deserted streets. "I mean why here and why now?"
"Where did everybody go, it's not like they just frigging melted away" I added giving us more to think about since none of this case made a lick of sense, Dean nodded and went around towards the driver's seat.
"Why was I immune?" Sam asked more himself than us as it was barely above a whisper but we heard it.
"Yeah, you know what that's a good question" Dean spoke up still on his little rant. "I'm already starting to feel like this is the one that got away" he added opening up the door and I sighed moving towards Sam tapping his arm.
"Come on Sammy" he nodded and we followed Dean's lead getting into the Impala and got the hell out of this ghost town.
We drove until Dean decided to stop stating he needed an un-wind and not the fun kind, he pulled over at a nice little secluded stop that overlooked a river and got out grabbing the beers out of the boot from last night that he never got to drink and we sat next to the water with them drinking while I was sipping on some lemonade.
"So…last night?" Sam asked breaking the peaceful silence that had settled over us. "You wanna tell me what the hell you's were talking about?"
"What do you mean?" Dean asked deflecting again.
"What do I mean, I mean you said you's were tired of the job and that it wasn't just because of Dad"
"Forget it" Dean replied and I looked down twirling the bottle in my hand.
"No I can't, no way" Sam insisted.
"Come on man, I thought we were all gonna die you can't hold that over me" Dean argued.
"No, no, no you can't pull that crap with me man you're talking" Sam shot back at him and I looked up smiling at him.
"And what if I don't?" Dean asked looking between us.
"Then I guess I'll just have to keep asking until you do" Sam replied and I chuckled taking a another drink imagining it was alcohol especially seeing Dean smile knowing that Sam would continue to press until he talked.
"I don't know man, I just think maybe we ought to…go to the Grand Canyon" Dean finally replied and I laughed knowing he was pulling our legs avoiding the inevitable.
"What?" Sam demanded with a smile on his face which was kind of good to see especially after the last 24hrs.
"Yeah you know all this driving back and forth across country, you know I've never been to the Grand Canyon or we could go to TJ or Hollywood, see if we could bang Lindsay Lohan"
"Hey!" I exclaimed slapping the back of his head.
"Oh come on Shortstack, celebs get a pass…tell me there's not one celebrity out there you wouldn't bang if we had a pass" I thought about it for a second.
"Channing Tatum" I replied knowing it'd annoy him the most.
"Seriously…no one else?" I shook my head with a smirk.
"You're not making any sense Dean" Sam cut in before we started.
"I just think we should take a break from all this, why do we gotta get stuck with all the responsibility, you know why can't we live a little bit?" Dean spoke seriously.
"Why are you saying all this?" Sam asked and I looked up a little confused since he'd literally asked us to exactly what Dean just said when he thought he was dying, what's changed now but Dean didn't reply and turned to walk away. "No, no, no Dean your my brother, alright so whatever weight your carrying let me help a little bit" Sam added.
"I can't, I promised" Dean suddenly said and I looked up confused wondering what the hell he'd promised and to who.
"Who?" Sam asked him as I kept absolutely silent not knowing if this was something I had a right to get involved in.
"Dad" Dean replied.
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked him again as I looked back and forth wondering if I should leave them but I was intrigued.
"Right before Dad died he told me something, he told me something about you" Dean said looking up at Sam.
"What?" Sam asked him voice low and hushed. "Dean what did he tell you?" Sam asked again as Dean hesitated but he then he looked up and I didn't like the look in his eyes on bit…