Chapter 17

Honey Bee

(Season 1, episode 8 - Bugs)

Dean raced down the highway with his ear to his phone and eyes hardly paying attention. "Yes, Mr. Pike, there's a main-line gas leak in your neighborhood."

Sam's eyes constantly moved from Dean to the road, trying to make sure he didn't hit anything, but Sarah's never left Dean. He was on the line with a man who was about to lose his family if he didn't listen. She wanted to believe that Dean was being convincing, but she wasn't feeling it. Her face was heavy with worry.

"Well, it's fairly extensive," Dean continued. "I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least 12 hours or so, just to be safe." A pause in his voice. "Travis Weaver. I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power." Another pause. "Uh..." He closed the phone quickly with anger and nearly threw it to the floor.

Sam grabbed it from his brother before there was any damage.

"He didn't believe you?" Sarah asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nope."

"Damn."

"That's a good way of putting it." Dean took a split second to look at her in his mirror. When she spoke, it was like the road didn't matter. He hated the disappointment her voice contained. It was as if he let this woman down. He immediately pealed his eyes away and looked at Sam, knowing there were more pressing matters than her worry.

Sam aggressively dialed numbers and put the phone to his ear. "Matt, it's Sam. Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay? Because something's coming." He paused and let Matt speak. "Yeah, a lot more." Another second passed. "You got to make him listen, okay?" Sam's voice was increasing in volume.

Dean had enough. "Give me the phone. Give me the phone!" He didn't wait for Sam. Dean snatched it away from Sam's ear and slammed it to his. "Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth. He'll just think you're nuts. Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you got to go to the hospital. Okay?" Dean quickly snapped the phone shut and quoted Sam. "'Make him listen.' What are you thinking?"

"This kid needs to stand up to his father, Dean."

"This isn't the time for a little rebellion. They're going to die if they don't get out of that house."

"Dean's right, Sam." Sarah's voice was mild. She didn't want to get in the middle of the boy's scuffles, but today needed to be an exception. It wasn't the time to start fighting. "He needs to get everyone out anyway he can. His father never believed him before. He's not going to start now."

The world flashed by as the car followed the road beneath them. Time was running out and the trio needed to beat the clock. Sarah hated when Dean sped. It was something he always did, even when they weren't in a hurry. However, this time, she felt comfortable. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind that Dean would get them all there safely and on time. She still hated the escalated speeds and so did her stomach, but the back of Dean's head gave her peace.

The car began to slow as they approached the only house on the block with lights on and cars in the driveway.

Dean stopped the engine. "Damn it, they're still here. Come on."

"This is going to be fun," Sarah whispered to herself as she forced the door open.

Larry met them at his door. "Get off my property before I call the cops!"

Sam tried to remain calm. "Mr. Pike, listen."

Matt appeared behind his father. "Dad, they're just trying to help."

Larry's face turned a dark shade of red. "Get in the house!"

"Sorry." Matt's voice was low, skittish. "I told him the truth."

Dean's face fell. "We had a plan, Matt. What happened to the plan?"

Sarah's head tilted in Dean's direction. We can't get upset now. "He's just a kid, Dean."

"Yeah, well..."

Now isn't the time for this. Sam interrupted their side conversation. "Look, the sun's down. They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go before it's too late."

"Oh, yeah, you mean before the biblical swarm," Larry mocked.

Dean wasn't the kind of man to go easy on guys like this. "What do you think really happened to that realtor, huh? And the gas-company guy? You don't think something weird's going on around here?"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy. You come near my boy or my family again, we're gonna have a problem."

"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we got a problem right now."

Matt couldn't stand and watch anymore. "Dad, they're right. We're in danger."

"Matt, get inside Now!"

"No! Why won't you listen to me?!"

"Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!"

"Look," Sam yelled. "This land is cursed. People have died here. Are you gonna really take that risk with your family?"

"Wait." Dean's voice stopped everything. "You hear it?"

In the quiet night, a low hum sounded off in the distance.

Larry's face crunched up "What the hell?"

Behind the man and his son, the bug zapper that hung on the Pike family's porch started to flash. The bugs ignited themselves against the blue light over and over. It was going off like a siren on an ambulance.

"It's time to go. Larry, get your wife."

"Guys." Matt's face stared off toward the moon. The light was being blocked by small dots flying through the air. It was too late.

Sarah told the boys. "We're not going to make it."

At the sound of her voice, Dean knew they were in trouble. "Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house."

Without a second thought, Larry pushed open the door and everyone piled inside. Dean made sure his brother and friend were safely inside before slamming the white door shut and locking both locks.

Sam turned to Larry. "Is there anyone else in the neighborhood?"

Larry shook his head. "No, it's just us."

His wife finally emerged onto the scene. "Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?"

"Call 911," he instructed. Something hit the side of the house hard and caused a loud bang, making the couple jump out of their skin. "Joanie!"

Sarah touched Dean's shoulder. "Do you think there's going to be bees?"

"What? Sarah, not now." Dean's mind was elsewhere. He didn't have the time to deal with her dumb questions.

She squeezed him, making him stop to listen. "Well, if there are I think it might be a good time to tell you that I'm terrified of bees."

Everything in his mind instantly disappeared and his main focus was on her. His emerald eyes stared at the young woman in disbelief. "What?"

"Like crippling scared." Sarah's hand shook at just the mere thought.

Dean looked to Larry. "Do you have any towels?"

"Yeah, upstairs."

"Go get them!" Dean grabbed Sarah's shoulder with one hand and held her shaking hand with his other. "Hey, I know you're scared, but we're hunters. We don't get to be scared. We need you right now." He took his hand off of her shoulder, brushed a small hair out of her face and his eyes were fixed on her's. "I need you."

She tried to ignore her hand in her. It was a feeling she never felt before. She didn't want to move and didn't want this moment to end. 'I need you.' He needs me? Sarah's heart stopped. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," she breathed.

Dean patted her on the shoulder. "That's my girl."

His girl? Sarah watched as Dean's hand left her's and he rushed over to Larry's side and started shoving towels under the doorframe and windowsills. He meant that I'm his friend. That's it. Pull yourself together. With one last breath, Sarah rushed into action. She grabbed towels from Dean's hands and did as he did. Bees or no bees, I'm not going to let anyone die. Not again.

In the midst of all the panic in the home, the lights went dark. The entire house's electricity was busted.

"Did they chew through the power lines?" Sarah shouted to Dean over the constant buzzing.

"The phones not working either," Larry informed them. "Not even the cell."

"No signal?"

Dean looked out the window. "You won't get one. They're blanketing the house." Bugs crawled and covered every inch of all the windows. Little pats from more bugs hitting the home could be heard in every room.

Larry turned to the trio with concern written on his face. "So, what do we do now?"

Sam sighed. "We try to outlast it." Dean left the room before Sam finished. "Hopefully the curse will end at sunrise."

"Hopefully?"

"Hopefully," Sarah copied.

Dean rummaged through the family's cleaning supplies in the hopes of finding something useful. To his pleasure, he discovered a can of bug spray. He came back into the main area.

"Dean, sweety, that's a nice thought, but that's not going to get us very far."

Dean turned to Sarah and winked. "Trust me."

A loud creak from the other side of the room startled the group.

"What is that?" Matt asked in a panic.

The buzzing grew more intense with the sound of the creak.

Sam turned his ear to locate the noise. It was coming from the fireplace. "The flue."

"I think everybody needs to get upstairs." At the very end of Dean's sentence, the gate covering the fireplace broke open and wasps swarmed the inside.

Sarah covered her face, trying to forget everything she hated about bees, but it was worthless. Memories of her childhood flooded back to her and her body froze. The shaking of her voice was the only thing that moved.

Dean pulled out his lighter and bug spray. Without a second thought, he used the two items together and made a flamethrower to kill as many of those demons he possibly could. "Everybody upstairs now! Go! Go! Go! Go! Move it!"

Everyone created a single filed line and moved as fast as they could upstairs. All except for Sarah. Her body was too tense and got worse with each sting.

Dean counted the people at the top of the stairs and noticed they were missing one. Where the hell is that girl? "Sam, get them to the attic," he called to his brother. Without waiting for a response, Dean ran down the stairs while enduring constant pain from the wasp's stingers.

He found her right where they all left her. Her body was covered with wasps, but she didn't move. Both hands pressed against her cheeks, covering her eyes. She was like a terrified child. "Sarah!" Dean yelled to her, but nothing. She did not stir nor did she make a sound. Fear had completely taken over.

One wasp landed on Dean's left cheek and jabbed him. "Son of a bitch!" She is gonna owe me big time. He slapped it away and pushed through the swarm. Her body gave off an intense vibe and he knew that no words were going to get her to start moving again. Instead, he took her fate into his own hands. He scooped her legs with his left arm and supported her back with his right.

Sarah finally snapped out of it. "Dean?"

"No man left behind." Dean started sprinting up the steps, determined to get the both of them out of this hell alive.

Sam pushed the family into the attic and called to his brother and friend from the top. "Come on! Come on!"

Dean placed Sarah back on her feet and forced her up the ladder first. "Go! Go! Go!"

Sam held his hand out and Sarah grabbed it. He pulled her inside and then helped his brother do the same. He then slammed the door closed.

Sarah had run to the other side of the attic. Her voice was hysterical. "Dean, I'm so sorry. I tried. I tried. There were just so many. I froze. I didn't know what to do."

Her distress was the only thing he could think about. Even with all that was going on, he needed to try and comfort her. To him, that was the most important thing. He rushed over to her side and quickly pulled her into a hug. "Hey, hey. It's okay. It's okay. You did good."

The buzzing noise increased all around them and pieces of the ceiling began to disintegrate. "Oh, God. What's that?" Joanie asked in a panic.

"Something's eating through the wood," Sam commented.

"Termites," Matt whispered.

Dean released the girl and pulled off his jacket. "Here," he said.

Sarah looked at him. "I already have one."

"Put it over your face. It will protect you from more stings."

"Dean-"

He cut her off. "Just do it." He pushed her over to the family and covered her face with his jacket.

Suddenly, an entire section of the ceiling broke free and a stream of wasps came flowing through the hole.

Sarah took Dean's jacket and tried to shield the petrified family. She refused to just sit there without trying to help in anyway she could.

Dean tried to fight the bees back with his makeshift flamethrower as Sam grabbed a spare piece of cardboard on the ground. Dean released the flame and grabbed a loose two by four from the wall. Together, the boys tried to patch up the hole.

When one hole was finally fixed, another popped up on the opposite side. Dean once again used his flamethrower, but there were too many of them.

The family started to panic with the amount of bugs that swarmed around them. Sarah tried to calm them down, but it was no use. She was still drowning in her own fear.

"Huddle together," Dean demanded. "Cover your faces." He continued to fight the ever losing battle even when their patch failed and the original hole opened up once again. However, his bug spray could only last so long and eventually died out. "Oh crap!" He chucked it to the side and joined the huddle with the rest of the people, purposely placing himself next to Sarah.

"Look!" Sam exclaimed.

Just as fast as they came, the bugs began to recede from the residence through the holes they made and light shined brightly into the home. Daybreak had finally come. The trio stood up from the floor and watched out the ceiling as the bugs flew into the sunrise.

Sarah's voice was horse. "Did we beat it?"

Dean huffed. "I sure as hell hope so."


A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Another will come soon. This chapter was named after Honeybee by Blake Shelton.