Chapter Twenty-Nine: Croatoan
"Continue on O-R Two-Two-Four West," the GPS said.
"There are only two towns in the US named Rivergrove," Sam said. He glanced over at his brother before he looked back to the road. Sam was navigating, while Alec was being quiet in the back. He'd left his brothers alone for just a few minutes and had come back to find Sam on the floor and Alec freaking out because Sam had another vision.
"How come you're so sure it's the one in Oregon?" he asked.
"There was a picture," Sam said. "Crater Lake." At least Sam was pretty good at catching details in his visions. But he needed a little more to go on.
"Ok, what else?" he asked.
"I saw a dark room, some people, and a guy tied to a chair," Sam said, giving him a summarized version of what he'd told him before.
"And I ventilated him?" he asked to make sure. Sam's visions were always about someone dying, but they'd never investigated one where he'd done the killing. It was weird.
"Yeah. You thought there was something inside him," Sam said.
"What, a demon?" he asked. "Was he possessed?" That would make sense. He could see killing a guy who was possessed. Or some kind of monster. But Sam's visions were always connected to the demon.
"I don't know," Sam muttered.
"Well, all your weirdo visions are always tied to the Yellow-Eyed Demon somehow…so, was there any black smoke? Did we try to exorcise it?" he asked. He hated begging for information.
"No. Nothing," Sam said, sounding like he was tired of talking about it. Tough shit. "You just plugged him, that's all."
"Might not have been a demon," Alec said from the back. He glanced back at his brother; something didn't sound right in Alec's voice. "If you just shot the guy, then it could've been something else. Regular bullets wouldn't waste a demon, right?"
He agreed with that, but he didn't know what it could have been, and it didn't seem like Sam knew either. "Well, I'm sure I had a good reason," he finally said.
"I sure hope so," Sam mumbled under his breath.
"What does that mean," he snapped. "I mean, I'm not gonna waste an innocent man." Sam just raised his eyebrows, which pissed him off. "I wouldn't!"
"I never said you would!" Sam yelled back.
"Fine!"
"Fine," Sam said, slumping against the door. He heard Alec rustling around in the back, but he didn't want to snap at Alec, so he focused on driving. "Look, we don't know what it is. But whatever it is, that guy in the chair's a part of it. So, let's find him and see what's what."
"Fine," he muttered.
"Fine," Sam agreed.
"Guess you didn't see a n-nametag or anything, did you?" Alec asked. He whipped around to look at his little brother, nearly taking the Impala off the road. He wasn't imagining things; something wasn't right. He caught sight of the nearly empty pill bottle in Alec's shaking hand.
"We need to stop?" he asked, looking back and forth from his brother to the road.
"No, I-I'm alright," Alec said as he struggled to get the pill bottle open. Alec's shaking was getting worse. It was still just his hands, but he shouldn't have any problem opening that bottle.
Sam reached back and gently took the bottle, easily popping it open. "How many?" Sam asked.
"T-two probably…" Alec said.
Sam reached back and grabbed Alec's hand before he set two pills in the palm of his hand. He gently curled Alec's fingers, so he was holding the pills, but Alec hardly had any control of his arm muscles right then. He watched his brother more than the road as Alec downed the pills.
"It's gonna be a few hours before we get there…" he said. He knew there was a pillow back there, but he wasn't sure if Alec needed a blanket or an extra coat or something. Alec was usually cold after he had a seizure.
"They should st-stop soon," Alec said. He was glad Alec said it even though neither of them had any idea if that was true or not. The pills worked…or at least, they had been working. He didn't know what they were going to do if the pills stopped working. He made a mental note to get some more as soon as he had a chance. He knew there was another bottle in Alec's bag, and he and Sam both had one each, but he liked to keep them everywhere they could possibly need them. He was going to try his best to prevent Alec from ever having seizures again.
Alec laid down, curling up on the seat with his pillow under his head. Sam reached back to rub Alec's shoulder, "You tell us if you need somethin', ok?" He couldn't see if Alec nodded or not, but Sam would tell him if Alec needed something.
He really didn't want to go to Oregon now. Alec was hurting, and they had no idea what they were walking into.
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"Alec, stay here, ok kiddo?" Dean said once he parked.
"I'm just gonna stand by the car. I gotta stretch my legs a little," Alec said. He sounded better, and his hands weren't shaking anymore, so hopefully he wasn't going to have a seizure. He really hoped he wouldn't. He hated when his little brother was hurt and there was nothing he could do to help him.
Dean hesitated until Alec leaned against the side of the car and gave them both a small smile. "You think he's ok?" he whispered as they walked away.
"He can still hear you," Dean said, glancing back at Alec. He just stared at Dean. He didn't care if Alec could still hear them; he wanted to know if Dean thought Alec was going to be ok. He trusted Alec to know his limits, but Dean really did know Alec better than him. He just needed to hear it from his big brother. "I think he's ok," Dean finally said. "He's probably gonna take it easy on this one."
"You think the pills are working still?" he asked.
"I hope so," Dean replied honestly. "I don't know what we're gonna do if they stop working."
"Yeah…" he agreed.
They walked up to a building where an older man was sitting out front cleaning a rifle. It was one of the men from his vision. "Morning," Dean greeted.
"Good morning," the man replied. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah," Dean said as he pulled out one of his fake badges. "Uh, Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard. U.S. Marshals."
"What's this about?" the guy asked.
"We're looking for someone," Dean started.
"A young man, early twenties," he cut in. "He'd have a, a thin scar right below his hairline." He tried to remember every possible detail from the vision that he could.
"What'd he do?" the man asked. He clearly knew who they were talking about.
"Well, nothing. We're actually looking for someone else, but we think this young man could help us," he said.
"Yeah, he's not in any kind of trouble or anything…well, not yet," Dean said. The guy seemed like he still didn't want to answer. "I think maybe you know who he is…Master Sergeant." He looked down and caught the tattoo on the guy's arm, which must have clued Dean in. Dean smiled, "My Dad was in the Corps. He was a Corporal."
"What company?" the man asked.
"Echo-2-1," Dean replied.
"So, can you help us?" he asked, seeing the guy loosening up a tiny bit.
The guy still hesitated, but then said, "Duane Tanner's got a scar like that. But I know him. Good kid. Keeps his nose clean."
"Oh, I'm sure he does. Um, you know where he lives?" Dean asked.
"With his family, up Aspen Way," the guy said.
"Thank you," Dean said.
They both turned to go back across the street, but he felt panic grip him when he didn't see Alec where they'd left him. Dean tensed next to him, also freaking out about not seeing their little brother. They ran the rest of the way across the street, but then Dean hit his arm. He breathed out in relief when he saw Alec over by a telephone pole.
"Alec-"
"Croatoan," Alec said back. He put his hand against Alec's forehead, fearing that he had a fever. But then he caught sight of the word CROATOAN carved into the pole. He dropped his hand, surprised to see that here, and surprised that Alec hadn't already hit his hand away from him.
"What?" Dean asked. "You feelin' ok, kiddo?"
"Roanoke? Lost colony? Ring a bell?" he asked Dean, knowing immediately that Alec had found something important. But Dean stared at him with a blank look. "Dean, did you pay any attention in history class?"
"Yeah!" Dean said. "Shots heard 'round the world, How bills become laws…"
"That's not school, that's Schoolhouse Rock!" he asked.
"What's Schoolhouse Rock?" Alec asked.
Dean looked at Alec like he was crazy before he shook his head. "You poor deprived child…"
"It's a show for kids to help teach history," he patiently explained.
"It's got catchy music," Dean said, like that was the most important part. Those songs used to drive him nuts. Dean would hear one or think of a line from one of the songs, and then he'd sing it to death. And his brother couldn't sing. It had been incredibly annoying. He really hoped Dean wouldn't start that up again.
"Suffice it to say, I haven't seen any of those," Alec said, and then he looked at Dean, "I'm not a child."
"You're a kid," Dean argued. "And your childhood was crap." Alec shrugged like he couldn't argue with that and dropped it.
"Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America," he said. "Late 1500s?"
"Oh yeah, yeah, I do remember that," Dean said with a nod. "The only thing they left behind was a single word carved in a tree. Croatoan."
"Yeah, and I mean, there were theories…Indian raid, disease, but nobody knows what really happened. They were all just gone. I mean, wiped out overnight," he said.
"You don't think that's what's going on here, I mean…" Dean trailed off and looked around.
"Whatever I saw in my head, it sure wasn't good," he said. "But what do you think could do that?"
"Well, I mean, like I said, all of your weirdo visions are always tied to the Yellow-Eyed Demon somehow, so…" Dean said.
"We should get help. Bobby, uh, Ellen maybe?" he said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Dean agreed. "Alec, text Jo." Alec's eyes widened, and he quickly shook his head no. So, Jo still wasn't talking to him. That sucked. "Alright, you wanna try Bobby?"
"I don't have Bobby's number," Alec mumbled as he looked away from them.
"You're gonna need that," Dean said, getting his phone out instead. Dean frowned, "I don't have a signal." He got his own phone out and saw that he didn't have signal either. Instead, they walked over to the pay phone on the corner to try that. Dean picked up the phone and listened for a second, but then shook his head and clicked the receiver a few times. "Line's dead," Dean said, hanging up the phone again. "I'll tell you one thing. If I was gonna massacre a town, that'd be my first step."
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Sam and Dean got out of the Impala and walked up to a small cabin. They both looked back at him to see what he was going to do. They probably wanted him to stay in the car, but he was feeling a little better now, and he still wanted to know what was going on. He'd stayed by the car when they'd talked to that other guy because he could still hear what they were saying. He could probably still hear what was said here too, but he needed to walk around a little.
He walked around the corner, catching sight of a teenager answering the door before he was completely around the corner.
"Yeah?"
"We're looking for Duane Tanner," Dean said. "He lives here, right?"
"Yeah, he's my brother," the kid said. He smiled to himself since he was probably about the same age as the guy who'd answered the door.
"Can we talk to him?" Dean asked.
"Oh, he's not here right now," the guy replied.
"Do you know where he is?" Dean asked. He walked further around the corner to try to see if there were any windows he could peek into or something.
"Yeah, he went on a fishing trip up by Roslyn Lake."
"Of course he did," he muttered to himself.
"Your parents home?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, they're inside."
"Jake? Who is it?" an older man asked. He was guessing this was Mr. Tanner.
"Hi, U.S. Marshals, sir," Dean introduced. "We're looking for your son Duane."
"Why? He's not in trouble, is he?" Mr. Tanner asked.
"No, no, no," Dean said. "We just need to ask him a couple of routine questions, that's all."
"When's he due back from his trip?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure…" Mr. Tanner said.
How could he not know when his son was coming back? It'd be one thing if he didn't know what time he was coming back, but to not even know the day? That was weird.
"Well, maybe your wife knows," Sam said.
"No, I don't know, she not here right now," Mr. Tanner said. Alarm bells went off. Something definitely wasn't right here.
"Your son said she was," Dean said, also catching on that something was up.
"Did I?" Jake asked.
"She's getting groceries," Mr. Tanner said. It could've been possible that Jake just didn't know his mom was out right then, but he didn't think so. "So, when Duane gets back, is there a number where he can get ahold of you?"
"Oh, no, we'll just check in with you later," Dean said like it was no big deal.
He finally found a window and immediately peeked inside. His eyes widened when he saw a woman tied to a chair. His first thought was to go in and get her out, but he knew his brothers would be pissed if he did that. And he had to admit, he felt better, but he knew he wasn't 100% right then.
"That was kind of creepy, right?" Dean asked Sam. He quickly walked back to the corner of the house to meet up with his brothers. "A little too Stepford?"
"Big time," Sam agreed.
"Hey," Dean said when he spotted him, but then immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
"There's somethin' you should see," he said.
He led the way back to the window so his brothers could see the lady tied to the chair. Mr. Tanner and Jake came into the room with who had to be Mrs. Tanner. Mr. Tanner held up a large knife, and Jake held out his arm, willingly letting Mr. Tanner cut him. Blood dripped onto Mrs. Tanner's shoulder.
Sam and Dean drew their guns, so he got his out too, knowing they were about to bust in. Dean kicked in the backdoor and ran inside. Sam was right behind him, and even though he knew his brothers would want him to stay outside, he went in anyway.
Mr. Tanner suddenly ran at Dean with the knife raised. Dean didn't hesitate to shoot the guy three times in the chest. Jake dodged Sam and jumped through the window. He didn't even think about shooting the guy or running after him. He didn't know what was going on, and he was trying really hard to be good. Jake hadn't attacked them, so he didn't really want to shoot the kid.
Sam aimed at Jake as he ran through the woods, but he didn't shoot at him.
Dean didn't look happy, but he just went to Mrs. Tanner and cut her free. Sam helped her out to the car, and he ran ahead to clean up the backseat. He didn't really want the lady to sit back there with him, but he wouldn't make a big deal about it. He smiled though when Sam helped Mrs. Tanner into the front seat, and then he got into the back with him.
Mrs. Tanner was in complete shock, so she didn't say anything the entire way back into town.
Sam immediately jumped out and helped Mrs. Tanner out of the car once they were at the clinic. Dean went around to the trunk, and he thought about offering to carry the dead body, but he knew how far that would get him. Instead, he shut the trunk once Dean had Mr. Tanner over his shoulders. He ran ahead to get the door for his brother, looking around to make sure no one had noticed them carrying around a dead guy.
"Mrs. Tanner, what happened?" a young blonde woman asked.
"She's been attacked," Sam said.
"Dr. Lee?" the blonde called out.
"Bring her in," Dr. Lee said as she rushed into the room. Sam led Mrs. Tanner further into the clinic. Dr. Lee started to follow but stopped when Dean came in with Mr. Tanner over his shoulders. "Is that…"
"Mr. Tanner," Dean finished Dr. Lee's unasked question.
"Was he attacked too?" Dr. Lee asked.
"Uh…no, actually, he did the attacking, and then he got himself shot," Dean said.
"Shot?" Dr. Lee asked in surprise.
"Yeah."
"And who are you?" Dr. Lee asked.
"U.S. Marshal," Dean stated. "I'd show you my badge, but uh…" Dean trailed off and shifted slightly to shift the weight over his shoulders.
"Oh. Sorry. Bring him back here," Dr. Lee said.
He held the doors again to let his brother through, and then helped him get Mr. Tanner from his shoulders. "You feelin' ok?" Dean asked softly, tilting his chin slightly.
"Yeah, I'm ok," he said.
"Any ideas?" Dean asked.
He shrugged, "Don't know. Maybe you're right and it's some kind of demon thing…Mrs. Tanner seems pretty freaked. Could be psycho humans, but…" He shrugged again, "I don't know."
Dean messed up his hair, "I'm not benching you, but…take it easy on this one, ok?" He nodded in agreement since he'd already been planning on taking it easy to make his brothers feel better. But if this was some kind of demon thing, then he was going to help no matter what.
They went to the back where Dr. Lee was treating a cut on Mrs. Tanner's shoulder.
"Wait, you said Jake helped him? Your son Jake?" Dr. Lee asking in shock.
Mrs. Tanner nodded, "They beat me. Tied me up."
"I don't believe it," the blonde lady said.
"Pam," Dr. Lee said to the blonde. "Beverly…do you have any idea why they would act this way? Any history of chemical dependency?"
"No, of course not," Mrs. Tanner said. "I don't know why. One minute they were my husband and my son. And the next, they had the devil in them."
Sam and Dean shared a look, and then Dean whispered, "We gotta talk." Sam started to leave, and then Dean motioned for him to follow them. He knew he belonged with Sam and Dean, but it made him feel good when they included him. "Those guys were whacked out of their gourds," Dean said once they were in the hallway.
"What do you think? Multiple demons? Mass possession?" Sam asked.
"If it is a possession, there could be more," Dean said. "I mean, God knows how many. It could be like a freakin' Shriner convention."
"Great," Sam muttered.
"Of course, that's one way to wipe out a town. You take it from the inside," Dean said.
"I don't know, man. We didn't see any of the demon smoke with Mr. Tanner. Or any of the other usual signs," Sam said. "Alec, did you smell any sulfur?"
He shook his head no, "But that doesn't mean anything. I didn't smell sulfur when they caught me and John."
"Something turned him into a monster," Dean said. "And you know, if you woulda taken out the other one, there'd be one less to worry about."
"I'm sorry, alright? I hesitated, Dean. It was a kid!" Sam said.
"No, it was an 'it'," Dean argued. "Not the best time for a bleeding heart, Sam." He nudged Dean, who sighed back, already knowing that he needed to rein it in. He smiled a tiny bit since he didn't even have to say anything to talk to Dean sometimes.
He looked up when he heard someone walking towards them. Sam and Dean looked up when he did, and then Dr. Lee walked over. "How's the patient?" Sam asked.
"Terrible!" Dr. Lee replied. "What the hell happened out there?"
"We don't know," Dean said honestly.
"Yeah? Well, you just killed my next-door neighbor," De. Lee said. She was starting to freak out. He couldn't blame her for that; he just hoped that she could get it together again. They were in a weird situation, and he was pretty sure this was only going to get weirder.
"We didn't have a choice," Dean said.
"Maybe so," Dr. Lee relented. "But we need the county Sheriff. I need the coroner…"
"Phones are down," Sam said.
"I know. I tried," Dr. Lee said. "Tell me you have a police radio in the car?"
"Yeah, we do. But it crapped out just like everything else," Sam said.
"I don't understand what is happening," Dr. Lee said.
"How far is it to the next town?" Dean suddenly asked. He looked over at his brother, but Dean just motioned for him to wait.
"It's about 40 miles down to Sidewinder," Dr. Lee answered.
"Alright, I'm gonna go down there, see if I can find some help," Dean said. He hated splitting up. And he knew Sam and Dean would want him to stay here. Dean clapped Sam's shoulder, "My partner and little brother will stick around. Keep you guys safe." Well, that answered that question.
"Safe from what?" Dr. Lee asked, shooting him a quick look. He was too young to be a U.S. Marshal, but she was probably wondering how he was going to help keep them safe.
"We'll get back to you on that," Dean said. His brother gave him a pointed look, silently telling him to stay put, before he left.
De. Lee walked back to the lab area, but Sam stayed back. He already knew his brother wanted to make sure he was ok, so he beat him to it, "I'm feeling ok."
"Ok isn't the same as 100%," Sam said. "And demons…"
"Sam, I'll take it easy, but I'm not sitting out," he said. "Mostly because it's probably demons."
"Alec, you were tortured by demons," Sam said to try to convince him.
"I've been tortured by humans too," he said.
Sam pulled him close suddenly and hugged him. He relaxed against his brother. He'd never say no to a hug. He didn't care if it wasn't manly, and it definitely wasn't what a good soldier would do, he'd take a hug every chance he got. His first hug had been from Rachel, and he'd known right then that he'd missed something in his life.
"Alright, let's go see if we can figure out what's going on," Sam said.
"We're gonna bug the doctor lady?" he asked.
Sam laughed, "I wouldn't say that we're gonna bug her."
He chuckled since it still meant that they were going to go see what she was doing. He sat down in an office chair and tried to look like he was lounging in case Sam was paying attention to him. He was feeling ok, but like Sam said, ok wasn't 100%. He was worn out and he'd barely done anything.
Sam paced while Dr. Lee looked at something under a microscope. His lounging backfired on him since he dozed off where he was sitting.
"What?" Sam asked suddenly. He jumped awake and looked around in confusion. It took him a second to remember everything that was going on. Sam squeezed his shoulder on the way by as he walked over to Dr. Lee.
"His lymphocyte percentage is pretty high. His body was fighting off a viral infection," Dr. Lee said.
"Really? What kind of virus?" Sam asked.
"Can't say for sure."
"Do you think an infection could have made him act like that?" Sam asked.
"None that I've ever heard of. I mean, some can cause dementia, but not that kind of violence. And besides, I've never heard of one that did this to the blood," Dr. Lee said.
"Did what?" Sam asked.
"There's this…weird residue," she said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say it was sulfur."
Sam looked over at him and muttered, "Sulfur."
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He drove down the road until he finally reached a bridge. He'd stopped briefly when he'd found a car, but there hadn't been anyone around, and there had been blood all over the seats. There was a roadblock up ahead, with about 10 people standing in front of a group of cars, and they were all armed. He frowned when he spotted Jake among the group of people.
He jumped when something slammed down on the roof of his car. A man leaned over, and he immediately wanted to drive away, but he forced himself to just sit there.
"Sorry. Road's closed," the man said.
"Yeah, I can see that," he said. "What's up?"
"Quarantine."
"Quarantine? What is it?" he asked.
"Don't know. Something going around out there," the man said. He didn't sound too concerned about whatever it was. He was definitely one of them.
"Uh-huh. Who told you that?" he asked.
"County Sheriff."
"Is he here?" he asked.
"No. He called. Say, why don't you get out of the car, and we'll talk a little?"
He chuckled, "Well, you are a handsome devil, but I don't swing that way, sorry."
"I'd sure appreciate it if you got out of the car. Just for a quick minute."
"Yeah, I'll bet you would…" he muttered. He threw the car into reverse and floored it. The man grabbed him and held on, refusing to let go. The people at the roadblock started to shoot at him, but thankfully, they weren't very good shots. He turned hard on the wheel, throwing the Impala into gear as the guy fell. He took off without looking back, just hoping they wouldn't follow him.
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"I don't understand," Mrs. Tanner said. She was sitting on a stool in the lab, while Dr. Lee tried to explain what was going on. He was watching Mrs. Tanner, but he was still watching Alec at the same time. His little brother looked calm, but he was good at pretending to be ok. "Are you saying my husband and Jake had a disease?"
"That's what we're trying to find out," Dr. Lee said. "Now, during the attack, do you remember…did you have any direct contact with their blood?"
"Oh my God…You don't think I've got this virus, do you?" Mrs. Tanner asked, sounding hysterical. That didn't last long.
"Beverly, I don't know what to think. But with your permission, we'll take a blood sample," Dr. Lee said.
Mrs. Tanner nodded and calmly held out her hand. But then suddenly she grabbed Dr. Lee and yelled. He moved forward to try to get her to let go, but she threw him off his feet. He hit a glass cabinet hard, making it shatter from his weight. She picked up a scalpel and ran at him, but he was struggling to get up. Alec ran over and slammed into Mrs. Tanner. His little brother was a blur, and he couldn't tell what was going on. Mrs. Tanner suddenly hit the wall hard enough to bust the plaster and slid down in an unconscious heap.
He looked over at Alec, who was shaking slightly. There was blood dripping from his fingers of his left hand and he was looking at Mrs. Tanner in shock. He painfully got up, absentmindedly brushing glass off of himself as he went.
He reached out to turn Alec towards himself, but his little brother flinched away. "Alec, let me see," he said softly. Alec kept his eyes down as he turned slightly towards him. His eyes widened when he spotted the scalpel sticking out of Alec's upper arm. "Alright, um, let's lock Mrs. Tanner up somewhere and deal with her later. Um, Dr. Lee? Is there somewhere I can patch him up?"
"Wait, you're not seriously considering taking out the scalpel yourself, are you?" Dr. Lee asked.
He shared a look with Alec, and then shrugged when his little brother just raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Um, yeah?" he finally said.
"The scalpel could've hit an artery. He could bleed out," Dr. Lee said.
He looked back at Alec, who barely shook his head no. He wasn't sure if Alec was saying that the scalpel hadn't hit an artery, or if he was silently asking him to not let the doctor look him over. But Alec was still shaking. He gently grabbed Alec's wrist and felt relief when he stopped shaking. It wasn't the seizures, but that meant something else was going on.
He finally convinced Dr. Lee that he could patch Alec up without her help. He knew Alec needed to talk about something, and he knew his little brother wouldn't say a word until it was just the two of them. "You sure you want me to do this?" he asked once they were in a separate room. Mrs. Tanner was locked up, and she was still unconscious, so they had a few minutes. Alec gave him a look, which made him smile. Alec was still bleeding a lot and pulling out the scalpel didn't help. He moved fast once the scalpel was out and got Alec's jacket off.
Alec took in a sharp breath when he pressed hard against the small cut. It took a few minutes, but the blood finally slowed down. He cleaned the cut and put in a couple stitches.
"You ok?" he asked as he wrapped Alec's arm. Alec didn't answer, so he asked, "Are your pills working?" He was pretty sure they were working, but he needed to get Alec talking.
"I wasn't shaking because of the pills," Alec whispered. He took his time tying off the bandage. He knew if he pretended to keep working, then Alec would keep talking. "I almost killed her…it was instinct. I could've broken her neck."
"Alec, she attacked us," he reasoned. "And we don't even know if she's human or not."
"But what if she is? What if she's possessed?" Alec asked. "I could've-" Alec stopped suddenly and refused to look at him.
He frowned since he just remembered what Alec had said after the whole Gordon thing. Alec didn't want to be a bad guy. He should've asked him what he meant as soon as he'd said it, but that had been a rough hunt and he hadn't wanted to keep pushing. "Alec…you aren't bad," he said. Alec's eyes snapped up in surprise. "You told me after Gordon that I had to keep you away from him so you wouldn't be a bad guy. What did you mean?"
Alec's jaw clenched, "I can't kill anyone…any humans. I killed at Manticore because I was told to. Now that I'm out, what does that make me if I kill someone?"
"You're not a monster or a bad guy," he said. He would drill it into Alec's head for the rest of his life if he had to. His little brother was good. Alec didn't say anything, and he could tell that he was done talking. But he'd keep at it.
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He was almost back to the clinic when the guy he and Sam had talked to earlier suddenly stepped out into the road. He had the rifle he'd been cleaning earlier aimed at him now, so he slowed the Impala down to a stop.
"Hands where I can see 'em!" the man ordered.
"Son of a…" he trailed off.
"Get out of the car! Out of the car!"
He opened the door and slowly got out. "Alright, easy there big guy." He got his gun out and aimed at the guy, ready and willing to shoot. "Alright, put it down!"
"Lower it now!"
"Put it down!" They were definitely at a standoff. He wasn't about to lower his gun since this guy could be trying to trick him.
"Are you one of 'em?"
"No! Are you?"
"No!'
"You could be lying!"
"So could you!"
They weren't getting anywhere with this. "Alright! Alright. We could do this all day, alright? Let's just, uh, let's take it easy before we kill each other," he said.
The guy lowered his gun slightly, "What's going on with everybody?"
"I don't know," he admitted.
"My neighbor…Mr. Rogers, he-"
"You've got a neighbor named Mr. Rogers?" he cut in, trying to not laugh. This was a serious situation, but…that was pretty funny.
"Not anymore," the man said. "He came at me with a hatchet. I put him down. He's not the only one. I mean, it's happening to everyone."
"I'm heading over to the Doc's place. There're still some people left," he said. His brothers. He needed to make sure his brothers were still ok. He had no idea what they were going to do, but he'd been gone a while.
"No, no way. I'm getting the hell out."
"There's no way out. They got the bridge covered. Now, come on," he said.
"I don't believe you." He couldn't really blame the guy. He'd want to see for himself too if the roles were reversed, but he didn't have time for this.
"Fine. Stay here. Be my guest," he said as he got back in the car. The man hesitated, but then he did get in the Impala. He put his rifle down but got out a handgun instead. He still had his gun up, but he had to drive with one hand now. "Well, this ought to be a relaxing drive."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They were back in the lab again. He had decided to leave his jacket off and just wear his t-shirt since his jacket was covered in blood. He was sitting in an office chair since he did feel a little woozy from the blood loss. He was guessing the scalpel had nicked his artery, but he'd heal, he just needed to rest a little. Great time to be out of the fight.
Dr. Lee was looking at something through a microscope. He was guessing it was a sample of Mrs. Tanner's blood. The blonde girl, Pam, was standing in the corner, about ready to freak out. She was chewing on her thumb nail, looking around nervously. Sam was standing near the door, and he was pretty sure his brother was watching him.
"What if we all have it? What if we all go crazy?" Pam asked. If they all had it, then it didn't really matter, but if only one of them had it, then they were all screwed anyway. Freaking out about it wasn't going to help.
"You've got to stay calm. All we can do is wait," Dr. Lee said. "The Marshal's bringing help."
"I can't, I…I've got to go," Pam said.
"Pam!" Dr. Lee snapped. At least he was right about her name.
"No, you don't understand. My boyfriend's out there. I gotta make sure he's ok," she said. Luckily, she ran out of the lab before anyone, mainly him, could say anything insensitive about her boyfriend already being infected or dead.
Sam ran to follow her, and he slowly followed. "Alright, wait, wait," Sam said, hurrying to be in front of Pam to stop her. "Please. Look, I know you're upset, alright? But it's safer if you stay here for now. Help is coming."
He smiled a little when he heard the Impala. "Dean's back," he said.
"Sammy? Open up!" Dean called out.
Sam went and immediately opened the door to let Dean in. Another guy came in with Dean, and it took him a minute to figure out it was the guy Sam and Dean had talked to earlier, and they both had their guns out. He realized a little late that Dean could be infected with whatever was going on, but if he was infected, he would've already shot them.
"Did you guys, uh, get to a phone?" Sam asked, thrown off by the extra guy.
"Roadblock," Dean said. Dean looked at the guy and said, "I'm gonna have a word. Doc's inside." The man walked further into the clinic, bringing Pam with him. Dean frowned suddenly and grabbed his arm. "What the hell happened?"
"I'm alright," he said.
"What's going on out there, Dean?" Sam asked before Dean could question him more.
"Man, I don't know. I feel like Chuck Heston in the Omega Man. I mean, Sarge is the only sane person I could find," Dean said. He knew his brother wasn't thrown off from questioning him about his arm. "What are we dealing with? Do you know?"
"Yeah. Doc thinks it's a virus," Sam said.
"Ok, great. What do you think?" Dean asked.
"I think she's right," Sam replied.
"Really?"
"Yeah. And I think the infected are trying to infect others with blood-to-blood contact-"
"What the fuck happened to your arm?" Dean demanded, cutting Sam off.
"It was just a scalpel," he said. "And she didn't bleed on me or anything."
"Who?" Dean growled.
"Mrs. Tanner."
"We're not done with this discussion," Dean stated before he looked back at Sam. "Anything else with the infection?"
"It leaves traces of sulfur in the blood," Sam said.
"A demonic virus?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, more like demonic germ warfare," Sam said. "At least it explains why I've been having visions."
"It's like a Biblical plague," Dean said.
"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 said.
"And?"
"Dad always had a theory about Croatoan. He thought it was a demon's name," Sam said. "Sometimes known as Deva or sometimes Resheph. A demon of plague and pestilence."
"Well, that, that's terrific," Dean said. He smiled a little since Dean really didn't know what to do with that information. He didn't either, but Dean was just funny. "Why here? Why now?"
"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 said.
"They've got one! In here!" Sarge yelled. He was guessing he was talking about Mrs. Tanner.
Dean ran into the lab, and Sam ran after him. He trailed behind his brothers, unsure what the plan really was.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"The wife. She's infected," Sam said.
"We've gotta take care of this. We can't just leave her in there," Sarge said. "My neighbors, they were strong. The longer we wait, the stronger she'll get."
Dean got his gun out again, which startled Pam. "You're gonna kill Beverly Tanner?" Pam asked in shock.
"Doctor, could there be any treatment? Some kind of cure for this?" Sam asked.
"Can you cure it?" Dean asked.
"For God's sake! I don't even know what "it" is!" Dr. Lee said. He smiled a little; he actually liked the doctor a tiny bit.
"I told you, it's just a matter of time before she breaks through," Sarge said. He could admit that she was strong, and if she broke out, then they would be in trouble.
"Just leave her in there!" Pam said. "You can't shoot her like an animal!"
"Sam," Dean said, motioning that they needed to do this. He stayed in the lab, but he could hear as the door was opened to the room where they had locked Mrs. Tanner.
"Mark, what are you doing?" Mrs. Tanner asked, tears in her voice. Apparently, Sarge's name was Mark. "Mark, it's, it's them! They locked me in here! They, they tried to kill me! They're infected, not me! Please, Mark! You've known me all your life! Please!"
"You sure she's one of 'em?" Dean asked softly.
He was guessing that Sam nodded because two gunshots suddenly rang out.
His brothers came back in after a moment, leaving Mrs. Tanner's body in the other room. Dean walked over to him, and he didn't argue when his brother reached out for his arm. Dean needed a distraction, and his brother was freaked out. Dean checked his arm, but his arm was really going to be fine. And Sam had been the one to stitch him up, so he wasn't worried.
"You feelin' ok?" Dean asked.
He was about to just reassure his brother that he was fine, but he took a minute to actually think about things. He'd lost a lot of blood, and he'd had problems with his seizures before all this. "You didn't happen to bring any pills in with you…did you?" he finally asked.
Dean looked at him for a few seconds, which meant he didn't have any extra pills on him. "Maybe the Doc's got some milk in the fridge or something, huh?" Dean said. He looked down and nodded. "Hey, everything's gonna be ok."
"Kinda seems like this is one I should be able to help on," he muttered.
"We're just coolin' our heels for a bit," Dean said. "I'll ask the Doc if they have any milk."
"Dean…" he said before his brother could get far. Dean looked back at him and waited. "What if the pills stop working?" He'd heard Sam ask the same thing, and he knew Dean didn't have the answer, but he needed some kind of reassurance from his big brother. The seizures scared him.
"Then we'll find something that will," Dean said with a small smile, and then he reached out and messed up his hair. "Sit tight."
Dean got up and walked over to Dr. Lee and talked to her for a few minutes. Sam came over to him once Dean and Dr. Lee walked out of the room. "What's up?" Sam asked.
"I just…I think I need a couple more pills," he admitted. It was just easier to talk about his seizures with Dean. He wasn't sure why, but he was trying to talk more. At least about things he didn't want to talk about. "I lost some blood and I think injuries makes it more likely that I'll have 'em. Or…the pills aren't working like they were," he said when Sam didn't say anything.
"Is Dean going to get some?" Sam finally asked.
"He's checking to see if they have any milk," he said. "I don't think we can make it out to the car…"
Sam reached out suddenly and put his hand on his forehead. He let him since he did have a small fever, but he didn't think it was as high as it was when he had a seizure. "Maybe there's somewhere you can lay down for a while," Sam suggested. He gave his brother a look because that was just insane. Sam chuckled, "Alright, alright. Let's just hope Dean can find some milk."
"Head's up," Dean said, just before he tossed him a small bottle of chocolate milk. He easily caught it, so at least his motor functions were still working. "That's all we got, so try not to drink it all at once."
It was better than nothing, but it wasn't like they had an end game for all this. At some point, they were going to have to come up with a plan or make a break for it. Or, come up with a plan and make a break for it.
But it looked like they weren't going to do either of those things. He slowly sipped his milk while Dean sat close by and checked his gun. Mark was over by one of the windows, and he kept obsessively looking outside. Sam was sitting across from him, checking his knife.
He jumped when glass suddenly shattered, and Pam screamed. "Oh God! Is there any on me? Am I ok?"
Dr. Lee ran over and checked her, but then reassured, "You're clean. You're ok."
"Why are we staying here? Please, let's just go!" Pam said.
"No, we can't, because those things are everywhere," Dean said.
"Oh God…" Pam breathed.
"Hey, shh, shh," Dr. Lee soothed.
"She's right about one thing," Sam said. "We can't stay here. We've gotta get out of here, get to the Roadhouse? Somewhere. Let people know what's coming."
"Yeah, good point. Night of the Living Dead didn't exactly end pretty," Dean said.
"Well, I'm not sure we've got a choice," Mark said. "Lots of folks up here are good with rifles…even with all your hardware we're, we're easy targets. So, unless you've got some explosives…"
Sam looked around, and then stood up and walked over to a shelf. He picked up one of the bottles and said, "We could make some." Not a bad idea.
"Hey! Let me in! Let me in! Please!"
"Great," he muttered as he stood up.
Sam and Dean both motioned for him to stay back, but he just followed them anyway.
"It's Duane Tanner!" Mark said right before he let the guy in. He sighed since that was stupid. Duane limped inside and he saw Sam tense, so he was guessing this was the guy from the vision.
"Thank God," Duane breathed.
"Duane, you ok?" Mark asked.
"That's the guy that I, uh…" Dean clicked his tongue and made a cutting motion to signal killing the guy.
"Yeah," Sam said.
"Who else is in here?" Duane asked, starting to walk further into the clinic.
Dean grabbed his arm though and stopped him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, chief." Dean glanced back to where Dr. Lee was standing. Apparently, she'd also followed them to the front. "Hey Doc, give Duane a good once-over, would you?"
Dr. Lee walked back into the lab, so the rest of them followed. "Pam?"
"Who are you?" Duane asked Dean.
"Never mind who I am," Dean said. "Doc."
"Yeah, ok," Dr. Lee agreed.
"Duane, where you been?" Mark asked.
"On a fishing trip up by Roslyn," Duane said. "I came back this afternoon. I…I saw Roger 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?"
"Awkward," Dean whispered. He tried really hard to hide his smile since Sam gave Dean a look like that was super insensitive. Duane sat down on a stool, but he spotted some blood on his leg from a deep gash. He nudged Dean and nodded down to Duane's leg. "Where'd you get that?"
"I was running. I must have tripped," Duane said.
"Tie him up. There's rope in there," Dean said, pointing to another room.
"Wait…"
Duane started to get up, but Dean pulled his gun and ordered, "Sit down!"
"I'm sorry, Duane, he's right," Mark said. "We've gotta be careful."
"Careful? About what?" Duane asked. He huffed in disbelief. Like he didn't know after getting through all those people out there.
"Did they bleed on you?" Dean asked.
"No. What the hell? No!" Duane said.
"Doc? Any way to know for sure? Any test?" Sam asked.
"I've studied Beverly's bloodwork backwards and forwards," Dr. Lee said.
"My Mom!" Duane said.
"It took three hours for the virus to incubate," Dr. Lee said, trying to ignore Duane. "The sulfur didn't appear in the blood until then, so…no. There'd be no way of knowing. Not until after Duane turns."
"Dean, I gotta talk to you. Now," Sam said.
Dean looked over at Mark, who nodded back that he'd watch Duane. He was about to sit down again, but Sam grabbed his arm on the way by and brought him along too.
He had to clench his fist as soon as they were in another room and Sam had released him. His hand was shaking again. He quickly crossed his arms and tried to pretend that everything was fine. He didn't want to freak his brothers out, and since there was no more milk and the extra pills were in the car, there wasn't anything his brothers could do. He should've just stuffed his extra bottle in his pocket before he'd left the Impala.
"This is my vision, Dean. It's happening," Sam said.
"Yeah, I figured," Dean said.
"You can't kill him, alright? Not yet," Sam said. "We don't know if he's infected or not."
"Well, I think we're pretty damn sure," Dean argued. "Guy shows up out of nowhere, he's got a cut on his leg, his whole family's infected?"
"Alright, then we should keep him tied up, and we should wait and see," Sam said. His other arm was shaking now too. He needed to sit down or something.
"For what? For him to Hulk out and infect somebody else?" Dean asked, and then answered his own question, "No thanks. Can't take that chance." Dean glanced over at him before he started back to the lab. Sam stopped him though, putting his hand against his chest. "Hey look, man, I'm not happy about this, ok? But it's a tough job and you know that," Dean said.
He wasn't sure why Sam wanted him out here. He didn't want to argue about this. Especially now that his shaking was back.
"It's supposed to be tough, Dean," Sam said. "We're supposed to struggle with this. That's the whole point."
"What does that buy us?" Dean asked.
"A clear conscience, for one!" Sam said.
"Well, it's too late for that," Dean said, moving again for the lab. But Sam stopped him again.
"What the hell's happened to you?" Sam asked.
"What?"
"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 said.
"Mmhmm," Dean hummed, not listening.
Dean started past Sam again, but this time, Dean shoved Sam against the wall before he went back into the lab and locked the door. "Hey!" Sam yelled, moving to wiggle the door handle to try to open it. "Open the damn door, Dean! Don't do it, Dean! Don't!"
"No, you're not gonna…No, no, I swear it's not in me!" Duane yelled when he saw Dean.
"Oh God. We're all gonna die," Pam muttered.
"Maybe he's telling the truth," Mark said. Sam was still trying to get in, but he wasn't doing everything he could. The lock wasn't a great lock, so he was guessing it could be picked. He was afraid to move though, and he definitely wasn't going to talk. He was pretty sure he'd be stuttering now, and that was going to definitely freak Sam out.
"No, he's not him," Dean said. "Not anymore."
"Stop it! Ask her, ask the doctor! It's not in me!" Duane begged.
"I…I can't tell," Dr. Lee said.
Duane started sobbing, "Please, don't. Don't, please. I swear, it's not in me, it's not in me, I swear. I, I swear it's not in me. No, don't."
"I got no choice," Dean said. He was expecting a gunshot. Any minute now, Dean would shoot him. But it just kept going, until Dean yelled, "Damn it!"
Sam looked back at him in relief, but his eyes widened when his eyes landed on him. He was shaking more now, and it was seriously painful. The seizures were wracking up and down his spine now, and it was getting difficult to stand.
"Shit, Alec," Sam said, running over to him. Sam wrapped his arm around his waist and helped him get his shaking arm over his shoulders.
"I th-think I need t-to sit down," he mumbled.
"Dean!" Sam yelled.
Dean must have decided Sam was a little panicked this time since he ran out of the lab a moment later. "Shit," Dean breathed once he saw him. "Doc! We need your help!"
Dr. Lee came out and looked at him in surprise. "Let's get him to an exam room," Dr. Lee said.
"You really don't have any more milk anywhere?" Dean asked as he helped Sam drag him further down the hall.
"No," Dr. Lee said. "You said he needs tryptophan?"
"Yeah…we think so anyway," Dean said. He groaned as his brothers helped him get onto the exam table. It was padded, so he thankfully didn't have a freak out because of Manticore, but it was close. If the pain going up and down his spine wasn't so horrible, maybe he would have enough brain function for a freak out, but everything just hurt. "You got anything to help with the pain?" Dean asked.
"Think we can make it to the car? It's just outside," Sam said. "We just need enough time to grab one of our bags."
"There's too many of 'em," Dean said.
He shook harder against the table, so he was a little out of it when Dr. Lee injected him with something. He didn't have high hopes that this would actually help, but at least he wouldn't hit the floor when the seizure took over.
"Ok, come over to this side," Dr. Lee said. He groaned again when his brothers suddenly shifted him to his side. He didn't care for moving right now. "You can press on either side of his spine. There are pressure points that may help him relax and relieve some of the pain while we wait for the medication to kick in."
"Where?" Dean asked. He felt a soft touch on his back, and then a firm touch replaced it. "Helping or hurting?" Dean asked.
"It's not h-hurting," he forced out. Jury was still out if it was helping or not.
"Alright…well, you might just have to ride these out for a little bit," Dean said regretfully. He nodded since he didn't want to waste energy talking.
"Is there somewhere a little more comfortable?" Sam asked Dr. Lee.
"I have a sofa in my office," Dr. Lee said.
"Sam, let's bring it to the lab," Dean said. "We can keep an eye on him while we make some explosives."
"You stay with him," Dr. Lee said. "I'll help or I'll ask Mark to help."
Dean kept rubbing his back, pressing harder sometimes to try to help. He thought about asking Dean why he decided not to kill Duane, but he didn't really want to know. And he didn't want to talk about not wanting to kill anyone himself. He would if it meant protecting his brothers, but he didn't want to think about it.
"C'mon, let's get you a little comfier," Dean said. His brother hauled him up before he could argue about it, and then dragged him down the hall and back to the lab. Sam ran over to help once he saw them stumbling around. He was grateful when he was on the cushions. Dean put his jacket over him and tried to help him get more comfortable. "We're gonna try to make some explosives, so we can at least get to the car," Dean said. "Tell me if you need somethin' and I'll try to get it." He nodded and closed his eyes to try to sleep some. If they were going to make a break for it, he had to be able to at least move fast enough so his brothers wouldn't get hurt trying to protect him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
He and Dean were still working on the explosives a few hours later. Alec was curled up on the sofa, and right now, he was asleep. His little brother had been in and out since he'd hit the sofa, but he wasn't unconscious, so that was something. He was still shaking, but it wasn't as bad as last time. Dean wasn't saying much, and he tried to leave his brother alone, but he was dying to ask him why he hadn't shot Duane.
He looked up from what he was doing when Dr. Lee walked into the lab. "It's been over four hours," she said. "Duane's blood is still clean. I don't think he's infected. I'd like to untie him…if that's alright."
He looked over at Dean, and his brother looked back at him for a moment before he looked down again. He nodded to Dr. Lee and said, "Sure. Yeah." Alec shifted at the sound of his voice and opened his eyes just a crack, but then he went back to sleep. "You know I'm gonna ask you why," he said, unable to just leave it alone. He wanted Dean to talk to him. He wanted his brother to trust him.
"Yeah, I know," Dean muttered.
"So why? Why didn't you do it?" he asked.
Dean was quiet for a minute, and he almost thought his brother was going to give him a real answer, but instead he mumbled, "We need more alcohol."
He got up and tried not to sigh since he knew this was how it was going to be. He walked into the supply room to get more alcohol and smiled slightly when he saw Pam was in there. "How you holding up, Pam?" he asked.
"Good," she said, and then muttered under her breath, "It'll all be over soon." He wasn't sure what she meant by that, but he had more pressing concerns right then besides trying to reassure her that everything was going to be ok. He walked by her to the shelf where the bottles of alcohol were. "In fact, I've been waiting for this the whole time."
Ok…that was weird. "For what?" he asked, turning around to face her.
"To get you alone," Pam said. He was not ready for her to hit him suddenly, and she hit him hard. He fell down, and before he could get up, she was on top of him. She hit him hard across the face. He was a little out of it now, so it took him a minute to figure out that his shirt was ripped, and she was cutting him across his chest. She pressed her hand against him, and he was still too out of it to do anything.
It didn't matter though, because a moment later Dean was kicking down the door. He shot Pam in the back until she was dead and sliding off of him.
He reached out for his brother to get some help off the floor, and Dean immediately leaned forward to help him. But Mark grabbed Dean and pulled him back. "She bled on him," Mark said when Dean glared at him. "He's got the virus."
He quickly pulled his hand back. He couldn't stay here. Or…he was going to have to convince Dean to leave him here. He couldn't hurt his brothers.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
His jaw was clenched so tightly that he thought his teeth might break. But he focused on the pain he was causing to keep from thinking about what had happened with Sam. His arms were still shaking, and a violent tremor would creep up his back every so often, but they had way bigger issues now.
Sam was sitting on a stool with his head down. His chest was bandaged now where Pam had cut him, and he seemed fine, but Mrs. Tanner hadn't spazzed out for a while. Maybe Sam wasn't infected. Maybe everything was fine.
Dean was pacing back and forth. He hoped Dean had a plan. No matter what, they weren't going to shoot Sam. He knew that much.
He'd woken up too late to help. The gunshots had jolted him awake, and his brothers weren't trying to get him to lay down again, so he knew this was serious.
"Doc, check his wound again, would you," Dean grumbled. Dr. Lee didn't move, so Dean snapped, "Doctor!"
"What's she need to examine him for? You saw what happened," Mark said.
"Did her blood actually enter your wound?" Dr. Lee asked, trying to remain calm.
"Come on, of course it did!" Mark yelled.
"We don't know that for sure," Dean argued.
"We can't take a chance," Duane added. This guy was suddenly very sure about killing people who might be infected for someone who just about ate it earlier.
"You know what we have to do," Mark said. He didn't like where this was going. There were a lot of twitchy people in this room. Twitchy people with guns.
"Nobody is shooting my brother," Dean snarled.
"He isn't gonna be your brother much longer," Duane said. The guy needed to shut up. There was still a good chance he was going to get shot. "You said it yourself."
"Nobody is shooting anyone!" Dean yelled.
"You were gonna shoot me!" Duane defended.
"You don't shut your pie-hole, I still might," Dean threatened. He managed to keep his smile hidden, but he knew this guy needed to back off.
"Dean, they're right," Sam said. "I'm infected. Just give me the gun and I'll do it myself." He huffed since there was no way in hell that was going to happen.
"Forget it," Dean immediately shot down.
"Dean, I'm not gonna become one of those things," Sam said.
"Sam, we've still got some time," Dean tried.
"Time for what?" Mark asked angrily. "Look, I understand he's your brother, and I'm sorry, I am. But we gotta take care of this."
Mark pulled his gun, and he was up and blurring to the guy before anyone could blink. He pressed his gun firmly against Mark's head and said, his voice low, "Don't." He was completely still, ready and willing to kill this guy to protect his brother.
"I'm gonna say this one time," Dean said. He half-expected his brother to tell him to back off, but he didn't. "You make a move on him, you'll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me?" Mark didn't say anything. "I mean, do I make myself clear?!"
Mark barely nodded, putting his hands up in surrender. He didn't move. "Alec," Sam said, his voice soft. He still didn't move. "Alec," Sam repeated.
He finally took a breath and stepped back slightly. But he made sure to stay between everyone else and his brother. They wouldn't get through him. He started shaking again though once he wasn't aiming his gun at anyone. But he'd have to be unconscious for someone to get through him to get to Sam.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Mark asked once it was clear that he was no longer in immediate danger.
He was surprised when Dean tossed Mark the keys to the Impala. He was surprised, but he wasn't going to question Dean. He knew Dean wouldn't leave Sam, and he wasn't about to leave either of his brothers. "Get the hell out of here, that's what," Dean said. "Take my car. You've got the explosives, there's an arsenal in there. You two go with him." Dean nodded to Duane and Dr. Lee. "You've got enough firepower to handle anything now."
"What about you?" Mark asked.
Dean didn't say anything. "Dean, no," Sam said, realizing that they weren't leaving. "No. Go with them. This is your only chance!"
"You're not gonna get rid of me that easy," Dean said with a forced smile.
"No, he's right. Come with us," Mark said. The man shot him a wary look, but he left the invitation open. But Dean didn't reply, so Mark said, "Ok, it's your funeral."
Mark and Duane left the room. Dr. Lee started to follow them, but then stopped at the door and looked back, "I'm sorry. Thanks for everything, Marshals."
"Oh, actually, we're not really Marshals," Dean said.
"Um…oh…" Dr. Lee said. She left, deciding that she didn't want to know. He didn't blame her. He did relax slightly though once everyone was gone. They weren't out of the woods yet. They had to figure something out for Sam. They weren't just going to let this happen.
Dean shut the door once Dr. Lee was gone, making it clear that they weren't going anywhere. "Wish we had a deck of cards, or a foosball table or something," Dean said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work, but he appreciated the effort.
"Dean, don't do this," Sam said. Tears started to fall, and he felt bad that Sam wasn't happy, but he had to know they wouldn't leave him to just die. "Just get the hell out of here. Take Alec and go."
"No way," Dean said.
"Give me my gun and leave," Sam tried.
"For the last time, Sam, no," Dean said.
Sam slammed his hand down on the table, "This is the dumbest thing you've ever done!"
"Oh, I don't know about that," Dean said with a shrug before he fake-shuddered, "Remember that waitress in Tampa?"
"Dean, I'm sick. It's over for me. It doesn't have to be for you and Alec," Sam said, refusing to give up.
"No?"
"We haven't tr-tried everything," he said. He frowned suddenly, realizing what Dean had said. "What do you m-mean no?"
"Alec, there's no cure for a demonic virus. None that we know of anyway," Sam said.
"W-we could try a tr-transfusion," he said. He was not going to give up on Sam. His brother would have to be foaming at the mouth for him to call it quits, and even then…
"Alec," Dean said with a sigh.
"It could w-work," he stressed. "My immune s-system fights off viruses. W-we should at least try it."
"You lost a lot of blood already," Sam said.
"We should tr-try it," he repeated.
"No," Dean stated, making it clear that he wasn't willing to even consider the idea.
"You're g-giving up," he accused.
Dean sighed as he walked across the room and leaned against the file cabinet. "I'm tired," Dean admitted wearily. "I'm tired of this job, this life…this weight on my shoulders. I'm tired of it." He glared at his brother. He was giving up. Dean wasn't supposed to give up.
"So what, so you're just going to give up? You're just gonna lay down and die?" Sam challenged. At least Sam was on his side on this one. "Look, Dean, I know this stuff with Dad has-"
"You're wrong," Dean cut off. "It's not about Dad. I mean, part of it is, sure, but…"
"What is it about?" Sam prodded when Dean trailed off. If Sam gently coaxing the truth out of Dean wouldn't work, then he would knock some sense into him. He wasn't about to just let Dean give up. They could get out of this. It was going to be fine.
He jumped when there was a sudden knock on the door. Dr. Lee was standing there, so Dean walked over and opened the door to let her in. "You'd better come see this," she said.
Dean followed Dr. Lee out the door, but he looked back at him and Sam and motioned for them to stay put. He rolled his eyes since that wasn't going to happen. Sam walked over to him and helped support him on the way outside.
They went outside, where Duane and Mark were already standing, looking around. It took him a minute to realize no one was out here anymore. They were all gone.
"There's no one," Dr. Lee said. "Not anywhere. They've all just…vanished."
Everyone was quiet for a minute, but he didn't really care about the 'why'. All he cared about right now was that they were outside, and the Impala was right there. "Good," he said to break the silence. "Give me the keys," he said to Mark, already heading toward the car. At least now he could take some pills, and hopefully stop seizing.
He hoped they never went after another one of Sam's visions ever again.
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"Well, it's been five hours and your blood's still clean," Dr. Lee told him. "I don't understand it, but I think you dodged a bullet."
"But I was exposed," he said. He didn't get it. Was he somehow immune to a demonic virus? "How could I not be infected?" Dean looked relieved, while Alec just looked exhausted. His little brother wasn't shaking anymore, but he'd refused to rest while they didn't know if he was going to go psycho or not.
"I don't know. But you're just not," Dr. Lee said. "I mean, you compare it with the Tanner samples…" She looked into a microscope to compare his blood sample with Mrs. Tanner's. "What the hell?" she muttered after a moment.
"What?" he asked.
"Their blood. There's no trace of the virus. No sulfur…nothing," Dr. Lee said.
What did that mean? Did the virus have a shelf-life? Did he just last long enough that the virus expired? He looked over at his brothers, but Dean looked just as confused as he felt.
"Great," Alec said, breaking the silence. "Guess that means we can go."
He smiled and Dean reached over to mess up Alec's hair. Alec allowed it, but he didn't smile like he usually did. Either he really was about out on his feet, or he was pissed. He stayed close to his little brother as they made their way outside in case he stumbled, but he seemed pretty steady now.
Mark and Duane were loading up a truck outside, getting ready to go. Alec walked over to the Impala and leaned against the side. He wanted to suggest that he go ahead and lay down, but he knew that wouldn't go over well.
"Hey, the Sarge and I are getting the hell out of here, heading south," Duane said to Dr. Lee. "You should come."
"I'd better get over to Sidewinder," Dr. Lee said. "Get the authorities up here. If they'll believe me. Take care."
Mark waved at them all before he got into the truck with Duane and drove off.
"What about him?" Dean asked Dr. Lee with a nod over to him. Dean had already heard what the doctor said, but his brother was still worried.
"He's going to be fine," Dr. Lee said. "No signs of infection."
He and Dean thanked her, while Alec just gave her a nod. Pretty nice of Alec, considering how he felt about doctors. But she just smiled a little before she went back into the clinic.
Dean looked at him once it was just the three of them and gave him a look that clearly asked him what he thought. "Hey man, don't look at me. I got no clue," he said.
"I swear, I'm gonna lose sleep over this one," Dean said. "I mean, why here, why now? And where the hell did everybody go? It's like they just freakin' melted."
"Why was I immune?" he asked.
"Yeah. You know what? That's a good question," Dean said. "You know…I'm already starting to feel like this is the one that got away?"
He didn't have a good answer for any of this. He didn't know what happened, and he wasn't sure that they would ever know.
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He had Alec sit on the hood of the Impala once they stopped. They were parked at a little pull-off by a river, which he thought Alec might like. He checked Alec's arm while Sam went to the back to get some beers out of the cooler.
Alec hadn't said much since they left, but he'd been asleep most of the time anyway. But he knew his little brother was mad at him. Alec just watched the water as he changed his bandage. He knew he'd be able to take the stitches out soon, but he felt better being able to do something.
"How're the seizures?" he asked, watching Alec's hands to see if there were any tremors.
"Fine," Alec said without looking at him.
He sighed to himself and patted Alec's leg. He should try to explain to Alec how he felt, but he didn't know how to put things into words the right way. And he didn't really want to talk about it. He wished they'd never come out here.
"So," Sam said as he handed him a beer. Sam hesitated for a second, but then handed Alec a beer too. Alec just held the bottle and stayed sitting on the hood, watching the river. "Last night. You want to tell me what the hell you were talking about?" He should've known Sam wouldn't drop it. Alec might, but Sam wouldn't. He never could.
"What do you mean?" he asked, playing dumb. He didn't want to talk about it.
"What do I mean?" Sam asked incredulously, looking at Alec for help. When Alec didn't acknowledge either of them, Sam continued, "I mean, you said you were tired of the job. And that it wasn't just because of Dad."
"Forget it," he said. He knew Sam wouldn't, but he had to try.
"No, I can't. No way," Sam said.
"Come on, man, I thought we were both going to die," he said. "You can't hold that over me."
"No, no, no, no," Sam said, shaking his head. "You can't pull that crap with me, man. You're talking."
"And what if I don't?" he challenged.
"Then I guess I'll just have to keep asking until you do," Sam stated.
He sighed since he knew his brother would do just that. He would ask and ask and ask until he drove him nuts. He did it all the time when they were kids. "I don't know, man. I just think maybe we ought to…go to the Grand Canyon," he said.
"What?" Sam asked with a frown. He hadn't been expecting that answer. It was always nice to catch his brother off guard.
"Yeah, you know, all this driving back and forth across the country…Alec's never been to the Grand Canyon," he said. "Or we could go to T.J. Or Hollywood, see if we can bang Lindsey Lohan."
"You're not making any sense," Sam said.
"I just think we should take a break from all this," he tried. "Why do we gotta get stuck with all the responsibility, you know? Why can't we live life a little bit?"
"Why are you saying all this?" Sam asked.
He shook his head and turned away from his brothers.
"Why did you give up?" Alec asked softly.
He looked back at his little brother and felt horrible. Alec believed in him. He believed he could do anything. But not this. He couldn't do this. "Alec," he started, but Alec knew that tone, and he knew his little brother wasn't going to let him get away with it this time.
"Why?" Alec asked again.
He looked up and tried to think of anything…any way to get out of this. But he hated lying to Sam, and he couldn't lie to Alec. "Dean, c'mon, you're our brother, alright? So, whatever weight you're carrying, let us help a little bit."
"I can't," he said, giving in. He couldn't do this anymore. "I promised."
"Who?" Sam prodded.
"Dad," he said.
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.
He looked down and sighed. "Right before Dad died, he told me something…" He looked up at his brother, and then admitted, "He told me something about you."
"What?" Sam asked with a frown. "Dean, what did he tell you?"