2.09
Dean is driving and Sam has a GPS which is speaking annoyingly robotic directions.
"There are only two towns in the US named Rivergrove," Sam says.
"How come you're so sure it's the one in Oregon?" asks Dean.
"There was a picture. Crater Lake."
"Okay, what else?"
"I saw a dark room, some people, and a guy tied to a chair."
"And I ventilated him?"
"Yeah. You thought there was something inside him."
"A demon?" I ask.
"So he was possessed?" asks Dean.
"I don't know," says Sam.
"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?"
"No. Nothing, you just plugged him, that's it."
"Well, I'm sure I had a good reason."
"I sure hope so."
"What does that mean?" asks Dean. "I mean, I'm not gonna waste an innocent man…I wouldn't!"
"I never said you would!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Jeez, can you two tone down the teenage angst?" I say. "That's my job!"
"There is no angst!" Dean yells.
"Fine."
"Look, we don't know what it is," says Sam. "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," says Dean.
"Fine."
I lean back in my seat and sigh.
We reach Rivergrove, which has a giant billboard for Crater Lake. We pull upon the side of the road. There's a man out the front, cleaning a rifle.
Sam points across Dean, out the window, to the rifle man. "He was there," says Sam.
We get out of car, I linger behind while Sam and Dean go up to him.
"Morning," Dean
"Good morning. Can I help you?" asks rifle man.
"Yeah," says Dean, pulling out a badge. "Uh, Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard. US Marshals."
The man looks back at me, raises his eyebrows. "You babysitters too?"
I know better than to say anything, but jeez. How young do I actually look? I'm still hanging out for that growth spurt Dad promised me.
"Favor for a friend, keeping her in line," Dean says. "You understand."
I don't understand, but the man nods, looks back at Dean. "What's this about?"
"We're looking for someone."
"A young man, early twenties," says Sam. "He'd have a, a thin scar right below his hairline."
"What'd he do?" asks the man.
"Well, nothing. We're actually looking for someone else, but we think this young man could help us."
"Yeah, he's not in any kind of trouble or anything; well, not yet," says Dean. "I think maybe you know who he is . . . Master Sergeant. My dad was in the Corps, he was a Corporal."
"What company?" asks the man.
"Echo-2-1."
"So can you help us?" asks Sam.
The man pauses for a moment. "Duane Tanner's got a scar like that. But I know him. Good kid, keeps his nose clean."
"Oh, I'm sure he does," says Dean. "Um. You know where he lives?"
"With his family, up Aspen Way."
"Thank you."
We turn to leave, across the street bumps into a pole. Hopeless.
"Hey," Sam says to us.
Dean and I look, he's pointing at a word carved into the wood.
"Croatoan?" Dean reads.
"Yeah," says Sam.
"And?" I ask.
"Roanoke? Lost colony? Ring a bell?" says Sam.
"Ooh, one of the first colonies!" I say, the word coming back to me.
Dean stares at us blankly.
"Dean, did you pay any attention in history class?" asks Sam.
"Yeah! Shots heard 'round the world, How bills becomes a laws . . ." says Dean.
"That's not school, that's Schoolhouse Rock."
"Whatever."
"Like Jane said, Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America, late 1500s?"
"Oh yeah, yeah, I do remember that. 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."
"You don't think that's what's going on here, I mean . . ."
"Whatever I saw in my head, it sure wasn't good. 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 . . ."
"Maybe we should get help?" I ask.
"Yeah," says Sam. "Bobby, uh, Ellen maybe?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea," says Dean. He pulls out his phone. "I don't have a signal."
I pull out my phone. Shake my head. "Me either."
Sam checks his phone. "Neither do I."
We walk to a payphone and Dean picks up the receiver. "Line's dead," Dean hangs up the phone. "I'll tell you one thing. If I was gonna massacre a town, that'd be my first step."
"What do we do now?" I ask.
We find the house, practically in the middle of nowhere. I lean on the car while Sam and Dean go up to the house. A younger boy opens the door, then the Dad comes to the door. They give me weird vibes. The door closes and Sam and Dean come back down to the car.
"They seemed odd," I say.
"They were kind of creepy," says Dean. "A little too Stepford?"
"Big time," says Sam.
We go around the side of the house and peer in the windows. The third window we look into I see a woman tied to chair. And the boy and his Dad have knives.
"Oh that is sick," I say.
"Stay here," says Dean to me.
Sam and Dean break in through the back door. The Dad runs at Dean with a knife, Dean shoots him. The boy runs to the window I'm at. I duck just in time as he breaks through the glass. I pull out my knife, ready to stab the bastard, but when I look up, he's running into the woods. I run around to the front of the house.
"You okay?" Dean asks.
"Fine," I say.
Dean goes back in the house.
Sam helps the mom, Beverley into the back of the car. I get in the front, and see Dean carrying the dad. I look away and I just don't look in the mirrors until I hear the trunk shut.
Beverley, even though she's incredibly upset, guides Dean to the doctor's office.
Sam helps Beverley inside and calls out,"Hello? Hello? We need a Doctor here!"
A woman rushes out. "Mrs. Tanner, what happened?"
"She's been attacked."
"Doctor Lee?" the woman calls.
The doctor appears. "Bring her in."
"Okay," says Sam.
I follow him and Beverley into the back with the doctor. Dean comes in with the Dad over his shoulders.
"Is that —" the doctor starts.
"Mr. Tanner?" says Dean.
"Was he attacked too?"
"Uh . . . no, actually, he did the attacking and then he got himself shot."
"Shot?"
"Yeah."
"And who are you?"
"U.S. Marshal. I'd show you my badge, but uh . . ."
"Oh. Sorry. Bring him back here."
I try not to get in the way while the doctor cleans up Beverley…and Dean puts Mr Tanner…away.
"Janie," Dean says when he's done.
I look over. Apparently, me trying not to be in the way, is still in the way. I sigh, push off the stool I'm on and go over to where he and Sam are standing at the door.
Doctor Lee is still so confused.
"Wait, you said Jake helped him? Your son Jake?" asks the doctor.
Beverly nods. "They beat me. Tied me up."
"I don't believe it," says Pam, the assistant.
"Pam," Doctor Lee warns. "Beverly . . . do you have any idea why they would act this way? Any history of chemical dependency?"
"No, of course not," says Beverly. "I don't know why. One minute they were my husband and my son. And the next, they had the devil in them."
"We gotta talk," Dean says to Sam, but takes me by the arm and pulls me out into the hallway with them.
"Those guys were whacked out of their gourds," says Dean.
"What do you think? Multiple demons, mass possession?" asks Sam.
"If it is a possession there could be more. I mean, God knows how many, it could be like a friggin' Shriner convention."
"Great."
"Of course, that's one way to wipe out a town, you take it from the inside."
"Can demons be killed by just shooting them?" I ask.
"Yeah, we didn't see any of the demon smoke with Mr. Tanner, or any of the other usual signs," says Sam.
"Well, whatever," says Dean. "Something turned him into a monster. And you know if you woulda taken out the other one there'd be one less to worry about."
"I'm sorry, all right? I hesitated, Dean, it was a kid!"
"And if it went after Jane?" Dean asks.
Sam sighs.
"I would've got him," I say, "pretty sure I could've taken him."
"And Jane's fine," Sam says. "I wasn't going to shoot a kid."
"No, it was an 'it'," says Dean. "Not the best time for a bleeding heart, Sam."
Doctor Lee comes out of her lab and towards us.
"How's the patient?" asks Sam.
"Terrible!" says the doctor. "What the hell happened out there?"
"We don't know," says Dean.
"Yeah? Well, you just killed my next door neighbor."
"We didn't have a choice."
"Maybe so, but we need the county Sheriff. I need the coroner . . ."
"No phones," I say.
Doctor Lee properly looks at me. "Who are you?"
"Work experience," Dean says quickly.
"But…" Doctor Lee starts. But then shakes her head, looks back at Sam. "Tell me you have a police radio in the car?"
"Yeah we do. But it crapped out just like everything else," says Sam.
"I don't understand what is happening."
"How far is it to the next town?" asks Dean.
"It's about forty miles down to Sidewinder."
"All right, I'm gonna go down there, see if I can find some help," says Dean. He claps Sam on the shoulder. "My partner will stick around, keep you guys safe."
"Safe from what?" asks Doctor Lee.
"We'll get back to you on that."
"Dean?" I ask following him out the main door.
"Stay with Sammy, okay?"
I frown but nod. "Fine."
"Shoot anything that looks evil," he calls back from the car.
I go back inside and find Sam.
"You got babysitting duty," I tell him.
He smiles. "Doctor Lee is going to do an autopsy."
"Oh well that sounds fun," I say sarcastically.
"Come on," Sam says. We go into the lab, Doctor Lee is…doing things to Mr Tanner. I lean on a counter with Sam and stare at my shoes.
"Huh," Doctor Lee says after a while.
"What?" asks Sam.
I look up. She's looking at something under a microscope.
"His lymphocyte percentage is pretty high. His body was fighting off a viral infection."
"Really? What kind of virus?" asks Sam.
"Can't say for sure."
"Do you think an infection could have made him act like that?"
"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."
"Did what?"
"There's this . . . weird residue. If I didn't know better I'd say it was sulphur."
Sam and I look at each other.
"Sulphur," Sam says.
We go to see Beverly and Pam who are in the other lab. Beverly is still sitting hunched over on the same stool the doctor treated her on.
"I don't understand," says Beverly. "Are you saying my husband and Jake had a disease?"
"That's what we're trying to find out," says Doctor Lee. "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?"
"Beverly, I don't know what to think. But with your permission, we'll take a blood sample."
Beverly nods. Then Beverly yells, attacks Doctor Lee. I push myself back into a corner as Sam goes after her, but Beverly shoves him into a cabinet that shatters. I pull out my knife. Sam grabs a fire extinguisher as Beverly picks up a scalpel. She comes after me. I hold up my knife, ready to get the crazy woman but Sam whacks her over the head with the fire extinguisher and she falls to the ground.
Doctor Lee takes some of Beverly's blood, then Sam locks her in the lab, before we all go to the other lab. I lean against the open lab door, hoping Dean will be back soon.
"What if we all have it? What if we all go crazy?" asks Pam.
"You've got to stay calm," says Doctor Lee from the microscope. "All we can do is wait. The Marshal's bringing help."
"I can't, I . . . I've got to go."
"Pam!"
"No, you don't understand. My boyfriend's out there, I gotta make sure he's okay."
She runs right past me and Sam follows. I watch from the door.
"All right, wait, wait," says Sam. "Please. Look, I know you're upset, all right? But it's safer if you stay here for now. Help is coming."
I hear the car outside and go out to the lobby.
"There they are," says Sam.
"Sammy! Janie!" I hear Dean call. "Open up!"
Sam unlocks the door. Dean is there, and another guy. Both of them have their guns out. Always a good start.
"Did you guys, uh, get to a phone?" asks Sam.
"Road block," says Dean. "I'm gonna have a word. Doc's inside," Dean says to his new friend.
"What's going on out there, Dean?" asks Sam.
"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. What are we dealing with, do you know?"
"Yeah. Doc thinks it's a virus."
"Okay, great. What do you guys think?"
"I think she's probably right," I say.
"Me too," says Sam.
"Really?" asks Dean.
"They infect other people with blood to blood contact," I say.
"Oh, but it gets better," says Sam. "The uh, the virus? Leaves traces of sulphur in the blood."
"Because what else would you expect from a demon virus?"
"A demonic virus?" asks Dean.
"Yeah, more like demonic germ warfare," says Sam. "At least it explains why I've been having visions."
"It's like a Biblical plague."
"Yeah. You don't know how right you are, Dean. I've been poring through Dad's journal, found something about the Roanoke colony."
"And?"
"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?"
"I have no idea. But Dean, who knows how far this thing can spread? We gotta get out of here, we gotta warn people."
"They've got one! In here!" calls Dean's new friend.
I follow Dean into the foyer. "What do you mean.?"
"The wife," says Sam, "she's infected."
"We've gotta take care of this," says the man. "We can't just leave her in there. My neighbors, they were strong. The longer we wait, the stronger she'll get."
Dean pulls out his gun and heads right into the lab.
"Dean," I say and follow him.
"You're gonna kill Beverly Tanner?" asks Pam.
"Doctor, could there be any treatment?" Sam asks. "Some kind of cure for this?"
"Can you cure it?" asks Dean.
"For God's sake, I don't even know what "it" is!" says Doctor Lee..
"I told you," says the man, "it's just a matter of time before she breaks through."
"Just leave her in there, you can't shoot her like an animal!" says Pam.
"Sam," Dean says.
I follow them to the utility room, where Sam has locked Beverly inside. The man has his gun ready too.
"Go back into the lab, Jane," says Sam.
"You're going to kill her?" I ask.
Sam looks at me sadly. "Go back into the lab," he says again.
I bite my lip. Nod. And go back in. I hear Beverly yelling not too long later. And then two shots.
Dean's friend I learn is called Mark. Nobody mentions the shooting of Beverly and I'm too scared to ask who did it. Mark is peering through the drawn shades, out to the road. I'm sitting on the front desk bench, holding my knife in my hands, not sure really what to do at all.
Something shatters in the lab. "Oh god! Is there any on me? Am I okay?" I hear Pam calling.
We all rush back into the lab.
"You're clean, you're okay," Doctor Lee is saying to Pam.
"Why are we staying here? Please, let's just go!"
"No, we can't," says Dean, "because those things are everywhere."
Pam lowers down to the floor. "Oh god . . ."
"Hey, shh, shh," Doctor Lee tries to calm her.
"She's right about one thing," Sam says. "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," says Dean. "Night of the Living Dead didn't exactly end pretty."
"Well, I'm not sure we've got a choice," says Mark. "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…"
"We could make some," says Sam.
I follow his gaze to the shelf of all sorts of weird chemicals. He pulls ones down. Then there's banging at the front door. Sam and Dean run out to the foyer. I follow behind with Mark.
"Hey! Let me in, let me in! Please!" calls the voice through the door.
"It's Duane Tanner!" says Mark.
Mark opens the door and Duane comes in, he looks…not great… He's limping. Mark closes the door behind him.
"Thank god," says Duane.
"Duane, you okay?" asks Mark.
"That's the guy that I, uh," Dean says, clicking his tongue at the end.
"Yeah," says Sam.
Oh lovely. Dean's future murder victim. He doesn't look crazy. Well, actually he does. But not demon virus crazy.
"Who else is in here?" asks Duane.
Dean grabs his arm. "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there, chief. Hey Doc! Give Duane a good once-over, would you?"
Doctor Lee leads us all back into the lab. "Pam?" she calls.
"Who are you?" Duane asks Dean.
"Never mind who I am. Doc?" Dean says.
"Yeah, okay," says Doctor Lee.
Duane sits down on a stool.
"Duane," says Mark. "Where you been?"
"On a fishing trip up by Roslyn. 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 says, too light-heartedly.
I elbow him. "Not the time," I say.
Dean just shrugs.
I notice blood on his jeans, I lean down, he has a massive gash in his left knee.
"Ooh, that looks bad," I say, pointing to his leg.
Doctor Lee looks down at the wound. "You're bleeding."
"Where'd you get that?" asks Dean. He pulls me back away from Duane.
"I was running," says Duane, "I must have tripped."
"Tie him up, there's rope in there."
"Wait," says Duane.
But Dean pulls his gun out. "Sit down!"
"I'm sorry, Duane, he's right," says Mark. "We've gotta be careful."
"Careful? About what?"
"Did they bleed on you?" asks Dean.
"No, what the hell? No!"
"Doc?" asks Sam. "Any way to know for sure, any test?"
"I've studied Beverly's bloodwork backwards and forwards," she says.
"My mom!" Duane shouts.
"It took three hours for the virus to incubate," explains Doctor Lee. "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," says Sam.
I stand, nearly at one with the wall that Dean nearly pushed me into. Dean looks at Mark, who nods. Mark looks back at me, then to Duane.
"Sit in that chair over there," Mark tells Duane and follows him with the rope.
I don't move.
Dean comes back in a little while later with his gun in his hand. Mark has tied Duane to the chair and Doctor Lee hasn't even drawn his blood yet.
"Dean?" I ask, still in the same spot on the wall.
"No, you're not gonna…" Duane starts. "No, no, I swear it's not in me!"
"Oh God. We're all gonna die," says Pam.
"Maybe he's telling the truth," says Mark.
"No, he's not him, not anymore," says Dean.
"Dean we don't know-" I start.
"Jane, get out of here!" Dean yells.
"Stop it!" Duane shouts. "Ask her, ask the Doctor! It's not in me!"
I push myself up against the wall. Maybe it'll swallow me whole. Where's Sam?
"I . . . I can't tell," says Doctor Lee.
Duane is crying now. "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."
Dean raises his gun again, "I got no choice."
"Dean, stop, we should wait until-" I say.
"Jane, I told you to leave!"
"If it stops you killing him before we know for sure, I'm not going anywhere!"
Dean keeps the gun pointed at Duane. I say nothing. Duane squeezes his eyes shut, still crying. But Dean...doesn't do anything. He lowers his gun.
"Dammit!" he shouts and leaves the room.
Dean had locked Sam in a room. We don't mention that fact aloud and we all just start making lovely little Molotov cocktails out of all the stuff in the clinic. Thankfully it's a very well stocked clinic.
Doctor Lee comes in, hands in her pockets. "It's been over four hours. Duane's blood is still clean. I don't think he's infected. I'd like to untie him, if that's all right."
Sam and Dean look at each other. I become very engrossed in my current bottle, and meticulously place the gauze in the top.
"Sure, yeah," says Sam.
I hear the Doctor leave.
"You know I'm gonna ask you why," says Sam.
"Yeah, I know," says Dean.
I fan out the gauze a little more.
"So why? Why didn't you do it?" asks Sam.
I can no longer fiddle with it and slide the bottle along the table, I look up, Dean is eyeing me. He looks back down.
"We need more alcohol," says Dean.
Sam gets up and goes into the dispensary.
Dean clears his throat. "Wasn't just you, you know," he says.
I start pouring out the next chemical into a new bottle. "Ok."
"You know it's just…" Dean trails off.
I shake my head. "Great sentence there, that was."
"Bite me," says Dean.
I smile and look up. The dispensary door is closed. "Dean?" I ask.
Then there's the noise of something falling. Mark rushes in. Dean grabs his gun, he and Mark look through the window of the dispensary door. Dean bashes down the door and shoots. I look in behind Dean and Mark. Sam is lying on the ground, Pam, half on him. Dead.
"She bled on him," Mark says. "He's got the virus."
Sam is now on the stool for demon virus people. Doctor Lee has checked Sam's wound on his chest. Dean can't stand still.
"Doc, check his wound again, would you?" says Dean. "Doctor!"
"What's she need to examine him for?" asks Mark. "You saw what happened."
"Did her blood actually enter your wound?" asks Doctor Lee.
"Come on, of course it did!"
"We don't know that for sure," says Dean.
"We can't take a chance," says Duane.
"You know what we have to do," says Mark.
"No we don't," I say.
"Nobody is shooting my brother," says Dean.
"He isn't gonna be your brother much longer," says Duane. "You said it yourself."
"Nobody is shooting anyone!" yells Dean.
"You were gonna shoot me!"
"You don't shut your pie-hole, I still might!"
"Dean, they're right," says Sam.
"No they're not," I say.
"I'm infected; just give me the gun and I'll do it myself."
"No!" I yell.
"Forget it," says Dean.
"Guys, I'm not gonna become one of those things," says Sam.
"And you won't," I say.
"Sam, we've still got some time-" Dean starts.
"Time for what?" asks Mark. "Look, I understand he's your brother, and I'm sorry, I am. But we gotta take care of this." Mark pulls out his gun.
"Don't you dare!" I yell and stand in front of Sam.
"I'm gonna say this one time — you make a move on him, you'll be dead before you hit the ground," says Dean. "You understand me? I mean, do I make myself clear?!"
"Then what are we supposed to do?!" yells Mark.
Dean tosses Mark his keys. "Get the hell out of here, that's what. Take my car. You've got the explosives, there's an arsenal in there. You two go with him. You've got enough firepower to handle anything now."
"What about you guys?"
"Jane, Dean, no. No. Go with them," says Sam. "This is your only chance!"
"You're not gonna get rid of me that easy," says Dean.
I turn and face Sam, crossing my arms. "We're not leaving you."
"No, he's right," says Mark. "You guys should come with us."
Dean and I don't move.
"Okay, it's your funeral," says Mark.
I turn back around as Mark is leading Duane and Doctor Lee out of the door.
"I'm sorry. Thanks for everything, Marshals," says Doctor Lee.
"Oh, actually we're not really Marshals," says Dean.
"Um. Oh." The doctor leaves. Dean follows her to the main door and locks it behind her.
"You probably didn't need to tell her that," I say as we head back to the room.
"Janie, wait out here, okay?"
I frown. "What for?"
"Sammy and I are gonna have a little chat."
I stare at him.
"Go wait in the…waiting room," says Dean, gesturing back to the foyer.
I roll my eyes. "I'm coming back in in five minutes," I say over Dean's shoulder to Sam. Sam smiles a little at me.
"Deal." Dean says. He ushers me out of the doorway and closes the door behind me.
I sigh and go to the foyer. It's very quiet. I jump up onto the bench and swing my legs. Waiting. I pull out my knife, twirl it around in my hands. Then I hear something. I jump off the bench, go towards the door. Then there's a knock.
"Dean!" I shout.
Dean comes out, he looks at the front door. I point. Doctor Lee is there. Dean opens the door.
"You'd better come see this," she says.
We go outside. There is…nothing. And no one. It's creepily quiet.
"There's no one," says Doctor Lee. "Not anywhere. They've all just . . . vanished."
I fall asleep in the waiting room. Wake up with a crick in a my neck and some sun shining right in my eyes. I sit up. Wander down the hallway, see Sam in the lab, I go in. Doctor Lee is looking through a microscope, Sam is sitting on a table.
"Well, it's been five hours and your blood's still clean," says the Doctor. "I don't understand it, but I think you dodged a bullet."
I gasp with excitement and go over to Sam and hug him. He hugs me back, gently wrapping one arm around me.
"But I was exposed. How could I not be infected?" asks Sam.
"I don't know. But you're just not. I mean, you compare it with the Tanner samples," she looks in the other microscope. "What the hell?"
"What?" Sam and I ask.
"Their blood. There's no trace of the virus. No sulphur, nothing."
Mark and Duane load up a truck, Sam, Dean and I are leaning on the car. Doctor Lee is standing in the doorway of the clinic.
"Hey, the Sarge and I are getting the hell out of here, heading south," says Duane to the doctor. "You should come."
"I'd better get over to Sidewinder, get the authorities up here," she says. "If they'll believe me. Take care."
Duane goes and Mark waves to us.
"What about him?" Dean asks.
"He's going to be fine. No signs of infection," says the Doctor. She goes back inside and Mark and Duane drive away.
Dean turns to Sam.
"Hey man, don't look at me. I got no clue," says Sam.
"I swear, I'm gonna lose sleep over this one. I mean, why here, why now? And where the hell did everybody go? It's like they just frigging melted," says Dean.
"Maybe demons are getting into biological warfare now?" I say.
"But why was I immune to it?" asks Sam.
"Yeah. You know what? That's a good question," says Dean. "You know, I'm already starting to feel like this is the one that got away?"
We get in the car and get the hell away from the town.
We grab some supplies on the road and Dean drives a little while before we find a nice spot. Grassy, sunny, a bridge overlooking a river. It's beautiful. We get out of the car and Dean opens beers for him and Sam, passes me a coke.
"Grab your schoolwork," says Dean.
"You're kidding right?" I ask.
"Table over there," says Dean, nodding.
I roll my eyes but grab my backpack. We head over to the picnic table, and I pull out my math book.
"Happy?" I ask Dean as I start doing the work.
"Ecstatic," says Dean. He wanders over to a fence near the bridge, leans on it, drinking his beer, his back to Sam and me.
"You know," I say to Sam, "I don't think he is ecstatic."
"Yeah…no," says Sam smiling a little.
I take a sip of coke and finish the first problem. I feel Sam watching me, but then he wanders over to Dean. I look up, Sam leans on the fence, looking back at me until I look back down to my workbook. I can't hear what they're talking about properly. Catching random words and phrases. But I know if I look up Sam will stop their conversation. They clearly don't want me to be a part of whatever they're talking about. But I strain my ears to listen, pencil hovering over the workbook, not even reading the problem in front of me. I get "Dad", "tired", "job", "die". Charming. And then, "Lindsay Lohan". Which can't be right. But there you go. Then their voices get too low to hear at all.
I take a risk and look up. They're not talking, Sam is staring at Dean, looking very worried, and Dean looks like he might cry. What the hell is going on?