Run, Boy, Run

Chapter 8

I was bouncing around in a circle next to Sam, Dean came out of the bar, he laughed as he held up money.
Sam said" You know, we could get day jobs once in a while."
Dean said" Hunting's our day job and the pay is crap."
" Yeah, but hustling pool, credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean."
" Well, let's see, honest, fun and easy. It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do."
" Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked."
" Yeah, says you. We got a new gig or what?"
" Maybe." Sam was distracted, I scooted closer to the giant puddle then was about to jump when Sam pulled me back. I huffed," Oasis Plains, Oklahoma. Not far from here. Gas company employee, Dustin Burwash supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob." I tilted my head all the way,
" Huh?"
" Human mad cow disease."
" Mad cow? Wasn't that on Oprah?"
" You watch Oprah?"
" So this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kind of thing?"
" Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years for the damage to appear but this guy Dustin, sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour, maybe less."
" Okay, that's weird."
" Yeah. Now it could be a disease or it could be something much nastier."
" Alright, Oklahoma."
" Man, work, work, work. No time to spend my money." Sam opened my door, closing it once I got in and throwing the rope on me, I giggled. Dean looked at me," Why does he have the rope tied around his stomach?"
" Oh, he kept trying to jump into a giant puddle, so instead of rushing up and grabbing him, I tied a rope around his stomach and pulled him back when he thought he was in the clear."
" You leashed our brother?"
" Yeah, I leashed our brother." Dean chuckled, then laughed," And he thinks it's a fun game, he just tugged to get pulled back and giggle."
" Our brother is weird, man."
" Yeah, I know." They both looked at me, I stuck out my tongue, and giggled." You're the one who gave him 6 packs of pop rocks."
" Did you see his face? Because if you haven't noticed, his green puppy eyes could literally kill someone and he pouted his lip!"
" Yeah, I know."
" He'll pass out sooner or later and wake up with a suitable amount of energy."
——
We got out of the car, and walked to the hole where the victim, Dustin, died.
Dean said" Huh. What do you think?"
Sam said" I don't know, but if that guy Travis was right it happened pretty damn fast." We looked down the hole, I gulped,
" So what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?"
" No, there'd be an entry wound. Sounds like this thing worked from the inside."
" Huh. Looks like there's only room for one. You wanna flip a coin?"
" Dean, we have no idea what's down there."
" All right, I'll go if you're scared. You Scared?"
" Flip the damn coin." Dean chuckled, I smiled,
" Alright, call it in the air, chicken." Sam caught the coin,
" I'm going."
" I said I'd go."
" I'm going."
" Ah, alright."
" Don't drop me." Sam tied rope around him, they looked at the hole again.
" Dude, there's no way."
" We can't send River down, Dean."
" You're too tall."
" He's a kid."
" Yeah, a smart kid. River, buddy, what if we sent you down the hole, huh? Just go down there and get whatever you see." I made my hand to waves," If there's a snake, we'll pull you out." I made my arms do wide V's, he sighs," There's no alligators or crocodiles in dirt, dude." I nodded my head, Sam tied the rope around me and they lowered me in. I gulped and looked around with a flashlight, I saw dead bugs, huh? I grabbed the ones I could find, then tugged at the rope, they lifted me back up.
" What'd you find?" I held out the bugs, Sam took them from me, and Dean untied the rope.

We were driving,
Dean said" So he found some beetles in a hole in the ground. That's shocking, Sam."
Sam said" There were no tunnels, no tracks, no evidence of any other kind of creature down there. You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now it's usually dead meat, but-"
" How many did he find down there?" I held up both my hands,
" Ten."
" It would take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain."
" Well, maybe there were more." I yawned and laid down,
" I don't know. It sounds like a stretch to me."
" Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before." I started dozing off," What?"
" I know a good place to start. Kind of hungry for a little barbecue. How about you?" I rolled over and held Coco in my arms," What? We can't talk to the locals?"
" And the free food's got nothing to do with it?"
" Of course not. I'm a professional."
" Right. Uh... Dean?"
" What?"
" Ooh... uh, he'll be fine, grumpy as hell but he'll be fine." I heard the doors close then I was lifted up, I jolted awake, rubbing my eyes. I whined loudly," Oh, come on, don't go whining like that, you're a big kid, you can stay awake for a little while longer."
" Dean, you know how much sleep he's got in the last 24 hours? Not enough."
" He'll be fine. But to ensure I'm not the one getting my ears pulled and hair tugged." I was roughly pushed into Sam's arms, Sam's arms wrapped around me, I whined loudly again and nuzzled my face against his jacket. Sam tensed up,
" Dean..."
" You'll be fine. He's practically a baby, what could he do?"
" Bite, pull my hair, pull my ears, poke me, there's a lot he could."
" He won't, he'll probably just go back to sleep." They started walking, I didn't really listen to them.
" Why?"
" The manicured lawns, how was your day honey? I'd blow my brains out."
" There's nothing wrong with normal."
" I'd take our family over normal any day." Sam moved me a little, I whined and dug my face against his neck, he started shushing me.
I heard a man say" Welcome."
" Is this the barbecue?"
" Yeah, not the best weather, but... I'm uh, Larry Pike, the developer here, and you are?"
" Dean. This is Sam."
" Sam, Dean, good to meet you. So you two are interested in Oasis Plains?"
" Yes, sir."
" Let me just say, we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color... or sexual orientation."
" We're brothers." Huh?
Sam said" Our father is getting on in years and we're just looking for a place for him."
The man said" Great, great. Well, seniors are welcome too. Come on in." I put my thumb in my mouth, starting to fall asleep.
——
It's morning, Sam and I walked to the bathroom, where Dean was, we're in a house. Sam knocked,
He said" You ever coming out of there?"
Dean said" What?"
" Dean, a police call came in on the scanner."
" Hold on."
" Someone was found dead three blocks from here. Come on." Then Dean opened the door, he had a towel hat, I giggled.
" This shower is awesome."
" Come on." Sam grabbed my hand as we walked away, my tummy growled, I looked at Sam." Let's go find you a snack, River." We walked to the car and I scooted in, he grabbed a pop tart and juice box." Definitely not a nutritious breakfast, but I think you don't care." I smiled, he gave me the things, I began eating.