I opened my eyes groaning and looked around.
sam was in the backseat, still knocked out.
I reached back to him and shook him "Sam! Sammy!"
He groaned and woke up "Yeah?"
Me "are we still alive?"
Sam looked around "i hope so"
Me "Where's Dean?"
Sam looked at the empty driver's seat "what the-?"
I got out of the car and Sam followed me.
he yelled "Dean!"
I looked around "Dean!"
--
I rushed over to Dean who was lying on the ground "Dean!"
He looked at me confuse d"hey"
Then he stood up "where's the car?"
Me "about a mile away"
Dean "what?"
I asked shocked "seriously?"
Sam "Dean, The Darkness hit. You disappeared. You remember none of this?"
Dean "the Darkness. "
--
Me "wait a second, what do you mean she saved you?"
We were walking back to the Impala.
Dean "you were there. When the storm hit, everything went dark "
Sam nodded "Yeah, but you just disappeared from the car."
Dean "i don't even remember that"
Me "i don't remember some woman pulling you out"
Dean "well, what do you want me to say, okay? I was in the car, then i wasn't in the car. I was in the field and she was there."
Me "and she told you she was The Darkness?"
Den "no. She was wearing a nametag. What do you think? She thanked me"
Me "for what?"
Dean "for setting her free"
Me "well, that was more me than you-"
Dean "does it matter? i mean, yeah, you said the spell, but i had the Mark, so lock and key"
Me "so what? now, she feels indebted to you or something?"
Dean "i don't know, she's The Darkness. Does she feel anything?"
Sam "and that's all she said? thanks?"
Dean "yeah. She was weird. But she had this energy about her. This...this focus. But yeah, not a talker"
Sam "so we know jack"
Dean "well, we know what she looks like. we know that she's evil. Question is, what does she know? She's been locked away since beginning of time. She even know what a cheeseburger is? All i know is that we set her free, and we're gonna put her back in no matter what it takes"
On the road.
Some cars wer blocking the street.
Me "what the hell?"
The guys and i got out and looked around.
There was an empty police car
two dead guys were lying there.
Sam checked the other car and the driver was dead.
Dean " the hell happened here?"
A car door slammed shut an the boys and i looked around.
Me "hello?"
A guy walked up behind the car. He looked kinda sick.
Dean cocked his gun "oh that's not a happy sight. "
Sam and Dean aimed their guns at the guy.
Dean "hey, stand back. Just stay cool till we figure out what's going on here, okay?"
The guy had black veins creeping up his neck and started to walk to us.
Dean "i'm gonna shoot you"
Me "we don't even know what he is"
Suddenly a shot fell and the guy fell to the ground.
A woman was standing behind him with a shotgun aimed at the guy.
The woman aimed the gun at us "Weapons on the ground. Slow. "
Me "whoa, whoa. Easy, officer. We're FBI, okay? we got badges"
She cocked the gun "don't. show me some skin"
Dean asked caught off guard "huh?"
Sam "what?"
Woman "all of you"
Dean "this this like a Magic Mike Moment?"
The woman "your throats"
Sam nodded "oh, you think-you think we're-look, we don't even know what these are. "
Woman "i need to know you're not one of them"
dean "one of what?"
Woman "do it!"
The boys and i pulled our collars down to reveal our necks.
Me "see? no marks"
She lowered the gun "okay. Let's see those IDs. "
Then she supported herself on the car hood.
I walked over to her "was that the bad guys?"
she had a wound on her side.
She shook her head "rebar. I sought cover. I fell. "
Dean "okay. Why don't you tell us what happened here?"
she sat down on the hood "911 reported family in distress. I arrived to find several hostiles attacking said family. It was horrible"
Dean "how long have you been on the job, Deputy?"
She grimaced "three weeks"
Dean nodded "okay. I'm Dean, this is Elena and that's Sam. Deep breaths. What happened?"
Woman "they killed them all. "
Sam "who?"
Woman "road crew. IT was-they were like rabid dogs, i fired off a warning, but they didn't stop. They were.."
Me "you killed all these?"
She nodded.
Sam walked over to one of the dead body.
Woman "i knew one of them but he wasn't himself. Something was wrong, they were-"
Sam "they're not humans. "
I sighed.
Dean gestured to the woman's wound "okay, look, i can stitch that up. But it's gonna be ugly. A hospital would be better for you"
She nodded "yeah, up the road"
Dean nodded "okay, let's go"
At the hospital.
Dean pulled over and we got out.
Dead bodies were on the ground.
Dean "well, that's encouraging"
He looked at the woman "wait here"
Dean opened the trunk.
Me "what do you guys think?"
Dean "i really don't know what to think. And i don't know what to expect either, so i'm just gonna chuck it all on"
He started filling a duffel bag with weapons.
Sam "this is The Darkness, right?"
Me "well, it's got to be"
Dean "So, what, she shows up and everybody goes 28 days Later? I mean, we didn't"
I nodded "Yeah, but Sam and i were int he car. And..and you..you said she protected you"
Sam "Maybe it wasn't her. Maybe it was the smoke. Anybody who was outside, like the...The road crew, they were exposed. I mean, you saw that. That wasn't human"
Dean "the smoke mutated them?"
Sam shrugged nodding.
Dean "yeah, sure. Why not? just a couple of hours ago i killed Death. I am pretty much open for everything. But mutated into what?"
Sam shrugged.
Dean "all right, you know what? one thing at a time. Let's just get her help. And then we'll deal with whatever comes next. "
--
We walked inside. Sam was rolling the woman in with a wheelchair. Everyone was dead. The phone was ringing like crazy.
Woman "i got to call this in"
Me "no, bad idea. More people, more bodies. We'll deal with this"
Sam "okay, Elena and i will look around. You sew her up"
Dean nodded and looked at her "okay. do you know the place?"
She nodded "this way"
---
I was walking through a dark hallway when i heard some banging noise. t was dark.
I hid behind the desk.
One of the mutated people was trying to bang through a locked door.
I sighed.
The guy was coming closer.
Suddenly i heard a baby crying.
I froze.
The guy walked into the direction, trying to get into the room.
Suddenly the guy well down dead.
I walked over to the door and knocked on it "Hello?"
A man from behind the door "is he dead?"
I nodded "yes. Yes, he's dead. It's okay to come out. I'm from the FBI"
Then i took my badge out "i'm gonna slide my badge under the door, okay?"
I slid it under the door and the door opened.
A man with a baby walked out "help us, please"
The babygirl was whimpering.
Night.
Mike "the doc said it was gonna be a tough birth, but Janie, she stepped up. That twister hit, the power went out. she just kept on going. no drugs. She just pushed out this little dewdrop like she was nothing. Then Janie started bleeding. They tried but ..you'd think they'd know how to stop something like that. "
Me "i am so sorry"
Dean "you think you could tell us what happened here?"
Mike "I went outside after. to collect myself. A truckload of them pulled up"
Sam "The road crew"
Mike nodded "They didn't say nothing. They just went off. Attacking folks like they were possessed. I tore back insidie to get this little one. Found that supply closet and, you know, i've been there since. I could her them, though. Doctors, nurses. They didn't care"
Then i saw something on Mike's neck. Black veins.
I cleared my throat and the brothers looked at me. I looked at the veins and they froze when they saw dem.
Me "you said the road crew went nuts. Any of them come after you?"
Mike nodded "yeah, a few of them"
Me "did they cut you or bleed on you?"
Mike nodded "they did. "
Jenna asked confused "i don't understand. What are you saying?"
Dean "She's saying that whatever this is, it might be transmittable. "
Jenna asked shocked "what? we don't eve know what "this" is about. Now you're saying it can be passed on?"
Mike nodded "He's right. I can feel it. I'm sure. inside. Something's happening"
Dean "how long has it been since you were attacked?"
Mike "Three, four hours. The real question is how long till i become like them?"
-----------
Dean "well, you know where i stand"
Jenna shook her head "no! you're not-..you can't be serious. And if he goes out there, they'll kill him"
Dean "so, we just wait around for him to kill us?oh, yeah, that's a plan. "
Sam "or we just wait for him to die."
Me " There was a...whatever you want to call it, a rabid, attacking the closet door and he just died. dropped dead. These things have a shelf life"
Dean shook his head "i can't believe what i'm hearing here"
Jenna "NO, she's right. we lock him up, we find a cure.This is a hospital"
Dean "Yeah, well, call it a hunch, but i don't think you're gonna find this in a medical book"
Mike "I didn't open up that closet door to find a cure. "
Dean "look, buddy, i'm sorry. But this is untenable"
Mike "that's what i thought maybe we can make a deal. I'll go find somewhere quiet and lay low until this is over. and you save my baby girl. Yeah"
Dean "you got yourself a deal"
Mike nodded "And i thank you for that.I truly do. But i wasn't talking to you"
He looked at Jenna "i know you. I've seen you in church since you were knee-high. Please"
Jenna "I don't even own a guinea pig. "
The baby started crying as he handed it over to her.
Mike "it's okay. There you go, little girl.Thank you"
He looked at us "Thank you, all"
Then he walked away.
Dean looked after him "why do i get the feeling that that is gonna bite us in the ass?"
Jenna nodded "yeah"
Dean nodded "all right, let's gear up"
Sam "yeah, it might be tricky"
Dean and i walked over to Sam and looked out of the window. A car was pulling up. four guys got out of the car.
----
Dean was emptying the duffel bag on the table.
Jenna asked me "what's he doing?"
I sighed and asked Dean "Dean"
Dean "we made a promise"
Me "to do what? charge out there, guns blazing? we don't even know how to kill them"
Sam "she's right, Dean"
Dean nodded at Jenna "she does. Chest, right? i'm guessing heart."
Jenna "this is madness"
Dean "no, no, that is madness, okay? this is horse sense. "
Jenna "Save Mike's baby, but shoot Mike? Tell me where that makes sense"
Me "we can just wait till they all die"
Dean "and then when they infect others, how long ist that? no. we stay here, that baby dies. We did this, Elena. we broke it, we brought it? you know there's no other way. "
His phone started to ring and he looked at it before answering "where the hell are you, Cass? you don't sound okay. what do you mean, "what you have"? okay, forget Rowena. Where are you? oh really? you're worried about me after everything that i--yes, i'm good. I'm not great"
Sam and i walked over to Dean who put Cass on speaker.
Me "hey Cass"
Cass "Elena"
Dean "okay, your turn. Talk to us about The Darkness ."
Cass "why would i talk about The Darkness?"
Me "Because it's free"
Cass "no, that's can't be"
Me "Removing the Mark opened some kind of lock. Dean saw her"
Cass "The Darkness is a woman?"
Dean "that's why we're asking. we were hoping you could tell us what kid of DEFCON-screwed we are"
Cass "Sam, Dean, Elena, Goodbye. It may be some time before we see one another again"
then the lie went dead.
Jenna "FBI, my ass."
I sighed.
---
Sam "look, i get it. I do. We're gonna save that baby, okay? And we're gonna gind Cass, and we're gonna stop The Darkness. "
Dean "okay, so what are we talking about?"
Sam "The plan. "
Dean "we have plan. okay? it's the same plan as it's always been. In order to get out, we go through. "
Sam "and?How' that been working for us?"
Dean "we can't save Cass if we're stuck in some hospital, okay? Just like i can't strap on a time machine, go back and tell Cain to shove that Mark up his ass, or stop you from releasing The Darkness. now, have we made mistakes? yes, Hell, yes. and we can analyze each and every one of them over a couple of Frosties when we'e old and farting sawdust, and out of this room! Right now, all i can do is, i can gear up, i can head out, and i can save that freaking baby, which is exactly what i'm gonna do"
I scoffed"when did we forget how to do this?"
Dean "what?"
Me "Dean, if we don't change, right now, all of our crap is just gonna keep repeating itself"
Dean "okay, i don't even...what?"
Me "This. This "kill first, question later.". what happened to us? Hunting things, we're good at that. Sure, we're the best. but-"
Dean "Elena, i am trying to save that baby"
Me "and what about the others out there?"
Dean "you mean the ones who are trying to kill us?"
Me "they're sick, Dean, they're dying. "
Dean "yeah, who won't rest until they've infected us"
Me "so we're not even going to try to heal them?"
Dean "what cure? Jenna's cure?"
He held up a un.
Me "there's always a cure. you just have to wat to find it"
Dean "yeah, how are you gonna find it if you're dead? And around and around we go"
Me "Saving people means all of the people, Dean. Not just that baby. Not just each other. I unleashed a force on this world that could destroy it. To save you"
Dean "i told you not to"
Me "and i'd do it again. In a second. I would sent this whole world to crap just to save you. And that is what i am talking about. This isn't on you. It is on us. We have to change"
Dean "what are you thinking?"
I looked at Sam.
Sam nodded "get Jenna to the car, get her and the baby somewhere safe. "
Dean "without a shot? and what are we gonna do about those things on our trial?"
Sam "they won't be on your trial"
..
Dean shook his head "no way"
Sam "you said it, Dean . We broke this"
Dean nodded "yeah. We broke this, okay? we did. "
Sam "i heard it in your voice when you agreed to take that child. i get it. Do what you do. but you got to let me do what i do, too. "
Dean "Elena?"
I nodded "go, Dean"
---
Sam and i looked down the staircase.
We heard rumbling downstairs.
I called "hey!"
Four guys rushed up the stairs.
Sam and i rushed into a closet.
i locked the door and i could hear the infected outside trying to get inside.
Suddenly Sam got attacked by some woman who attacked him with a knife.
Sam slit the woman's throat open with said knife and shoved her off of him.
Her blood was all over the lower part of his face.
I froze "Sam"
Sam shook his head "I'm fine"
We looked at the door and it suddenly opened.
I quickly hid behind the shelf as the group of people walked in.
The two guys held Sam against the shelf.
Sam "please, no, i can help you"
The woman grabbed Sam by the throat and sniffed at him.
She left go of him and they all walked out.
I walked out behind the shelf and looked at Sam who fell to his knees relived.
--
My phone rang and i answered it "you good?"
Dean "yeah, about 40 miles outside of town. As far as i can tell, it's isolated in Superior. "
Me "Well, that's something"
Dean "you two okay?"
Me "what did you expect. Like it or not, i'll find a cure"
Dean "i know you. are things are screwey right now. And i know we don't have ay answers, but at least we got one win, you know?"
I nodded "i hear you"
Dean "i'm gonna bring Jenna to her grandmother's, shouldn't be more than a few hours. Then we clean up that town. we find The Darkness and we kick her ass. "
Me "sounds like a plan"
Then i hung up.
I looked at Sam "Can i see it?"
He moved his collar down and i saw the marks on his chest.
I leaned my head back, sighing.