CHAPTER FOUR

"Did you get to a phone?" Nycole asks as Dean and the Sergeant that they talked to this morning walk into the doctor's office.

"Roadblock." Is all Dean says to her.

Serge walks away from them as Sam quickly makes his way to Nycole and his brother. "What's going on out there, Dean?"

"Man, I don't know. I feel like Chuck Heston in The Omega Man." The older boy tells him. "I mean, Serge is the only sane person I could find. What are we dealing with? Do you know?"

"Yeah, doc thinks it's a virus." Sam says.

"Okay, great. What do you two think?"

"I think she's right."

"Really​?"

"Yeah. And I think the infected are trying to infect others with blood-to-blood contact."

"Oh, and it gets better." Nyx says, gaining his attention. "The virus leaves traces of sulfur in the blood."

"A demonic virus?" Dean questions.

"More like demonic germ warfare." Sam says. "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."

"Meaning?" Nyx asks.

"I've been pouring through Dad's journal. I found something about the Roanoke colony." Sam tells them.

"And?" Dean asks.

"Dad always had a theory about Croatoan. He thought it was a demon's name — sometimes known as daeva or reshef — a demon of plague and pestilence."

"Well, that's terrific. Why here? Why now?"

"I have no idea." Sam shakes his head as he looks between the two of them. "But who knows how far this thing can spread? We've got to get out of here. We've got to warn people."

"They've got one." Serge calls. "In here​."

Dean quickly makes his way over to where he is. "What do you mean?"

"The wife. She's infected." Sam tells his brother as he follows him. Nyx stays by the front and listens to them.

"We've got to take care of this. We can't just leave her in there." Serge says. "My neighbors — they were strong. The longer we wait, the stronger she'll get."

Dean pulls out his gun and walks back there. He says that they have to kill her, and one of the girls back there starts asking questions, not liking it. Nyx really doesn't blame her, she doesn't like any of what's going on either.

Sam asks about a treatment — Dean, a cure — but the doctor​ says that she doesn't even know what it is. Serge is instant that she'll break through the door that's keeping her locked away from everyone else.

They then go into the room, and the woman starts begging Serge not to kill her. Dean asks Sam if he's sure that she's one of them. After Sam says he is, Nyx hears three gunshots. She puts her hand over her mouth as tears fill her eyes.

—

Serge lets Duane in, and he sighs in relief as he walks past them. "Duane, you okay?" He asks as he follows after him.

Dean looks up at his brother. "That's the guy that I, uh—" He makes a clicking noise with his mouth and makes a motion with his hand by his throat.

"Yeah." Sam says.

"Who else is in here?" Duane asks.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, chief." Dean says as he grabs Duane's arm. "Hey, doc, give Duane a good once-over, would you?"

"Sam, he's bleeding." Nyx whispers, and he looks down at her.

"We'll keep an eye on him." He tells her, and she nods. Then he follows them back into an exam room.

"Who are you?" Duane asks.

"Never mind who I am." Dean says as he looks at him. "Doc."

"Yeah, okay." She nods.

"Duane, where you been?" Serge asks.

"I was on a fishing trip up by Roslyn. I came back this afternoon." He tells them. "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 mutters, and Nyx shakes her head, not that any of them can see her. She's still in the front, keeping her distance from the blood.

"You're bleeding." The doc says suddenly.

"Where'd you get that?" Dean asks him.

"I was running. I must have tripped." Duane tells him.

"Tie him up. There's rope in there."

"Wait—"

"Sit down!" Dean cocks his gun.

"Sorry, Duane. He's right. We've got to be careful." Serge says.

"Careful? About what?" Duane questions.

"Did they bleed on you?" Dean asks.

"No. What the hell? No!"

"Doc, any way to know for sure?" Sam asks her. "Any test?"

"I've studied Beverly's blood work backwards and forwards." She says.

"My mom?" Duane asks.

"It took three hours for the virus to incubate." She continues. "Sulfur didn't appear in the blood until then. So, no, there would be no way of knowing. Not until after Duane...turns."

"Dean, I've got​ to talk to you. Now." Sam tells his brother.

Sam and Dean go into another room to talk, and Serge ties Duane up to a chair in the exam room. Nyx stays in the front, still listening​ to everything that's going on in the different rooms.

"This is my vision, Dean. It's happening." Sam tells him.

"Yeah, I figured." Dean says.

"You can't kill him, alright? Not yet. We don't know if he's infected or not."

"Oh, I think we're pretty damn sure." He argues. "Guy shows up out of nowhere, cut on his leg, his whole family is infected."

"Alright, then we should keep him tied up, and we should wait and see." Sam says.

"For what? For him to hulk out and infect somebody else?" His brother questions. "No thanks. Can't take that chance. Look, man. I'm not happy about this, but it's a tough job and you know that."

"It's supposed to be tough, Dean. We're supposed to struggle with this. That's the whole point."

"What does that buy us?"

"A clear conscience, for one."

"It's too late for that." Dean says, and Sam stops him from leaving the room again.

"What the hell's happened to you?" Sam questions.

"What?"

"You might kill an innocent man, and you don't even care. You don't look at or talk to Nyx the way you used to." He says. "You don't act like yourself anymore, Dean. Hell, you know what, you're acting like one of those things out there."

Dean manages to get out of the room, and then he quickly locks Sam in. Nyx grits her teeth as she listens to the younger boy trying to get out.

"Nycole!" Sam yells for her to let him out of the locked room.

She hears Duane begging for his life — he sounds terrified — and then Dean cocks his gun. She quickly runs into the exam room and sees Dean aiming the gun at Duane. She grabs the barrel and twists the gun out of Dean's hand. He looks down at her, and she clenches her teeth as she tries not to focus on the smell of the blood around them.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She questions. "We don't know for sure."

"How the hell can you possibly know anything about what's going on in here? You haven't been helping us this whole time." Dean says, and she looks down and closes her eyes as she feels them start to change.

She takes two slow, shaky breaths through her mouth, and then looks back up at Dean. "Fine." She holds the gun out toward him. "You think that you have no other choice, then do what you have to do. Possibly put a bullet in an innocent man." She tells him.

"You think I'd do it if I saw another way?" He asks as he takes the gun back from her.

"All I know for certain right now...is that you're scaring the hell out of me, Dean. And I won't watch you do this to him." She tells him and then walks out of the room.

He turns his head and looks at her as she disappears down the hallway. He sees her raise her hands to wipe tears from her face, and her voice echoes in his head. You're scaring the hell out of me, Dean.

He looks back at Duane.

—

Nyx is with Sam and Dean now, helping them make bombs out of chemicals. The doctor walks in, but the teenager doesn't look up.

"It's been over four hours. Duane's blood is still clean. I don't think he's infected." She tells the hunters. "I'd like to untie him, if that's alright."

"Sure. Yeah." Sam nods, and she leaves again. Nyx stills don't look up. "You know I'm gonna ask you why." He says his brother.

"Yeah, I know." Dean says, still focused on the chemicals in front of him.

"So, why? Why didn't you do it?"

He clears his throat. "We need more alcohol." He tells him, not answering the question, and Sam walks away.

"I'm sorry​ that I haven't been any help on this one." Nyx says suddenly, and he looks at her. "But the smell of blood is all over this place, and it's taking all that I've got in me to stay in control."

"I know."

She looks over at him. "If things don't change... If you keep looking at me the way that you have been, like I'm..." She sighs. "I don't even know... Then I'm gonna leave, Dean. And I'm not gonna come back. This is hard enough as it is without you making it worse."

He just looks at her and before he can say anything, they hear a commotion in the room that Sam went into. Nyx runs over and looks through the small window, and she sees the nurse on top of him. The vampire quickly breaks the lock on the door and then pulls her gun out.

Nyx shoots her three times in the back, and she falls off of Sam. She smells all the blood in the small room and steps back, hitting Dean's chest. He moves past her to get to his brother, but Serge quickly stops him.

"She bled on him." Serge says, and Nyx's eyes widen. "He's got the virus."

Dean pulls his brother off of the floor, and they all head into the exam room.

"Doctor, check his wound again, would you?" Dean asks; Sam's sitting in a chair, and the others are scattered in the room. It's still difficult for Nyx, but that doesn't matter to her now. She wants to be with Sam, make sure that he's okay. "Doctor!" He snaps when she doesn't move.

"What does she need to examine him for?" Serge questions. "You saw what happened."

The doc turns to Sam. "Did her blood actually enter your wound?" She asks him.

"Come on, of course it did!"

"We don't know that for sure!" Dean yells.

"We can't take that chance." Duane says.

"We took that chance on you." Nyx says, and he looks at her.

"You know what we have to do." Serge says.

"Nobody is shooting my brother." Dean tells them.

"He's not gonna be your brother much longer." Duane argues. "You said it yourself."

"Nobody is shooting anyone."

"You were gonna shoot me!"

"You don't shut your pie hole, I still might!"

"Dean, they're right." Sam speaks up. "I'm infected. Just give me the gun, and I'll do it myself."

"Forget it." Dean says.

"Dean, I'm not gonna become one of those things."

"Sam, we've still got some time."

"Time for what?" Serge questions​. "Look, I understand he's your brother, and I'm sorry. I am, but I've got to take care of this." He says as he takes his gun out.

"I'm gonna say this one time. You make a move on him, you'll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me. Do I make myself clear?!" Dean yells at him.

"Dean!" Sam yells.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Serge questions.

Dean pulls his keys out of his pocket and tosses them to Serge. "Get the hell out of here, that's what." He tells them. "Take my car. You've got the explosives. There's an arsenal in there. You two go with him." He looks between Duane and the doc. "You got enough firepower to handle anything now."

"What about you?" He looks between Nyx and Dean, and they both just look at him.

"Dean, no. Nyx." Sam looks at them both. "Go with them. This is your only chance."

"You're not gonna get rid of us that easy." She tells him.

"He's right. Come with us." Serge says.

"You guys have Alex and Everly to think about." Sam says. "Go back to the twins."

Dean and Nyx look at each other and then back at Serge. She motions for them​ to go, and he looks between the two of them.

"Okay, it's your funeral." Serge says, and he leaves with Duane immediately behind him.

"I'm sorry." Doc says as she looks at each of them. "Thanks for everything, Marshals."

"Oh, actually​, we're not really Marshals." Dean tells her.

"Um... Oh." She leaves, and Dean closes the door behind her.

Nyx leans against the wall as Dean turns back to face them. "I wish we had a deck of cards or a foosball table or something." He says.

"Guys, don't do this. Just get the hell out of here." Sam says. "Go back to Mystic Falls and get Alex and Everly."

"We're not going anywhere." Nyx tells him.

"Give me the gun and leave." He says, he has tears in his eyes.

"For the last time, Sam, no." Dean says and turns around to walk closer to Nycole.

Sam slams his hand down on the exam bed he's sitting on. "This is the dumbest thing you two have ever done." He says.

"I don't know about that. I still trust Damon, and that's bitten me in the ass a few times already." She says, and Dean nods.

"Guys, I'm sick. It's over for me. It doesn't have to be for you. You guys can keep going."

"Sam, I'm looking at an eternity without you guys after you're both gone. So, I'm not leaving before I have to." She tells him, shaking her head. "I'm just not."

"You know what you were saying to Elena at the ball?" Dean asks, and she looks at him. "You told her that you were tired."

"Yeah." She nods.

"I'm tired too." He says as he leans against a desk. "I'm tired of this job... This life... This weight on my shoulders. I'm tired of it."

"So, what?" Sam questions. "You're both just gonna give up? You're just gonna lay down and die? Look, Dean, I know this stuff with Dad had—"

"You're wrong." Dean cuts him off. "It's not about Dad. I mean, part of it is, sure."

"Then, what is it about?"

"Someone's coming." Nyx looks toward the door as she hears footsteps approaching.

The doc knocks on the door, and Nyx goes to open it. "You better come see this." She tells them, and Nycole looks at the boys.

They all go outside and see that it's like a ghost town out there. There's not a single person in sight.

"There's no one. Not anywhere." Doc tells them. "They've all just vanished​."

"Like Roanoke." Nyx mutters.

—

Sam was somehow immune to the virus, and now they're heading out of town. They stop off on the side of the road and each of them has a beer. Nyx is laying down on the grass, Dean's looking out at the lake beside them, and Sam's sitting on the wooden fence separating the water from the road.

"So, last night." Sam starts. "You wanna tell me what the hell you were talking about?"

"What do you mean?" His brother asks.

"What do I mean? I mean you said you were tired of this job, and that it wasn't just because of Dad." He says. "I know it's not just because of the twins. Not with the way you were talking last night."

"Forget it."

"No, I can't. No way."

"Come on, man, I thought we were both gonna die." Dean says. "You can't hold that over me."

Nyx doesn't say anything. She just keeps looking up at the sky. It's clear blue, no trace of clouds anywhere.

"No, no, no, no. You can't pull that crap with me, man." Sam argues. "You're talking."

"And what if I don't?" Dean asks.

"Then I guess I'll just have to keep asking you until you do." He says. "Nyx, aren't​ you the slightest bit curious?"

"No. I'm not." She says as she sits up and takes a drink of her beer.

"You already know, don't you?" He asks, but she doesn't say anything else. "Dean."

"I don't know, man. I just think maybe we ought to...go to the Grand Canyon." His older brother says.

"What?"

"Yeah, you know, all this driving back and forth across the country— Do you know I've never been to the Grand Canyon?" He tells him. "Nyx, you ever been?"

"The first time I ever left Mystic Falls was when I met you." She tells him.

"You've been sheltered." He says, and she just nods. "Or we could go to T.J. or Hollywood."

"You're not making any sense." Sam says.

"I just think we should take a break from all this. Why do we got to get stuck with all the responsibility? Why can't we live life a little bit?" Dean asks. "Let's get the twins when they're doing better and just enjoy life."

"Why are you saying all this?" He asks, and Nyx lays back down as Dean turns away from him. "No, no, no. Dean, you're my brother, alright? So, whatever weight you're carrying, let me help a little bit."

"I can't. I promised." Dean tells him.

"Who?"

"Dad."

"What are you talking about?"

"Right before Dad died... He told me something." He says. "He told me something about you."

"What? Dean, what did he tell you?"