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(8.1) ─ Bugs

𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫:
‧⁺˚*‧☾𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞☽‧*˚⁺‧

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Dean walked outside of the Oklahoma bar, laughing and waving a wad of cash in the air. Walking up to Sam who was reading the newspaper on the Impala's hood, and Carmen who was pacing. "You know, we could get day jobs once in a while." Sam stated looking up from the paper. "Hunting's our day job, and the pay is crap." Dean joked back. "Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean."

"Well, let's see, honest-" He said, holding out one hand. "-fun and easy," He held out the other, mimicking a scala, gesturing to his left, "'Fun and easy' outweighs 'honest'. 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...why is she pacing?" Dean questioned pointing towards his sister. Sam just shrugged his shoulders. "One minute she's reading Dad's journal, again, and the next she's out here pacing."

"Carmen," The oldest Winchester said to no answer. "Shorty?" No answer. "Munchkin?" Not even a flinch. "Carmen Grace Winchester." She stopped in her tracks, like her full name had broken her from her thoughts. "What?" She asked doe-eyed.

"Why are you pacing?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"I don't know?" Dean repeated. "Yeah, I don't know. We got a new gig, or what?" She asked Sam changing the subject, not wanting to go back down that rabbit hole.

"Maybe," Sam said as he pushed off the hood. "Oasis Plains, Oklahoma not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob." He placed the newspaper on the hood. "Huh?" They asked at the same time. Sam sigh, "Human mad cow disease," He clarified.

"Mad cow. Wasn't that on Oprah?"

The two looked at their older brother, "You watch Oprah?"

Dean looked between the two, "So this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kind of thing?" He quickly changed the topic.

"Mad cow disease causes huge amounts of brain degeneration. It literally takes months, even years for any type of damage to even appear." Carmen explained. "But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrates in about an hour. Maybe less." Sam added.

"Yeah, that's weird,"

"Yeah. Now, it could be a disease. Or it could be somethin' much nastier."

"Alright, Oklahoma," Dean said, shoving the wad from his fist to his back pocket. "On the road again," Carmen sung as the three got back into the car, "I just can't wait to get on the road again."

"Man. Work, work, work. Not time to spend my money." Dean whined starting the Impala.

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It was mid morning when they arrived at the Oklahoma Gas and Power building. The three had gotten out of the car and walked over to who they were hoping was Travis Weaver. "Travis Weaver?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, that's right,"

"Wait, as in the Travis that worked with Uncle Dusty?" Carmen asked, trying to play into their story, hoping it would work out. "Dustin never mentioned nephews and a niece," He answers, making her hide her prideful grin as he bought their story.

"Really? Well, he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest." Dean told him as Sam agreed, adding a small 'yeah'.

"Oh, he did?" He asked with a small smile looking down shyly. "Huh,"

"We wanted to ask you... What exactly happened out there?" She asked, making the man shrug, "I'm not sure. He fell into a sinkhole. I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh...by the time I got back..." He trailed off clearly, still very affected by the scene. "What did you see?" Dean asked as Travis shook his head, "Nothin'. Just Dustin."

"No wounds or anything?" Sam asked.

"Well, he was bleeding...from his eyes and his eyes, his nose, but that's it."

"So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" The oldest Winchester asked. "I don't know. That's what the doctors are sayin'." He answered. "But if it was, he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?" Sam asked as Travis shook his head once again, "No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some diseases, what the hell was it?" They each lightly shrugged their shoulders, "You know, can you tell us where this happened?" Sam asked.

"Yeah,"

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Travis gave them the address and even circled it on one of the maps that Carmen had snaked from the gas station. The three approached the gaping hole, cautiously. "Huh. What do you think?" Dean asked, looking between each sibling, on either side of him. "I don't know." Sam answered as they both turned towards their sister, "Don't look at me, I don't have a ducking clue." They both gave her a 'really bitch' typeface. "What? Would you like me to say the real-" "No!" They both quickly cut her off.

The three ducked under the tape, looking into the hole. Dean was pointing down the hole with his flashlight, "So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?"

"No, there'd be an entry wound. Sounds like this things worked from the inside." Sam stated. "Huh. Looks like there's only room for one," Dean said, turning the light off and ducking back under the tape. "Sam, you wanna flip a coin?"

"Huh?" Carmen asked, trying to figure out why she was left out.

"Dean, we have no idea what's down there," Sam argued back. Dean found and picked up a nearby coil of rope, "Alright, I'll go if you're scared. You scared?" He challenged knowing it was get to Sam, and it did, "Flip the damn coin." Carmen rolled her eyes, already grabbing the rope that Dean had just dropped. The oldest chuckled while pulling out a quarter. "Alright, call it in the air..chicken," All the while their sister was tying and scouring the rope around her waist. He flipped the coin up into the air, and just before it reached the peak she snatched it out of the air. "Hey!"

"Hold this," She said, shoving the end of the rope into Dean's hand, which was open to catch the coin. "Why am I holding-" Before he was able to finish his sentence she was already down into the hole, slowly pushing her feet off the wall and slowly descending down into it. "Carmen!" Both brothers shouted, glancing over the edge at her. "Drop me and you're both dead!" She threatened as Dean's knuckles started to turn white, his grip on the rope tightening worried about his sister falling down a mysterious sinkhole.

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