BUG BITES

am, Elena and Dean are talking with the professor. "So, you three are students?" He asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, uh, we're in your class - Anthro 101?" Sam says.

"Oh, yeah."

"So, what about the bones, Professor?" Dean asks.

"This is quite an interesting find you've made. I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take. The timeframe and the geography heavily suggest Native American." The Professor says.

"Were there any tribes or reservations on that land?" Elena asks.

"Not according to the historical record. But the, uh, relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time." He says.

Sam smirks. "Right. Well, are there any local legends? Oral histories about the area?" He asks.

"Well... you know, there's a Euchee tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here. Someone out there might know the truth." The Professor suggests.

"All right."

Later, they're driving through Sapulpa. They stop and ask a Native American man for directions. Once he directs them where to go, they thank him and drive away.

am and Dean enter and find another Native American man playing cards at a table. "Joe White Tree?" The man nods. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's all right."

"We're students from the university." Dean says.

"No, you're not. You're lying." Joe says.

Dean seems taken aback. "Well, truth is-" He starts.

"You know who starts sentence with 'truth is'? Liars." Joe says.

Dean exchanges a look with Sam. Elena makes conversation. "Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley." Elena says.

Joe turns to Dean. "I like her. He's not a liar." Dean looks angry. "I know the area."

"What can you tell us about the history there?" Elena asks.

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Something... something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have something to do with some old bones we found down there - Native American bones." Sam says.

"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient." Joe says.

"As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time." He continues.

"And by the time the sun Rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people."

"Insects. Sounds like nature to me. Six days." Dean says.

"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive." Sam and Dean exchange a look.

fter talking to Joe, Sam, Dean and Elena walk back to the car. "When did the gas company man die?" Sam asks.

"Uh, let's see, we got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth." Dean says.

"March twentieth?" Sam asks and Dean nods. "That's the spring equinox."

"The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals." Elena says.

"So, every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land." Sam says.

"And on the sixth night - that's tonight."

Elena begins to freak. "If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break the curse?" She asks.

"You don't break a curse. You get out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now." Dean says. They get in the car and drive away.

Meanwhile, Matt is in the backyard with a flashlight. He hears a noise coming from the ground. He crouches down by a patch of ground and moves a rock. Suddenly, tons of cockroaches come crawling out from under the dirt. Matt runs away.

ean is driving while talking on the phone with Larry. "Yes, Mr. Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighborhood." Dean lies.

"God, really? And how big?" Larry asks.

"Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least twelve hours or so, just to be safe." Dean says.

"And who is this, again?"

"Travis Weaver. I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power." Dean says.

"Uh-huh. Well, the problem is, I know Travis. He's worked with us for a year, so who is this?"

Dean panics. "Uh..." He hangs up.

"Give me the phone." Sam takes the phone from Dean and dials a number. At the Pike residence, Matt answers his cell phone.

"Hello?" Matt asks.

"Matt, it's Sam."

"Sam, my backyard is crawling with cockroaches." He says.

"Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay?" Sam says.

"What, why?"

"Because something's coming."

Sam hears Matt sigh. "More bugs?" He asks.

"Yeah, a lot more." Sam says.

"My dad doesn't listen in the best of circumstances, what am I supposed to tell him?" Matt asks.

"You've gotta make him listen, okay?" Sam asks.

"Give me the phone, give me the phone." Dean grabs the phone from Sam. "Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts."

"But he's my-" Matt starts.

Dean interrupts. "Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay?" He says.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Matt says and he hangs up, and so does Dean.

"Make him listen? What are you thinkin'?" Dean asks.

A while later, they pull up outside Larry's house. Larry looks out the window and, seeing their car, goes outside. "Damn it, they're still here. Come on."

They get out of the car, joined by Matt. "Get off my property before I call the cops." Larry demands.

"Mr. Pike, listen." Sam pleads.

"Dad, they're just tryin' to help." Matt says.

"Get in the house!"

Matt turns to them. "I'm sorry. I told him the truth." He says.

"We had a plan, Matt, what happened to the plan?" Dean asks.

"Look, it's 12:00 AM. They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go, before it's too late." Sam says.

"Yeah, you mean before the biblical swarm." Larry says sarcastically.

"Larry, what do you think really happened to that realtor, huh? And the gas company guy? You don't think somethin' weird's goin' on here?" Dean asks.

Larry put his hands on his hips. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy. You come near my boy or my family again, and we're gonna have a problem." He says.

"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we've got a problem right now." Dean says.

"Dad, they're right, okay? We're in danger." Matt says.

"Matt, get inside! Now!" Larry yells.

"No! Why won't you listen to me?!" Matt yells back.

"Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!"

Elena steps forward. "Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?" She asks.

"Wait." Dean says and they all go silent. "You hear it?"

From somewhere nearby, a very loud buzzing noise can be heard. It continues to get louder. "What the hell?" Larry questions.

The fluorescent bug light on the porch begins to overheat, killing several bugs at a time. "All right, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife." Dean says.

"Guys." Elena says. All of them look up to the sky. Millions of bugs begin flying towards the house, blanketing the sky.

"Oh my God." Larry says.

"We'll never make it."

"Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house, go!" Dean yells.

They rush inside the house and lock the door. "Okay, is there anybody else in the neighborhood?" Sam asks.

"No, it's just us." Larry says just as Joanie enters.

"Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" She asks.

"Call 911." Larry tells her. She doesn't move. "Joanie!"

"Okay." She picks up the phone and dials.

"I need towels." Dean says.

"Uh, in the closet."

Sam turns to Matt. "Okay, we've gotta lock this place up, come on - doors, windows, fireplace, everything, okay?" They go upstairs.

"Phones are dead." Joanie says.

"They must have chewed through the phone lines." Dean beings putting towels at the base of the front door when the power goes out. "And the power lines."

"I need my cell." Larry picks up his cell phone. "No signal."

"You won't get one. They're blanketing the house." Dean says. Millions of bugs begin collecting on the doors and windows, covering the entire building.

The five of them watch, waiting. "So what do we do now?" Larry asks.

"We try to outlast it. Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise." Sam says.

"Hopefully?"

In the kitchen, Dean searches the cabinets. He finds a can of bug spray and returns to the living room. "Bug spray?" Joanie asks.

"Trust me." Dean says and they hear a creaking noise coming from somewhere around the fireplace.

"What is that?" Elena asks.

"The flu."

"All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs." Dean says.

Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of bugs come into the living room, swarming all around them. They scream and try to protect themselves.

Dean uses a lighter with the can of bug spray to make it flare up. The flame wards some of the bugs away. In the process, Elena gets stung on the hand my a wasp.

"Ah!" She yells and clutches her throbbing hand.

Sam goes over to her and grabs her shoulders. "Come on!" He says and helps her.

"All right, everybody upstairs! Now! Go, go, go!" Dean yells. He goes upstairs with them into the attic, and Sam closes the door.

Sam finds an old shirt and rips part of it. He then wraps it around Elena's hand. After a moment of being in the attic, sawdust begins to fall from the ceiling. The buzz of the bees gets louder.

"Oh, God, what's that?" Joanie asks.

"Something's eating through the wood." Dean says.

"Termites."

"All right, everybody get back. Get back, get back, get back!" Dean yells.

The three Pikes move as far into the corner of the attic as they can. A second later, the bugs chew a hole through the ceiling and swarm around the room. Sam and Dean frantically try to patch up the hole in the ceiling, but this only works for a minute.

Soon, two more holes are chewed, and while Dean tries to ward them off with bug spray, nothing seems to work. The five of them stand in the corner, trying desperately to swat the bugs away for a few minutes.

Then, suddenly, the sun rises. Miraculously, the bugs start to leave through the hole in the ceiling. Confused, Sam and Dean go to see what happened. Through the hole, they can see the bugs in the sky, near the sun, in one enormous colony. The six of them continue watching, relieved.

Later, Elena sits on the porch while Joanie tends to her bug bite. Dean and Sam approach Larry, who is placing boxes into a moving van. "What, no goodbye?" Dean asks.

"Good timing. Another hour and we'd have been gone." Larry says. He shakes both their hands.

"For good?"

"Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found. But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again." Larry says.

"You don't seem too upset about it." Sam says.

"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but..." He looks over at Matt, who is carrying a box to the garbage "...somehow, I really don't care."

They share a smile. Sam walks over to Matt, who is throwing away all his insect paraphernalia. "What's this?" Sam asks.

"I don't know. They kind of weird me out now."

They both laugh. "Yeah, I should hope so." Sam says.

Joanie finishes bandaging Elena. Sam stands with his hands in his pockets, staring at her. Then Elena glances up and smiles. Sam smiles back.

A few minutes later, Sam joins Dean and Elena by the car. They watch Larry and Matt, who are now getting along very well.

"I wanna find Dad." Sam says.

"Yeah, me too."

"Yeah, but I just... I want to apologize to him." Sam says.

Dean turns to his brother. "For what?"

"All the things I said to him. He was just doin' the best he could." Sam says.

"Well, don't worry, we'll find him. And then you'll apologize. And then within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throats."

Sam laughs. "Yeah, probably." They sit in silence for a few seconds. "Let's hit the road."

"Let's." They get in the car, giving one last wave to Larry and Matt, and drive away.