We knew the peace wouldn't last

[noteasytobepink]

Who: Clarice & Bill
When: The beginning of Bill's ending
What: Guess who's back? Back in Town?

"Clarice?"

She blinked and looked down at the radio on her belt, attention drawn by the crackling voice even as she reached out to snag one of the kids, keeping them inside the crosswalk. It took a few minutes to corral all the kids out of the street, hell there must have been a birthday cupcake event or something to get the kids this wound up. Still. "Yeah?"

"Hey there, listen, we've got a report of an abandoned vehicle out on route 6."

"So?" she snorted. "Get Charlie's tow rig out there and call it a day."

"Charlie's already out on eighteen, got an RV breakdown. Just need to make sure it's an actual abandonment and not some idiots pissing in the woods."

"Charming," she noted. "Let me guess..."

"Still low man, girl, sorry. You get this one. Besides, you like jogging!" Dispatch laughed.

Yeah, well, if she caught someone poaching they were going to regret it, yes. "Soon as the munchkins are all herded then. If it's abandoned it's not running away," just saying. And if it wasn't abandoned, well, if they got it clear before she got there all the better? She didn't mind a door to door hunt in town, it was like hide and seek, but out on the road could get annoying.

It was another half hour before the last stragglers were safely crossed and handed off to parents. As to why parents couldn't escort their own kids instead of meeting them on the other side of the road, well, that had never been well explained but she was pretty sure it boiled down to 'we've always crossed the kids', big on tradition here. Another three minutes to shuck the crossing guard vest and sign, tuck them in the school closet, and then she was headed off. Route 9 wasn't that far, as the crow flies, as long as one didn't mind the fields between.

She ran the road up to the highway and back down to town before hitting her radio, "No sign of a vehicle," she called, annoyed. "Covered the ten miles from Hilliger farm to the highway and back. Saw some pull off points but no telling how fresh those tracks are."

"Hate to tell you Clarice, but there's a report out on Rout 22 now. We've got others checking the call from Route 8. You up for it?"

That was...odd. Yes. "I'm on it." Sure, it was clear across town but it wasn't like she had plans or anything. Was today some obscure pranking day? The drive cops nut day on the calendar? She'd guess 'tweaking the deputies tail' day but she'd kind of outgrown that point quite early on. The guys at the precinct learned to let her be after they found spiders inside their donuts. For a week solid. Sometimes it was all about knowing how to push back when boys were being jerks.

Night was falling by the time she hit the new road, scanning for any sign or headlights, tail lights, engine sounds...what she heard after a while was the soft crack and crunch of branches. She honed in on that and blinked at what she found, "Dispatch? I've got that car...it's been pushed off the road and behind some bushes. No sign of any driver, empty, doors open..." creepy as hell honestly.

That wasn't good.

"Repeat that? Did you say pushed off into the woods?"

"Yeah, I did," she admitted, backing up to stand firmly on the road again.

"I'll have the other guys looking out for that. We got more calls but we're missing cars..."

Hell. That was really damn weird. "Nothing about Rout 5 yet right? I'll go see if I can catch our prankers in the act and if I do I'm shaking them by their ears or something."

"Good plan, I'll let the sheriff know."

"Thanks, I'll call in when I can." Route 5 was less in favor these days, more of a back road since it didn't connect to the new highway, so it was a great place to lay a trap as it were. Hopefully she wouldn't be camped out all night waiting...

...granted, she found a truck sitting halfway down, lights on, doors open, empty. "Dispatch? I've got old James's truck here. He's not the prank sort. I'm coming in." To talk to the others and see if anyone else was having a creepy night.

And maybe she'd check on James's house on the way in, yeah. Lights were on and the TV was on when she passed by, so, Mrs. James was certainly alright and not worried but...

"Going to be one of those nights," she sighed.

Comments

[noteasytobepink]

She just waited him out while he thought things through, but the moment he gave permission? She had his drawer open and the keys in hand. There was some heckling from the others as she pawed through the lockup, but when she came back into the main room with her war quiver properly strapped on? Well, the men weren't laughing about security blankets anymore.

"Yes sir. Five to get there at a run, I'll check in after I see if he's home." But just to be sure she laced the radio into the top of her quiver, behind her head where she couldn't miss it. "Watch?" She'd need one.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Pulling his own watch he handed it over, holding onto it a moment, eyes on hers.

"Be careful."

He gave her a small smile and let go, rubbing his now bare wrist and going back to the map; trying to decide how to divide up the rest of his deputies.

[noteasytobepink]

"Of course, keep them close," she noted about the others. Spreading out his force might be a bad idea at the moment honestly.

That was his call in the end though.

Then? She was turning and pelting out the door. She had a town to check on.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He watched her go, then got down to addressing his deputies; pairing them off rather then sending each out alone.

His team wasn't that large, though, someone had to go without a partner and so Bill got into his cruiser and headed for the south side of town alone. His own radio on, waiting for Clarice's check in.

[noteasytobepink]

"Bill, I've got an empty house here, just so you know," she called in, slightly sooner than ten minutes. "No car either though so he may be out, legitimately." You know, it was possible and all.

Still.

"I don't like it. The run was too quiet. I can see the Kensies up across the street."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"I'm headed for the south end of town," he came back to Clarice. "Check with the Kensies, see if they know where he's at."

Someone had to know what was going on.

"Dispatch, we got anything on the calendar for the high school?" Maybe the school was hosting something. That would explain the missing principal and the empty streets now.

"There's nothin' posted, sheriff. Softball game the other day an' a PTA bake-off next Wednesday, that's it," the dispatcher returned.

[noteasytobepink]

"Watch your back, Bill, and check your car when you come back if you have to get out. Lotta weird tonight around the cars," she noted softly. Great place for an ambush.

But that was his concern right now, her job now was to check on the Kensies. Mr. Kensie was more than happy to come to the door, apron on and barbecue sauce on his hands, "Hey, deputy, what's up?"

"Weird things tonight, do you think I could come in for a word or two?" she asked.

"Sure, sure, come on in, dinner isn't ready though..."

"Not here for free food, I promise, just need to know if you've seen your neighbor tonight."

"Damndest thing," Mr. Kensie admitted. He had some folks help him push his car off, must have been out of gas or something..."

...well that wasn't good.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill did end up having to leave his car, getting down to check out another abandoned vehicle.

This one a pick up and cattle trailer sitting slanted on a hillside, doors open and cows gone.

"The hell is goin' on?" Bill sighed, pulling his flashlight to search the cab.

"Got another one here on Asher Road," he called in over the radio. "Pickup missin' its driver, an' trailer missin' its stock."

[noteasytobepink]

"This part will scare you," she called over the radio. Or principal? Had some friends Mr. Kensie can't identify help him push his car away. Instead of calling a tow truck, using a phone, etc." And that was just bad news wasn't it?

She didn't like it at all.

The weight of her war quiver was reassuring as she weighed her options; the uniform she had on didn't allow a full range of motion, or at least not motion she tended to demand and need. The belt and such would also get caught. She needed to strip down and not for the first time she wished her dress hadn't been beyond saving.

"Dropping cloth, Bill, keeping the radio in quiver, but that's all I'm keeping. Permission to evacuate the Kensies and everyone else I can get to?"

[wheelsy_sheriff]

That... was weird and worrisome alright.

Still, the situation wasn't critical yet. They were still figuring out what was going on.

"Evacuation? No. We ain't got an emergency situation here." There was no evidence anyone had even been hurt. "Tell the Kensies t'stay put an' you try an' track down Waters." If he was pushing his car the man couldn't have gotten very far.

"I wanna know what the hell is goin' on."

[noteasytobepink]

...that was the wrong call, she felt that in her gut, but hey, he was the boss. "I want them in a secure area, mind if I stuff them in a closet?" she asked simply. "Then I'll trot and run to your heart's content but I don't like this."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"We start pullin' people out or tucking them away an' folks are going to freak out an' panic," Bill replied, sensing that she thought he was wrong. "Which'll make us look the right pair of dumbasses when this all comes back as a false alarm."

Image was truly the last thing Bill was worried about, but setting off a stampede in a county full of trigger happy rednecks? Yeah, that was something he wanted to avoide.

"Have 'em lock up an' leave them be. I need you trackin' down Waters. I'm gonna see if I can't find out where in the hell these cows have gotten off to." Into the woods by the look of it, and where the stock went the one driving them had to be as well.

[noteasytobepink]

"Your call," his world, when they boiled it down. She still didn't like it but she'd agreed to take his orders when she signed up. "Can I suggest masks?" Just in case?

The area had a history after all.

"My evac point for civilians is the hospital room I woke up in two counties over by the way."

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"You wear what you wanna," he replied, stepping into the trees.

"We won't need it, but noted." If it made her feel better to have one designated, fine.

He was going to get to the bottom of this, though, and doing that meant ignoring the uneasiness trying so damn hard to take root in him.

Everything was going to be just fine.

[noteasytobepink]

Uneasiness, though, was an indicator or subliminal detail cues. It was subconscious recognition and instinct and damned if he shouldn't have learned to pay attention.

Ah, but he was an optimist. She did love that about him. "Thank you sir," she noted simply before turning to ask the Kensies as a whole to lock and secure their home, find a secure room to stay together in, and to wear masks. Just in case. She did stress that point for Bill's sake.

Just in case.

"I'm on the road again. Tracks go out of town, looks like eight, possibly more 'friends' pushing the vehicle by the shoe and barefoot tracks." And wasn't it odd that some of the tracks were barefoot prints hmmm?

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He was an optimist who dabbled in stubborn denial. A dangerous combo sometimes.

"Cows are headed that way, too," he noted, shining his light on the chopped up earth he was walking over. "Too much shit an' hooves to tell how many people were with 'em, but the way they were amblin' I'm bettin' they were led."

Or herded.

He came across an impression in the dirt that stopped him. A big wide swath where it looked like perhaps one of the cows had fallen. Rather than finding a dead cow or the hoof prints of a live one that had gotten back up, though, Bill found the rutted trail where it looked like something large had been dragged off into the dark.

Sweeping the path with his light it led off further into the trees and a ways down the line it was joined by another; this one with wet spatters along the way.

"Clarice, you find them do not engage," he said over the radio, kneeling down beside the second trail. "Dispatch, I need you t'check the reports we've gotten in the last week or so. Count up how many missin' animals an' stock calls that've come in."

Touching the wet dirt he brought his fingers up and eyed the red rust coloring them. Blood.

A branch in the nearby brush snapped and Bill's head and flashlight jumped to look in that direction.

[noteasytobepink]

"Give me a sec sheriff," their dispatcher chirped. "Huh, looks like McMannis had some trouble with someone spooking his herd, and a missing cow on Dunham road. Chickens been hit hard by foxes this week...but mostly it's been quiet. Don't even have any 'get this racoon out of my garbage' calls."

Do not engage? Them? Oh, that wasn't good at all was it? That coupled with 'quiet' well, that was worse. Towns didn't go quiet, really. Not in her experience. "Permission to evac," she'd probably ask at every point that this looked worse and worse honestly.

Granted, she'd stopped following the trail in order to listen in, and she wasn't going to follow the prints into the woods. That'd be dumb as hell. That was when the rustling started.

Great.

Screw it, she was started evac whether he said yes or no. With luck he would respond before she got back to the Kensies, that'd save them a fight later.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

The lack of calls was actually reassuring. Tons of missing animal reports was how the trouble in Wheelsy had started out last time.

Hearing the dispatcher's reply didn't really settle the uneasiness he was feeling, but it was enough to get him to start moving again. He walked, scanning the trees, listening close for any other movement out in the dark.

"Sheriff's department, who's out there?" he called out to the woods before bringing the radio up again to snap at Clarice. "Dammit, I said no! We have no proof of a threat an' if you're going to panic on me without one I need you back at the station."

He was on edge enough as it was. The anxiety from Clarice was only making that worse.

[noteasytobepink]

"Slot the pieces," Clarice spoke over the radio. At least she'd switched channels so there wouldn't be anyone listening in? "What's the one damn call you guys sent me out on every night, usually twice? Racoon calls. No racoons. Spooked herd, disappearing chickens, fox assumptions, but why would we have foxes and no racoons?" She wasn't talking down to him, no, but her voice had gone from 'Clarice in Wheelsy' to the steel clear voice of someone who ran teams through danger.

"Rustling started when I followed footprints to the wood line. I'm used to your woods now, and the sounds that are normal, and an entire tree from top to bottom doesn't rustle." Unless something was in it. "Remember to watch above...hold up, someone in the road," she noted, leaving the line live.

"Hello Mrs. Depnik. A little late for a walk."

"I'm...lost dear. Do you know where I live?"

Now she wasn't one to assume white hair meant senile, at all...

"...oh you're...I don't know you do I? Could you call Starla for me? She knows where I live."

Shit.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

"Yeah? So then what is the threat, Clarice? Because you damn sure better know what you're dealin' with before you start pullin' people out of the their homes," he barked back. "You can't port them all an' we can't protect them all if we start a mass exit."

No, it was still better to have people hold up than to ask them to make a run for it and expose themselves to whatever was out there.

Hearing the old woman ask for Starla stopped him in his tracks.

"What's she look like, Clarice? Is she sick? Pale?"

[noteasytobepink]

"You know the threat, Bill," she noted softly. "It's after you. I don't know this critter? But I know villains. You hurt it, you personally, something no one else ever managed. That means revenge and taking things slow the second round."

That said though, well, she was taking a step back "pale and missing a slipper. Also missing her pearls and purse, something she'd never be without. I always have a plan, Bill. Just because you never wanted to speak of it doesn't mean I didn't plan." She could and would evac everyone.

"Here's the test," she dropped, sweeping a leg out to trip the old lady, only standing again when she heard the enraged hissing.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

He listened to her and something cold snaked down his spine. Out in the dark another branch snapped, and Bill had the distinct feeling he was being watched.

The hissing he heard over the radio brought it all flashing back and he knew she was right.

"Get out of there, Clarice," he said to her in a cold, calm voice as he snapped the thumb guard on his holster, listening to the rustling in the woods around him draw in closer. "It's seen you, and he's gonna send others after you."

[noteasytobepink]

It was a few moments before she answered, "I'm gone," she noted. "I'm breaking power cover and I'm getting your people out. Every single one I can will end up at county general two towns over with orders to clear out of the arrival room but to camp there safe. Scream if you need me, I'm headed into overdrive here."

Where by 'overdrive' she meant 'moving too damn fast for anyone to latch onto and popping in and out of reality to teleport people'. She was also, possibly, going to steal a lot of pencils.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

It's already too late for me.

He thought it, but he didn't say it.

The path back to the cruiser was clear, but to go by the growing rustling in the brush around him he was going to have a hell of a time reaching it.

"Alright," was his simple reply to her, and then he was tucking the radio away and drawing his gun.

When the first form shuffled out of the brush he didn't hesitate in pulling the trigger.

[noteasytobepink]

It was never too late if you could still think. She'd shake him for that kind of thought later.

Later later.

For now she was stretching into the kind of running no one here had ever seen from her, as much flickering as feet on the ground, back to the houses she'd memorized.

All of them.

Some of them she was too late for course, but not as many as one would expect. Grant really was taking it carefully this time around, so of course it was time to remove the extra pieces from the board. Granted, she scared the hell out of most the people, somehow 'Slugs, STAY IN THE HOSPITAL TELEPORT!' bit for everyone she encountered? That wasn't reassuring.

Who knew?