Rise to Fail

02. Two and a Half Men

INT. GARAGE - DAY

The Impala was mostly covered by a tan tarp, but the trunk was clear. Dean opened the trunk of the Impala and looked inside. He took out his sawed-off shotgun, checked the rounds, and put it away. He closed the trunk, locked it, put the keys in his toolbox, and let the tarp settle back over the trunk of the Impala. He left the garage with a box labeled "KITCHEN."

INT. DEAN AND DAHLIA'S HOUSE

Dean and Dahlia were unpacking boxes. She kept glancing at him with a frustrated expression. Noelle was playing with her brother.

"What's up?" Dean asked.

"Nothing," Dahlia replied.

"At least wait until you've checked the place out before you hate it. Open mind, that's all I ask."

"Yeah, all right." She stood. "I'll be back."

"Oh, hey. Where's the fire?"

"Just going to check out the block."

"And let me unpack the kitchen by myself? Come on. We'll go for lunch later. Scope out the neighborhood. Right?"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." He smiled at her. "Come on, why don't you give me a hand? Elle, stay with your brother, okay?"

Noelle nodded. "Okay."

Dean and Dahlia left the room together.

EXT. VICTIM'S HOUSE

Cop cars were on the street and policemen walked it and out the front door of a house surrounded by crime scene tape. Sam spoke to a detective while holding a flyer for a missing child in his hand.

"Where'd you find them?" Sam asked.

"We found the parents upstairs," the detective replied. "Pretty brutal."

"Break in?"

"No, alarm never went off."

"Any leads on the baby?"

"None yet."

"So what do you think? Think it's okay? Alive?"

"I did yesterday."

"Thank you." Sam walked up the path towards the house, ducking under the crime scene tape that blocked it off.

INT. DEAN AND DAHLIA'S HOUSE

The doorbell rang. Dean opened the door to reveal a pizza delivery man.

"There you go," Dean said. "Keep the change."

"Thanks," the pizza delivery man replied.

"Thanks." Dean turned to see Dahlia standing behind him. "What?"

"I thought we were going out?" Dahlia answered.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm sorry."

"Sure. I'll go look for plates." She left the room, muttering to herself.

Noelle frowned. "I wanted to eat food out." She stuck her tongue out and walked away.

"Noelle, enough," Dean said.

EXT. VICTIM'S HOUSE

Sam left the house and spoke to Samuel on the phone. "Hey. So, I've been all over this. No sulfur. No EMF. I'm starting to think maybe it's not our kind of thing."

"Four couples slaughtered in one part of the state within days of each other. That's four babies taken from locked houses. Damn it! Explain to me how any version of that is natural."