CARRY ON

How to Kill a Wendigo

The group has built a campfire, and Dean and Joan draw something in the dirt around the campsite while Haley pokes at the fire.
"One more time, that's..." Haley was cut off by Joan.
"Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them." Joan explained again. "Just imagine it's like fence." Joan smirked. Haley smiled.
Roy laughs, gun over his shoulder.
"Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean said. Joan sits down next to Haley.
Dean heads over to sit next to Sam, who is at the edge of the campsite.
"You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" Dean asked.
"Dean..." Sam shook his head.
"No, you're not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?" Dean said.
"Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?" Sam asked. Dean nodded.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek." Dean informed.
"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?" Sam continues.
"This is why." Dean comes around to Sam's front and holds up John's journal. "This book. This is Dad's single most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business." Dean explains. Sam shakes his head.
"That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just-call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?" Sam shook his head.
"I dunno. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it." Dean said.
"Dean...no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." Sam argues.
"Okay, all right, Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man." Dean said. Sam looks down, then up.
"How do you do it? How does Joan do it? How does Dad do it?" Sam asked. Dean looks over at Haley and Ben.
"Well for one, them." Dean said. Sam looks over at Haley and Ben "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable." Dean looked at Joan. "Joey... Bobby wouldn't let her hunt." Dean looked at Sam. "She wanted to track down a demon as bad as you do. Find why it chose her mom. Well she never found her answer yet. She's doing this to protect them from what hurt her." A pause. "I'll tell you what else helps." Sam looks back at Dean.
"Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." Sam smiles. A twig snaps. Joan shoots up and looks at Dean. Dean nodded.
"Help me! Please!" The wendigo yelled. Dean stands and readies his gun. "Help!" Sam shines a flashlight about.
"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay put." Joan looked at the rest of the group.
"Inside the magic circle?" Roy asked.
"Help! Help me!" The creature yelled.
Growling. Roy points his gun at the sound.
"Okay, that's no grizzly." Roy said.
"It's okay. You'll be all right, I promise." Haley hugged her brother.
Something rushes past. Haley shrieks.
"It's here." Sam said.
Roy shoots at the rustling, then again.
"I hit it!" Roy yelled. Roy goes to see what he hit.
"Roy, no! Roy!" Everyone yelled. Dean turns to Haley and Ben.
"Don't move."

Haley's holding a stick, burning at one end, as a weapon. Dean, Joan, and Sam run after Roy.
"It's over here! It's in the tree!" Roy yelled. The Wendigo reaches down from the tree and snaps Roy's neck.
"Roy!" The three yell. Sam and Joan shine the flashlights around.

Sam is sitting against a hollow tree stump, holding John's journal and playing with a lanyard attached to same. Dean and Haley and Ben are among the tents. Joan was making sure the monster wasn't near.
"I don't...I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real." Haley said.
"I wish I could tell you different." Dean sighed.
"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Haley asked.
"We don't. But we're safe for now." Joan walked up.
"How do you know about this stuff?" Haley asked. A pause while Dean considers.
"Kind of runs in the family." Dean said. Haley still looked confused.
Sam comes over.
"Hey." Sam greeted everyone. Haley stands up.
"So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch." Sam said.
"Well, hell, you know we're in." Dean looked at Joan then back to Sam. Joan nodded.
Sam shows the wendigo page of John's journal to Haley and Ben.
"'Wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'." Sam said.
"They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter." Dean informed.
"How's a man turn into one of those things?" Haley asked. Joan picks a couple things up off the ground.
"Well, it's always the same. During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp." Joan said.
"Like the Donner Party." Ben spoke. Joan smirked.
"Like the Donner Party." Joan said.
"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality." Sam spoke up.
"If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry." Dean finished.
"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Haley asked.
"You're not gonna like it." Dean glances at Sam, then back to Haley.
"Tell me." Haley pleads.
"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive." Dean said. Joan put a hand in his shoulder.
"It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there." Joan finished.
"And then how do we stop it?" Haley continued.
"Well, guns are useless, so are knives. Basically..." Dean holds up the can of lighter fluid, the beer bottle, and the white cloth he'd picked up. "We gotta torch the sucker." Dean smirked.