7. River Pass, Colorado

I closed the door so that no eavesdropping could occur. We couldn't have people wondering why the hell someone would talk about finding God.

"God?" Dean asked.

"Yes," said Castiel.

"God."

"Yes! He isn't in heaven. He has to be somewhere."

"Try New Mexico. I hear he's on a tortilla."

"No, he's not on any flatbread."

I leaned against the door.

"Listen, Chuckles," Dean said seriously, "even if there is a God, he is either dead-and that's the generous theory-"

"He is out there, Dean," Castiel insisted.

"-or he's up and kicking and doesn't give a rat's ass about any of us."

Castiel had such a severe glare I was surprised Dean's face didn't start to melt off. I bet if Castiel had a lot more power than he did now, he could easily do that.

"I mean, look around you, man. The world is in the toilet. We are literally at the end of all days here, and he's off somewhere drinking booze out of a coconut. All right?"

"Enough. This is not a theological issue. It's strategic. With God's help, we can win."

"It's a pipe dream, Cas."

I took a step forward as Castiel moved towards Dean.

"I killed two angels this week," the angel snarled. "My brothers. I'm hunted. I rebelled. And I did it, all of it, for you, and you failed. You and your brother destroyed the world"-I saw Sam look downwards guiltily-"and I lost everything, for nothing. So keep your opinions to yourself."

"You didn't drop in just to tear us a new hole," Bobby got into the conversation. "What is it you want?"

"I did come for something," Castiel admitted. "An amulet."

"An amulet?" I asked curiously. "What kind?"

"Very rare. Very powerful. It burns hot in God's presence. It'll help me find him."

"A God EMF?" Sam asked.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about," Bobby said. "I got nothing like that."

"I know," Castiel said. "You don't." His blue eyes settled on Dean.

I hadn't really noticed it until before, that Dean wore some sort of necklace. It looked like the charm was some sort of bug.

"What, this?" Dean asked.

"May I borrow it?"

"No."

"Dean. Give it to me." Castiel wasn't kidding around.

Dean could see that; he actually deliberated before handing it over to the angel. "All right, I guess," he said, defeated. Castiel began to reach for it, but Dean pulled it back towards him. "Don't lose it." Dean actually let Castiel take the necklace from him. "Great. Now I feel naked."

"I'll be in touch."

I blinked for a second, and the angel was gone. We all looked at each other.

"When you find God, tell him to send legs!" Bobby shouted to the air. Wishful thinking, I thought.

I jumped at the shrill sound of a cellphone going off. Bobby picked it right up.

"Hello?"

We all almost moved in to hear the conversation. I didn't know about the brothers, but I couldn't make out anything that was being said. Anything that was trying to be said was overrun by static.

"I can't hear you," Bobby said, practically speaking on our behalf. "Where are you?" I leaned against Bobby's bed and crossed my arms. "Colora-Colorado? River Pass, Colorado? Rufus? You there? Ruf-Rufus?"

My mouth parted at hearing loud popping. We four looked at each other as the call cut out. Bobby had his eyes on the brothers.

"What's going on?" I had to ask.

"Sounds like there's a demon infestation in River Pass."

"We're on it," Dean said immediately. The moment Dean looked at me, I knew what was going to come out of his mouth.

"Let me guess: 'Stay here.' 'Don't try and follow.'" I rolled my eyes. "I can help, I promise."

"Don't think so. You don't need to be brought along."

"But-"

"You're not trained."

"Oh, so now there're qualifications that I'm supposed to meet?" I raised an offended eyebrow.

"Last I saw, you were in a fetal position in the last encounter you had with demons."

I blinked rapidly at him. "Y-you saw that?"

"I didn't want to, but I did. So what makes you think that you'd stand a chance at going against way more than two demons?"

"Dakota, just listen to him," Bobby pleaded me. At least he was sounding gentle compared to Dean. "It's bad enough you chose to run around with them. You can sit this out."

"No, I can't, because it'll be like this every time. I'm not being dead weight; I want to help. I can learn. Give me a crash course once we get there." I headed right out the door. I turned around to see everyone staring at me. "Well, come on! Fill me in on the way."

"Just remember this was your idea," I heard Dean grumble at Sam as I walked quickly out.

* * *

As I requested, I got a crash course along the ride. Rufus was a fellow hunter and good friend of Bobby's. That was all that I needed to know in that department. Actual hunting wise, Sam told me he'd quickly show me how to load a gun and what to use as ammo against demons. I already knew the chant to exorcise them. For some reason, I didn't think of holy water. I was hardly educated in the world of the supernatural.

If there was a quiet time, I'd have the Winchesters teach me. Or Sam at least-I didn't think Dean wanted anything to do with me.

I watched the outdoors fly by us in earthy-colored blurs until they slowed, until they stopped all together. Wordlessly, we all got out together. I understood why we stopped now: the bridge looked like someone had taken explosives to it. There was a massive gap. Dean kicked a rock over the edge.

"This is the only road in or out," Dean explained.

I saw Sam holding out his phone. "No signal," he reported.

"Rufus was right. Demons got this place locked down."

"Looks like we're hiking in."

"And the hits just keep on coming." Dean walked to open the Impala's trunk. "All right, since you're tagging along, and Sam won't let me have you walk back to hitchhike, I'll give you a quick tutorial. Hope you're a fast learner."

"We'll see," I told him.

"Back here."

Though I could see Dean was annoyed with me, he did seem to get into teaching me how to properly load a gun and reload. It almost made us forget how much he didn't like me. I nodded and made appropriate, noncommittal comments so Dean knew I was listening. It wasn't every day you got taught how to shoot a gun in ten minutes.

Once we were armed and ready, we began our trek into town. The worst part was the woods we had to endure to get there. I had the unfortunate habit of tripping over sticks and aiming my gun whenever I heard a suspicious noise. Dean wasn't amused, but I saw Sam was at times. He didn't realize that I noticed him smiling at me.

Once we breached the town, we saw it was deserted, pretty much a ghost town (no pun intended there). It was like the world had been wiped out, and we were the last three humans. It looked like a cute little town-would have if it didn't look so empty. I could imagine the small community being very close, where everyone knew everyone. It reminded me of the neighborhood I had lived in before it all went to Hell.

Up ahead, there was a two-door sedan flipped upside down in the street. As we passed, Dean stopped long enough to examine it. Sam went to the other side, gun ready. I lingered in the back, gun sort of at the ready in front of me.

With a shake of the head, Sam told us the car had no one in it. Once the brothers moved on, so did I. I was the eyes in the back of our heads; I kept looking over my shoulder just in case. It was something I learned when out on the streets: you always had to be vigilant.

I heard the faint sound of a sprinkler system running. Whatever happened here made the population vanish almost instantly. What was so bad that made this town empty? I had to wonder.

I trotted ahead as I was the first to see a tan car with the driver's side door open. Over my feet hitting the ground, I heard music, but it was faint. Someone left it running. That was definitely a bad sign.

We checked out the car, only to find it empty. Sam cut off the engine and sighed loudly. I did a three-sixty to look at our surroundings more. There was some event going on judging by the huge banner hung high above. I wasn't interested enough to read what it said.

Dean let out a low whistle, and it brought me to notice a rather polished-looking red Mustang. I wasn't car knowledgeable, but that car looked pretty awesome. Sam was the least bit interested and kept moving on. I almost had to nudge Dean with the gun to get him away before he drooled while staring at the Mustang.

We headed for a sparking gas station that looked like a crime scene. We went straight for the silver minivan. The driver's door was open, a blood trail led to the back of the van. A huge hole plagued the van's windshield.

"This is insane," I muttered to myself.

Like last time, we didn't linger long.

For some reason, hearing the quick click of a gun made me act. I spun around, gun loaded and my finger almost pulling the trigger. Dean lowered his gun almost immediately, and he put his hand on mine so I lowered mine.

"Ellen?" Sam asked.

Before us was a woman that could possibly pass as my mother. She had to be a bit taller than me, with shoulder length brown hair. Her eyes and face told me she wasn't your ordinary woman.

"Hello, boys," she said. Her accent was a bit southern to my ears. I felt better once she lowered her weapon and came to us.

"Ellen, what the heck's going on here?" Dean demanded.

I flinched when Ellen launched water on Dean. Dean closed his eyes, almost irritated that he was slightly soaked. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"We're us," he said.

"Who's she?" Ellen nodded to me.

"Not a demon, so spare the holy water, please," I told her. "Dakota Bailey."

"You a hunter?"

"Not really."

"All right, who does she belong to?" Ellen's eyes went back and forth between Sam and Dean.

"W-what?" I sputtered. "N-no, I'm tagging along. I'm not dating either of them." I felt my cheeks warm up.

"How'd you end up with them?"

"Long story," I said rather shortly.

"All right, maybe some other time, then."

"Thank you."

Ellen wormed her way between Dean and me, heading straight for a church I hadn't noticed until just now. We all instinctively tailed after her.

"Watch your step," Ellen told me. I didn't understand why until I actually looked at the floor. A thick line of salt dominated the threshold, just beyond the entrance was a devil's trap. Talk about protective measures. If the salt didn't stop them, the trap would.

Once we all squeezed in, Ellen turned around.

"Real glad to see you boys," she admitted before pulling Dean into a hug. She pulled back and then slapped him hard. "The can of whoopass I ought to open on you."

"Ow!" Dean hissed.

"You can't pick up a phone? What are you, allergic to giving me peace of mind? I got to find out that you're alive from Rufus?"

"Sorry, Ellen."

"Yeah, you better be. You better put me on speed dial, kid."

"Yes, ma'am."

After a long silence, Ellen headed for a set of stairs. I followed her first.

"Sorry you had to see that," she told me. "I've known these boys for a long time."

"I can sense that," I said as I heard the brothers follow behind me. "You're a hunter too, then, I'm assuming?"

"You assume correctly."

"Good to see a woman in the business," I tried to joke.

"What's going on, Ellen?" Sam asked, interrupting our womanly bonding.

"More than I can handle alone," she reported.

"How many demons are there?"

"Pretty much the whole town, minus the dead people and these guys." She stopped at a pair of closed doors. She turned to us. "So, this is it, right? End times?"

The boys only glanced at each other.

"It's got to be."

"Seems like it," Sam murmured.

Ellen turned back to the door and knocked. "It's me."

I saw a peephole open on the door before the door itself was opened. I put a hand to my heart, taking in what I was seeing. In addition to the man who let us in, there was a variety of people: a pastor; an older woman; a man with short hair; a man with a long beard; a man who bore glasses; a young couple who was expecting a child; another young woman (not pregnant), with a shaggy-haired man rounding out the group.

This wasn't just any church; it was a survivor bunker.

**I've always loved Ellen. I really wish she'd had a longer run on the show. I wish that for a lot of the characters through the seasons...**