"It's so freaking hot." "You mean hot as in like Eden-hot?" "Because Eden's" "This place gives new meaning to the word hot." "I should have transferred to the University of Minnesota when I had the chance." "And now we've been paying for that decision ever since." " I'd hit you, but I'm too hot." " Yeah?" "I wanna be just like her when I grow up." "Don't worry, you'll get there." "Maybe I should pledge a sorority this semester." "Get plied with alcohol, forced to wear next to nothing then be degraded by simpletons who think they're cool." " But they're not." " They're not?" " No, they're not." " They're not." "You guys are so weird." "We can go to that bar on the other side of the cemetery that lets anybody in." "How about this?" "I've got my fake ID." "We go buy some beer..." " ... we bring it back to the dorms." " Your fake ID's never worked." "Why would it suddenly start working now?" " Okay." " Guys this is a truly tragic state of affairs." "I really didn't think it'd be this much work to have fun in college." "We can hit a movie, you guys, cool off." " What about bowling?" " Good idea." "What are we, 43?" "Hey, guys, all I have to say is that this is a really sad, sad day in history." "Hey, party people." "Slow it down." "Check this out, all right?" "This way, underground rave." "Cool people." "Good times." "Lots of liquor." "My name's right there." "Call me, okay?" "If you have any questions." "Hey, man!" "Make sure you bring her." "Boys, it's time to get this party started." "Enjoy it, guys." " Man, these freaking mosquitoes." " Stupid mosquitoes." "And there's a party out here in the middle of nowhere." "Yes, dude, that's the whole underground part of it, okay?" " I mean, just relax." " Jeez!" " Mosquito." " My God." " Bloody." " Oh, thanks." "Appreciate it." "Great party, Mickey." "This reminds me of a party I went to in high school." " Where's the beer?" " Hey, hold up." "No beer only planter's punch." "Ten bucks buys a cup and all you can drink." " I'll work with that." " You guys good?" "Good." " Yellow for you." " Thanks." " Thank you, sir." " Thank you." " Pink for you." " You're purple." " Yes." " Enjoy, guys." " Let's do it." " Have fun." " Thanks, man." " All right." " All right, all right." " Here we go." " To liquor, at last." " Right." "You know we're perfect for each other, Eden." " Oh, my" " Aaron!" " What?" " You're like my brother." " What?" "Brother?" " Yeah, you're not perfect for anybody." " What're you-?" "Anybody?" "What about, what about, what about-?" "Okay, what about you?" "You." " No." " No?" "I'm scowling out..." "Where is everyone?" "Aaron!" "Eden!" "Aaron!" "Aaron!" " Here you go, pumpkin pie." " I want pancakes." "Well, you can't have pancakes, it's too hot." "Mama's not turning on the stove." "Sweetheart, you know what?" "What do you say we do have those pancakes?" "Violet." " Morning." " Hey." "Good morning, Rami monster." "Morning, Violet." "And good morning to you, Professor Rierdon." " Professor Dryer." " All set for another semester?" "No." "When are the renovations done on our air-conditioned dream house?" "Three, four months, tops." "Four months in this rental from hell?" "Oh, come on, it's fine." "I mean it's hot, but it's fine." "It's more than the heat." "Every time I go to find something it's in a box." "It's just not our home." "It's just temporary, sweetie." "You gotta relax." " Where's Nidia?" " Guatemala." " Guatemala?" " Sick aunt." "We have classes in an hour, Maddy." "What are we supposed to do?" " No milk." " All right, I'm gonna call my sister." " All right?" " Whoa, whoa, hang on, buster." "I got a better idea." "You take Rami to class and I'll take Violet." "The students will love it." "You just don't want my sister watching the kids, right?" "If she just looked after the kids, that would be fine." "Do you remember when my father was in the hospital?" " She rearranged the furniture." " It's just furniture." "So what?" "In every room of the house." "She's like an over-caffeinated Mary Poppins." "She's my sister, all right?" "She's just trying to help, Maddy." "It's just, we're very different people." " Here, sweetheart." " I thought that we came down here so that we could be closer to family." "To have help in situations like this." "Yes, we said that." "I thought we moved here for a simpler life." "I'm still waiting." "I'm calling my sister." "She'll be here in 10 minutes." "I'm here." "Y'all can relax." "Look who's here." " Dan." "Hi, Sparky." " Thanks for coming, Shell." " Thank you, thank you." " What are big sisters for?" "Ever since I kicked Stan out on his sorry butt, I've got nothing but time." " Hey, darling." "Madeleine." " Hi, Shelly." " Hi." " We appreciate the assist." "Sure." "You girls must have worked up some immune system living in this kitchen and eating out of here." "Don't you guys have classes to teach?" "Go, I got everything." "We're fine." "Bye." "Go." "I got everything." "Go, go." "Hi." "Now, first, I'm gonna feed everybody some really good food." "Normal food." "Okay, girls, be good for Auntie Shelly." "Wait, wait, wait." "Keys." "I don't have car seats." " You don't want your car trashed." " Got that, Sparky." "Okay, guys, bye-bye." "Bye-bye." "See you later." " Come on, Spanky." " Sparky." "Yeah, whatever." " You have a good first day, sweetheart." " You too." "I'll pick you up later." "I'll be the one at the helm of the Love Boat." " Don't kiss too many co-eds." " Hey, no promises." "Excuse me, teacher coming through." "Ladies and gentleman." "Good." "This is E-Bio 205, Ecosystem Ecology." "You lucky individuals will be having an in-depth examination of ecosystem structure and function." "Sorry I'm late, everybody." "The morning from hell and all that stuff." "Hey, Don and Jossie." "Still joined at the hip." "That's nice." "And, Lizzie, I missed you." "Did you miss me?" "Good to see that you've claimed the back corner again." "We will also be considering the human impact on the ecosystem." "Any questions?" "Yeah, are you seeing anybody?" "Well, as a matter of fact, I am happily married with two kids." "How unfortunate." "Right?" "Okay, now you're scaring me." "All right, why don't we get down to saving the environment?" "Everybody, open up your texts, please." "First chapter..." " Oh, hey, guys, this is a nice surprise." " Sorry we're late." "I didn't scare you off last semester." "That's good." "Hi, Professor Rierdon." "You know, I'm hot just looking at you both in all those clothes." "And you are...?" "I'm Miles." "Miles Wallach." "Miles Wallach." "You know, I bought that exact outfit for my husband from the J.Crew catalogue." "I thought this was Bio 311, not Fashion Victim 101." "Yes, it is." "So let me get to know the rest of you." " Jessica Bowers." " Here." "Marilyn..." "Hello." "Who would you be?" " Keith Cline." " Keith Cline." "Leave the tunes at home..." " ... we'll get on much better." " Enemy of fun." " Michael Zoellick?" " Yeah." "Lizzie, Jossie, Don, gotcha." "Jason Ortiz?" "That's funny." "He didn't miss a class all last semester." "Well, welcome to Bio 311, Animal Behaviour and Evolutionary Biology." "So anyway, last I heard he's doing three years down in State." "Well, I'm not surprised, considering how he was in school." "When he was 11 years old, he almost burned his house down." "Yeah." "Anyway, I found them on the property when I was doing a swamp tour." "The fifth time this week." "My customers don't come out here to see dead wildlife, Jay." "Yeah." "No, I realize that, Dil." "Definitely attacked by something, that's for sure." "Must have been more than one of whatever it was." "To get two deer." "Well, what you gonna do about it, Jay?" "I mean, I got a business to run here." " I'll file a report." " If you don't, I will." "Oh, I will." "Don't worry." "I'll take care of it." "Well it's raining." "Let's get back on in." " It's quiet." " It's too quiet." " Who lives here?" " Not us." " It's freaky." " I'm starving I'm gonna make some soup." "You want some?" " Soup in this weather?" "Are you crazy?" " I'm not gonna heat it." "Dan, get in here." " What?" " She did it again." "She rearranged my kitchen cabinets." "I like my mess, Dan." "Because I can find whatever I want, even if it's in a box." " But this I cannot deal with." " Hey, Shell." " Hi, Dada." " Hello, sweetie, hello!" "Go see Mommy." "Mommy." "Give me, give me, give me." " What can't you deal with, Madeleine?" " It's nothing." "It's the heat, the house." " So how was everybody's day?" " Good." "They were so sweet." "Yeah?" "Oh, thanks again, Shell." "We really owe you one for helping out." "I'm glad to do it." "Y'all can take care of me when I'm old." "Love you." " See you later." " Bye, Shelly." "Man, it's as hot as Hades here." "How do you people stand this?" "Somehow we people seem to manage just fine." "We're just about set." "Watch out for gators, now." "Gators?" "Where are you going?" "Well, thought we might want this." "We are going night fishing." "You make a fair point, Popeye." "All right, look out, fishies, here we come." "My life in the ocean wave, eh?" "Rum, buggery and the lash." " Hey, sheriff." " Hey, Chip." "So, what do we got here?" "Well, a woman walking her dog stumbled onto the body." "I don't know who walks their dog in a place like this." "Well, people do all kinds of things for all kinds of crazy reasons." " Hey, Gary." " Hey, sheriff." "His name's Jason Ortiz." "He's a sophomore." "Been missing since yesterday." "We'll need to alert the university and his parents." "What the hell?" "Yeah, his body's pretty messed up." " I can't tell if he's been strangled." " He wasn't strangled." "There's not a lot of blood there." "What's up?" "Don't know." "Can't be sure till we get him down to the coroner." " Roy!" " Yeah?" "Meanwhile, you get back to the university." " Find out who he hung out with." " Right." "When are we gonna catch something?" "They call it fishing, not catching, Homer." "Breaker, breaker 1-9." "Breaker, breaker 1-9 this is Live Bait." "Come on, fishes." "Come out here and let us catch you." "Come on, little fishy-wishy." "Do me a favour and make yourself useful and turn that thing down." "Smooth move, Homer." "Now you scared all the fish into the next county." "We ought to just pack up and go home." "Look, I don't pay you $200 so I can catch no fish and get attitude, okay?" "Hey, wait a minute." "I think the fish is heeding my call." " Is that your line or mine?" " I ain't got nothing." "I think I've got a nibble." "What's that?" "Hand me your lantern." "What is that?" "This is the brown shrimp." "There was a time when you couldn't set foot into the Gulf of Mexico without stepping on one." "But now you have to go 60 miles offshore to find any at all." " Why?" "What happened to them?" " Pollution, fertilizers run off into the Mississippi." "This washes out into the Gulf creating a hypoxic zone the size of New Jersey." " Take a look at that." " I'm sorry, a what?" "A hypoxic zone." "It's a dead zone." "It's when the chemicals in the water deplete the oxygen which prevents the growth of aquatic life." "Very good, Eden." "Hypoxic zones have become one of the most widespread and accelerating of all man's assaults on the world's marine environments." "Not to mention over-fishing." "Commercial fishermen have repor" "Excuse us, ma'am." "Just a second, everyone." "Yes, sheriff?" "Do you have an Aaron Edelman and an Eden Barclay?" " Aaron" " Yeah." " Those two?" " You-all need to come with me." " Why?" " We'll explain it later." " Excuse me." " What?" "What-?" " Let's go." " Get your hands off me." " Let's go, young lady." " We didn't do anything." " Yeah." " What's the problem?" " Jason Ortiz was found murdered." " What?" " They were the last ones with him." " What?" "What did he say?" " Stop, man." "Just bringing them in for questioning." " Professor, what's going on?" " All right, class dismissed, everybody." " But wait a minute." " What are we-?" " I can't disrupt the investigation." " I'm not asking you to disrupt them." "Things like this don't happen in Mercier." " Hello." " Hello, professor." " You know Mayor Poelker." " Call me Hank." " Rierdon teaches at the university." " Nice to know you." "Can I talk to you?" "I am not at liberty to discuss the investigation at this time." "I know these kids." "They couldn't have anything to do with Ortiz's death." " They were great friends." " When it comes to murder, professor it's always the people you least expect." "What if you're wrong?" "Mayor Poelker, do you wanna be the one to call Tate students murderers?" "Professor Rierdon there's evidence." "What evidence?" " Go ahead." " On Wednesday evening, the 24th the accused attended some kind of underground party on the same property where the deceased was discovered." "They can't be the only ones at the party." "What do you mean, underground?" "Step into my office." "Come on in." "Have a seat." "By underground, I mean a bunch of kids engaged in illegal activities:" "Drugs, underage drinking, trespassing which appear to have culminated in the ritualized murder of Jason Ortiz." " Oh, come on" " Professor, just..." " Let him finish." " Witnesses saw the victim arrive with the accused." "And later that night calls were made by the accused back to their dorm to a friend down the hall." "Carla?" "Oh, my God." "Carla, pick up." "Please, pick up." "I'm with Aaron." "We're so messed up." "I don't even know where we are." "You've gotta help." "Something happened to Jason." "Eden, shut up, okay?" "Shut up, Eden." "Okay, we gotta go." "We gotta go." "They'll find us." " I don't see how that implicates them." " Friends finally found them two towns over, wandering aimlessly." " Well, what does this prove?" " We also ran DNA tests." "Both kids had the victim's blood on their clothing." "All three had trace remnants of Ecstasy in their systems." " Stupid kids." " Well, it's a problem on campus." "I mean, this drug can cause kids to become completely psychotic." "That doesn't make them murderers." "No, the fact that they drained their friend of blood makes them murderers." "Say that again?" "The Ortiz kid has deep lacerations all over his neck and face." "Okay, what kind of lacerations?" "We're not sure yet." "Possibly bite marks." "I'd like to examine the body." "Please." "Look, I have a Ph. D. in animal behavioural biology." "If these are bite marks, I can help you identify them." "All right." "I've never come across anything like it." "And that's saying a lot." "He was a good kid." "I'm sorry." " May I?" " Please." "Well, you definitely were right." "They're some kind of bite." " Not human, though." " No, they would have made a bigger dental impression." "Can I have your callipers?" "Thank you." "What do you make of these larger marks?" "Would suggest an animal with fangs." "Something smallish." "But these marks on either side of the larger ones are throwing me." "What do you think?" "I'm not sure." "Whatever it was, there was more than one." "These marks aren't uniform." "They're all different." "Just wait a minute, now." "I mean, what do you mean, you're not sure?" "I don't know what kind of animal made these marks." "The only thing you can be sure of is that those kids didn't do this." "Would you let me talk to them?" "Yeah, yeah, fine." "Talk to them." "Come with me." " So?" " It was the punch, professor." "It was spiked with something." " Ecstasy?" " Well, you never have to remind us..." " ... never try that again." " See, here's the thing." "The police claim that they found Jason Ortiz's blood on your clothes." "What?" "There's no way." "No." "Blood?" "The mosquitoes." " What about them?" " It has to be the mosquitoes." " I swatted him, and then I rubbed" " Yeah, yeah." "We were swatting mosquitoes off of each other like crazy." "Professor Rierdon, we were drugged but we would have never hurt Jason." "He was our friend." "There's no way." "You have to believe us." "I do believe you." "We're gonna get you guys out of here." "I promise." " We need a location for Saturday." " I hear you, dude." "If we don't start publicizing this party, we're hosed." "Do you know how many chicks we're gonna meet if we throw a major campus party?" "Not to mention all the bank we're gonna be rolling in." "Amigos, I found it." "I'm telling you." " Primo." " For what, man?" "The party." "Stop staring at me." " Stop staring at me." " You wish, bro." " All right." " Make sure nobody's coming, man." " Dude, dude, what are you doing?" " This is the spot." "It's open." "Help me with this." " Cool." " Nice." "All right, guys, let's go." "Quickly." "Follow my lead." " After you." "After you." " When in Rome..." "Today's the day we're gonna rave" "Going to the party We all get paid" " All right, I saw something." " It's kind of hot in here." "Yeah, man, I mean, it is, like, a steam tunnel." "Wait till you see this." "I'm telling you." "I'm waiting." "Let's go, fellas." "Holy crap." "This place is fantastic, man." "Come on, man." " Where are we, exactly?" " The coffee factory." " What the-?" " Watch your back, man." "Give me some room." "Watch out." " So, what do you think?" " It smells kind of rank." "Oh, Wayne." "We just need to clean some of this gunk off the floor." "All right, hold it, hold it, guys." "The acoustics in here are sick, man." "Listen, I think all we need is some track lighting along this wall, right?" "And then some old sofas or something over there." "Put the couch there." "Put the DJ booth there." "Then we got it." "Bring extra speakers, in case ours get fried." " Write that down." " This is gonna rock." " Oh, yes, my brother." " Wayne, make some fliers." "Roof's on." "That's progress." "A kitchen and carpet would be progress." " This is taking forever." " Come on, what's wrong?" "I just can't ignore the fact that those kids are in trouble." "You know, the police can handle it, honey." "They're my students." "I know, but you can't save everyone, right?" " They've got parents." " Yes, they have parents." " But their parents aren't here." " They should be." "Don't forget, we got two kids of our own that need you." "The windows are in." "Means they're gonna start dry-walling soon." "They're gonna finish the painting" "Don't you insinuate that I'm not here for our kids, okay?" "Because we have changed our entire lives so that I can be here with the girls." "I know, I know, honey." "I didn't mean it like that." "After the locust thing I thought we were through with life-or-death situations." "Yeah, we are, and..." " You know what would be really good?" " What?" "Just to be out here under the trees with a big old margarita in our hands." "Yeah, it may not look like it but we're in the home stretch now, honey." "What's that?" "What?" "Oh, it just looks like somebody's boat came untied." "I'll see if I can find a dock hook." " Oh, my God, Dan." " What?" " Bring it in." " Oh, my God." "Oh, my God." "I'm gonna call 911." " Call the sheriff's office!" " Yeah." "Hurry!" " Sheriff, you've gotta release them." " Professor, this is an investigation." "The fishermen's wounds are identical to Jason Ortiz's." "Clearly, my students had nothing to do with his death." "Come on, they were in your jail when this happened." "I think the lady's right, sheriff." "We've come across a lot of deer of late." "Same kinds of wounds." "Right here on the bayou." "Warden Schuster, Department of Fish and Game." " Professor Rierdon." " How do you do?" "Pleasure." "What the hell's going on around here?" "I don't know." "The body was drained of blood, like the Ortiz kid." "Okay, let's autopsy these guys." "If you're gonna do that you should autopsy the deer that Warden Schuster found." "Mayor Poelker, you should alert people to what's going on here before someone else gets hurt." " I think that's a good idea." " No." "No, no, no." "I'm not gonna send out a panic over some incidents out here in this bayou." "Come on, now, we've got Fish and Game involved in this." "Police are on this 24I7." "No need for hysteria." "Yet." "Hey, what's that on his shirt?" "Could be anything." "They've been out here for a while." "Looks like dirt." "It's guano." "Guano?" "Bat droppings." " Hi" " Thank you." "Honey, we're home, yay." " Honey, I'm home." " Yay, home." " Great, Rebecca." " My sisters." "Sisters, yay." " Wait, no, don't leave." " Okay." "I know." "Have fun, okay?" " She's all yours." "Good luck." " Hey, guys." "Thanks." "That girl's a special case." "Open door." "Oh, I love you, sisters." "Sisters, sisters." "Here, you can have that." " I'll sit here." " Okay." "Come on." "Guys, I can do that." "I'm fine." "I'm all right, I'm okay, I'm okay." " Here, we'll help." " See, see?" "One, two" " See?" "Good." " You guys go." " Okay." "Good night." " Bye." " Bye, guys." "Beddie, beddie, beddie." "Sleep, sleep." " Oh, boy." " Well, hi, Poelker." " Hey, Shelly." " Hey." " Hey." " What you doing?" "It's nice you got time to buy toaster strudel and prune juice while there's a murderer running loose." "Shelly Dryer, you know, you shouldn't put your nose where it don't belong." "Somebody's gotta keep you honest." "Where have you been for the last 25 years?" "It's Shelly Beaudraux, thank you." "Shelly Beaudraux." "Well, excusez-moi, mademoiselle." "You know." "You know what gets me?" "How the biggest weasel in high school got to be mayor." "How did that happen?" "Shelly, excuse me." "I got business to attend to." "All right." "Faculty party on a riverboat?" "You're supposed to be able to make an appearance and then take off." " I know." "Hey." " Hi." " You'll be fine." "Trust me." " My shoes are killing." " Oh, are they?" " Good to have you." " Hey there." " Professor Rierdon, Dan." "Hank." "Long time, no see." "It's good to see you under better circumstances." "Yeah." "Hey, this should be fun." "Oh, yeah." " Everybody loves a three-hour tour." " Play nice." "And then after that we went to Suriname..." " Thank you." " ... where Michael, Dr. Philips, and I were working with the Surinamese government on a fascinating project studying the intraspecial relations of the Asian wood owl in the region." "You know, they've suffered a serious population decline there." "Yeah, I think I read that report, actually." "Dr. Kason, what do you know about bat attacks here in Louisiana?" "Bat attacks in Louisiana?" "No, that's unheard of." "We only have the tiny pipistrelle bat and some of the Mexican free-tailed bats but they wouldn't hurt a fly." "Well, I take that back, actually." "That's exactly what they'd hurt." "They're insect-eaters, so they would hurt a fly." "They'd eat the fly." "Oh, excuse me." "A department head's work is never done." " Gotta take this." "I'll be back." " Take your time." "Dr. Kason here." "Yes." "How did she get to be the head of the department?" "How do students stay awake?" "Where's your phone?" "I wanna call Shelly." "No, she's gonna be fine." "She'll have had the kids in bed long ago." "You know, she did raise four kids of her own, you know." "All right." "Besides, I'm deeply fascinated by..." "What was that?" "The wood owl?" "The cinnamon wood owl." " Cinnamon" " I'm gonna go spike the punch." " All right." " Let's go." " Hey, Keith." " Hey, Lizzie." "You made it." " How you doing?" " Good." "No, no, no." "They're with me, man." " They're with me." "Go ahead." " You gonna be here all night?" " I'll be out there in just a minute." " Cool." "Go on." " Yeah." " Yeah?" "Let's go." "Welcome to my office." "Check it out." "You can't get that stuff in Kentucky, boy." "Yeah?" "Yeah, all right." "Let's see the green, man." " Forty." " Good man." "Enjoy, all right?" "Yeah?" "Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere." "Bambi." "Okay." "See, I told you this would beat the crap out of some lame old frat party." "Let's kick it up a notch, shall we?" "You look amazing." "Are you gonna teach me how to spin later or what?" "I'll teach you how to spin now." "How's that?" "All aboard!" "Mickey?" "Mickey." "He's out of it." "Let's go dance." " Your work is truly fascinating." " Well, it's my life." "I can't imagine doing anything else." "I can." "What was that?" "Oh, just the breeze rustling the paper bags on the lights." " No, really" " Dan, hold this." " You okay?" " Yeah." "There's something in the..." "What was that?" "Okay, everybody, can I have your attention?" "We've got an emergency." "I need you to move downstairs quickly." " What's going on?" " It's an emergency." "I need you to get downstairs under cover." " Maddy?" " Leave your plates and glasses move downstairs" " Hank, help me!" "Everybody, get down inside." "We do need to get downstairs." "Holy crap." "They're freaking bats." "Wayne!" "Wayne!" "Get down here!" "Please, please, please." " You gotta get under cover." " Everybody, just keep moving." "Keep moving downstairs." " Don't panic." " Keep together." "Cover your heads." "This is most unusual." "Everybody, keep moving." "Inside!" "Get these people out of here." "I'm gonna find Mickey." "Get under cover inside!" "This is just amazing." " You can't hide there." "Get inside!" " Everyone, inside!" "Dan!" "" Horrifying" and "surreal" was how the scenes were described as vampire bats attacked separate functions in Mercier Saturday night." "A Tate University student was killed in the melee." "And as you can see behind me concerned parents aren't taking any chances." "As local police and Fish and Game authorities investigate residents watch, wait and wonder when and where the next attacks might occur." "Reporting from Tate University, I'm Veronica Mossgrove." "Step aside, folks." "Do something." "Calm down, just for one minute." "Please." "Where are the bats coming from, and why are they attacking people?" "Well, we are trying to determine that right now." "In the meanwhile, I'm gonna institute a mandatory curfew." "A curfew?" "That's not gonna help anything." " You can't shut everything down." " Calm down." "It's just for a little while." "Everything is in control." "Just listen to me." "No one is to be out on the street from dusk till dawn." "That's insane." "I own a bar." "I'll lose my business." "Wait a minute." "Now, I know all of you are worried." "But the Department of Fish and Game is dealing with this problem and working on a plan to rectify the situation ASAP." "All right." "There you go." "Now, listen" "This is bad." "Please, if you have any questions- If you have any questions" "I care about each and every one of you." "Frances here will take your name and number." "I will get back to you personally." "You have my word." "What do you got?" "So, mayor, what's your plan?" "We're working on it." "You don't have a plan, do you?" "We may not all be into academia, professor, but that does not mean that we don't have some good old-fashioned common sense." " We're gonna poison them." " So you think this will kill them all?" "Unless threatening them works." "What, you have a better idea?" "I mean, you are a biologist, professor, aren't you?" " What's your plan?" " I don't believe you can kill them all." "Is there a way to drive them back into the bayou?" "There's not enough prey in the bayou." "That's why they're here." "Right, for a feast of people." "We'll find a way to get rid of them." "Right." "So we have to capture them." "Study them." " Find out why they're exhibiting" " How many will die while we do this?" "The mayor's right, ma'am." "These bats are too aggressive to be around populated areas." "Clearly." "Now, how you planning on doing this, Schuster?" "I'm gonna put poison on their wings." "See, bats are groomers." "Clean each other by licking." "So out of the course of an evening a single bat could be licked by 20 to 25 other bats." "And the bats are covered in poison." "The others lick it and they die?" "Precisely." " So we still need to capture some." " Yes." "With all due respect, even if the poison works killing 25, even 2500 of these things isn't gonna put a dent in the potential problem we have." "These bats are aggressive." "Something is causing this." "I think it's something environmental." "Like...?" "I wish I knew." "But we have to find their lair and that's easier said than done." "You know, I am not interested in any more problems." "What I want, Schuster, I want solutions." "Kill them." "End of story." "Mayor" " Oh, my God." "Bats?" "Did you freak?" " Did I freak?" "I totally freaked." "Nothing like my knight in shining armour." "You were running around like you were on fire." "Don't give me that." " Whatever." " Lizzie." "You're vertical." " See you guys later." " Okay." "Innocent until proven guilty." "Welcome back." "I wanted to talk to you about what's been going on because it's applicable to what we're studying." "The fact that we have killer vampire bats on campus?" "They look like vampire bats, but they sure don't act like them." " What do you mean?" " For starters their natural habitat is from South America up through Mexico." "Not only do they not belong here, but their behaviour is absolutely bizarre." "Why would they suddenly be in Mercier?" "Changes in the environment, loss of habitat and other man-made influences." "Like what?" "In South America, they've seen far more incidents of bats coming into populated areas due to things like deforestation." "Everybody needs a home, right?" "So it makes sense that if you destroy an animal's natural habitat they're gonna have to adapt to another one." "What's unusual about these bats is that the bite marks are inconsistent with what we know about the species." "Bats, and vampire bats in particular, have gotten a bad rap over the years." "They're not killers." "They're more like parasites." "They may feed off cattle's blood, but they don't generally kill them." "Then why are they killing people?" "That's what we need to find out." "If everybody would open up your text to page 115." "Today we're gonna begin our discussion on the ecosystem of freshwater stream environments, including the physical forces affecting water flow, sediment build-up including ecosystem structure and environment." "We will also be factoring in" "Rebecca?" "All right." "Hold on, everybody." " Okay, call 911 right now!" " Is she all right?" " Hey, Shell." " Hey, girl." " Y'all ready, or need a minute?" " Oh, no, we're ready right now." "I'm gonna see" " Surf and turf or catfish?" "Surf and turf or catfish?" "I'm gonna take a hamburger with an iced tea." "Okay, then I'll have the pasta special and a big chocolate milk." " Love you, Dolly." " All right." "Let me tell you about the case." "I think the jury's heard the testimony and really understood it." "They saw all the demonstrative evidence and evidence before them." "We worked really hard." "We had closing arguments last night." "It lasted a long time, but I think the jury was really interested." "We're gonna make millions on this case." " Iced tea." " Thank you." "And chocolate milk." " I'll be right back." "Hold that thought." " Okay." " He's new." " They're all new for just a minute." "Listen, who's that guy with Poelker, who was sitting with him at the bar?" "That would be Brian Rueben." "From some waste-disposal company from way out of town." "Card member since 1987." "Nice." "That's weird." "He doesn't even work when he's local." "What's he up to?" "Bat attacks on humans are highly unusual and deadly attacks are absolutely unprecedented." " Until now." " Yeah, until now." "I mean, something must have caused this." "Something has changed them." "We know that they have different bite marks but until we capture one, it'll be hard to know any more." " Where do you usually find them?" " They're nocturnal." "So during the day they like dark places." "Caves, typically." "But we don't even have any caves around here." "Since they were kicked out of their natural habitat they adapted to a new one." "Like that abandoned factory." "Let's go back to the abandoned factory." "No." "It's been boarded up tight as a drum." "They're not there anymore." "They've gotta be around here somewhere." "You take an animal out of his natural habitat, he's gonna adapt to a new one, right?" "That's right, Eden." "Okay, come on, guys." "Let's call it a day." "Thank you for everything." " Let's catch some." " Yeah, that's my plan." "And we're gonna go with you." "No, you're not." "Yes, we are, professor." "How can we be expected to learn anything if we can't get any practical experience?" "Did you know that one of your fellow students contracted rabies from a bat bite?" "You're not coming." "Wow, rabies?" "I don't know." "Think I'm gonna have to take off." "Come on, babe." " Come on." " Bye, guys." "Everybody out, please." "Come on, guys." " No." " Guys, what do you think?" "Yes?" " Yeah." " Yes." "All right." "A thousand times, no." "Not only is there a university curfew in effect but I guarantee none of you have had your rabies shots." "So forget about it." "Not gonna happen." "Lock the door when you leave." "Okay, guys, I have an idea." "Come on, Shanaynay." "This is your big day." "Come on." "All right." "Oh, no, no, no." "What did I say?" "Just turn around and go back to your dorms." "Listen, professor, we're adults." "We're capable of making our own decisions." "It's a bad decision." "Come on." "If people our age can go to war we can certainly help you capture some stupid vampire bats." "Eden, soldiers have got rabies vaccinations." "Yeah, well, so do we, okay?" "Today after class we all went to the health centre." "Give me that." "Did I ever tell you how much I hate you kids?" "All right, make yourselves useful." "Aaron." "Keith." "In that bag, there's a net." "String it across those two trees over there." "Make sure it's not too taut." "And Lizzie and Eden, I got a special job for you." "Take Shanaynay over to the trees." "Lizzie, give her a hand." " She's a little unwilling." " Come on." "Have fun." "Oh, nice getup." "Come on, Shanaynay." "Come on." "Professor Rierdon, just tell me that we're not gonna hurt the goat." "Miles, is there a sensitive New Age boy under that Izod veneer?" "Don't worry, we're not gonna hurt the goat." "She's just a lure." " Fine." " Okay." " Is this even gonna work, guys?" " I don't know." "Then why are we here?" " Because we're scientists." " Then why do I feel like a moron?" "You don't really want us to answer that, do you?" "Look, we had a problem before us." "Eden proposed a theory." "We all said it sounded plausible." "We're conducting a field experiment." "That's science." "Not that daunting." "Did you hear that?" "What is it, Lizzie?" "I heard a swooshing sound." "It's probably just the wind blowing through your head." "See?" "Did you hear that?" "There it is again." "There." "Okay, stay calm and let's move towards the minivan." " What about the goat?" " Don't worry about the goat." " Just save yourselves." " Come on, man!" "Go, go, go." "Oh, my God!" "Close the window." "Oh, my God!" "Professor, why do you have a broom in your car?" "A good scientist is always prepared for the worst." "Oh, my..." "That is one lucky goat." "Would you hold that, Miles, please?" " Look at that." " What's the matter?" "These bats appear to have an extra set of fangs." "So, what does that mean?" "It means, fellow scientists, that we have made quite the discovery here." "They're not your everyday vampire bats, that's for sure." "You jeopardised the well-being of your students?" "You had them break the curfew just to capture these bats?" "Look, it was our decision to break the stupid curfew." "Professor Rierdon didn't want us to go." "It's all right, Eden." "In hindsight, I couldn't have done it without them." "It was reckless." "So where are the bats you captured with your good old-fashioned common sense?" "Okay, this is what we know about the bats at this time." "At first glimpse, they seem to be Desmodus rotundus:" "Vampire bats." "But on closer inspection we noted that there are some significant differences." " What, you found a new species?" " No, I don't think so." "I think this is a mutation in an existing species." "You see, typically, vampire bats have four fangs:" "Two on the top, two on the bottom." "But these bats have eight fangs which apparently enables them to tear skin apart and suck significantly more blood." "They also appear to need to feed more frequently." " Yeah, and they're deadly." " Which is why they need to be stopped." "We're gonna try this poison." "I strongly advise against the slash-and-burn approach." " Gotta be some other way." " We're confiscating these bats, ma'am." "I need them for my research." "They're evidence." "They were captured illegally." "Sheriff, these bats are a menace to the general population." "And I have some friends in Washington who would see great value in my keeping my bats for my research." "If you have a problem with that..." "Fine." "We'll only take half your bats, professor." "We're gonna put these on them." "They're tracking devices." " And we'll track them back to their lair." " Precisely." "That way, we can find and destroy them." "That is, if they even have a single lair." " Well, typically they stick together." " Well, you'd better hope so." "Because these bats are anything but typical." "Thanks for coming by so quickly." "That's okay." "What's going on?" "My brother owns a farm outside of town." "And he's been finding deer like this all over his property." "Obviously attacked by these vampire bats." "I got to thinking what you said." "So I ran these lab tests on the deer." "They weren't long for the world even if the bats hadn't got to them." " What do you mean?" " Rabies." "But there are some other irregularities that give me pause." "First off, all of their internal organs were enlarged which in and of itself is unusual." "But more significantly they each had large traces of hexachlorobenzene in their systems." "Hexachlorobenzene?" "Where does that come from?" "Chemicals released during firefighting activities military exercises anything with a high-heat combustion." "How'd they come across that in wilderness?" "Or anywhere?" "Combustible by-products have strict EPA guidelines for how they're disposed of." "Combustion." "What about waste incineration?" "There's that waste facility on the outskirts of town." "Yeah." "It's not far from the river." "This is it." "Button up, guys." "Nice." "So we're gonna break curfew and the law." "It's all in the name of science, Miles, my boy." "Funny." "Come on, guys." "Let's go." "So can anybody tell me again why it is we're out here?" "Just look for anything out of the ordinary." "Or maybe there's nothing." "We're just trying to collect some data, guys." "Did you hear that?" "It was probably nothing." "Could've been just a deer." "Deer..." "Stop walking for a sec." " What the hell was that?" " What?" "I don't know, but it's close." "Spread out." "Dan, there are deer tracks all over this place." "They gotta be drinking the water." "And the bats are feeding on the deer." "So something's in the water." "That makes sense." "Hey, guys, check this out." "I think I found it." "Maddy, over here." " Right?" " Yeah, good job." "Gold star for you, Aaron." " Man, that smells absolutely putrid." " Oh, it's burning my nose." " Keith, get me those vials." "Quick." " Putrid." "Just one." "It's disgusting." " Cease your activities." " Let's get out of here." "You're trespassing on private property." "Let's go, guys." "Go, go!" "Stay down." "Turn your flashlights off." "All right." "Oh, wait a minute." "I forgot something." "Yeah, your trusty broom." "I trust the broom more than that thing." " I'm not sharing with you." " Whatever you say." "Yeah, definitely it." "A little bit more." "This looks like a perfect lair." "Sure hope you're right here, Schuster." "Oh, I'm right." "You'll see that I'm right." "Wow, it reeks in here." "Well, right over there." "Let that be a lesson to the non-believers." "How do you know this is the only lair?" "Technology doesn't lie." "Welcome back, Rebecca." "All right, guys, let's feed these bad boys." "Careful." "Could you imagine being excited by pig blood for dinner?" " They're so gross." " I don't think they're that gross." "I think they're kind of cute, you know, like, in their, like, own bat way." "Hold on." "How much did you just feed them?" " Forty cc's." " These bats are trippy, man." "No, what's trippy is that it's 9:00 and we're still here." "What's becoming of us, guys?" "I'll tell you what's become of us, man." "We're workaholics, damn it." "Tireless, dedicated overachievers with a commitment to a cause." " We're unflappable." " He doesn't know what that means." "Before you even got on the table, you were like 12 feet tall so go ahead and hop down." "I'm not getting off the table." "You know what?" "I think we deserve a little break from all this vampire-bat drudgery and listen to some tunes." " Cool." " All right." "I got some good stuff over here hidden away for you." "Oh, I love this song." "Are you kidding?" "Okay, turn it off, man." "This is brutal, man." "Turn it off." "Come on, guys." "Okay, no, seriously, as cute as all of this is, turn it off, man." "Oh, wow, talk about feedback." "Oh, my God." "Are you sure it's okay that we're here?" "Totally, totally." "This is my econ professor from last year's house." " Okay." " He is on sabbatical which means we are all alone." "Now, what could be better on a warm summer night?" " I'm gonna get the lights." " Okay." "Oh, my God." " You scared me." " Did I scare you?" "You're such a bad boy." "You just take a seat and relax." "Come and get me." "Come on in." "The water's fine." " Did you hear that?" " Hear what?" " I think" " Is someone here?" " No, no, no." "It's just a bird, okay?" "Come on." "Wait." "Can you turn out the lights?" " What?" " You know I hate to have the lights on." "Okay." "All right, fine." "Thank you." "Donny, hurry up." "Donny." "Donny?" "This is not funny." "Oh, my God!" "Get it off!" "Get it off!" " Oh, my God." " Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "We got the analysis from the runoff water we collected at Carbide Waste Resources the other night." "It's full of hexachlorobenzene." "My students and I ran tests on the bats that we still have in captivity." "Their systems are loaded with this stuff." " Okay." " So our theory is that the deer drink the contaminated water, the bats feed off the deer causing a mutation in the bats." "And it looks like now we're dealing with the aftermath." "And you think hexachlorobenzene could do this?" "It's highly toxic stuff." "It builds up in the fatty body tissues of animals that are exposed to it." "It's just a hunch, but we think it makes sense." "You know that local water is tested regularly under EPA guidelines." "Unless somebody at Carbide is managing to cover this up." "Excuse me, did you say something about Carbide Waste Resources?" "Yeah, why?" "Well, I was at lunch and I saw Poelker, Mayor Poelker having lunch with a Carbide guy." "And if I may say, they were pretty cosy." " Excuse me." " Here, let me show you this." "Hello." "Yeah, this is she." "Shelly, tell me again." "What happened?" "Hey, sheriff." "Yeah." "Okay." "Thanks." "Thanks for calling." "That was Sheriff Herbst." "He said that they found another one of my students dead." "That wasn't the only lair." "What are you-all doing out in the hall?" " Check this out." " What?" " How'd they get out?" " We let them out." " What?" " We made a discovery last night." " What kind of discovery?" " That the bats have no taste in music." " What are you talking about?" " Watch this." "Hit sound on speaker one." "And now speaker two." "Bats guide themselves by sonar, right?" "They're attracted to the sound we created." "By mistake." "Most of science is, Lizzie." "It's convenient mistakes." "This is brilliant." "I don't wanna be the enemy of fun or anything but how are we gonna get them back in the cage?" "Watch this." "Now adjust the speaker in the cage." "Pretty cool, huh?" "You did this?" "On your own?" " Yeah, we'd like to think so." " Yeah." "This is it." " If the bats are attracted to music" " And we amplified the sound..." "It goes to reason all the bats would be attracted to it as well." "It's genius." "We've gotta figure out how to get the bats into harm's way before they kill anybody else." " Y'all take care." " Okay." "You got stuff all over you." "Come here." "Let me see." "Ketchup off your..." "That's a big girl." "Come on, darling." "Come on." " Poelker." " Shelly." "Taking time out of your busy schedule poisoning water to have a cocktail?" " What are you talking about?" " You know." "You can take the boy out of juvenile hall but you can't take the juvenile hall out of the boy." "Shelly Dryer." " I been dealing with you my entire life" " It's Beaudraux." " and I am really tired of you talking about things that you know nothing about." "I know things." "Get in my car." "You don't have kid seats." "Then you drive." "Come on." "Come on." "You drive." "Come on." "I'll help you." "I say we torch the place." " We can't." " Why not?" "That church is a designated landmark in a residential neighbourhood." "Besides, it might not be their only lair." "Even if we could torch the thing, some bats would get away." " What are we gonna do?" " Well, we..." "Actually, my students discovered a signal that they're attracted to." "So if we could only use it to lure them into some kind of contained location..." "What about the steam tunnels?" " They hot enough?" " It was pretty hot when I was there." "You don't look much worse for the wear of it." "Besides the fact it's illegal to be there, you could've been killed." "If university power had released pressure..." " ... you'd have been stewed." " What do you mean?" "All the university systems release pressure into those tunnels." "So it might be possible to generate a significant amount of steam." "In this heat, with the power plant operating at max capacity, if we released a huge amount of steam the temperature would rise enough to kill anything down there." "You know, I think that that could work." "Do it tonight." "It's a new moon." "It'll be dark." "Bats love that." "Yeah, it's the weekend and people are gonna be out in droves curfew or no curfew." " Do it before somebody gets killed." " Right." "Right." "I'll coordinate all that with you." "Rami?" "Violet?" "Shell?" " Wonder where they are." " I'm gonna give her a call." "She left her phone." "It's not me." " Hello?" " Hey, kid." "It's Karl, Shelly." "Karl, this is Shelly's sister-in-law, Maddy." " Who's Karl?" " I don't know." "He seems to know your sister intimately." "You sound just like Shelly on the phone." "Yeah, I get that a lot." "Hey, we're not sure where Shelly is." "We're looking for her ourselves." "When did you last hear from her?" "This morning." "Told me she was taking the kids to lunch and then bringing them back to your place for naps before our date." "They were supposed to have a date." "She never showed up." "Bring in one set at a time." "Yeah, go for it." "All right, you know what you gotta do?" "What are you talking about?" "Move the cables back up?" "It's gonna be sitting in that tunnel over there." "It's all the same system." "Easier that way, you know?" "She came here for lunch with the kids." "They ate, made a big old mess and then they all got in the car and drove off with Mayor Poelker." "Mayor Poelker?" " What's wrong?" " Nothing." "Thank you." "That was very helpful." "My sister stuck her nose where it doesn't belong." "This time she's got our kids with her." "Excuse me." " Maddy." " Daddy!" " What's going on?" " Is this how you entertain our kids?" " Well, Poelker here" " Wait." "Before you get into that I'm gonna take the kids and we're gonna meet you out in the car, okay?" "Come on, sweetheart." "Please, Professor Rierdon, have a seat right here." "Okay, listen." "Poelker here- I mean, Hank." " has just been giving me all the dish on Carbide." "All right, let me fill you in." "The gentleman Shelly saw me having lunch with is an executive at Carbide with a conscience." " He's a whistle-blower." " I knew it." " Go on." " Now, he informed me that some of the higher-ups at Carbide aren't necessarily well, aboveboard meeting the EPA guidelines." "Now, all this is gonna stay in this room." "So I started an investigation which I had to put on hold due to this bat problem." "It appears as if Carbide is paying off some local officials just to keep the situation quiet till they rectify the problem." "Which local officials?" " How long we got?" " Not long." "We better hurry." "Hey, guys." "Thank you, Miles." " You and Herbst can handle things?" " We got it." " I'm gonna head to the power plant." " Bye." "Okay." "Be safe, both of you." " You too." " Thanks." " Okay, what we got?" " Just about ready." " It's gonna be loud." "Got earplugs?" " Got them right here." "All right." "You two?" "If this is gonna be loud enough, we gotta call the bats out of the lairs." " Where's Schuster?" " Down in the tunnel." "What?" "Well, we gotta clear him out." "Schuster, come in." "You copy?" "Schuster, come in." " I'll pop down and get him, all right?" " Hurry it up." " We got a little bit before sunset." " Yeah." " Be safe, now." " You know me." "Okay, Keith, the speakers are in place." "You guys set?" "I'm all over it." "Stand by." "Get ready for the signal." "You got it, Professor Rierdon." " Come on, Schuster, let's go." " You spooked me." "Yeah, well, I'm a spooky kind of gal." "It's getting dark." "We gotta get in the truck and go." "Give me one second." "I'll just get these couple wires." "Then we'll go and annihilate these bastards." "Amen to that." "You know, it's like you said, professor." "Only a matter of time before global warming caught up to us." "You know, each day, an area the size of a football field is disappearing out here." " I'm just playing with you." " Right." "Anyways, this is not about global warming." " Oh, is that so?" " Nope." "This is the result of illegal dumping of poisonous chemicals into the water." " Is that what you think?" " I know it." " You make me laugh, professor." " What, you think this is funny?" "No." "It's funny that you think a negligible amount of hexachlorobenzene could alter an entire species." "I'm gonna wait in the truck." " All right?" " Fire!" "That's enough." "Everybody back in their vehicles." "Let's go, everybody." "I mean it." "Let's go, girls." "Come on, let's go." "Schuster, Maddy, do you copy?" "Schuster, Maddy?" "Maddy, you copy?" " Schuster here." "We all set." " Good." "Miles, Keith, turn on the church signal." "What does a conscience cost, Schuster?" "A conscience?" "Rising waters and global warming is a little out of my jurisdiction." "Authorities will think different when they hear the facts." "What facts?" "I didn't hear any facts." "Dan, it's time." "You guys ready?" "Roger." "Maddy, are you there?" "Yeah, she's with me." "We're heading on back up to the truck." "Why don't you just go ahead and kill the speakers in the cemetery?" "How about the speakers in the steam tunnel?" "I'm all over it." "Go ahead." "Release the steam." "Okay, let's do it." "It's gonna be fun." "Oh, Schuster." "Schuster, don't do this." "Let it go." "Schuster!" "Schuster, don't do it!" "Let me go!" "It's working." "It's working, guys." "Schuster, get up!" "Get up!" "There's someone still down there!" "Can you see?" "Maddy." "Maddy." "Come on, help her out." "Easy, easy." " Get some water." " I'll get it." " You all right?" " Dan." "Call Dan." " Get Dan on the phone." " Hurry!" "Here, here, here." "Drink." "Hey, hey." "Schuster." "Schuster's down there." "Stop, wait!" "Miles, no!" "Maddy!" "Maddy!" " You okay?" " Yeah." " You're not hurt?" " No." " Hey." "We did it." " Yeah." " Be good, now." " All right." "It's over, honey." "It's over." "Good job, sweetheart." " Here you go, honey." " It's Daddy!" " Yes, Daddy." " Thank you, Daddy." " Hey, you kids okay over there?" " Yup, yup." "Head down." "Don't!" "That tickles." "The kids are over there." "Quit it." "There, I won." " You did it." " I won." "I got..." "Well..." "Look, baby." "Can I get you again?" "Oh, Violet." "Violet."