I can't feel my legs. Shh. Oh, God. What is that?
Shut up. Did it leave? Oh my god, can you be
quiet for five minutes? I think it's gone. Unless
you want to find out the hard way, just sit still.
I want to get out of here and away from that
thing. And we will if you can sit down, shut
up, and let it get far enough away so it doesn't
see us. Fine. Are you serious right now? What?
I'm hungry. Do you want one? No, I don't want
one. Okay, let's get moving since you're completely
incapable of being quiet. We can go the long
way around, out the west trail. Should be able
to avoid it that way. If we move quickly and
quietly enough. How much longer? About five miles.
Two hours at most. Hey, wait a second. What?
Is that Bear Cave? Yes. Now come on. Hang on.
I just want to take a quick look inside the starting
cavern. Now we need to keep moving. I'll just
be a second. Wait here. Evan, no. That's a terrible
idea. Evan! Oh, my God. That's it. They're dead.
I'm dead. We're both dead. Okay. What is the...
deal with you creepy cave oh well that's definitely
blood oh sure the caves aren't involved right
to the lab with this all right evan Just one
quick look down this way, and then we'll go.
Huh. What is this? Strange place for a backpack.
Why would they leave it here? Hey, are you almost
done in there? Evan? Evan! Goddamn it. There
you are! What the hell is wrong with you? What's
that? You know what? Never mind. Remember how
I said, hey, don't go in the cave, because we
need to get out of here before that thing comes
back this way, and you ignored me and strolled
right on in? Well, we missed the window for that.
What? Something's coming. That's what. Well,
what do we do? Statistically, probably die. But
there are tunnels further in we can exit from.
If we're lucky and fast, we can escape that way.
Ever use a gun? I had three PhDs by 30. What
do you think? I think we're screwed. Okay, crash
course and firearms. You see this end? Point
it at anything that moves and pull the trigger.
Don't point it at yourself. Or me. This is the
safety. Only release right before firing. Got
it? No, I don't - Wait, here. Can you please
stop dropping my weapons? Okay, time to go. I
see light up ahead. Almost there. What about
when we get out? We can't outrun it forever.
I know. When we get outside, keep running. I'll
make sure it doesn't follow us. How? Just trust
me. I've kept this alive so far. What's that?
Nothing. Is that a grenade? It's not not a grenade.
You can't just... I can, and I'm definitely going
to. Okay, showtime. Take cover behind the boulders
at the tree line. Go! Okay. Give me the sat phone
from the sheriff. What's that? Sat phone. Cole
said he was lending you one. Oh. Right. Here.
Thanks. Mason, come in. It's Nikki. Yeah, I'm
here. What's up? You guys okay? Just peachy.
For now. But, uh, here's the thing. I may have
detonated a little bit of a grenade just inside
the southeast tunnel of Bear Cave. Just thought
you'd want to know in case you get any calls
about the noise. Can you repeat that? It sounded
like you said you blew up Bear Cave with a grenade.
Only the southeast tunnel. Rest should be fine.
Probably. Why would you do that? What were you
even doing there? All good questions. All very
good questions. And listen, I will be happy to
answer them later. I'm going to get the doctor
back to her accommodations and out of these godforsaken
woods before something else tries to eat us.
Meet us there later, and we'll fill you in. Okay,
bye. Gotta run. Nikki! Nikki, what did you do?
Answer me, Nikki! Nikki! Okay, well, that's done.
I'm sure he can manage. Now... Do you want the
good news or the bad news first? Um, let's go
with good. We are much closer to the parking
lot, and no longer have to take the long way
around. And the bad news? We don't know if that
thing was alone, and the explosion could have
attracted attention from more of them, so we
should probably get moving. Quickly. Ugh, of
course. More running. More running. I hate it
here. I think I could sleep for at least a week.
I don't think I can ever fall asleep in this
town again. Well, at least you solved the mystery
of the missing people. Congrats. Six hours must
be a record time. Well, I actually solved a 56
-year -old cold case in 43 minutes once. Without
even leaving my office. Really? How? I could
see in one of the crime scene photos that...
One of the floorboards was chipped. Like someone
had removed it. But no one noticed at the time.
Murder weapon was hidden underneath. The knife
hilt had perfectly preserved prints. Amazing.
So, who did it? The husband. For the insurance
to run off with his mistress. Of course it was.
Hey, wait a second. You said you'd tell me what
was going on if we survived. Well, we survived.
So what the hell was that? Yeah, so I may have
exaggerated my knowledge a bit in the moment,
but my family has stories of things. Growing
up, my grandfather would tell them to us. When
I saw those claw marks on the trees and the cliffside...
Something about it reminded me of... I always
just thought the family legend stuff was just
that. Legends. Fables made up to keep the kids
in line. But mostly bullshit, you know? And now?
Now? I don't know. I mean, I've got a little
experience with animals outside of a... normal
presentation. You see weird things as a ranger
sometimes. A lot of diseases and parasites can
make animals act odd or overly aggressive. That's
what I've been assuming has been going on with
all the disappearances. Until today, anyway.
I've never dealt with something like that. Hopefully
that explosion took care of it. I'd prefer not
to run into it again. You and me both. Well,
I guess we should check out that bag from the
cave. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that with
all the running and almost dying. Looks like
we've got some kind of research journal. With
some odd notes. A map of the area. A security
keycard. Unmarked. A wallet. ID says Alan Moreau.
And a voice recorder. Hmm. It's dead. But I think
mine takes the same charger. Let's see if it'll
work. I wonder how long it was there. Such a
random place to leave it. Maybe forgotten by
a hiker or something? Or another missing person
that wasn't reported? Yes, it works. Maybe our
mystery person can tell us. My name is Dr. Alan
Moreau. It's October 18th, 2022. If you're listening
to this, I'm dead. Four years ago, I was hired
by Whitewell's Research Division to catalog biological
samples from rare plant and animal mutations.
They claim they came from caves they own, but
something was always off with them. The data
from tests that we ran never made any sense.
It still doesn't. I tried to tell my supervisors,
thinking it was an equipment error, but they
said that wasn't my job. To just perform the
tests and send the data to the next level. Over
time, they trusted me more. Two years ago, I
was promoted to a field researcher where my job
is to test samples directly from animal, vegetation,
and mineral sources on location. Then I send
the data on to specialized bioresearch facilities
that... coordinate transport with Nocturne. I
don't know what they do with them after. The
first time that I saw one of these creatures,
if they weren't coming from inside the caves,
I would be convinced that they were aliens. Most
days I sampled at least a dozen. Sometimes when
they look at me, I swear I can see sentience
there. Intelligence. This is my eleventh location
in two years, and they still won't tell us what
is causing these mutations, or why there's so
many of them. Researchers aren't allowed in the
caves, and the workers that do go in aren't allowed
to discuss it when they're on the surface. Sometimes
the workers also come out... wrong. And I have
to get samples from them, too. Nocturne tells
us that they're just getting medical treatment,
but... I never see them again. Since the company
says this location has been depleted of resources,
the operation is moving to a new site tomorrow.
The cave below now should be empty of staff,
so... I'm gonna go down and see what's happening
for myself. I'm hiding my bag here with all the
notes that I was able to take without notice.
I hope whoever finds it can make use of it to
do something. And one last thing. Don't take
this to the local sheriff here. Cole Mason. I
don't think he can be trusted. He comes here
to the site every Tuesday to report to the Nocturne
security supervisor, Silas Raines, and pick up
a package. I don't know the extent, but he's
involved with them somehow. If he finds out you
know anything, then I guarantee Whitewell will
know soon after. And Silas does not suffer loose
ends. Does he know about that thing? And what
the hell would a company like Whitewell be doing
out here? If he knew, then he'd put the whole
town in danger. There are homes and families
out there. I thought something was off, but I
thought he was just lazy, not covering up some
killer cave monster. I've been working out here
for six months, and he never said a word. He
just let me... Man, you guys really made a mess.
People heard the explosion from almost two miles
away. What did I say about not going in there?
And the damage is... You want to talk about damage?
What did you do? You knew. You knew what happened
to those missing people and let their families
suffer. You put the town and us in danger. Why?
You don't know what you're talking about. What
you're messing with. Don't lie to us, you son
of a bitch. What does Whitewell have you covering
up? They told me it was for research. That it
would save lives. And it has. Tell that to the
nine people that think probably eight. There
is more at stake here than... Than what? People's
lives? What about the town, Cole? The town is
why I did it. Just let me go and I'll tell you.
Nikki! Nikki, you can finish him off later if
you want. But we need to let him at least tell
us what he knows first. Fine. But if you lie
to me about one single thing, and I ever find
out, I'll make sure you're the next thing dragged
into that cave and eaten. It actually won't eat
me. It won't eat anyone in town. None of them
will. I made sure of that. And how did you do
that? They gave me something. A supplement for
the water supply. To keep the town safe. That's
why it never attacks anyone from here. You've
been poisoning the water supply? Tell me why
I shouldn't put you down right here. Wait. Let
him finish. We need to know as much as we can
about what we're dealing with. They said it was
safe. That it would protect everyone. And you
trusted them? What are they even doing out there?
I don't know! I was a rookie when they recruited
me. My best friend had just died in that cave.
Killed by one of those things. They said they
had experience with these things and they could
keep it from happening again. That's why it was
shut down in 2009. They said they needed a local
to help and they could keep the town safe. Help
them how? What could they possibly have needed
from some small -town rookie? They requested
me as their local law enforcement liaison for
the cleanup they were doing. I kept people out.
I... Buried reports and evidence of what actually
happened. Made sure the locals who knew stayed
quiet. They fast -tracked my climb through the
ranks. Funded my campaign for sheriff. Made sure
I was elected. I never asked how. Didn't want
to know. Anyway... The disappearances started
after they moved their research operation out
of the area a few years ago. They told me to
bury the cases or they'd stop sending the water
supplement. And I tried to keep the investigations
from finding too much, but... The last girl was
related to the governor, and I don't have the
power to bury something that big. They stopped
taking my calls. And those nine missing people?
Just because they aren't from your town doesn't
mean they don't matter. I knew those case reports
weren't right. You think I liked it? That I sleep
well knowing what's down there or what it's been
doing? You're still doing it. Even when you knew
people were being killed. You let me and Nikki
march right out there. It almost killed us. Twice.
I thought you'd be safe. I treat the ranger's
water supply along with the town and I put extra
in your water that I gave you this morning. I
guess you don't have enough in your system yet.
Do you even hear yourself? You're talking about
drugging people's water like it's nothing. You
have to know this isn't right. Why are you doing
this? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't understand.
They are not the kind of people you say no to.
They have more power than you can imagine. I
tried to quit. When the research operation left,
I told them I was done. I asked them to close
down whatever was down there. They said if I
quit, they'd make sure I disappeared and they
would purge the town. The whole town. How'd you
figure any of this out anyway? The cave told
us. Come again? Evan found a bag shoved in the
cave wall. It belonged to some Whitewell researcher.
He left it there for someone to find in case
he died trying to find out what was happening
and actually doing something about it. He recorded
a message to warn whoever found it about Whitewell
and said not to trust you. Wait, uh, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Was, uh, was his name Alan something? Yeah,
Alan Moreau. What are you - Oh, they had a full
manhunt for that guy. Disappeared the night before
the last team left. They thought he ran away
and... skipped the country. Yeah, they were worried
he'd try and expose him. I always assumed Nocturne
killed him. Okay, that should be all the bugs.
I'll have to go back to the station and check
if anyone was listening. We may have company.
You bugged my room? Me? No. Whitewell pretty
much had the whole town bugged years ago. Presumably,
they stopped listening when they moved out. But
with the current investigation, I don't think
that's still the case. I thought Nocturne would
be showing up soon anyway, but it's possible
that they could be doing that sooner than expected.
What is Nocturne? The recording mentioned them
too. And someone named Silas. It's the Whitewell
Security Division. Silas Raines is the leader.
Don't be fooled. They may call themselves security,
but it's more like a private army. Well, we have
to do something. This isn't the only place they've
let something like this happen. How many lives
have they already ruined? What are these creatures,
and what are they even doing with them? Yeah,
yeah, yeah. How do you plan to stop them? These
people are more powerful than you can imagine.
They have infiltrated like... Every industry
in the country. The world, even. Almost every
level of government. They have decades of safeguarding
themselves legally and politically. Well, first,
we need to actually find out what they're doing
in these caves. What is causing such a large
number of mutations? And why put so many resources
into covering it up like this? Uh, so... I think
I might actually be able to help with part of
that. Not the Whitewell stuff, but I may be able
to get more info about these creatures. Remember
what I was saying earlier? I need to make a few
calls. The family thing? Yeah, just give me 20
minutes. Oh, look. She's keeping secrets too,
but I don't see her getting shoved into a wall.
Shut up! Nikki, go make your calls. Cole, can
you get me some more of the monster repellent
or whatever? Yeah, sure. Wait, why? We are going
to find out what they're hiding down in that
cave. And I'd really prefer not to be eaten while
doing it. Ugh. That's what I was afraid of. This
has been The Veins Below. We hope you enjoyed
this special double episode premiere. We will
be back with episode three in two weeks. For
updates, follow us on all of the regular social
media sites at The Veins Below. Follow us on
Patreon at patreon .com forward slash The Veins
Below to stay updated about our future membership
subscriptions and perks. The Veins Below is created
and directed by Eliza Dalrymple. This episode
was written and edited by Eliza Dalrymple and
Libri. Production and vocal edits are by Allie
A. Sound design and editing is by Aurelium G.
Our amazing voice cast was Ray Lundberg as Dr.
Evan Harbinger, Maddie Gerrard as Ranger Nikki
Breslin, and N .J. Unwin as Sheriff Cole Mason
and Dr. Alan Moreau. The theme is used with permission
and taken from The Return of September by Harbor
Skyline. For additional sound and other credits,
transcripts, social links, and contact info,
visit our website at theveinsbelow .com. Did
you hear that?