The End of the World as We Know It

By Joan Powers

Summary: What if Covid-19 was part of Chuck's plan? Guess you could call this an alt-finale.

Rating: PG/K

Timeline: end ofSeason 15 (after Destiny's Child)

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper

-The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot

Sam rubbed his eyes before shoveling more cornflakes into his mouth. Even though it was past noon, he was having trouble waking up. He cleared his throat as he reached for more juice. He grinned as his brother stumbled zombie-like into the kitchen.

"Too much whiskey?" Sam teased. While he'd gone straight to bed after their return from Fargo, North Dakota, Dean sometimes liked to unwind after a job.

"No. That's the weird part."

Arching his back, Dean stretched his arms, yawning loudly. He reached into the cupboard fumbling about for a bowl. He cringed when he accidently slammed it on to the counter top a little too loudly. Filling the bowl to the brim with Cocoa Puffs, he joined Sam at the table.

"Man, I'm exhausted," Dean said.

Was stress catching up to them?

They'd spent the past months fighting Chuck's inane schemes. Facing many formidable foes they'd vanquished years before. Every time they handled one situation, Chuck promptly created another. Still, they'd dealt with extreme pressure before. They were pros. Yet the aches in their bodies reminded them that they were older – much older than when they'd originally started hunting together as a team.

Most likely they just needed a few nights of rest to recover.

"Me too. That job shouldn't have taken that much out of us," Sam said.

Although the drive was long, the job had been mostly research. An abandoned house crammed with bodies. Vampires. Dead vampires, to be precise. Despite the fact that their heads were intact, they were completely and utterly dead. Without a mark on them. The boys had never seen anything like this before. They were unable to ascertain a cause of death.

Was someone or something targeting vampires? Or was this more of Chuck's antics to keep them off balance? Was he just trying to distract them from focusing on their plan to eliminate him?

"Any word from Cass or Jack?" Dean asked. Billie had them working on their scheme to prepare Jack to kill Chuck. As usual she hadn't shared any details.

"No." Looking at his laptop screen, Sam said, "But look – here's another case that's up our alley. Yellowstone is reporting high numbers of animal deaths."

"So?" Dean replied, mouth filled with Cocoa Puffs.

Sam shoved the screen towards his brother. "Does this photo look like a wolf to you?"

Although the organization wasn't a highly reputable source, the boys were used to that. No main stream newspaper would ever acknowledge the existence of things that go bump in the night. (Many of their efforts to rationalize the supernatural had the boys laughing hysterically.) And if this was a doctored photo, it was a pretty good one.

"Looks like werewolves to me. Sounds like a road trip." Dean said, pushing aside his half-eaten bowl of cereal.

"Wait a minute," Sam cautioned, eyes glued to his computer screen.

Given their line of work, the boys didn't follow mainstream news closely or most times even at all. When you were fighting God or the Devil himself, the fate of the American presidential election just didn't seem as relevant. It was purely accidental that Sam had opened the CNN webpage and noticed there was only one story being covered.

"Have you seen this? The entire country is under quarantine!"

"What the-"

XXX

"Find any beer? Dean asked as Sam entered the library. Clad in flannel pajama pants and a worn T-shirt, Dean's mussed hair stood up in random spikes.

"Glad to see you've got your priorities right. Yeah, I stocked up. Had to drive to the next town to find toilet paper. It's like a war zone out there. Lots of empty shelves. Figured I better stock up on supplies since nobody's gonna deliver here. Find anything new?"

Sam joined his brother at the table, handing Dean a beer then opening one for himself.

It took a lot to intimidate the Winchesters. Both had literally been to hell and back, multiple times. Quarantine for some virus that many people didn't even know they'd contracted seemed a minor issue. While both boys were tired and a little congested, they were confident it was just some flu bug and in a few days they'd be fine. Yet given their fatigue and the odd circumstances, they remained close to the bunker for a day or two, limiting investigations to close to home and mostly hitting the books and doing on-line research.

"Uh…no.." Dean sheepishly looked away.

"Not again! Damn it, Dean, we have real problems here! You can watch more of 'Tiger King' later." He reminded his brother. "You were supposed to wait for me."

"But it's hilarious! Joe Exotic is hysterical! You're gonna love the snakes in the mailbox. You can't make this stuff up!"

"No argument there but we gotta figure out what's going on. Have you heard from Cass?"

Dean's expression became more serious. "No. He's bad about answering his phone."

Neither would admit they were getting worried.

For the millionth time, Dean wished he'd formally apologized to Cass long ago. Looking back, the signs of Jack's decline were clearly evident. None of them had wanted to acknowledge it. It was far too painful. It was as if by ignoring the changes in Jack's behavior, it wouldn't be true. Textbook denial. It hadn't been fair of Dean to take his anger and fear out on his best friend, Cass. Sure, they were on speaking terms now. He only hoped it wasn't too late to make true amends.

At least Jack was back, with his soul finally intact. Now they actually had a shot at taking out Chuck. Their first real break in a long time.

On-line research had serious limitations. While CNN tallied human virus cases and fatalities on a daily basis, similar resources had never been available for the supernatural. Internet reports tended to leave out stuff and many were notoriously unreliable. Several nests of possibly dead vampires had been reported on multiple internet sites from different areas of the country but they hadn't been able to examine them in person to determine if there were more than just surface similarities between the cases or to even confirm that these creatures were vampires in the first place. Internet reports of dead creatures resembling werewolves were also increasing.

They had no idea who or what was causing these deaths. Were these targeted or indiscriminate killings? Were there any similarities between the species? What other species were affected? Yesterday the boys investigated a local report that turned out to be a dead chupacabra. And what was the statistical relevance of these numbers? Given the explosion of internet postings, Sam and Dean felt something significant was going on.

"I talked to Jodi," Sam said.

"She seeing similar cases?"

"Yeah." He paused. "She believes there's some kind of virus."

"For supernatural creatures? Right." Dean was doubtful. "She's been watching too much CNN."

"It's a stretch for me too but I don't know have another explanation right now. We've got death reports from Maine to Washington." He took a breath. "Jodi claims it's infecting demons."

"What? How?" Dean asked with skepticism. "What would that even look like?"

"She ran into a demon on a job. He claimed they were seeing these deaths in their community too. They have no idea what's going on."

"Yeah, and we believe demons." Dean sarcastically rolled his eyes.

"She said he didn't look good. His color was off and he wasn't focusing well."

"So?"

"Then he collapsed in front of her." Sam said.

"Yeah? Wouldn't be the first time a demon burned out his host. He just went to get another body."

"No. That was it. No black fog. Nothing."

"Oh." Dean became quiet.

If there were a virus affecting vampires, werewolves, chupacabras, and now demons, could it infect angels too?

XXX

"Since when do we buy gas station pizza? This stuff sucks." Dean complained, tossing aside his half-eaten slice then leaning back in his Lazy boy recliner. Nothing tasted good to him.

"It's the only place in town that's open. You never complained when we got this before. Last time you ate a whole pie by yourself." Sam reminded him.

"I am so done with this stupid Cobra virus," Dean claimed, coughing deeply. The congestion was moving into his chest.

Sam's lips twisted in amusement. "You know that's not what it's-"

"I don't care!" Dean said, belligerently.

His head hurt. His chest felt tight and he was feeling uncomfortably warm. Signs he and his brother could've already been exposed to the virus. The virus that had no known cure or medications to fight it. Still Dean firmly believed that he and Sam were young enough to recover. It was just a pain in the ass being sick.

Sam coughed loudly, then took a swig from a beer bottle.

"Isn't this cozy?"

The boys froze. Chuck was standing in front of them. In their TV room. In their bunker.

Yet, were their eyes deceiving them? Did Chuck look a little under the weather as well? Were his eyes somewhat bloodshot? His face pale? His clothing rumpled? His hair mussed?

"What do you want?" Sam asked, adrenaline charging through his body.

Chuck casually surveyed the room, observing dirty dishes, wadded-up food wrappers and empty beer bottles. He examined the big screen TV. "Tiger King – that's a good one. Wish I'd come up with it."

Sam and Dean exchanged an intense glance. Neither felt up to sparing with Chuck. To buy time, Sam moved towards the cooler and returned with an opened beer to offer to Chuck, which he accepted.

"Haven't heard from you. Just checking in. Seeing what's going on," Chuck said, almost too casually.

"Yeah, well, you've been too busy destroying other worlds," Sam replied. "What's up with that?"

"Things get stale. Sometimes you need to mix things up a bit. Keep it interesting."

"And wiping out everything does that?" Sam asked.

"You remember Noah's arc, don't you? Even if you don't believe that version, there are flood myths in every culture. Don't you think there's a reason for that? Just like fires and natural disasters. Or disease. It's a chance for a fresh start."

Dean felt bile rising in his throat. "Is this stupid virus your version of purging our Earth?

Chuck shrugged. "I just provide the raw materials. Nature does the rest." He cleared his throat.

"But you have creative control." Sam reminded him.

Chuck grinned. "Indeed, I do." He pivoted to face Sam directly. "How's Jack?"

Sam tried to hide the fact that he was shaken. How did Chuck know about Jack? How much did he know of their plan?

He played innocent. "What do you mean? He's dead. You killed him."

Chuck sneezed, which seemed to surprise him. He didn't know what to do with the substance coming out of his nose. Sam handed him a tissue.

Then Chuck scolded the boys. "We all know that's not true. I felt him the minute he reappeared."

"We don't know." Dean confessed. The brothers hadn't heard from Jack since the Garden of Eden.

Was Chuck smirking?

"Don't worry. I still have big plans for the two of you." Then Chuck disappeared.

Dean leapt out of his chair. "What the hell was all that about? This is so lame. Alt-Earth gets wiped out in a bang and we get some asinine virus. Stuck drowning in phlegm. Hacking and coughing to death. What kind of plan is that? It's lame!"

"I agree. It's not a very good one. Although this virus is highly infectious, the mortality rate isn't that high, relatively speaking. Lots of people contract it and don't even realize it. This certainly doesn't seem like a purging event. This doesn't make sense." The throbbing in Sam's temples was making it hard to think clearly.

"Wanna bet Chuck screwed up. He didn't look so hot. Since when does he have to sneeze? Why on earth did you waste a beer on him?"

Lost in thought, it took Sam a moment to respond. He was missing something. "No. That's not it. That's not it at all." What was it? "Viruses are small and hard to detect."

"Yeah, so?"

"If you wanted to kill something very powerful, it would be a great Trojan horse."

"Sneak in undetected. Yeah. Sure. Like Independence Day. Where you going with this?"

"Chuck came here fishing for information about Jack. He knows he's a threat." Sam took a step then snapped his fingers. "I've got it! We're looking at this all wrong. A virus that's more lethal to the supernatural than humans? This has always been about Jack. Chuck can't find him to kill him so he engineered this virus to do the job. Humans, vampires, demons – we're all collateral damage."

XXX

Sam and Dean were no longer in denial. They'd contracted the virus and were getting worse each day. It didn't occur to them to visit a doctor or go to the hospital. If this was the manner in which Chuck wanted them to die, it was going to happen.

The boys used the last of their strength to drag another bed into Dean's bedroom and a small TV. Neither wanted to be alone. It was ironic that it resembled a motel room – the setting for the majority of their lives together.

As they lay on their beds, alternatively shivering then roasting, coughing more heavily and for longer spells each day, they were becoming resigned to the fact that this might be the end for them.

"What do you regret? What would you have done differently?" Sam asked, his throat raw from coughing.

Dean punched his pillow and leaned back against it, trying to get more comfortable. With false bravado, he replied, "I don't regret a thing."

Even Sam knew that wasn't true. Dean longed to see his friend, Cass, even one more time. To make sure he knew how much he appreciated him. Cass was like a brother to both Sam and Dean. He prayed that the angel was still alive. And Jack, who was practically their son.

"I fought against Dad and this life for so long," Sam said, nearly choking on phlegm. He'd left his family to earn his college degree and had been admitted to a prestigious law school. He'd had even been engaged to be married. A white-collar future. It seemed a life time ago. "It's taken a while but I've made my peace with it. We're hunters. That's what we do."

Dean thought back to his time with Lisa and Ben. He'd been surprisingly content living a so-called normal life. But it didn't last. The hunter lifestyle wasn't conducive for relationships or families. Look at their childhood. If any romantic relationship over the years had a chance in hell of surviving, it would've been Sam and Eileen since she was also a hunter.

"At least we've helped people," Dean said. The words sounded pathetic coming out of his mouth but he sincerely meant them. His forehead was hot and slick with sweat.

"This is so messed up. If this is 'the grand finale' we're supposed to drive off into the sunset or get blown to bits. A hero's death. Not waste away in our beds like a couple of wimps. This is so undignified! Couldn't Chuck have done something cool like having our heads explode or run us over with a Mac truck? This is just insulting."

"Don't give him any ideas!" Sam cautioned, coughing. "It's still better than turning us into vampires or making us fight each other to the death."

Both hoped Chuck had moved on from that plan.

"What's gonna happen to us?" Dean asked. Unfortunately, the boys knew far more about eternal destinations than the average person.

Another bout of coughing seized Sam. Minutes later he responded. "Heaven didn't look so bad. It would be great to be with Mom and Dad. And Bobby and Charlie."

"You're assuming Chuck won't get involved. We don't necessarily escape him by dying."

Sam swallowed hard. "Yeah. That's right."

Dean could imagine Chuck letting them die from the virus and then bringing them back to life only to kill them in another fashion. Over and over again.

"Maybe Chuck gets the last laugh and send us to Hell."

Sam shuddered. They'd both spent more time than they cared to there. "That would suck. We outta ask Billie who makes those decisions. Find out how it works."

Death almost sounded like a relief at this point.

"How did Chuck look to you?" Sam asked.

"Whadda ya mean?"

"Did he seem a little off to you?"

With his raging fever and aching joints, Dean wasn't tracking well. "I dunna know. Does it matter?"

Sam explained. "If this virus can infect Jack, it could infect Chuck."

"Maybe. But how would he be exposed to the virus?

"Maybe because he's an arrogant ass who thinks he's invulnerable. He also drank my beer." Sam grinned.

"Nice." The boys feebly raised their hands to high-five but lacked the energy to cross the room to meet. They settled for a virtual version.

"What happens if Chuck dies? Will the universe continue?" Dean said.

"Of course. Look at all the times he's been out of touch. He even said the universe is on autopilot and he only steps in once and a while. I'll bet heaven and hell even run on their own."

"What if…" Dean struggled to catch his breath. A moment of wistful thinking hit him. Something he didn't ordinarily indulge in. "What if this virus wipes out Chuck and other supernatural creatures?" He coughed then continued. "What if Billy and Jack, and Cass, are in a safe place and they can eventually bring us back?"

At that moment the room lights flickered visibly as if confirming his statement.

Or was it a fevered delusion?

The boys' eyes met.

"That's good. I'm going with that." Sam said.

"Or maybe it will just be over."

"That would be okay too."

XXX

It hurt like hell to breathe. Like his lungs were on fire. The pressure on his chest was unbearable.

And what was the nasty screeching noise?

Horrified, he realized it was the sound of him struggling to breathe.

He hadn't heard from his brother in a while. Talking took too much energy. All his efforts were focused on breathing.

He no longer heard his brother coughing or wheezing.

He'd lost track of time. Was it day or night? It was hard to tell within the bunker. And ultimately it didn't really matter anymore.

He kicked off his covers wondering how he could be so bloody hot and cold at the same time.

Another fit of deep coughing grabbed him. The agony that wracked his body was excruciating. He couldn't catch his breath.

Then, the pain went away.

Carry on my wayward son

For there'll be peace when you are done

Lay your weary head to rest

Don't you cry no more

-Carry on Wayward Son, Kansas

THE END