Season 2 - Episode 70: Live Stream

## Synopsis

The crew splits up to cover more ground. Bjorn doesn't find any signs of the squonk on East, so heads over to West to meet up with Henry. Henry finds a tipped over trash can that reeks with the strange ammonia smell. Bjorn spots a set of tire tracks nearby and, after speaking with a shop owner nearby, find out there was a girl on the beach livestreaming when she was bit by the squonk and took off. Bjorn and Henry track her down to a nearby hotel only to find that she's dissolved into a puddle of tears. Meanwhile, Sammie is in Big Gator Swamp. She's found the nest of the squonk and is keeping an eye on it in case the creature returns. While she's there, Oliver sends her a link to a livestream where Sophia Foster, the leader of the Blackout Society, is announcing that she is running for mayor.

## Episode Description

Our heroes split the party up to investigate the creature. Henry finds a clue, which leads them to look for a missing person. Sammie gets some interesting news from Oliver.

## Key Events

* Sammie discovers the squonk's nest in Big Gator Swamp.
* Bjorn and Henry follow the trail of an influencer who livestreamed herself being bit by the squonk, but find her dissolved into a puddle of tears in her room at the motel.
* Sophia Foster, the leader of the Blackout Society, announces that she is running for mayor.

## Summary

Sammie goes to Big Gator Swamp, Bjorn to northern East Thornvale, and Henry to more isolated beach areas on West.

Bjorn is attempting to be stealthy, using his new thermal vision glasses to try and spot the creature in the woods. He's also keeping an eye out for tracks. After an extensive search, he doesn't spot any tracks. He texts the group chat to let them know he hasn't found anything.

Sammie is on the isolated trails of Big Gator Swamp. She is on a boggy trail when she notices the same set of tracks she spotted earlier. She follows them for a while before beginning to sense that awful ammonia smell she experienced through Jamie's memory. She spots what looks like an abandoned tent and a bundle of sticks and debris that have been arranged in what looks like a nest. As she gets closer to it, the smell only gets worse.

Henry decides to try and talk to people along the beach to see if they've spotted anything strange. He walks up to a man waxing his surfboard and asks him if he's noticed anything strange. The man says that on the southside of the beach where the surfers hang out, he smelled something awful like a sewage leak. Henry heads down to that section of the beach and starts to look around. He starts to smell the same smell the surfer described. He notices a trash can has been knocked over and rooted through and the ground around the can is wet. He thinks that someone spooked the squonk so it disappeared into tears again. Henry texts the group about what he found. A text comes through shortly after from Sammie about finding its nest.

Bjorn texts Henry back and asks if there's another victim they need to look out for. Henry isn't sure, so Bjorn tells him to canvas the area and try to find out. Sammie takes a picture of the nest and suggests this might be where the squonk is teleporting back to when it gets scared. Bjorn suggests they stake out the nest and wait for it to come back. He lets them know he'll leave East and head over to West. After Henry reports he can't find anything regarding a potential victim, Bjorn tells him that he'll meet up with him on Mangrove Beach.

Bjorn arrives and investigates the scene of the dumped over trash can. He notices a set of tire marks nearby, suggesting someone fled the scene. Whoever disturbed the squonk fled the scene. Bjorn points the tracks out to Henry and suggests they try to find them. Henry spots a nearby shop called Surfs Up and suggests they take a look at their security cameras or talk to people in the shop. Bjorn walks up to the counter and flips his badge. He asks if they saw what happened with the car. The man in the shop reports seeing a girl about 4 or 5 hours ago run into the shop, asking for the bathroom. She was freaking out and holding her hand. She also had her phone out like she was live streaming. He says that she left in a hurry and was driving a red SUV.

Henry gets online to try and find anyone who is streaming in the area. He checks various social medias before finding a twitter thread that is trending with #Thornvale and #WhereIsMerishaCooper. He scrolls through the thread and finds out that Merisha Cooper is livestreaming on TikTok, the video titled "I got bit by a weird pig on Thornvale," and that the livestream is still active, however it seems she dropped her phone and there hasn't been any sign of here since. Henry passes along this information to Bjorn before pulling up the livestream. All they can see is the edge of a white bed and an end table. Henry scrolls deeper through the thread and finds that someone found out the hotel she was staying at is the Sunset Waves Motel on West.

Bjorn and Henry pass this information along to Sammie before heading over to the motel. Sammie texts Oliver and asks if he knows Merisha Cooper. Oliver says he doesn't and that he's busy. Sammie asks him what he's busy with and if he needs help. Oliver sends a picture of a middle-aged woman in a business suit talking to some older men that go to the country club. Oliver asks if Sammie recognizes the woman and Sammie realizes it is the leader of the Blackout Society. Oliver says that something big is coming.

Bjorn goes to the motel and flashes his badge to the receptionist. He quickly explains that one of their guests could be in danger and he needs access to their room. The receptionist clarifies that this would be a wellness check before finding a key with access to the room and handing it to him, telling Bjorn she's in room 130. Bjorn and Henry run down the hall to Merisha's room. As they walk in, they immediately notice that there is a pile of clothes on the floor. The clothes are soaking wet and surrounded by a large puddle of water. They see the phone that is still streaming near one of the sleeves of the clothes pile. Henry carefully stops the stream without getting spotted by the phone's camera. Bjorn realizes that the teens in the hospital weren't bitten by this creature, but Merisha said she was bitten so his best guess is that if someone is bitten by the squonk they turn into tears.

Bjorn calls Holland to let her know about what happened. He fills her in on the details of the squonk and what happened with Merisha. He asks for help securing the area until he can get his people here. She says she'll send Judson and some other members of her crew down. Henry calls Stanley to let him know what happened as well. He asks Stanley if they can do some research on how to reverse the process, if there's anyway to save Merisha still.

In Big Gator Swamp, Sammie is waiting for the squonk to show up at its nest. She walks around the area but doesn't spot any signs of it. She sits back down to wait and receives a link from Oliver for a livestream. She taps on it and is directed to the local news station where the leader of the Blackout Society, Sophia Foster, is giving a press conference. The title of the stream is "Erik Tinsley Endorses Sophia Foster for Mayor." Sammie starts watching the livestream as Sophia announces that they all know there is something unusual happening on the island, that she promises to find out what's going on, and that's why they should vote for her as Mayor.

## List of Appearances

* Bjorn Olafson
* Henry Marlowe
* Sammie Overbrook
* Oliver Allen Evans
* Jolene Holland
* Stanley Marlowe
* Sophia Foster

## Trivia

Susannah says she's not sure how long the Wordle thread is going to last, but as of June 2023 the thread is still alive.