(It is a dark and stormy night. The rain is hitting hard and the thunder and lightning crackle. The yard is an absolute mess, field hoes and barrels scattered. The grass only grows in patches. The house looks no better. A woman screams in labor pains. The room is very dark, and we can barely make out a man standing between her legs, preparing to take the baby. Another man stands over her. She pants and groans in pain. The second man, long-haired George Peacock, hands the other man, bald-headed Edmund Peacock, a fork. There is a splattering sound and a baby starts to cry. George takes a pair of scissors and cuts the umbilical cord. The woman groans in pain, smiling slightly. The baby is taken outside by George, Edmund, and their brother Sherman. One can barely make out that the boys don't look quite right. They are deformed grotesquely, their skin a wrinkly gray. They walk out into the next field, George carrying a shovel. He starts to dig as the baby cries. Edmund stands off to the side. Sherman lowers the baby, wrapped in a cloth, into the hole. Edmund starts to cry as George starts to cover the baby. Edmund moans, Sherman consoling him. Dirt is thrown onto the baby, but George hesitates before completely covering the baby. The three brothers stand out in the rain. Edmund's moans are just as loud as the thunder.)

(A young boy throws down home plate and readies his stance. The catcher crouches behind it.)
HOME, PENNSYLVANIA

BATTER: All right, let's play some ball.

CATCHER: Swing it in here.

(The pitcher throws, the batter doesn't swing.)

Strike!

BATTER: In what league?

(The catcher throws it back.)

PITCHER: Hey, quit complaining. You know, we already had to move home plate 'cause you bitched about the mud.

BOY #1: Nice pitch!

CATCHER: Come on, let him hear some chin music!

(The batter, catcher and pitcher all ready their stances.)

BOY #1: Throw a fastball!

(The pitcher throws and the batter nails it.)

BOY #2: Whoa!

BOY #1: Nice hit!

BOY #2: Go get it!

(The ball sails over the fence and into the yard of the house belonging to the Peacocks. The right fielder watches it fly over.)

PITCHER: Hey, come on!

RIGHT FIELDER: It went on the Peacocks' property.

(All of the children hold their breath a little, none of them wanting to go out there.)

CATCHER: Here's another one!

(The catcher goes into his bag and pulls out a ball. The right fielder walks away from the fence, staring at the house.)

PITCHER: All right, come on, let's play!

BATTER: All right, come on...

CATCHER: Come on, baby, bring it home to Mamma.

(All three assume their stances. The batter kneels and scoops up some dirt, rubbing it on his hands to get a better hold.)

Put it there, put it there. Come on, right here.

(The batter stands and digs his foot into the dirt repeatedly, trying to get a good hold.)

Come on, baby, bring it home. Come on. Right here. That's it. Ease up.

(The pitcher checks the runners like a major league pitcher. The batter keeps digging his foot in and looks down. He's stepping in blood. He drops the bat and backs off.)

BOY #2: What are you doing?

(The catcher looks down and sees the blood. A small hand is sticking out of the mud. The pitcher throws the ball, but no one catches it. The catcher is walking backwards as well, away from the newfound body. Later, Mulder bends down and picks up the ball. He rolls it around, smells it, stands and pretends to pitch it. Scully, meanwhile, is doing real work, measuring the hole where the baby was taken from. She puts the tape measure away, writes it down, and stands. Mulder works on his grip, watching the Peacock brothers, who are watching them from the porch.)

SCULLY: Compression marks indicate the shovel blade to be approximately six and three-quarters inches. Uh, the angle of movement and deeper indentation on the right side of the mark suggests a left-handed individual.

(Mulder continues to throw the ball up in the air, barely paying attention.)

I've collected soil specimens and, uh, although numerous shoe impressions were made from the sandlot game, I think a, uh, a couple of dental stone casts will prove invaluable to the investigation.

(Scully watches as Mulder inspects the ball, then throws it up in the air.)

Meanwhile, I've quit the F.B.I. and become a spokesperson for the Ab-roller.

MULDER: Smell that.

(Scully smells the ball.)

It's perfume. Eau de ball. God, this brings back a lot of memories. My sister... all day pick-up games out on the vineyard, ride your bikes down to the beach, eat bologna sandwiches. Only place you had to be on time was home for dinner. Never had to lock your doors. No modems, no faxes, no cell phones.

(He continues to toss the ball around.)

SCULLY: Mulder, if you had to do without a cell phone for two minutes, you'd lapse into catatonic schizophrenia.

(A pick-up truck drives up.)

MULDER: Scully, you don't know me as well as you think you do. You know, my work demands that I live in a big city, but if I had to settle down, build a home... be a place like this.

SCULLY: Be like living in Mayberry.

(A sheriff gets out of the truck.)

ANDY TAYLOR: Agents Mulder and Scully?

(Mulder nods to him. The sheriff walks under the yellow tape and shakes Scully's hand.)

Hi, I'm Sheriff Andy Taylor.

MULDER: For real?

(They shake hands.)

ANDY TAYLOR: Can't thank you or the bureau enough for coming out. It's just me and my deputy, and... hell, we never had anything of this nature.

SCULLY: Do you have any thoughts or, uh, suspects?

ANDY TAYLOR: Population of Home is only a few hundred. Everybody knows everybody, pretty much.

(Mulder watches the boys on the porch.)

SCULLY: Well, were there any local women who were pregnant and now suddenly aren't?

ANDY TAYLOR: No. I just saw Mary Ellen and Nancy. They're both doing fine.

MULDER: Hey, Sheriff, who lives in that house there?

(Mulder points to the Peacock residence. Taylor gives no response, staying silent for a while.)

Did you question them?

(Still no answer.)

'Cause they've been watching us the entire time.

ANDY TAYLOR: That farm belongs to the Peacock family. Three boys now. Well, men. Guess you could call them human. Their folks were in a bad car wreck and we suppose they died.

SCULLY: You suppose?

ANDY TAYLOR: Well, we tried to administer medical attention, but the boys hauled the bodies away. Took them home. They haven't been seen in ten years, so... we suppose they died.

SCULLY: Have you questioned the men?

ANDY TAYLOR: The Peacocks built that farm during the Civil War. It still has no electricity, no running water, no heat... they grow their own food, they raise their own pigs, the breed their own cows... raise and breed their own stock... if you get my meaning.

SCULLY: It is, however, the closest residence to the crime scene.

ANDY TAYLOR: Those boys are feeble, Agent Scully... and sad. They wouldn't have any idea what you were talking about.

SCULLY: Well, they could've witnessed...

ANDY TAYLOR: Look, this town is my home. I love it. It's quiet... peaceful. I don't even wear a gun.

(Mulder nods.)

I've seen and heard some of the sick and horrible things that go on outside my Home. At the same time, I knew we couldn't stay hidden forever... that one day, the modern world would find us and... my home town would change forever. And when I saw... it... in the ground... I knew that day had come. Now, I want to find whoever did this... but in doing so, I'd like it if the way things are around here didn't have to change. I know this is iffy bureau jurisdiction...

(Mulder nods again.)

...but I didn't know where else to turn. So I called the bureau in Pittsburgh, and when I described the victim... they said I should see you.

MULDER: Well, maybe we should take a look at the victim then.

(The refrigerator door is pulled open, where the baby is sitting on a tray, a washcloth draped over it. Taylor pulls it out and walks over to Mulder and Scully.)

ANDY TAYLOR: We don't have a lab or a morgue. I've got a room down here, might be a bit cleaner.

(Taylor's deputy walks out from the back.)

By the way, this is my deputy, Barney.

MULDER: Fife?

BARNEY PASTOR: Pastor!

(He walks away angrily. The phone rings. Mulder, Scully and Taylor head into the washroom. It is highly cramped and the three barely fit as the tray is put down on the toilet.)

SCULLY: Uh, I could use a little more elbow room.

ANDY TAYLOR: Thing is, see, folks have been dropping in to ask about the case and I wouldn't want anybody to pop in and see this.

MULDER: Well, you could just lock your door to the office.

ANDY TAYLOR: Oh, folks know I never lock the door. They'd start rumors.

(He closes the door. Scully puts on rubber gloves and pulls up the covering, revealing the most deformed baby in history. Mulder gasps and looks away.)

SCULLY: Oh, my God... Mulder... it looks as if this child has been afflicted by every rare birth defect known to science. I mean, I, I'm going to have to order DNA typing from the crime lab, but... there appears to be abnormalities associated with Nev-Laxova Syndrome, Meckel-Gruber Syndrome, estrophy of the cloaca, I mean, I don't even know where to begin.

(It still has some dirt on it and is bright pink, almost red. There appears to be some branch-offs. It's face is distorted. It's legs are bent horribly out of shape.)

MULDER: I guess we can rule out murder as the cause of death, huh?

SCULLY: Well, I don't know about that.

(She pulls out some tweezers and probes the baby's mouth with them.)

There's evidence of occlusion due to dirt in the nose and mouth... indicating the dirt has been inhaled.

MULDER: There's something rotten in Mayberry.

(They walk outside. A baby is crying as it is pushed by in a stroller.)

SCULLY: Imagine all a woman's hopes and dreams for her child and then nature turns so cruel. What must a mother go through?

MULDER: Apparently not much in this case if she just threw it out with the trash.

(They sit on a bench.)

SCULLY: I, I guess I was just projecting on myself.

MULDER: Why, is there a history of genetic abnormalities in your family?

SCULLY: No.

MULDER: Well, just find yourself a man with a spotless genetic make-up and a really high tolerance for being second-guessed and start pumping out the little Uber-Scullies.

(She smiles. He rubs her back a little.)

SCULLY: What about your family?

MULDER: Hmm? Well, aside from the need for corrective lenses and a tendency to be abducted by extraterrestrials involved in an international governmental conspiracy, the Mulder family passes genetic muster.

(They both smile. The smile soon fades from Mulder's face.)

Now, Scully, that child inside is a tragedy. Some young parents, probably scared kids, disposed of an unwanted birth... in a very certain sense, infanticide is involved, but this is not an F.B.I. matter.

SCULLY: But from what I know from about genetic defects, Mulder, it's unlikely that child is a result of a single polygenic mating.

MULDER: We should let local authorities investigate that.

SCULLY: Those defects, Mulder, are autosomal dominant disorders, and from the degree, I'd say, mutations that go back many generations.

MULDER: Scully, uh, Sheriff Taylor, uh, implied that the boys in that family were not really the type that could easily get dates.

SCULLY: But he also implied that they practice inbreeding. Now we all have a natural instinct to propagate...

MULDER: Do we?

SCULLY: There are theories which pose that our bodies are, are simply vehicles for genes needing to  replicate.

MULDER: Yeah, yeah, but there's no sister. The mother's been dead for ten years.

SCULLY: But if the instinct and the need is strong enough, they will answer it any way that they can.  Now a woman gave birth to that child, Mulder, and my guess is, against her will.

MULDER: And kidnapping is a bureau matter.

(She starts to the car.)

Scully....

(She looks back at him.)

I never saw you as a mother before.

(She smiles slightly and walks off. He follows.)

(Mulder and Scully approach the front steps. They walk over to the white Cadillac sitting on the lawn. No license plate. On their way up the steps, Mulder points out a pig's head with flies swarming sitting on the side. Mulder knocks on the screen door, but there is no answer. He goes to open it.)

SCULLY: No, there's no probable cause.

(Mulder takes out his flashlight and shines it around inside. More flies buzz. The house is a mess. They finally see what they're looking for: blood on the floor. Taking out their guns, they step inside carefully and quietly. Mulder puts his hand in an evidence bag inside out, picks up the scissors in the pool of blood, then turns the bag inside out, enclosing the scissors. He shoves the bag in his pocket as they look at the bloody footprints on the floor. Scully takes out a picture of a footprint taken off the field.)

They match.

(They spot a shovel off to the side. Mulder picks it up and they look at the blood on it.)

This room alone should convict them.

MULDER: Yeah, if we can find them. They probably bolted when they saw us coming.

(They walk down a hallway.)

We'll alert Sheriff Taylor to issue a warrant for the brothers' arrest, put out a county-wide A.P.B.

SCULLY: And check any prior missing-persons for a woman, and check the vehicle identification number on that Cadillac.

(They walk into a room with many small holes in the wall. Light shines through them.)

MULDER: If the mother is alive, they probably took her with them.

(Flies continue to buzz around. Unbeknownst to the agents, a set of eyes watch them from a dark corner, breathing raggedly.)

(It is a peaceful night. The crickets are chirping and an owl hoots. Taylor is on the phone with Scully.)

ANDY TAYLOR: I've issued descriptions and arrest warrants for George Raymond Peacock...

(Cut to Scully, who covers her other ear as Mulder bangs on the side of the television set, getting static.)

Approximate age thirty...

(Cut back to Taylor.)

Sherman Nathaniel Peacock, approximately age twenty-six and Edmund Crieghton Peacock, forty-two.

(Cut to Scully.)

SCULLY: What about missing persons reports?

(Cut back to Taylor.)

ANDY TAYLOR: Deputy Pastor's on it right now.

SCULLY: Sheriff...

(Cut back to Scully.)

...do you recall over the last eight to ten months any vehicles you found and considered to be abandoned, but which might actually belong to kidnap victims?

(Cut to Taylor.)

We saw a white Cadillac in the Peacocks' front yard.

ANDY TAYLOR: We get so many of those, Agent Scully.

(Cut to Scully. Mulder fiddles with the knobs.)

A car breaks down, they move on.

SCULLY: Well, uh, we'll check on those in the morning. You get some sleep, Sheriff.

(Cut to Taylor.)

ANDY TAYLOR: You too, Miss Scully. Good night.

(He hangs up and sits down at his desk. He sighs and pulls open a drawer. Taking out a metal box, he opens it and looks at his revolver. Checking the bullets, he listens as a car drives by, then puts it away.)

(The brothers get out of their house and walk over to the Cadillac. They proceed to throw some blunt objects, such as clubs and bats, into the trunk. Sherman siphons some gas, but ends up coughing a lot up.)

(Scully sits at the table. Mulder is now trying to rework the antenna. He twists and turns it, trying to get a position. Scully smiles and packs her things up. She walks towards him and the reception improves, sound clear.)

MULDER: Whoa! Don't move, don't move.

(She stops. The improvement quickly disappears.)

Damn.

SCULLY: You still planning on making a home here?

MULDER: Not if I can't get the Knicks game.

SCULLY: Well, just as long as a brutal infanticide doesn't weigh into your decision. Good night, Mulder.

(She walks to the door.)

MULDER: Good night, Mom.

(She looks back, smiles slightly, then tries the doorknob.)

SCULLY: Mulder, this lock is broken.

MULDER: Oh, you don't have to, uh, lock your doors around here.

(She goes into the next room. Mulder stretches out the antenna, then takes a chair and jams the back under the door.)

(The brothers load into the car. Edmund starts it and the radio turns on. "Wonderful, Wonderful" by Johnny Mathis starts up. The Cadillac pulls out.)

(Andy sits out on the porch. His wife comes out.)

BARBARA TAYLOR: Andy? What are you doing?

ANDY TAYLOR: Taking one good last look around before it all changes.

(She kneels and puts her hands on his shoulders.)

BARBARA TAYLOR: Oh, honey, come to bed, huh? It will still be here in the morning.

(He sighs and stands.)

Come on, honey.

(They walk inside and she flicks off the lights. The door is unlocked. The Peacock brothers continue on the way down the road, the song still blasting.)

(In the next room, Scully sleeps soundly. Mulder, meanwhile, sits in bed, having managed to pick up the nature channel. He can barely make out wolves or jackals moving in for the kill.)

MAN ON TV: The eldest dominant male in the pack moves in to ensure that the prey has been killed, and circling the prey is a signal to the others it is safe to a...

(Sheriff Taylor isn't sleeping well. He rolls over, sighing, trying to get comfortable. A car slowly approaches. The song "Wonderful, Wonderful" can dimly be heard. He sits up as he hears the car pull up to the house. Getting out of bed, his wife wakes up. Taylor looks outside to see the Peacock brothers sitting in their car.)

BARBARA TAYLOR: Andy, what is it?

ANDY TAYLOR: Hide. Under the bed.

BARBARA TAYLOR: What?

ANDY TAYLOR: I'm going for the gun.

(She gets under the bed. Taylor walks out and down half the flight of stairs when he sees the shadow of Edmund approaching the door in the door window. Taylor barely breathes as the door slides open. He goes to his closet and gets his bat, then heads back to his room. He goes to the left of the door, poised to strike. Barbara gasps as the sound of footsteps approach. The couple shares one last meaningful look. The door creaks open. Taylor slams the bat into the chest of Edmund, who growls and tosses Taylor down. Taylor sits up and whacks Edmund in the leg, who looks down, not affected. He grabs the bat from Taylor, who cowers. Edmund kicks him in the ribs. George and Sherman walk in, carrying clubs. The grunt as they swing down upon Taylor. Barbara's eyes widen as she hears a dull thudding and hears her husband groaning. They grunt with each blow. Barbara does not look until she hears her husband's hand fall to the floor in a pool of blood. The blood starts to inch towards her fingers as the brothers groan. George sniffs the air. Barbara watches as they near the bed. They look down to see a set of fingers trying to avoid the blood. The bed is flung out of the way. Outside, the crooning of Johnny Mathis is intermingled by the sounds of dull thudding and both the brothers and Mrs. Taylor groaning. The boys nonchalantly walk to their car and drive off. In the morning, Deputy Pastor nervously smokes a cigarette as a car pulls up. He looks over to see Mulder and Scully get out. Mulder looks down at the tire treads on the grass left by the Cadillac as he walks by.)

MULDER: Big American car.

(The agents walk over to the deputy. The deputy holds up a folder.)

BARNEY PASTOR: I, uh... I came over to give him these reports and, uh... and found them. The, uh... the owner of the Cadillac was, uh... was found and contacted in Baltimore, she, uh... she ran out of gas and just left the car on the one-nineteen.

(Scully nods, seeing how troubled Pastor is by this.)

Other, uh... possible missing persons are in the file, and, uh...

(He hands her a Federal Express package.)

This came from the federal crime lab overnight.

MULDER: Where are they?

BARNEY PASTOR: They're, uh... they're inside.

(Inside, Scully puts on rubber gloves. Mulder already has his on, and he looks at what's left of Andy Taylor.)

MULDER: His chest is one big hematoma. There's wood shavings embedded in what's left of the cranium.

(They look over to a collapsed bed draped with blood. The feet of Barbara Taylor stick out.)

They really went caveman on them.

(He stands. Scully looks through the contents of the package.)

SCULLY: Damn it. The lab screwed up the DNA test on the infant.

(He looks at it.)

Multiple maldistribution, chromosomal breakage, maldivision of the centromere...

MULDER: You suspected these abnormalities.

SCULLY: Yeah, but this shows far too many gene imbalances. It would have to be a lab error.

(She shows him two slides of the DNA strands.)

This child's cells would have had to divide triple-fold in cell metaphase.

MULDER: Triple?

(He starts to pull off his gloves.)

Hey, Scully, what if... each of the Peacock brothers was the father of that child?

(Scully stares at him incredulously.)

SCULLY: Mulder... only one sperm in thousands from a single individual can penetrate an ovum membrane, let alone from three separate males.

MULDER: What if generations of autosomal breeding could produce such a mutation?

(Scully shakes her head.)

SCULLY: No. For that to be even remotely possible, there'd, there'd have to be a weakening of the ovum, and that would have to come from a female member of the Peacock family, and there aren't any left.

MULDER: Well, in any case, they haven't ventured too far from home. We should request back-ups from Pittsburgh and go pick them up.

SCULLY: Mulder, that would take a whole day. I think they, they may have a woman captive up there who may have sustained life-threatening injuries while giving birth. Who knows what those men have done to her. I think that we should go up there right now.

MULDER: Yeah, but we're outnumbered. We could further endanger the victim in doing that.

(Pastor walks in.)

BARNEY PASTOR: I'll take you out there. Then it's three against three... and this...

(He takes out his gun.)

This should give us the advantage.

(He walks out.)

MULDER: Oh, that was just a little bit too Chuck Bronson for me, Scully.

(They start out, but stop.)

SCULLY: Hang on a second, Mulder. Why... why would the Peacocks kill Sheriff Taylor? He didn't even question them about the buried child.

MULDER: Ah, they probably heard about the warrants issued for their arrest.

SCULLY: But how would they know? He, he issued the warrants by phone. Unless they overheard us talking about it, how would they know?

MULDER: No, we searched the house, Scully, they weren't home.

SCULLY: Exactly. How could they know?

(Mulder shakes his head.)

(The room from before is barely lit with candles. The set of eyes continue to watch the boys as they seem to be preparing for war.)

SHERMAN PEACOCK: I'm hungry.

(George watches as Sherman rips off a piece of bread from a loaf and eats it. Their breathing is ragged. Edmund leans over to listen as Sherman seems to be gagging and throwing up. Sherman stands.)

All right. I'm ready.

(Edmund stands. The boys get undressed, their hideous bodies reflected in the few mirrors. They look down at the woman.)

You look fine.

(They turn around.)

They'll be coming now. We knew this day was going to happen. That they'd try to change the way things are. All we can do about changing things... is be ready for it... be ready for them. Let them know, this is our home and this is the way it's going to stay.

(Sherman leans down over the woman as the other two walk out. After a few seconds, he follows.)

Mulder, Scully, and Pastor ready themselves outside, putting on headsets. Pastor starts to put on a bulletproof vest. Scully looks through the binoculars and sees Sherman walking around, carrying a blunt object.)

SCULLY: Yup, they're up there.

BARNEY PASTOR: I'll take the front. Their attention will be taken by the uniform. You can approach around back.

SCULLY: Are these vests absolutely necessary, deputy?

BARNEY PASTOR: I've seen them fire muskets before. I, for one, am not getting taken out by some antique.

(He skulks off. Scully takes a vest and starts to slink along, Mulder following, carrying his own vest. Pastor slowly makes his way to the house, hiding behind an abandoned truck. Mulder and Scully, wearing their vests, walk through the field of wheat. George walks up the steps to his house and walks inside. Pastor ducks behind the white car. He whispers into his headset.)

This is Pastor. I'm at the front of the house.

(Cut to Mulder and Scully, who continue to make their way along.)

MULDER: We're getting into position.

(Pastor pants and slowly starts to the front door, keeping his gun aimed. Mulder and Scully get behind a rusted chicken coop. Scully uses her binoculars to look through a window. She can see the back of the door clearly.)

SCULLY: I don't see anybody inside.

BARNEY PASTOR: I'm going in.

(Pastor makes his way up the stairs as Scully continues to look. The screen door creaks as Pastor pulls it open. He opens the main door. Scully sees him and looks towards the top of the door. She sees a cord.)

SCULLY: Pastor, no!

(An ax swings out, decapitating Pastor. George walks over to the body. Scully, horrified, takes out her gun and walks over to Mulder.)

Pastor's dead. The brothers moved in like a pack of animals.

MULDER: The eldest will move in to ensure the prey has been killed, and circling the prey signals to the others that it's safe to approach.

(Scully looks through her binoculars to see the brothers starting to beat Pastor's carcass. They snarl.)

What we're witnessing, Scully, is undiluted animal behavior. Mankind, absent its own creation of civilization, technology and information, regressed to an almost prehistoric state, obeying... only the often savage laws of nature.

(Scully shakes her head.)

We're outsiders invading the den, trying to take away their one chance at reproducing, which we're going to do.

SCULLY: Even though we have the firearms, I imagine the place is rigged with traps.

MULDER: Yeah, but we can try and divert them out of the house.

(He points to the pigpen and they go. Mulder tries to push the pigs towards the door as Scully unlocks it. The pigs squeal. Scully sighs as she goes over to Mulder and tries to push as well.)

Scully, would you think less of me as a man if I told you I was kind of excited right now?

(He grunts.)

Is there some secret farmer trick to get these things moving?

SCULLY: I don't know... "nah-ram-ewe."

(She bleats as she talks.)

"Nah-ram-ewe!"

MULDER: Yeah, that'll work.

(They start to slowly push them out. Scully grunts.)

SCULLY: I baby-sat my nephew this weekend. He watches "Babe" fifteen times a day.

MULDER: And people call me "Spooky."

(They hear a door slam and look up to see Sherman walking out of the house as the pigs squeal, starting to run out. Sherman goes over to the water pump and washes the blood off his hands, then looks up to see the pigs running rampant. Mulder and Scully, ducking behind the bars to the pen, watch as Sherman grunts and runs into the house. All three brothers run out and start to chase the pigs. Seeing their chance, Mulder and Scully sneak their way towards the house. Reaching the door, Mulder picks up a board. He pushes the door open and a spear shoots through it and the window behind it. Scully goes in, then Mulder resets the trap and closes the door.)

SCULLY: Federal agents! Is anybody in here!

(Armed with flashlights and their guns, they make their way down the hallway.)

F.B.I.! Is anybody in this house? Is there anybody in here?

(They reach a door and Mulder kicks it open. There are piles of old newspapers, flies swarming. Mulder looks down.)

MULDER: Oh, no.

(He holds up a paper with the headline "Elvis Presley Dead at 42." There is a picture of Elvis under it. Mulder makes a sad face and Scully looks at him strangely. Mulder drops the paper as the two hear a squeaking. They go into the next room, the Peacock's bedroom/den. Scully looks at the pictures on the wall of past Peacocks, all deformed. One particular picture catches her eye, of a man and a woman sitting on the porch. Mulder notices marks on the floor and looks under the bed. A deformed woman looks away, screaming.)

MRS. PEACOCK: No! Get out, get away!

MULDER: It's all right, ma'am!

MRS. PEACOCK: Get away!

(Scully looks under the bed.)

MULDER: We're federal agents! We're here to help you!

MRS. PEACOCK: Go! Get out of here! Go away!

MULDER: Ma'am.

SCULLY: Let's move the bed.

MRS. PEACOCK: Get away! Ah! Get away!

MULDER: They've got her strapped to some kind of board or something.

MRS. PEACOCK: Get away! Get away! Go!

(They pull out the board. The woman is a quadriplegic. The wounds don't look surgical.)

MULDER: Ma'am, we're here to help you. Calm down. Ma'am, we're here to help. We're from the F.B.I.

(The woman screams.)

Take it easy, ma'am, take it easy. It's all right, it's all over.

(He and Scully look at her amputated limbs, giving them pause.)

We're from the F.B.I., we're...  we're here to help... w, we're going to make sure that you're safe. We're g, we're going to make sure that you get home.

(Scully looks back at the picture of the man and the woman on the porch. They are the same woman. The woman sobs.)

SCULLY: Mulder, she already is home. It's Mrs. Peacock. She's their mother.

(Mrs. Peacock looks at Mulder and hisses. Her deformed face makes Mulder wide-eyed. She slides back under the bed, sobbing, as Mulder and Scully stand. Mulder looks particularly hurt. Outside, the boys struggle with the pigs. Mulder starts out of the room.)

Mulder, where are you going?

MULDER: The others may have heard the screams. I'm going to check on their position.

SCULLY: Well, what about her?

(He closes the door.)

MULDER: She's not going anywhere.

(They start walking.)

SCULLY: I mean, we, we may not be able to move her, Mulder. She doesn't appear to be held against her will. I mean, she appears to be, but I don't believe she is.

(Mulder looks out the window at the Peacock Brothers.)

MULDER: I'm sure she's an accessory. At least she aided and abetted.

SCULLY: We're only assuming. We can't prove anything.

(Mulder shrugs slightly. The brothers continue to try to regain control of the pigs.)

The way I think it goes here is that Edmund is the... the brother and father of the other two.

MULDER: Which means that when Edmund was a kid, he could ground the other two for playing with his things? The brothers killed three people, Scully. Tell her we're going to bring them in... and try convincing her that she's the one way they can get out of this without any of her boys getting hurt. All right, I'm going to keep an eye on them.

(Scully starts back to the room.)

Scully, w, watch your step. This place is rigged.

(Scully carefully makes her way back into the room. Down the hallway a little farther, a cord is strung across the hallway near the floor, triggering a large pointed object to come crashing down. Mulder watches as the brothers start to round up the last of the pigs. He sighs. Scully kneels under the bed and looks at Mrs. Peacock.)

SCULLY: Mrs. Peacock?

(She doesn't acknowledge Scully.)

Mrs. Peacock? You are in immediate need of medical attention. Agent Mulder and I are here to help you.

(Mrs. Peacock looks at her.)

MRS. PEACOCK: This is our home. Why leave it?

SCULLY: Whatever pain you may be...

MRS. PEACOCK: Don't feel pain. Runs in the family. Have to check the boys, see if they hurt themselves.

SCULLY: What about you? Even after the accident?

MRS. PEACOCK: Right arm was torn off. Saw it sitting there across my dead husband's lap. Boys took me home... sewed me up just like the family learnt in the War of Northern Aggression. Whole time, felt the same as if been making breakfast.

(Scully sighs slightly, a bit disgusted.)

They're such good boys.

SCULLY: Mrs. Peacock, they murdered Sheriff Taylor and his wife. And Deputy Pastor.

MRS. PEACOCK: I can tell you don't have no children. Maybe one day you'll learn... the pride... the love... when you know your boy will do anything for his mother.

(She pants raggedly. Mulder watches wide-eyed as the brothers inspect the dirt, having gotten all of the pigs in the pen. They start back to the house.)

MULDER: Scully!

(He takes a desk and slides it in front of the door. Sherman starts to bang on the door with his shoulder. Mulder aims his gun.)

Federal agent! I'm armed!

(Scully runs into the room to see Sherman banging. Mulder fires his gun at the ceiling, giving Sherman pause.)

Stop, or I'll fire!

(Sherman continues. Behind Mulder, George raises a chair to hit Mulder.)

SCULLY: Mulder!

(Scully shoots George. Mulder turns around to see George fly back. Sherman continues to hit the door, making Mulder turn. George rushes Mulder as Sherman breaks through, pushing the table out of the way. Sherman helps George, trying to get Mulder's gun away as Scully tries to get a clear shot. She takes it, firing eight times, hammering George. George drops the gun to the floor as he flies back, but quickly stands. Scully is out of bullets and incredibly confused. Sherman has Mulder in a chokehold as George rushes him, but Mulder kicks him away. He then picks up a glass on the table and smashes it over Sherman's head, forcing him to release the hold. George nails Mulder and Sherman goes to get a weapon. Scully watches, horrified.)

I've got the mother!

(Sherman looks back and chases after Scully, swinging his jagged board. George throws a right hand, but Mulder ducks under it and jumps on his gun. George goes to pounce on Mulder. As Scully runs away from Sherman, she hears a gunshot and George screaming. As Sherman swings the board, she ducks. The board digs into the wall and Sherman tries to stop running, but trips over the wire on the hallway. The trap is sprung and Sherman groans as the point drives into Sherman's back. Mulder stands and goes over to Scully. They look down at Sherman.)

MULDER: Where's the other brother... Edmund?

SCULLY: Mulder, look.

(They kneel and see scratch marks on the floor leading from the bedroom.)

Marks on the floor.

(The agents walk back into the bedroom. Mulder looks under the bed to see that Mrs. Peacock is gone. Later, outside, Scully is on the phone.)

Okay, thank you.

(She hangs up. Mulder walks over to her.)

MULDER: I looked everywhere, they're both gone.

SCULLY: I've notified the state police and the highway patrol, they've put out an A.P.B. on the Peacocks and they're setting up a roadblock over a thirty-mile radius. In time, we'll catch them.

MULDER: I think time already caught them, Scully.

(He heads back to the car. She follows.)

(The old white car sits out on an abandoned road, engine running. "Wonderful, Wonderful" continues to play. We hear Mrs. Peacock consoling Edmund from an unknown location.)

MRS. PEACOCK: There, there. Sherman and George were good boys. We should be proud. And you got to know, Edmund, you can't keep a Peacock down. There'll be more. One day, there'll be more. Now we have to move on... start a new family... one we'll be proud of. Find a new place to call ours. A new home. A brand new home.

(The trunk opens and Edmund gets out. He closes the trunk and walks around to the driver's side, then gets in and pulls out to find a new destination. The song slowly drifts off and ends.)

[THE END]