Episode 6: Berks County

sees the Hill Horrors crew investigating the disappearances of Farmer Tim's cattle in Berks County.

Summary
The Hill Horrors team was asked to investigate the disappearances of Farmer Tim's cattle. They call him, and he suspects that it's a Mothman, but the team does not think that likely. Tim does give them the helpful advice to keep an eye on the trees.

Once on Tim's farm, Oak finds evidence of cattle scoring trees in an attempt to keep from being abducted into the sky. They hear cows in the distance and Hatchet gets upset and throws his axe. They investigate the woods for hours and find nothing, until they find another mysterious note, reading "Hello, old friend". Hatchet gets upset and decides to leave the group for a bit to clear his head.

While Hatchet is gone, Oak speculates that the likely culprit is a Vulture. He and Branch wait in the woods for Hatchet to return, and while they're waiting, the Vulture attacks. Branch and Oak get separated, and Oak tries to hide from the Vulture while Hatchet shows up and finds Branch.

Hatchet and Branch search the forest for Oak, hearing what they believe to be the calling stick. They find the Vulture sleeping in a tree with Oak nearby slumped up against it. Hatchet stealthily grabs Oak and the team runs to their car.

Due to the team rushing, Oak winds up in the driver's seat while still dazed and poorly navigates the car away. Hatchet elaborates on why he left. He suspected it was the Vulture all along and was trying to avoid it, since he once dreamed of it as a child, before its first sighting, and then it seemed to follow him from West Virginia to Pennsylvania. He notes that the mysterious notes left to them would indicate that someone knows about this, and since only a handful of people know about his dream, he will call his father, Axe, for more information.

After they're back at the Headquarters and some time has passed, they call Farmer Tim, who's delighted to report that his cattle are safe, that there have been no more disappearances, and thanks the team.

Transcript
Hatchet, shouting: "I got a haircut. We're not going to talk about it".

Narrator, interspersed with clips from the episode: "On this episode of Hill Horrors... After discovering a mysterious note, the crew heads to Berks County, where they learn about some strange disappearances. After a local farmer enlists their help, the boys get to work. They soon find, however, that there's more to this mystery than meets the eye. Grab your calling stick because we're heading into the hills."

[Opening Theme]

Hatchet & Oak: "Welcome back to Hill Horrors."

Hatchet: "I'm your friend, Hatchet. This is Oak."

Oak: "Hi, I'm Oak."

Hatchet: "We've got our friend Branch there behind the camera. Welcome back to uhh... Hill Horrors. We're out here today in Berks County Pennsylvannia. Good old-fashioned farm country. We've been getting some strange reports."

Oak: "We're understanding that cows are just like left and right and this and that. So, we gotta figure out what's going on here."

[Camera cuts to Oak standing next to a tree]

Oak: "Now, Hatchet, look at this tree. You see these marks going down? Do you see this little green stuff that's like just flaking off here?"

Hatchet: "Yeah, it's like moss, like lichen."

Oak: "No no no no no! Not here. This is the markings of a short-horn cattle trying not to get sucked up into some kind of laser thing."

[Sound of cattle in the distance]

Oak, pointing: "It's happening right now! You can hear it."

Hatchet, to Branch: "Turn it over, brother!"

Hatchet, calling into the distant trees: "We hear you! Where are you? Show us a sign!"

Hatchet throws his hatchet directly upwards, watches it fall back down.

Hatchet: "I-I-I thought that was going to go up like a flare, I'll be honest. I think we're too late, brother, let's keep going."

[Camera cuts to close-up with Hatchet]

Hatchet: "Now, back at Dave's house, we found this strange note that told us to come here, to Berks County a while ago. You know, at Dave's house in the basement. That's one of the reasons we're here. I mean, obviously some weird things have been happening around here already. So, I don't know, maybe these two things are related. We like to draw a lot of conclusions, like, without a lot of evidence on Hill Horrors. So that's one of the things we're doing."

[Title card appears, reading: "The crew interviews the property owner, Tim, about the attack he witnessed a few days ago."]

Hatchet: "Say, how's it going, brother?"

Farmer Tim: "Hello, this is Tim. Owner of the property and the cattle."

Hatchet: "Yeah, we're on the site right now, Tim. You want to explain to us what's been going on on your property pretty recently?"

Tim: "Well, my cryptid-hunting friends, many of my cattle have been disappearing suddenly and unexpectedly. Purloined by some kind of creature. And that's what I need your help for, my friends."

Oak: "Right, right. Yeah, I understand what you're saying. Well, it's definitely a good thing that you called us because we definitely know what we're doing. Did you happen to catch a glimpse of this creature? During the attacks, if you will."

Tim: "Well, only once out of the corner of my eye did I spy the beast. A dark silhouette hanging from the trees, with g-glowing eyes, and I sensed a fear coming from the entity. It is dangerous, for sure."

Hatchet: "You sensed fear coming from it?"

Tim: "Yeah, like a big wave of fear."

Oak: "Oh, I see. It's like an aura that's given off of some sort."

Hatchet: "Yeah, an AOE - 'Area of Eeriness', brother."

Tim: "It was certainly very eerie. It took every bit of my being to not scream and flee."

Oak: "What-"

Tim: "Do you do, Mothman removals, please? I think it's Mothman."

Hatchet: "I can tell you right now, it's not Mothman."

Oak: "There's no real recorded history of Mothman in the Berks County area."

Hatchet: "Yeah, he's more native to West Virginia, where we're from."

Tim: "Ohh."

Oak: "But, uh, yeah, we'll take a look around. We'll take a look around the property. Stay the night. We're going to see what's out here and we'll get back to you, alright?"

Tim: "Yeah, it wasn't close to the ground. I would watch the trees. I can't give you much more than that."

Hatchet: "Oh, so it might be like a big old flying thing. Well, I think you've given us some good information here, Tim. It's great to hear you and we'll see what we can do about getting this thing."

Tim: "Well, thank you very much, Hill Horrors crew. I wish you the best in these trying times. And also don't die on my property. Okay. Bye!"

Hatchet: "Okay, yeah, I mean, we never died on the-"

Oak: "Yeah, I didn't, I wasn't thinking about a lethal encounter.

Hatchet: "I mean, he seemed to think this thing's pretty squarey, so, should probably, you know, have our wits about us."

[Camera cuts to Hatchet in a field]

Hatchet: "You know, back at Dave's house, when we got that note, I was thinking to myself, you know that, wow, this is something else. And now we're out here in Berks County and this is wild. I mean, look at the forest. Brother, I haven't been out in the forest like this since we hunted down Jag-Mega, which was an amount of time ago."

[Camera cuts, including Oak in the scene]

Hatchet: "I think I see it brother!"

Hatchet throws his hatchet at the forest.

Oak: "Whoa!"

They watch the axe land in the grass.

Hatchet: "I don't think I got it. You bet - I think that's a distant aircraft."

Oak: "That's no bird, that's a plane."

[Camera cuts to Hatchet sitting on a pile of wood."

Hatchet: "I'll tell you what. We're out here in Berks County and this creature's got me riled up. I tried to throw my axe at something that wasn't even in front of me. I don't even know what - I don't know why, it just doesn't seem right. Flying around, picking up cows. They got to be dang strong to do that, brother - damn strong. I swore. I swore in Berks County."

[Camera cuts back to Hatchet standing with Oak]

Hatchet: "Let's head on out into the woods, brother. [Unintelligible]"

Oak: [Unintelligible]

Hatchet: "Based on Tim's testimony, I got a pretty good idea of where this creature might be. I got a feeling that it's probably somewhere up in the trees, living its days out in some kind of big nest or maybe just like grab itself around a tree limb. If we're lucky, we'll probably be able to, you know, see some of the cows that it's taken up there. You know, like up in the trees or something. Like [makes noise] you know, that might be what we're looking for out here. But, in the case that it's not living up in the canopy, it might be also inside one of these tree trunks. Like in a knot hole. Actually, that's probably better because then I don't have to throw my axe as high."

Oak: "You know, why don't we check this out here. Look."

Hatchet: "The stumpy?"

Oak: "The stumpy here."

Hatchet: "It'll be hiding under there."

Oak: "What I've known is, stickular nutrients - these are no good, you don't want to eat these."

Hatchet, weakly swinging axe: "You in there, creature?"

Oak: "I don't think so, man. Wasn't he like a big flying guy?"

Hatchet: "Yeah, I guess so. I don't know, I guess I never heard nothing to carry off a cow, so I figured maybe the normal rules don't apply."

Oak: "Right. The rooted man. Maybe that will be next week's adventure."

Hatchet: "Pretty convinced something's out here. This whole place feels off. These woods. Off woods. Is that something? No, it's not."

Oak: "There's a lot of trees here brother."

Hatchet: "I feel like this big old flying thing could be any one of these."

Oak: "I'm trying to make sure we're not going to get Operation: Bad Dog™ sitting down all..."

Hatchet: "What?"

Oak: "You see, brother, when you're out here and there's something out here that you don't know what it is, it's got the advantage on you. So, Operation: Bad Dog™ states that we're going to be in trouble if we don't figure out what's going on. Come on, it's a simple x and y probability equation there."

Hatchet looks visibly confused.

Hatchet: "Yeah! Uh. Hoo-rah!"

Hatchet shrugs at the camera.

Hatchet: "Maybe one of us should keep an eye on the trees and one of us should keep an eye on the ground."

Hatchet, turning to the camera: "Branch, can you keep an eye on the ground?"

Branch pans the camera down to look at the ground.

Hatchet: "Yeah, I guess that works, but I admit, like, you know, maybe you sort of keep an eye on that thing because if one of us gets snatched at the other doesn't notice, like in one of them motion pictures..."

Oak: "Now this is something to pay attention to."

Hatchet: "Yeah?"

Oak: "Check out this."

Oak holds a leaf up to the camera.

Oak: "This is the leave of many. Now you look here, you can see that it has a little bit of uhh-"

[Title card cuts off Oak, reading: "The crew wandered through the woods for several hours and found absolutely nothing. Until..."]

Hatchet, points with his axe to a paper note nailed to a nearby tree.

Hatchet: "Look at that, brother.

Oak & Hatchet say something, but are unintelligible over the sound of their footsteps on dry leaves.

Oak, reading: "Hello, old friend."

Hatchet: "Can you get a close-up on that?"

Oak: "Wait a second. Isn't that that swirly goo from the picture of Berks County?"

Hatchet, unnerved: "Yeah... Yeah, it is."

Oak: "So this has got to be a clue then, right?"

Hatchet: "Yeah, it's gotta-"

Oak: "Well, what we do with it? 'Hello, old friend'. I don't know what that means."

Hatchet: "I don't know, brother. What are you looking at me for?"

Oak: "Well, I don't know. You usually have the knowledge."

Hatchet: "I mean, I don't know, brother. This is something. Some weird conspiracy. I don't know. What do you want from me?"

Oak, holding the note up to the camera: "Well, maybe we'll figure this one out."

Oak: "Come on, Hatchet. What's wrong?"

Hatchet: "I don't know, man. I feel like they're trying to talk to me."

Oak, to Branch: "Do you understand what he's talking about?"

Hatchet: "I don't like that damn swirly symbol. It's trying to get inside my head again. I don't know. I don't know. I gotta go. I gotta go."

Oak: "Hatchet! Hatchet, wait! Hold on a second. We've got to find that-"

Hatchet: "Let's go, brother."

Oak, to Branch: "He's just giving up on us?"

[Camera cuts to Hatchet dramatically walking off into the sunset while sad music plays]

Hatchet throws his axe at nothing, then walks off without it.

Hatchet, dubbed in: "Oak, Branch. This has gotten real complicated real fast and, I don't know. I need some time. When I'm back, I'll explain everything, but for now, I need to clear my head.

[Camera fades to black, then fades back in to Oak]

Oak: "Walking around these woods, I'm trying to find stuff, and I'm not finding a lot of clues. I'm trying to find these things. I found that leaf when I was looking under that tree, but I know that's not part of this. So I'm just trying to figure this out. Without Hatchet, it's starting to get a little bit difficult."

[An animated sequence of images begins playing over a scrolling textured background]

Oak: "So a big old flying thing could be a whole lot of things out here in Berks County."

[Map of Berks County] [Drawing of Flying Beaver]

Oak: "This neck of the woods has got Flying Beavers, Huge Mosquitos..."

[Drawing of Huge Mosquito] [Drawing of Rabid Pigeon]

Oak: "And Rabid Pigeons. But none of these guys would be strong enough to carry off a whole cow without leaving tracks."

[Drawing of cow]

Oak: "In this line of work, you've got to be prepared for anything. And that means for us, we've got to assume that we're up against the most dangerous possible monster that has ever maybe existed out here. So I present to you, the Vulture."

[Newspaper clipping, detailed on the Vulture's page]

Oak: "Now, the Vulture was actually first sighted a while ago in Hatchet's neck of the woods down in West Virginia. Figured he'd know more about this than anybody, but here we are."

[Drawing of the Vulture]

Oak: "Now, this thing is like a bat, but it's standing around at human height and it's got big old legs like a person, so I don't really know what to think of this thing. They say back in the day, a few years ago or something like that, this thing was hanging around the more populated areas of this very region."

[Second drawing of the Vulture]

Oak: "It's said to have big old eyes that are as bright as the headlights on an '07 Chev."

[Drawing of '07 Chev]

Oak: "And just as terrified when it's running you down. It's apparently good at mimicking sounds it's heard."

[Third drawing of Vulture]

Oak: "So, apparently, it likes to make nighttime sounds like crickets, owls, and highlight coyotes and such to mask its approach."

[Fourth drawing of Vulture]

Oak: "It's got a nasty howl of its own though, apparently. Maybe we'll get the first recording of it on film tonight."

[Drawing of note]

Oak: "And the drawing that was on the note that Clyde Everett found looks a lot like the way the Vulture's eyes look,"

[Drawing of swirls] [Drawing of eyes]

Oak: "all swirly and twirly and glowy-looking. Which means that whoever left us that note wants us to go hunt the thing down. [Laughs] Well, either way, I mentioned to get out there and smash me a monster."

[Camera cuts to Oak standing in the woods]

Oak: "'Hello, old friend.' I'm still trying to figure out what that means, but it seems like Hatchet has some type of connection to it, so maybe we can figure this out. I'm still trying to rack my brain on it."

[Fades to Oak and Branch talking together]

Oak: "Well, I guess we're not finding anything, so we may as well head back, right?"

Branch shrugs and the two begin to walk off together. Behind them is a strange, giant moth-like shape in the trees.

[Title card appears, reading "Later that night..."]

Branch and Oak are sitting on a log in front of a fire.

Oak: "Well, here we are. We made it to the night as we usually do. Here we are. We're just waiting on Hatchet."

Branch stamps his foot as if annoyed.

Oak: "We really want to just find out where he's been so we can get together our data and continue on this little adventure."

Branch: "I don't know what's up with Hatchet. He's being very unprofessional."

Oak: "Yeah. You know, out here in Berks County, we're looking for any clue we can get. You know what? We're finding damn near nothing. And I just really want to be able to find something that can put us from point A to point B. We don't have Hatchet here, so we don't have the brains behind everything. I don't know what we're going to be doing here. We really just built a fire and we're just sitting. We're waiting for Hatchet. I don't know what more you could ask for."

Branch taps Oak on the shoulder.

Oak: "What are you looking at?"

They turn around and see a bright pair of glowing eyes. The pair begin shouting and stand up. The Vulture moves in and begins to attack as Branch picks up the camera and tries to catch what's going on. The Vulture roars as the attack continues.

Branch: "Oak!"

The Vulture begins to flee into the dark.

Branch: "Oak! Where are you?"

Branch begins his pursuit.

[Cuts to another camera, with Oak]

Oak, whispering: "I think we lost him for now. I think I'm not ready for this."

The Vulture comes into frame.

Oak: "Oh [bleeps]."

Cameraperson : "Keep it down, Oak."

The Vulture searches for them.

Branch: "What even is that thing...?"

Oak, whispering: "Okay. I think we made it out alright."

Cameraperson: "We need to find Branch."

The Vulture appears, up close.

Oak: "[Bleep]. Oh [bleep]."

The Vulture roars and Oak shouts. Branch looks up at the sky, implying the Vulture has carried off Oak. A single light appears in the distance.

Hatchet: "Hello? Branch? The other guy? Boys?"

Hatchet turns the flashlight and sees Branch hiding behind some wood.

Hatchet: "Whoa! Whoa."

Branch: "Hatchet!"

Hatchet: "Hey, brother."

Branch: "Where have you been!? Hide, for goodness' sake!"

Hatchet hides with him.

Hatchet: "Alright. So, what happened, brother? Where's Oak?"

Branch: "He got dragged off by the Vulture. It picked him up and flew off into the woods! Things are as bad as they could possibly be."

Hatchet: "Sh[beep]! I knew I shouldn't have run off. Looks like we're going into the woods. We're going to get Oak back. You understand me?"

Branch: "Sounds like a terrible idea. Why not?"

Hatchet: "We'll get him back. Or my name ain't 'Hatchet'. Which - it kind of - it is. It is. For all intents and purposes, it is. Okay? It is."

They stand.

Hatchet: "Alright, brother, -"

The Vulture roars in the distance. Hatchet and Branch look at each other briefly.

Hatchet: "Lets go!"

The Vulture roars again as they travel. Hatchet shines his flashlight on the giant moth shape from earlier, then on Oak, who's lying on the ground, slumped up against the tree the Vulture is hanging in.

Hatchet, whispering: "We need a plan here. There's hope."

He shines the flashlight on Oak, then back to the sleeping Vulture.

Hatchet: "What do we do about that? I mean, that's a Vulture for sure, brother. I'm gonna creep in and grab him. Alright? You stay back here. I tell you what, if something goes sour, Branch, you run. You get the hell out of here. Take that camcorder with you. Alright?"

Branch shakes the camera up and down.

Hatchet: "Okay."

Hatchet grabs Oak successfully and gets away.

Hatchet, to Oak: "Come on, come on."

Oak, slurred: "It's the Vulture. I saw a Vulture."

Hatchet: "Alright, come on, brother."

The Vulture roars in the distance.

Hatchet: "Come on brother! Go, go, go!"

The Vulture continues roaring. The crew arrives at their car and gets in. The mysterious second cameraman is not present. The fourth seat of the car is folded down, possibly indicating that they did not bring a forth crew member.

Hatchet: "You probably shouldn't be driving, Oak. But I guess that's where we're at."

Oak, slurring: "I can do it."

Car: "The voltage is normal."

Hatchet: "You're going in reverse, brother. You're going in reverse."

Oak: "What?"

Hatchet: "You're going backwards."

Oak: "Oh."

Hatchet: "You're driving backwards in the car."

Oak: "Okay."

Hatchet: "Alright. I got to admit. There's some egg on my face here. I'll be the first to say it. You know, what I did back there, running off like that. That wasn't fair to you boys and I'm sorry for that. I feel like this is kind of my fault we're in this situation in the first place."

Oak: "Are we in the car?"

Hatchet: "Yeah, brother. You're - you're driving. You sure you don't want me to drive, brother?"

Oak: "No. That's okay though. I understand. We make mistakes."

Hatchet: "Well, I didn't really want to get into it before, but I think you all here have a right to know that I've dealt with the Vulture before. It was a long time ago. Like a real long time ago. Like, I was a kid. Little Hatchet."

Oak: "A youngin'."

Hatchet: "I was barely big enough to fit on my pappy, Axe's knee. When I was a kid, I had this dream. This crazy dream where I saw a big creature that I'm pretty sure was the Vulture in my dream. But it was before the Vulture had ever shown up anywhere."

Oak: "Right, right..."

Hatchet: "And you know, I [unintelligible] that dream as a little kid, you know. A week later, for the first time, someone in my neighborhood said they saw something. Something big. Something flying. Something with glowing eyes. Exactly like what I saw."

Oak: "So it came from your dream?"

Hatchet: "I mean. There's monsters out there that exist because people believe in them."

Oak: "Right, right."

Hatchet: "So maybe that? Maybe it was like a vision for the future? But all I know is that after I had that dream, this thing just appeared and it's been popping up ever since, all over the place. You know, Armstrong County, Westmoreland County, Berk's County. Got a lot in Berks County. But I didn't want to get into it because I felt like it wasn't important. But with those notes, those symbols, that's got something to do with the Vulture. I'm worried somebody knows about my history with it. And that could be only a small handful of people. I'm going to have to give my pappy a call, see if he knows, but..."

Oak, stilted: "So what you're telling me is that there's some type of conspiracy going on that's taking monsters from your dreams as a child and manifesting them into our reality?"

Hatchet: "Well, I'm going to be honest, brother. I don't know. I haven't had any - nothing like that's happened other than the Vulture. I've never had anything like that. I usually don't dream. 'Cause dreaming's for suckers."

Oak: "Right. I feel like you could be a little more transparent to us."

Hatchet: "I'm with you there. I'll tell you what, I'm being transparent now."

Oak: "Alright. Well, there's nothing that this Hill Horrors crew can't do and I'm sure we'll get past this."

Hatchet pats Oak's shoulder.

Hatchet: I'm really glad you're okay, Oak."

Oak: "I'm kind of in a state of... Yeah, I getcha."

Hatchet: "It was real resourceful of you using the calling stick."

Oak: "Everything's a little bit blurry from earlier this evening. Honestly, I don't really remember blowing that calling stick."

Hatchet: "What?"

Oak: "Well, I mean, I could have done it."

Hatchet turns to look at Branch.

Oak: "I just don't remember, but like-"

Hatchet: "I mean, you must have. Unless."

Hatchet, to Branch: "Do you think it was the Vulture?"

Hatchet, to Oak: "You're sure you don't remember blowing it?"

Oak: "No, brother. I don't even have the calling stick on me now."

Branch: "I have it here."

Oak: "It's - it's lost at this point."

Branch: "Yeah, he dropped it when he was attacked. I grabbed it."

Hatchet: "So it was the Vulture then."

Branch: "Wait, I thought the Vulture could only mimic sounds it's heard before."

Hatchet: "Hm. Well, that's something we're going to have to unpack later."

Oak: "Yeah."

[Camera fades to black, then into the crew sitting on a couch with a cell phone in front of them]

Farmer Tim: "Uh. Hello, Hill Horrors crew. This is Tim checking in with you. I would like to say that whatever you boys did, it worked. All my cattle are still around, present and accounted for. So I want to thank you very much. I have not seen or heard a single peep from these trees in quite some time. I thank you very much, Hill Horrors crew."

Hatchet: "Well, you know what that sounds like to me?"

Oak: "What's that?"

Hatchet: "That sounds like another win for the Hill Horrors-"

Oak: "Hill Horrors crew. Yeah."

Hatchet: "Yeah."

Branch shakes his head.

Oak: "Yeah."

Hatchet: "I feel like there's a couple loose ends here."

Oak: "Mm hm."

Hatchet: "We still don't know who's leaving us these cryptic messages. But I think I have an idea of maybe who can lead us in the right direction. So we'll catch y'all next time on..."

Oak: "Hill Horrors."

Branch finger salutes goodbye.

Hatchet: "Hill Horrors."

Oak: "Hill Horrors."

Hatchet: "Good night!"

Oak, to Branch: "You say it."

Oak: "Hill Horrors!"

Hatchet gives a thumbs up.

Hatchet: "We'll get him a microphone eventually. Until next time, partners and... you."

Oak: "'Till next time!"

Branch salutes again.

Oak: "See ya."

[Ending theme, credits]