Five miles to go.

The desert seemed to roll on endlessly, waves of heat and golden sand that never changed. The same monotonous hills, over and over. But now a little black strip had appeared on the horizon, and the GPS on the dashboard confirmed the passenger's suspicions, chirping in a cheery female voice that they were close to their destination. Carlos' hands were wrapped around the steering wheel, fingers tensed with excitement. They'd been chasing the setting sun for almost six hours, desperate to get to the town before it set. He didn't think he could handle another night sleeping in the minivan, but it wasn't long now. Five miles, and they'd be there.

Night Vale.

It was almost a legend among scientists, the little desert town in the American southwest that, to many, didn't exist. But Carlos had always been one to believe in ghost stories and myths, despite being a scientist.

"Believe until proven wrong," his mother always used to tell him. The tales had caught his interest, tales of angels and dogs and strange hooded figures. And when his boss offered him the opportunity to lead a team of scientists in studying a town he considered "scientifically interesting", he had jumped at the chance.

So here he was, driving a minivan full of civilised men and women like himself towards their new home. As they drove past the beaten-up sign on the side of the road, signalling that they'd arrived, he let out a sigh - a small breath he hadn't known he was holding. The GPS crackled, the pleasant "you have arrived at-" cutting off suddenly, but Carlos barely noticed. He was too busy whipping his head from side to side, trying to take in as much as he could.

To be honest, he hadn't even been one hundred percent sure the town had existed. Some of the stories were almost too wild and weird to be believed. Almost like something the conspirators would cook up to scare people, but that sort of thing wouldn't work on him. He was a scientist, a man of maths and reason, and he wouldn't be scared off by rumours. He was here for the truth.

Ushered in by the golden sunset, the minivan drove them down narrow twisting lanes and wide open highways, crammed together haphazardly like a child's building blocks. They pulled up alongside a stately grey-brick building just off the main road. Though the building itself was dark, it was bathed in light from the sun's rays and the glowing lights of the pizza restaurant next door, stating proudly in neon letters that "No-one does a slice like Big Rico's!".

Carlos frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together in annoyance. He didn't see how he would be able to get any work done at night with all that light streaming in. The rest of the team didn't seem too worried, though. Actually, they were looking longingly at the shimmering lights in an almost trance-like state. Carlos shook his head, a small smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. He knew how to deal with a hungry team.

Beep!

The group jumped almost simultaneously, looking guiltily at Carlos. He took his hand off the car horn and gestured to the pizza place.

"If we get the boxes unloaded before seven, I'll buy you all pizza, ok?" He had to dive to the side to avoid the sudden mass of people streaming off the minibus. Carlos smiled to himself. He really did have a way with people.

As the last of the pizza was being finished up in the living room and the team was chatting amongst themselves, Carlos started folding the boxes and piling them into the kitchenette bin. I had no idea one team of seven could eat so much, he thought to himself, before a knock at the door made him look up.

"Carlos?" A young woman looked into the kitchenette, her hair falling across her face in auburn streaks. "I saved you some pizza. You didn't eat much."

Carlos stood up and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Thanks, Jenna," he said, smiling the way only she could make him. Jenna was a sweet girl, a little dreamy and vague, but her knowledge of astronomical physics was why Carlos had brought her along with him on this trip. She was only nineteen - the youngest on the trip - and Carlos thought of her as a sister. He had lost his family to a house fire seven years ago, and she was the only one who had comforted him, almost seeming to understand his grief. Since then, they had become fond friends.

Jenna sat down beside him and handed him a slice of pepperoni pizza. His favourite - their favourite. As he chewed, she studied him with her large tawny eyes. "What's going through your head, Carlos?"

"Oh, lots of things. Lots of little clever things," he said as she smiled. "You know me."

"I do, Carlos, I do." Her hands traced the bubbled scarring along her collarbone - a hint that she was nervous or uncomfortable. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course you can. What is it?" he asked around a mouthful of pizza.

"Well," she started awkwardly, "the others were saying that we were all staying in different houses. Is that true?"

Carlos shrugged. It was half true - to get a big enough laboratory for all the experiments he wanted to run, he had had to buy separate housing for the rest of the team. There was only really enough room in the back of the lab for two people at the most. "Kind of. Why?"

"Well, I don't really know the older scientists on the trip very well, Sam and Jacob won't be separated and Emilize doesn't… well, I don't think she likes me very much."

"That's not true!" Carlos protested

Jenna sighed. "Yes, it is. She's not very nice to me."

Well, Carlos could agree with her there. Emilize wasn't very nice to anyone, not really. He'd only asked her to come with him on the trip because she was one of the most innovative members of the quantum physics team, not for her sunny demeanour. He shrugged again. "So? Where are you going with this?"

"Well…" she ran her hands over her collarbones again. "Where are you staying, Carlos?"

"Me?" He looked at her strangely, before it clicked. "Oh… you want to live with me?"

She nibbled her lip. "If it's not too much trouble. I just get nervous around people I don't know very well."

Carlos laughed, making Jenna smile. "I know, Jenna. I know."

When Carlos strode into the living room, the chatter instantly died. He may not have been the oldest or the smartest of the team, but he was the leader of this group, and the rest of them knew it. He dropped a map of Night Vale onto the table in the centre so that the whole group could see it.

"Ok team, listen up. In order to make the lab big enough for all the work I have planned, I've bought spare housing for the rest of you. We'll still be relatively close, though. Here," he gestured to a black square on the map inside a red biro circle, "is where we are now. For now, I will be living in the back area with Jenna." He pointed to another square, five up from the lab. "This is one of the houses. It's a two-person home with a small lab in front. How about Emilize and May stay there?"

"Sure! It'll be fun!" May said, smiling at Carlos. Despite being in her forties with a family of five, May had still volunteered to join him, saying it would be an 'interesting experience'. She was one of those people who could warm a room with her smile, and Carlos hoped it would take the edge off of Emilize's icy demeanour.

Emilize glared at him now, her pale blue eyes softening only slightly when he smiled at her.

"Is that ok with you, Emilize?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's fine."

"Good." Carlos turned back to the map. He gestured to another house, in the street behind the lab and a few houses right. "This is the other house here. It's got enough room for three, plus a small lab, so the boys can stay there, if they're ok with that?"

"Sure thing, boss," Sam said with a wink. Or maybe it was Jacob? He couldn't tell. The two brothers were twins, identical from their spiked hair to their Converse. Carlos hadn't actually planned to invite both of them along. One was a biologist at the university he worked at, and the other was a doctor-in-training from a related branch. He had accidentally invited one, then the other, thinking they were the same person… his mistake.

Carlos glanced over at Captain, who was sitting stiffly upright on his chair, unlike the rest of the group. He was a stark contrast to the twins. His gunpowder grey hair was cut short, military style, and he had an intense stare that could bring an apprentice to his knees. Carlos wasn't sure why he had volunteered for this trip. In fact, he didn't even know what kind of scientist he was. He saw Carlos' questioning look and nodded gravely in assent.

"Great!" Carlos exhaled in relief - that had gone much more smoothly than he had thought it would. "So, the addresses are here," he handed out paper to each one of them, along with a key, "and I'll see you in the morning, yeah?"

With sleepy "goodnight"s and "see you tomorrow!"s, the group slowly filed out of the room and Carlos and Jenna stood by the window, watching them off.

He looked at Jenna. "Remind me to go out and rent cars in the morning, ok?"

"Sure thing."

"Do you want to choose beds? There's only one bedroom here, sorry. I should've mentioned it before."

"That's ok, you pick. I might just stay here for a bit, look at the stars, you know? Me being an astrophysicist and all," she laughed. "It comes with the job."

He left her sitting by the window, gazing up at the sky. He sighed, running his hands through his hair, mussing it up. It was really getting long. Maybe he should get it cut soon. As he dressed for bed, he set up his radio and flicked it over to his favourite station, frowning as his fingers found only static. Maybe it was broken... but it was too late to worry about that tonight. He was just about to turn it off when he caught a snippet of conversation.

"...is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious…"

He twisted the knob slightly to the left and the man's voice came into clarity. He lay down his head, planning on dozing while listening, but the man's voice was lulling him into sleep with its deep, rich tones.

"...Welcome to Night Vale."

He hadn't realised how exhausted he was until he lay down on the bed and turned off the lights, and his eyes closed. Before long, the only sound in the house was deep, rhythmic breathing and the voice of the man on the radio.

"Hello listeners. To start things off, I've been asked to read this brief notice…"