In just one night, eight more suspected Carnage-related killing sprees erupted across the United States. Aside from the fact that most occurred in states along the East Coast, there was little to connect them.
By the second day, the number of cases had risen to fifteen.
"We have no leads at all. Signal detection shows Carnage is everywhere, communicating constantly. The signal transmission between them is severely interfering with our observations. It's fair to say we know nothing about Carnage right now—we can't even tell which one is the original," Fitz explained nervously to Coulson, introducing his equipment and the current situation as Peter arrived at the Bus team's safe house.
Skye, overhearing this, muttered, "Why does it sound like Carnage sliced himself up and sent himself out via express delivery?"
"That might be exactly it, but we haven't found any trace of physical shipments." Fitz looked equally perplexed. "A symbiote might be able to hide itself, but it can't hide within non-organic matter. We've checked all pet and animal shipments—unless he's residing inside extremely small animals, that's a different story."
"Symbiotes can't parasitize small organisms; it would shorten their lifespans. In fact, unless there's a specific environment for containment, a symbiote without a host will die very quickly," Peter added as he walked in, before supplementing: "Of course, Carnage is a bit special. I can't guarantee that rule applies to him."
"So the symbiote needs a host with sufficient mass. At least we can rule out insects and the like," Fitz said. Just as he finished, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s alarm system triggered again, providing fresh location data for a similar incident.
Seeing the map, Peter quickly began operating the computer, silently performing calculations. He soon zoomed in on an area south of New York, roughly in the region of Virginia and West Virginia.
"If we assume this infection is random rather than targeting specific groups, and that it's occurring in multiple places almost simultaneously, we can combine what we know of Carnage's information and abilities. By analyzing these existing cases as a radial pattern and finding the center of that radiation—" Peter pointed to the projected map. "It's likely right there."
"Link to the Information Center immediately. Check the number of recent missing person reports in that vicinity," Coulson deployed the team rapidly, then sorted through recent files. "In these two areas, there are two missing person cases and three traffic accidents. In one of them, the victim's skull was crushed, but the police attributed it to the head hitting a tree branch."
As for the rest, there were virtually no discernible patterns.
Perhaps that was where Carnage was hiding?
Before Coulson could analyze further, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s alarm system went off repeatedly. When the northernmost alerts reached Chicago and Boston, and the southernmost reached Florida, Coulson knew a major crisis was at hand.
If this Carnage infection were viewed as a disease, the incubation period was over. The plague had arrived.
Seeing this, Peter asked in passing, "Has Otto Octavius's molecular oscillator been found?"
"No. I'm afraid it'll take a little more time before the people who realize how much trouble we're in 'suddenly' discover it. By then, it might be too late." Coulson shook his head helplessly and looked at Peter. "Are you certain Carnage is likely there, Spider-Man?"
"Principally certain. I need to get there. The Avengers and other heroes will provide support to the cities where Carnage has appeared, so don't worry."
Peter turned to leave, but Coulson stopped him. "How about taking our plane? I promise it'll be fast, and we can pick someone up on the way."
"Sure."
A few minutes later, as the Bus base flew toward the Appalachian Mountains, Peter met the person S.H.I.E.L.D. had "delivered." The choice was quite unexpected. It wasn't Agent Venom or any superpowered individual from the Thunderbolts.
It was Jessica Drew.
"I don't quite understand, senior, but... why you?"
"Good question. I don't know either. If I had to guess, it's probably because of the terrain?" Jessica wasn't sure why she had been reassigned for this mission. After all, she wasn't particularly suited for fighting symbiotes. Thinking it over, there was only one real possibility.
"The terrain?"
"The Appalachians don't have skyscrapers, and it's not all sheer cliffs. Your webs might not be very useful there. So, I suppose I'm air support? After all, I can fly and fire energy blasts."
So, aside from being bitten by a spider and being able to crawl on walls, how exactly are your powers related to a spider?
Peter didn't say anything. As the Bus arrived over the Appalachian Mountains, Ward led Peter to a small hatch. Once it opened, Peter leaped out without hesitation.
Jessica looked at Ward, somewhat dazed. "Did he bring a parachute?"
"No." Ward frowned, then looked at Jessica with a smile. "Do you need a parachute?"
"Uh, no thanks, I can fly."
Ignoring how his flying senior would make her descent, Peter dived toward the ground from the high altitude. His brand-new nano-suit began working, collecting nearby symbiote signals and performing a global analysis. Peter used his webbing to create a makeshift parachute in mid-air before landing on the ground.
Then, Jessica landed lightly beside him. She asked with a hint of curiosity, "Before I came down, they installed a detection device in my eyepiece. It said it could detect where nearby symbiotes are... did I see that right?"
"No, you definitely didn't see it wrong, senior."
Peter looked around. In the surrounding woods, it appeared as though there was nothing. However, both his Spider-Sense and the detected signals proved one thing: Carnage was everywhere, surrounding them.
Finally, they saw the Carnage.
One by one, mangled, "zombie" bull moose appeared at the edge of their vision. They had the forward-facing eyes of predators. They opened their mouths, their lower jaws splitting sideways like a spider's to reveal sharp fangs.
Scarlet symbiotes covered the bodies of these zombie deer. They emitted cries resembling a woman's wailing as they charged toward the two of them.