Bravery Badge Creeped Out

The Curious.

They say he collects strange tales, and if you ever hear his whistle,

you know something creepy is about to unfold.

No-one knows where he's from, or where he's going to,

or if he ever gets scared.

Do his tales ever linger in his mind?

You know that feeling when you get something stuck in your head?

What if it was really stuck,

and there was nothing you could do to get it out?

I've paired you with Patrol Second-in-command Janie

to show you the ropes.

Welcome to the Donner Troop.

Oh, wow, your uniform.

It's so...

..blank.

I've never seen one with no badges before, not one.

Do you think I want to be here?

Patrol Leader Paxton, can I talk to you for a moment?

She doesn't even have a Bravery Badge.

The Hedgehog Ranger Patrol is an inclusive organisation, Janie.

You've even got the badge to prove it.

And everyone has to start somewhere, hmm?

All right, ladies.

We've got a long way to go, and we need to get there before dark.

What does Ana-Ciall mean?

Death.

SHE COUGHS

-What is that?

-Insect repellent, all natural ingredients.

No bites, fuss, no harm to the environment. Win-win.

You really are loving this, aren't you?

Nature's our best friend, that relationship goes both ways.

Ladies, campfire, pronto.

Story time's limited to 15 minutes.

So, then this woman climbed out of her car, right?

She looks down, and...

Ooooh!

There it is on the door handle...

..the hook.

What hook?

The one the guy's been stalking her with.

You never said he had a hook.

Erm, yeah, I did.

No, you said hockey mask.

Well, I meant hook.

He had a hook, all right?

Well, thanks, Arlene.

Though I think the idea was to scare,

not to send everyone into a coma.

All right, let's get real for a moment, shall we, ladies?

Have you noticed how overgrown it is here?

Yeah?

There are no footprints, tracks.

No traces that another human was ever here.

That's no coincidence.

It's because no-one has ever dared to stay the night here.

Not in this spot, no.

Do you want to know why?

Surrounding us, living beyond the trees deep in the darkness...

..lives an evil.

Can you feel it?

What's out there?

This is the most remote spot in Britain.

Parts of it are unmapped.

Rumour has it there are things living here that nature

doesn't want you to know about...

..hidden in the woods.

Waiting, watching.

But we'll never know for sure, though.

Want to know why?

Because no-one brave enough or dumb enough to venture anywhere near this

exact spot...

..is ever heard of...again.

Right, then, Rangers, bed!

I'm scared, Janie.

It's OK, Jojo.

Here.

Makeshift night-light.

How do you know all this stuff?

Were you, like, born in a tree?

Basic training. If you took your headphones out for once,

maybe you'd actually enjoy it?

Nature is our friend, remember.

And your only friend, I'm guessing.

You don't like camping, you don't like badges,

you don't like the Rangers.

Why are you even here?

No choice.

Mum wanted a fancy cruise, no kids allowed, so...

..here I am, in a tent...

..with you.

Yay.

There are other badges, you know?

Like music-making, songwriting.

-Really?

-Yeah, tonnes of cool ones.

Wow, I had no idea.

Hey, is there a badge for being mute?

Maybe you could try for that bad boy.

Where are you going?

To the little girls' room, if that's OK with you, Mum.

Here, nature's loo roll.

Erm, I think I'll stick with my own, thanks.

But you can't, not in the woods. Not alone.

What is this about, Paxton's story?

Get a grip, there's nothing out there.

Please, Arlene, I don't think you should.

I'll be right back.

ARLENE CHUCKLES

BUZZING

Stupid bug.

FAINT BUZZING

Ow.

Ugh.

Ah!

Ow!

SHE GROANS

# La-la, la-la-la. #

Wow, you two look really awful.

The sounds in the dark kept waking me up all night.

Which in turn kept me up.

Want to get yourself some tunes.

Slept like a baby.

Wait.

Here, try these.

Dock leaves.

Perfect for reducing bags under the eyes.

Nature's natural anti-inflammatory.

Ow, this stings!

Erm, looks to me like poison ivy.

-What?!

-Jojo, I'm sorry.

I'm so tired, I picked the wrong ones.

Nice one, Second-in-command.

It really hurts.

Let's hope PAXTON doesn't see this.

Don't, shh.

Hate to know what PAXTON would say.

What's the situation?

-Janie?

-I made a mistake.

I'm so tired.

Of all the people!

What if it had been berries?

Sorry, Ranger.

You leave me no choice but to take your Foraging Badge.

Arlene?

Arlene?! Arlene?!

-What's wrong?

-It's Arlene, she's missing.

-What?

Well, she's not in the tent.

Maybe she got a taxi home.

Maybe we should all get taxis home.

She did go to the loo in the night, we assumed she'd crept back in.

Arlene?

Arlene?

All right, everyone.

We, er...

We have a missing Ranger.

I suggest we divide into two companies and search.

Yeah, good thinking, Janie.

All right, this side, first team led by me.

This side, second team led by my second-in-command...

-Oh, don't say it.

-..Janie.

Any questions?

Right, let's bring our Hedgehog Ranger home.

Arlene?

-Arlene?

-Arlene?

-Arlene?

-Arlene?

Arlene?

-Arlene?

-Arlene?

-Arlene?

-Arlene?

Arlene?

Arlene?

-Arlene?

-Arlene?

First 24 hours after a person goes missing are crucial.

Aren't all the hours crucial?

Arlene?

Maybe if we head back towards the trail...

If I was lost, that's where I'd be headed.

We have to have a system.

Blanket the area in a grid pattern,

so that we don't double-back on ourselves.

We need to resist the urge to wander aimlessly.

Cos we're doing such a great job of that now.

Look, I have an Emergency Search Badge.

-What do you have?

-Lucky for me, these.

Arlene?

Arlene?

What are they doing?

FAINT HUMMING

Go get Paxton.

Janie, wait.

Patrol Leader Paxton, there's trouble with your group.

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la. #

I think...we should leave.

For once, I agree.

# La-la-la, la-la, la. #

Run!

It's like they've lost their minds.

Whatever it is, it's contagious.

We've got to stay as far from them as possible

if we don't want to become...

# La-la-la, la-la, la. #

..infected.

Run!

Go, go, go!

Did we lose her?

What is this place?

As if today couldn't get any creepier.

This.

We should go, they could be on us any minute.

Wait, I recognise this.

Look at this symbol.

This is the Hedgehog Rangers.

-What?

-An outdated version, anyway.

Guys, guys?

I really think we should go now.

I think I know what this is.

I mean, I've read the story, but I never actually believed it.

The Little'un Troop.

What's The Little'un Troop?

A spooky campfire story. At least I thought it was.

About a Hedgehog Ranger Patrol called The Little'uns

that went camping in these woods 30 years ago.

And were never seen again.

Just say it - and were never seen again!

Jo, don't worry.

We're going to get out of this.

Jo, you keep watch.

You hear anything, you let us know, OK?

OK.

Look at this.

"They get in."

They?

What are they?

That's the last entry.

FAINT BUZZING

What is that?

"Whatever you do, don't let them in."

Jojo, what's wrong?

Look...

I can hear something...

..and it's not stopping.

What is it?

What?

What was that look? I saw that.

Nothing's wrong with me, if that's what you're thinking.

I'm fine.

Guys, I'm totally fine.

Jojo?

The music's so loud.

What's happening to me, Janie?

No, no. I'm fine.

Aren't I, Janie?

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la. #

Janie, are you OK?

I don't want to talk about it.

Rule number one, alert an adult.

In the absence of an adult, blow your whistle,

an adult should come running.

-If an adult doesn't...

-What are you doing?

Going through the Hedgehog Ranger Protocol for getting help.

My protocol for help.

DIAL TONE

Ugh, no signal!

I could've told you that.

If you knew the Hedgehog Ranger Protocol for help,

you would know that we could create a smoke signal.

Mother Nature always provides the answer, you'll see.

For every problem, nature provides a solution.

Don't you get it?

Mother Nature isn't your friend.

She hates your guts!

At least I'm trying.

All you want to do is block everything out with your

-stupid music.

-Hey!

You don't resolve problems by burying them,

like your mum did by putting you here.

Give them back.

Not until you acknowledge that the only way we're getting out of here

is the Hedgehog Ranger way.

LOUD ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

Chill out, it's not that bad.

You can hang around here all you want, but that lot back there,

they're gone.

It's game on, man.

I'm not waiting around just to turn into one of them.

Good luck.

Then, please...

Please, help me.

It must've been back at the tent.

I started to hear the tune...

..driving me mad, but I suppressed it.

Why didn't you say something?

I'm a Hedgehog Ranger, I can stop it.

I have to.

FAINT BUZZING

It's getting too strong.

I can't drown it out.

Janie...

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la... #

FAINT SINGING

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la

# La-la-la, la-la, la. #

BANGING

The music.

# La-la-la, la-la, la. #

LOUD ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

THEY GROAN

THEY GROAN

Is everyone OK?

I've got this serious ringing in my ears.

I'm sorry...about before.

You know, getting your badge taken away.

Uniform was getting crowded, anyway.

You've earned it.

Your first badge, the Bravery Badge.

# La-la-la, la-la, la. #

BOTH: Arlene!

She found them.

I don't know how, but she found them.

Who? Who?

Who do you think? The Little'uns.

# La-la-la, la-la, la. #

LOUD ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

You don't fear the creatures you know and recognise,

because it's the undiscovered ones, those mutants of Mother Nature,

waiting in the darkness...

..those are the ones who really keep you up at night.