Cum For Bigfoot 13 (4 page)

“Take the boys with you.”

“Absolutely. They’ve been awesome.” She
patted Lendal on the head. “Your mamma would be so proud of you.
You too, Bubba Jr.”

“Whhooaaaarr…” Lendal grinned, flashing white
teeth.

Our hostage was keenly observant, his
expression fearful, yet interested. What did he look like under all
that blood? As Leslie departed, I approached him. “Where are you
wounded?”

“My chest. Don’t worry about me.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m a Cryptozoologist. I study animals whose
existence has not been proven. It’s a bit of a pseudoscience.” He
glanced at Bubba. “I can’t tell you what it means to be here with
these creatures. I just wish…it were under better
circumstances.”

“You were the ones who came in with guns
blazing. You killed two of our Sasquatches. I don’t even know if
Leonard is gonna make it.”

“We were on a rescue mission. We lost contact
with our group during Operation GrabBear, and the signal led us
here.”

“What the hell are you trying to do
anyway?”

“Obtain proof that Sasquatches exist.
Pictures or videos don’t cut it nowadays. Anyone can fake them. We
need a live specimen.”

“So you go commando and shoot at
everything.”

“We were attacked as soon as we rappelled
from the helicopter. It wasn’t my call…what’s your name?”

“Lena.”

“I thought you were Porsche. You look just
like her.”

“I’m her sister.”

“Ah.” He grimaced.

“Your chest hurts?”

“Yeah.”

“Your commando team forced us from the other
cave. We had to split up afterwards. Zelda has the medicine. Sorry
I can’t offer you anything.”

“If your friend finds my bag, she can call
for help.”

“You have an accent. Where are you from?”

“Originally England. Staffordshire. I live
here now.”

“So you guys wanted to steal Wolfie?”

“That was the plan. It was supposed to be
easy.”

“How did you even find us?”

“We followed the signal.”

The apes had transmission devices embedded in
their fur, but only the government and trusted scientists had
access to this information. “Do you work with Dr. Haynes or
something?”

“No.” He exhaled audibly. “We have an inside
source. He’s…helped us.”

“That fucking sucks!”

“None of this was supposed to happen, Lena.
We underestimated the Cryptids. They’re stronger than we thought.
Our guys went in with minimal weapons. We weren’t declaring war on
them. After what I’ve seen here, I suspect none of them made it.
There was a woman with them.”

“A couple people survived. She survived.
They’re at the other cave. I thought they’d be rescued by now. I
thought I’d be rescued by now.”

“They kidnapped you?”

“I was taken from my sister’s house over
Christmas. I don’t want to get into the details, but it’s been a
disaster. I have to get outta here.”

“Me too.” He chuckled ruefully, but then
coughed, groaning. “Oh, shit.”

“Is it bad enough that you’re gonna die?”

“You won’t get that lucky.”

“If you wanted to see Bigfoots so bad, why
didn’t you get your
source
to get you a tour? Porsche said
other researchers have been here in the past.”

“I tried, believe me. I didn’t assemble the
team. I’m not in charge of this mess. It’s not how I would’ve done
things. We were funded by an outside source. They had all the
control. I was brought in because of my expertise, but, honestly, I
didn’t realize they were going to be so bold. I…this has been
shameful.”

“A lotta guys died.”

“Where are they?”

“They were buried at the other cave.”

His look was regretful. “Someone’s in a lot
of trouble, and they damn well should be.”

Unease settled on me. “What’ll happen
now?”

“It won’t be a secret anymore, Lena. Too many
people know. The families of the victims will want answers. There
could be media.”

I bristled. “You attacked us! I was there!
Arrows flew far and wide. Leslie and Zelda and I could’ve been
killed. They didn’t care who they shot, the bastards!” My hands
were on my hips. “I might be a temporary hostage, but they’ve been
really sweet to me. They’re the most gentle, caring creatures ever.
They love their families…they love their women. All they want is to
live in peace.”

He had nothing to say to that, and, in my
frustration, I picked up Wolfie, stomping out of the cave.

Leonard had been moved to the greenhouse,
while Leslie was out searching for the satellite phone. He was now
resting on the grass. Bubba had tied Nick to a tree. I’d washed his
face, finding a handsome-looking man with a shaved head, although
he had sustained several gashes in his scalp, one that would
probably require stitches. He was in pain as well; his broken ribs
were bothering him.

A short while later, Leslie returned with
Lendal and Bubba Jr., who had snow stuck to their fur. She held a
black backpack. “I called Dr. Haynes. They’re trying to get a team
together. There’s another storm on the way. It’s gonna hold ‘em
up.”

“Ah, crap.”

“How’s Leonard?”

“Still sleeping.”

She took her jacket off, draping it over a
rock. “That bullet needs to come out. He needs medicine. We gotta
find Zelda…and soon.”

Bubba nodded, understanding her perfectly. He
gestured towards the youngsters, grunting. Then he glanced at
Leslie, rasping, “We get them.”

“You better hurry. It’s already snowing.”

He snorted in reply and then patted Bubba Jr.
on the back. “You boys be big help.” Needing no further
encouragement, they bounded for the exit.

“We have fish, if you’re hungry. There’s a
fillet left over. You want it?”

“Yeah, thanks. How’s our hostage?”

“His name is Nick Redfern. He’s a
crypto-something or other. He studies weird creatures.” I drew
nearer to her. “There’s a traitor, Leslie. Someone is giving them
information about where the Bigfoots are. They know how to track
them.”

“Well that explains a lot. Shit.”

Leslie and I had wandered into the
greenhouse; the heat and humidity was considerable. She stood with
her hands on her hips, glaring at Nick. “Well, aren’t you pretty as
a picture?”

He had dozed off, but, upon hearing her
voice, he met her gaze. “Did you find the phone?”

“I did. Help is coming, but a storm’s on the
way. The Bigfoots are out trying to find Zelda. She has
antibiotics. That gash on your head looks nasty. You got a nice
shiner too.”

“Indeed. I’m a mess. Not to alarm anyone,
but…I need to use the facilities. You don’t have to keep me tied
up. I’m not going anywhere. I’d be eternally grateful, if you undid
the binds.”

“I just bet.” Her expression was sour.

“You’ve every reason to hate me. You’ve every
reason to be angry. The operation was bungled from the start,
beginning with poor intelligence. Our approach was wrong.” He
muttered, “To say the least.”

“Because of you there are two Sasquatches
that need to be buried. Bungled doesn’t even begin to describe
it.”

“And there are a dozen men dead, if not more.
Both sides lost. No one was the winner here.”

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that
before you came in with guns blazing, huh?”

“I agree, but it doesn’t change anything
right now. I really need to get my hands free. It’s killing me
having my arms behind my back. I’ll beg, if I have to.”

Leslie stared at me. “If I let him go, he’ll
run off.”

Inspiration struck. “Were there any weapons
in his backpack?”

“I left it near the entrance.”

Wolfie had crawled behind Nick. I had assumed
he was playing with the grass, but a moment later, our hostage was
free! The baby ape had untied his binds. He held the rope, flinging
it in the air like a toy.

“Wolfie!” Leslie sounded exasperated. “No,
Wolfie.”

Nick grimaced, while bringing his hands
together, rubbing them. “I’m not in any condition to do anything.
You needn’t worry about me.”

“You little craphead!” Leslie picked up her
son, shaking him gently, which made him squeal with delight. “You
weren’t supposed to untie our hostage. He’s a bad man, Wolfie. Do
you understand? He’s a horrible person. He killed Archie and Tate.
He hurt your daddy. Bad, bad, bad.”

“Grrooaarrr…” he screeched, sounding like a
baby tiger.

Nick hadn’t moved an inch, remaining seated
before the tree. “For an infant, his intelligence is
astounding.”

“Well, lucky for you, isn’t it?”

“There’s a gun in my bag. It’s loaded, the
safety’s on.”

“Go get it, Lena.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I hurried into the next cavern,
and, seeing the black backpack near the exit, I grabbed it. Upon my
return, I dropped the bundle on the grass. “It would be amazing, if
there was food in here.”

“There are supplies for three days.”

“Any medicine?” asked Leslie.

“Gauze, disinfectant, and perhaps a butterfly
Band-Aid, which would work wonders for my head.” He struggled to
his feet.

I’d found the gun, which felt heavy in my
hand. “I don’t know anything about weapons.”

Leslie shrugged. “Me either. The end with the
hole is dangerous.”

I pointed it at Nick, and his eyes widened.
“Awesome! I’ll take him out, if he tries to escape. First I have
to…aha! Got it.” I had released the small latch on the side. “We’re
good to go.” Never in a million years had I ever envisioned myself
holding a gun on someone. Nick was slightly wary of me, which I
found amusing. I really wouldn’t shoot him, but he wasn’t privy to
this information, since he was not able to read my mind. “Let’s go,
dude.” As we ventured into the next cave, his attention shifted to
the ceiling, which was hundreds of feet in height and a marvel of
stalactites, which hung like spiky, crystal chandeliers.

“This is limestone.” He nodded upwards.
“Minerals in the water made those. Each drop forms a ring of
calcite. They grow into hollow tubes. They’re quite fragile.”

“Fascinating.”

“The entire ceiling is dripping.”

“Yeah, whatever. Please, tell me you don’t
have to do number two.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I hope you only have to pee.”

“It’s not number two.” He grinned, but then
grimaced.

There were questions I wanted to ask him.
“What happened yesterday?”

“I was the fifth man out of the helicopter.
The plan was to ambush the Sasquatches, but the signal was off. We
came in too close. They knew we were coming. Then they threw rocks
at us, and someone started shooting. Five minutes later, the
helicopter was down.”

I snatched my jacket from the rock, wrapping
it around my shoulders. “Keep going. Let’s get this done with. It’s
freezing out there. Here.” I handed him his coat, which he
struggled to put on. We stood just outside the cave on a shallow
ledge, while he relieved himself, and, a moment later, we were
inside again, cocooned in the warmth of the tropical cave. “Then
what happened?”

“I took up a defensive position and stayed at
it all night. I was on the side of the mountain, freezing actually.
It was a good spot, but they were smarter.”

“How’s that?”

“They came down from above.”

“Oh.”

“I suffered a shower of rocks, hence my
mangled head. I might have some frostbite as well, I’m not quite
sure.”

“Keep moving.” I pointed the gun at him.

“You say you’re a hostage?”

“Sorta.”

“Your sister has lived amongst the tribe for
years.”

“Yep.”

“She had a Sasquatch baby.”

“Lendal.”

“I find it remarkable that a human can carry
a hominidae to term.”

“What the hell is that?”

“A great ape.”

“It’s not easy. Porsche’s had
miscarriages.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

We returned to the greenhouse moments later
to find Leslie with Wolfie in her lap. I waved the gun at him, and
he flinched slightly. “Go sit down.”

“Thank you.”

“He’s from England. He’s very polite, isn’t
he?”

She looked unimpressed. “I’m taking a nap.
Wake me, if Bubba shows up.”

Nick resumed his spot before the tree,
crossing his arms over his chest and rocking back and forth
slightly, looking miserable.

“Is there aspirin or something in your
bag?”

“Possibly.”

“I’ll get it.”

“Thank you.”

I found a small container with first aid
equipment, and, while Wolfie watched, I cleaned the wound on his
forehead, applying antiseptic. Then I peeled the backing off the
Band-Aid and placed it over the gash.

“That’s the best I can do for now.” Wolfie
sniffed Nick, licking his hand, which amused our hostage. He
crawled into his lap, settling in happily. “He’s a bad man,
Wolfie.” The baby ape grunted, not understanding me in the
least.

“I haven’t eaten in a day.”

I shoved the backpack at him. “You know where
the food is. Help yourself.”

Nick withdrew an individually wrapped package
of what looked like beef stew. He ripped the end off, swallowing
the contents bit by bit. Wolfie stared at him, as if
mesmerized.

“That looks disgusting.”

“It would be better heated, but it’s fine.”
He tore through a smaller bag, pouring fluid into his mouth.”

“What’s that?”

“Water.”

“You have enough of that stuff for three
days?”

“Yes.”

“We better be rescued before then.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He petted Wolfie,
the little ape grunting in response. “He’s charming. What a happy
fellow.”

“Don’t get too friendly. Once he realizes
you’re the bad guy, he might just bite your finger off—” A noise
caught my attention, and I jumped to my feet. “Someone’s
coming!”