by REM
“You don’t know that. There could be another Bigfoot inside,” said Reena.
Josh had to agree.
“I doubt it,” said Hoss. “If this thing wanted to attack us, it would’ve done so already.”
“So we’re going in?” asked Josh.
Hoss nodded.
Reena had unzipped her bag and handed Maya one of two small flashlights.
“There’s plenty of light in there from the two windows and hole in the ceiling. You won’t need those,” said Josh.
“Yes, but there’s a lot of dark spots too. We need to be able to examine every nook and cranny,” said Reena.
The more light, the merrier, thought Josh.
The group followed the Bigfoot into the cave. The creature led them toward the back of the room and offered a hand to a circle of large stones around what appeared to be a fire pit. Light from the ceiling hit the area perfectly.
“He wants us to sit,” said Josh.
Maya and Reena were the first to take a seat. Josh and Hoss warily did the same. They had put their blasters away so the creature wouldn’t be alarmed, but were ready to the draw the guns faster than cowboys going heels.
Once everyone had sat, Hoss held up the pouch and said, “Friend… Smokey.”
The Bigfoot grunted, sweeping a back-handed arm toward the dark hall. But instead of going to the corridor, the creature walked to the nearest wall and stood with its back to the pilots. It tinkered with something on a tall slab of rock that was pretty much a table.
“What the hell is it doing?” Hoss whispered.
“I have no frickin’ clue,” Josh replied.
Reena and Maya were watching the creature curiously too.
It peeked back ever so slightly. The pilots could see its eye. They then heard a snigger and saw the creature’s shoulders jiggle. Maya’s gaze was wide as an owl’s. Reena switched on her flash light and moved the beam around dark spots that were hard to see.
This is really creeping me out, thought Josh.
Without turning, the creature tossed something over its shoulder that landed off to the side in an unlit part of the room. Reena was quick to flash her light on the object.
That’s a bone… thought Josh. A… finger. His jaw had dropped by the time he saw the Bigfoot peek back for a second time. On this occasion its shoulders shook heartily. It became clear the creature was laughing.
The Bigfoot twisted its neck until two thirds of its face was visible to the pilots. Josh thought its expression to look like that of a goofy orangutan’s. This thing has the intelligence of a damn ape, he thought, staring into its wide, round eyes.
“This thing’s a mindless retard,” Hoss whispered.
Josh could tell from the shakiness in his voice that Hoss was very unsettled.
The creature turned forward for a couple of seconds—then rearward yet again.
“I want to go,” said Maya timidly, like a frightened six-year-old to her mother.
“Now, Hoss!” said Reena.
The Bigfoot turned completely and pointed at the pouch. It then motioned in the direction of the dark hall. “Smokey,” it said, mimicking the name.
The creature sauntered toward the corridor, but strode past it instead of going in. It stopped at one of the windows and looked back at the group.
“What’s it doing now?” asked Josh.
“How come it didn’t go into the hall? Maybe it wants us to go in the corridor?” said Hoss.
The Bigfoot stared at them for a good five seconds—then it slammed a shutter across the opening in the wall and ran for the other window.
“Oh my God!” Maya screamed.
“It’s cutting off all of the light!” said Reena.
Josh drew his blaster and fired a shot that barely missed the creature’s mid-section. Hoss fired one too—but his blast zipped high-right of the Bigfoot’s head.
The creature slammed closed the second window.
“I can’t see it!” said Hoss.
“Me neither,” Josh replied. He squeezed the trigger. The room lit up just enough for him to catch a glimpse of the Bigfoot rushing toward another segment of the room.
“Ruuuuuuuh-uuuh!” it roared.
Reena was so jittery her blaster shook right out of her hand.
Maya fired a shot, but it went nowhere near the frantic beast. Josh and Hoss let loose more rounds too, the last of which allowed them to see the creature reaching for a lever on the wall. It yanked the switch down. There was a thud, as the last bit of light from the ceiling disappeared. The inside of the cave was pitch black.
Josh heard frenzied footsteps clamoring against the ground.
Thoot! Thoot, thoot. Thoot-thoot-thoot-thoot-thoot! The pilots fired sporadically in all different directions for a long stretch, until Hoss shouted, “Aaah! Someone almost shot my face off!”
“Stop! Stop! Stop!” yelled Josh. “We’re going to drain all of our charges.” He hadn’t seen any signs of the creature during the final seconds of their shooting, and didn’t hear any movement at the moment. “Wait until you hear something. But make sure it’s the Bigfoot you’re shooting at.”
There was dead silence.
“Did any of you see where it went?” asked Josh.
“No,” said Hoss. “But it probably went down that hall over there. I don’t think we hit it.”
“Your flashlight, Maya! Your flashlight! I dropped mine!” said Reena.
Maya reached for the small flashlight in her side pocket. She pressed it on and shined the beam at Hoss, who raised a hand to shield his eyes. She then flashed it on Josh, followed by Reena.
“Not on us,” said Reena.
“Shine it toward the hall,” said Josh.
Maya did as told, but the beam was so narrow and didn’t cover much ground. No one was able to see the creature.
There was a rustling from across the room.
Josh snapped in the direction with his blaster aimed. He fired a shot to see what the scant light would yield, but didn’t see even a trace of the beast.
Tap, tap, tap, tap. There was a rush of light steps. Josh found it impossible to tell what direction they were coming from in the total dark.
Maya swung her beam around and around, trying to pinpoint the creature. She swung it back to her left and—“Ruuuuuh!” The Bigfoot was right upon her. It batted the flashlight from her hand and onto the ground.
Maya screamed at the top of her lungs.
Josh then heard tumbling on the floor. Holy shit! he thought. “Maya!”
Reena had scrambled for the flashlight. She aimed it to where Hoss was wrestling on the ground with the creature. The Bigfoot rolled Hoss onto his back and backhanded him across the face before trying to smash his head against the ground. Hoss resisted the first attempt, but Josh could tell the second one must’ve hurt.
“Shoot it! Shoot it!” yelled Maya.
“I can’t get a clean shot. I might shoot Hoss,” said Josh, as his stocky crewmate fought back with all of his might. Oh hell, he thought, dropping the gun, racing over and diving onto the creature, tackling it to the side. Now it was Josh grappling with the beast.
He tried getting his arms around the creature’s neck from the rear. But the Bigfoot bit his arm—then flipped him over its shoulder.
“Ruuuh!” it let out, its huge fist pounding against the ground after Josh had rolled out the way. He and the beast made it to standing at the same time. Thoot! A blast from Maya’s gun struck the creature to the side of its chest. Two more from Hoss blazed into its head.
“Uuh!” The creature made a sudden gasp and crashed to the floor.
There was silence amongst the group.
Reena asked, “Is everyone okay?!”
“I’m fine,” said Josh.
“I’ll be all right, but I’m gonna have one hell of a headache later, and a bruised jaw,” Hoss replied.
“Reena, can you hit that ceiling switch?” asked Josh.
She didn’t answer, she just turned aroun
d and searched for the lever with her flashlight. Surprisingly, she found the switch rather fast and pushed it up, letting light back into the cave.
Josh glanced down at the dead creature. Never again will I trust one of those damn things. I knew better too.
On Reena’s way back to the circle of stones, she picked up the second flashlight and tossed it over to Josh. “Josh, can you open those windows please?”
“Got it,” said Josh.
“Hoss, come sit. Let me have a look at your head,” said Reena.
Hoss grunted and sat down.
Maya hadn’t spoken since helping to bring down the Bigfoot. “Maya, are you good?” Reena asked.
She nodded and said, “Just trying to get my nerves together after that. Thanks for taking on that thing for me, Hoss.”
Hoss cracked a grimacing smile as Reena poked at his head. “I’d do it again, for you.”
Maya grinned and shook her head.
Josh slid open one shutter and then the other. Rays of light beamed into the cave, leaving it dim but illuminated enough for the pilots to see around.
Josh walked over and picked up his blaster. “I’m going to check that back hall. Be right back.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Maya.
The two of them moved cautiously down the corridor and found the passage led to one small second enclosure. The room contained nothing other than a few piles of varied bones. “I sure hope one of those isn’t Smokey,” said Josh.
“I hope so too,” said Maya. “There’s no sign of any clothes. I think there’s a good chance that creature never got to him.”
Good point. Would be great if she’s right.
They strode back out to where Hoss and Reena were still sitting at the circle of stones. “Smokey’s not there,” said Josh, flashing the light at some of the dark spots in the cave. “That Bigfoot must’ve taken the pouch from the wreckage when Smokey was already gone.”
The two vets took a moment to consider this information.
“Well, let’s get the hell out of here,” said Hoss.
“Yes,” said Reena.
The pilots left the cave. Josh led the way with his written directions.
When they arrived at a four-way intersection, Josh stopped and said, “This is where I started tracking our route.”
Hoss looked left. “Then the cream trail should be right down that corridor.”
They moved down the path Hoss had pointed out.
Reena stopped. “I’m pretty sure I put a glob right here,” she said.
Josh glanced at the ground and saw nothing. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“I saw her mark this spot. It should definitely be here,” said Maya.
“Great,” Hoss uttered.
Josh scanned around. “Well, where would the next one be?”
Reena looked to her right and said, “Down that way on the other side of the corner.”
They marched to where the next glob of cream should’ve been. “Not here,” said Josh.
“Then we’re lost,” said Maya. “I knew it was a bad idea coming into this labyrinth.”
“What the hell could’ve happened to it?” said Hoss.
“I don’t know, but let’s look for the next one,” Maya replied. “I’m not certain, but I think it should be over that way.”
The group made a left down a long pathway and turned a corner at the end. “Nothing,” said Josh, being the first to make it around, yet again.
“Where’s that damn compass?” Hoss asked.
Josh pulled it out from a side pocket. “Okay, we came west to get here, so we need to head east to get out, which is that way,” he said, pointing.
They all glanced about before Maya stated what everyone was currently thinking: “None of the immediate path choices go east.”
Josh thought for a moment. “Then we’ll just choose one and take every available east turn after that.”
The other pilots nodded. “Sounds good to me,” said Hoss.
Josh led the group down the nearest corridor, and then throughout many more, taking every east turn that came up. They did this for a good while, until Maya noticed they’d arrived back at the same intersection Josh’s written notes had ended at. “Wait, this is where the first dollop of cream should’ve been. We’ve been going in circles.”
“You’re right,” said Josh.
“Figures,” said Reena. “For every east turn we made, we took an equal amount of, if not more, north, south, and west turns.
“Oh man,” Hoss let out, glancing with his hands on his hips. “I’m the highest-ranking pilot here. If we don’t make it back to the Rampage in time—it’s my ass.”
“You wouldn’t be the only one getting grilled,” said Reena.
Josh peered up to determine if they could somehow climb every eastern wall, but those hopes were dashed instantly. No way, he thought. Too grainy, looks unstable.
There was rustling from behind a wall to their far right. Three black, dog-sized, miniature pony-type creatures trotted around the corner toward the pilots. Reena was the only one to know what they were. “Skermits,” she said. “They can be aggressive sometimes, and bite hard. We should probably step back.” She was the first to move. Everyone else did the same.
The skermits trotted past, with one scampering up to Josh and sniffing his leg before rejoining the rest of its pack. The animals stopped at the spot where Reena had squeezed her cream to smell the ground. They did so for a few seconds, then continued on.
Josh heard a Craeek! Craeek! “Those sounds are closer than before,” he said.
“I don’t want to find out what the heck that is,” said Reena.
“Me neither,” said Maya.
“You told Nate you’d protect me, Hoss. Don’t forget that,” said Reena. She managed a sliver of a grin, which was received by a larger one from Hoss.
“You would say that now,” Hoss responded.
“So what are we going to do?” asked Josh.
“The only thing we can,” said Hoss. “Keep trying to make our way out of here, and take as many east turns as we possibly can.”
Josh nodded. “And we should try to memorize our routes. That way we can start ruling out different ways.”
“Yeah,” said Maya.
“I’ll try my best,” said Reena.
The pilots continued on, this time taking a different initial path.
After traveling another long series of corridors, their group halted on seeing another cluster of skermits gallop into a neighboring path. Then they rounded a corner and caught sight of a single purple buffalo-looking creature. It was standing at the far corner, patting its front hoof along the ground. The creature looked at them, and then back down.
“It’s so pretty,” said Maya.
“Looks friendly too,” said Reena.
“What do you think, Josh?” Maya asked.
“Uh, looks nice. We’ve got more important things to think about,” he replied. Josh inspected their surroundings, trying to make sure they hadn’t made another loop.
Hoss picked up on what Josh was doing and did the same.
Meanwhile, Maya had begun taking slow steps toward the buffalo creature.
Reena trailed her. “You’re not going to try and pet that thing, are you?” she said, in a low voice.
“I don’t know. I was thinking about it. What’s it doing all alone?”
“Not sure, but it looks like it might be a baby.”
The creature noticed their approach and raised its head in the ladies’ direction. Both women stopped. The creature looked at them for a moment and then lowered its snout back to the ground.
Maya and Reena resumed their small steps.
Josh saw them creeping and said, “I wouldn’t risk getting close to that thing, and that’s coming from someone who’s made a lot of dumb mistakes recently.”
Hoss turned toward the women. “We don’t even know what that animal is or what it can do,” said Hoss. “Hone
stly, Reena? Maya, stop.”
Reena halted.
Maya kept stepping and said, “Relax, big guy; it’s just a baby.” The creature looked up calmly at her for a second time. “Easy, little baby. I’m not going to hurt you.” She held out a hand in a calming manner.
The buffalo thing lowered its head and seemed to relax. Then, when Maya was within ten yards of the creature—it turned and rammed its body into the wall. It did so again and again frantically before turning toward an entrance and bustling off down the corridor.
Rocks tumbled from the wall and crashed against the ground.
“Geez, Maya, you scared the piss out of it,” said Reena, with a long smile.
Maya’s mouth was open, and her cheeks were high and bright. She laughed. Reena did too.
Hoss was shaking his head when the women had made it over to him and Josh’s side. He held out his arms. “Just like when you were little, don’t go outside of Papa’s reach.” Reena jabbed him to the arm. Right after that Maya hopped onto his back. “I don’t see how you girls can be cheery at a time like this,” he said.
I’m trying to figure that out too, thought Josh.
Craeek! Craeek, craeek, craeek!
Josh felt a shivering chill shoot down is spine. “That can’t be more than thirty yards away, and I have a reeeeally bad feeling about whatever that is.”
Maya slid down from Hoss’ upper body. Her expression looked just as grim as everyone else’s.
“Let’s move,” said Hoss.
“We’re gonna want to try that path over there,” said Josh, pointing.
The pilots set off, making a series of rights and lefts, followed by many more. They carried on for what Josh felt to be somewhere around twenty to twenty-five minutes. Then they stopped again.
Reena sighed as if all the air had been knocked out of her sails. “We’re doomed. We are truly doomed.”
Josh pondered her words with everyone else. He shook his head. “We’re just lost. As long as we ration our food and water I think eventually we’ll learn this place or stumble upon an exit.”
“I wish I was as optimistic as you,” said Maya.
“We just have to keep a cool head,” said Hoss. “Who knows, there might even be consumable resources around here. All of the creatures we’ve seen have to be feeding off something.”