The bigfoot’s ire intensified. She leaned forward and screamed again. Then, she waved the air between them with her right hand.
Cole felt like he could feel her hot breath on his face. Her message came through loud and clear. She wanted him to move away from Zax.
His options were few. He could either move from Zax’s side, or he was certain that she would move him herself.
Keeping his gaze toward her, Cole crab-walked backward using both hands and feet, giving the female her space.
Complying with her wishes immediately calmed her down. She ambled over to Zax’s side and knelt. Bringing her face over Zax’s, her nostrils flared in and out as she examined him. Then the bigfoot made an unusual sound similar to a cat purring.
The bigfoot shot a steady gaze over at Cole. He took it as a warning that he needed to keep his place and not interfere.
Standing from Zax’s side, she then reached down and picked up his right arm. With her right hand, she placed it under Zax’s left armpit. In one smooth move, she lifted the massive Nu-Man and slung him over her shoulder.
Cole was in awe of the incredible strength displayed by the female bigfoot. She and Zax were nearly the same size, with the female being slightly larger. Now, she had taken claim of the Nu-Man. All Cole could do was watch as the cryptid carried his time traveling friend into the hidden secrets of the great forest.
Once the two were out of sight, Cole was left with the gentle breeze as his only companion. Zax was gone. Just as unexpectedly as the Nu-Man appeared in his life, he had disappeared in the same manner. Cole sensed that the female bigfoot had no intentions of harming Zax. Still, once the big guy awoke, Cole was curious how Zax would react to his new environment. One thing was for sure, Cole would visit Zax’s cave often to see if his friend had decided to live on his own or remain with the other bigfoot creatures in the wild.
The alien probe in a way reminded him of the monolith from 2001: A Space Oddessy. Inside, the probe contained science that once deciphered could exponentially advance mankind. It was a shame to let an opportunity like this go. But what could he do? There was nothing for him to learn from it. He could call the authorities and have them try and disable it so it wouldn’t leave the Earth, but Cole knew the consequences of that. There was probably no way to prevent the alien probe from leaving when it was ready anyway.
Gazing around, Cole saw no clues as to who had fired the shot that hit Zax. Time was moving on. If he was late getting home, his dad was sure to worry. The shooter would have to remain a mystery for now.
Zax’s backpack and blaster lay on the ground. The alien probe would leave Earth soon enough, but Cole now had the responsibility to care for the personal items until if and when the big guy returned.
After loading his four wheeler, Cole pulled out his phone and took one photo of the alien probe. When he looked at the screenshot, he thought he’d seen more realistic looking CGI UFOs in movies.
He took the photo just for keepsake, as he had no intention of ever telling anyone, and he meant anyone, the fantastic tale of the gentle giant from the future who saved mankind from total destruction.
Chapter 24
Cole sat on the bench next to a handful of teammates, chewing away on a snack. It was Friday night. A week had almost passed since he and Zax rescued Charlotte and Raymond.
It had been a whirlwind of a week, for sure. Monday at school turned into a Cole Rainwater appreciation day. Or, perhaps he should have called it Cold Rainwater appreciation day. It seems that the mispronouncing of his name by the reporter had stuck, and now Cold was his new nickname.
He had been forced to recount his heroic story in every class of how he singlehandedly took down the three evil men. His self-conscious did begin to weigh on him, as it was an out-and-out lie that he continued to tell. But what was a boy to do? Say that a bigfoot time traveler did it who came to save the Earth from an alien invasion?
He smiled to himself when he had said that line to Zax and remembered the Nu-Man’s reply. I’m not a bigfoot. I’m a Nu-Man.
Cole really missed Zax, but had a feeling that wherever he was right now, he was content. At least, content for now. Who knows what the future might bring? What if the female bigfoot chose Zax as a mate? Would they be able to have children? Who would the offspring take after, Nu-Man or sasquatch?
Of course, after he rescued Charlotte and Raymond, he did have to confess to the police and FBI what led he and Brennon to believe Douglas held her prisoner. On Tuesday, the principal sat him and Brennon down and gave them a strong talking-to on the wrongs of leaving school without permission. After reading a list of the dire consequences, the principal, because of his forgiving nature, let both boys off with just a warning; suspension or detention had been waived.
Tonight had been a good night for baseball. Dent County High played Calhoun High, an arch rival. Dent County led in the bottom of the 9th. The bases were loaded, but there was only one more out to go now that the last batter from Calhoun had struck out.
Calhoun had a lopsided winning record against Dent. What was so surprising about tonight, was that half of Dent’s team were off sick with a stomach virus. There were only three pitchers available, and Cole was number three! For a while there he thought he might get a chance to go in the game. The second pitcher, Brent Roy, came in at the bottom of the 7th and looked like he found his groove again and was going to cruise the team into a narrow victory. The score didn’t matter. A win is a win.
At least Cole learned the identity of Zax’s mysterious shooter. He had read an online story from the local newspaper how a guy named Walton Finch had a hunting accident where he received trauma to the head. His memory of the event was blurred but claimed he remembered someone big standing over him at one point. Police had no leads, and anyone with information on the incident was encouraged to contact the authorities. There was no mention of bigfoot or a UFO, the latter which surely Finch saw when he shot at Zax. The female bigfoot must have hit him on the head hard enough to erase his memory.
The pitcher for Dent, Brent Roy, shot one off the mound into the catcher’s mitt.
“Ball,” the home plate umpire called.
Cole took the last bite of the nutrient bar. He had eaten half before the game and waited for the 7th inning stretch to start back on the rest of it.
When Cole arrived home on Sunday with Zax’s backpack and blaster, he quickly had to find a good hiding place. Handling the blaster bothered him because Zax had never shown him how to use it; not that he had any reason to. Cole didn’t feel comfortable with the weapon just stuck behind some junk in the garage. So, on Monday after school, he wrapped the blaster and the extra ammo that was in the backpack, in plastic bags and took them into the woods and buried them. He covered the freshly turned earth with rocks and made a mental note right where he knew to find it.
Roy threw another pitch.
“Ball,” the umpire repeated.
The rest of the items in the backpack went in his room. The survival knife was really neat. It had a burning laser that he had to be careful with.
The rangefinder was the most interesting, but he still didn’t really know how to use it. He kept it in his closet, in a box with his old Nintendo game machine. His dad would never go looking in there and accidentally find it.
The medical supplies in the pack might come in handy one day. When time allowed, he thought he might play with some of the wipes and ointments to see how effective they were on humans. That one wipe he used on Zax healed him like magic. The bandages in the supplies weren’t much different than the ones he could buy at the drug store.
As far as the packaged food, Cole tried one that had baked chicken and mashed potatoes. He had MREs before, and the Nu-Mans’ packaged food was far superior in flavor. His favorite items, were the nutrient bars, as Zax had called them. He had said they were meant for Nu-Mans. But when Cole took a bite of one, he thought they tasted okay, once you got past the smell. They did give him a lot of energy too. The nutr
ient bars pepped him up more than two energy drinks.
Roy delivered another pitch. Before the ball hit the catcher’s mitt, he grabbed his right elbow and winced in pain.
The crowd from Dent moaned in disappointment.
“Ball,” the umpire said.
Coach Jones ran from the dugout toward the mound, followed by the catcher.
Cole looked up into the stands and saw Charlotte and her mother sitting in front of his dad. Charlotte had taken the week off school but came out tonight to watch the game. She and Cole had spoken every day, and things between them were slowly warming. They weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but Cole’s hopes were high. The last thing he wanted from her was some misplaced gratitude. Their relationship should be something heartfelt and not out of obligation.
Overall, Charlotte had put the ordeal behind her. She had a few counseling sessions with a state worker and said that had helped her a lot. A couple of days ago, Cole brought her some school work to do at home so she wouldn’t fall too far behind. She was kind of down in the dumps, so he gave her one of Zax’s nutrient bars. Funny thing, she had said she liked the way it tasted. The nutrient bar really lifted her spirits too. So much so that he had given her one before the game started so she’d get up for it. Whatever horrors remained in her subconscious were subject to time’s healing powers. Hopefully, nothing would stick around and haunt her like Cole’s dreams of bigfoot.
Coach Jones approached the dugout with his arm around Roy. The poor boy’s face was red, and tears streamed down his cheeks. “Rainwater, get on the mound.”
Cole felt like he was just hit in the face with a wet fish. “Huh?” Oh, yeah. He was the only pitcher left on the team. He’d forgotten that for a moment. “But I haven’t warmed up, yet.”
“Throw a few balls to the catcher, and let’s get this over,” Coach Jones said.
Unsure if that was a vote of confidence or if the coach had resolved himself that they would lose the game, Cole sprang off the bench and trotted toward the mound.
The Dent High fans yelled in support, and then chanted, “Cold! Cold! Cold!”
Blood rushed to his face making his ears feel hot. The combination of the crowd’s cheers and the nutrient bar made him feel bulletproof.
“Don’t worry, man. You got this,” Brennon said in Cole’s right ear and slapped him on the rear with the back of his glove. The boy had left right field to give him words of encouragement and headed back to his position.
He worked his arms around a bit and tossed a few balls to the catcher. Feeling like he was good to go, he gave the umpire a nod.
“Play ball!” the umpire said.
It was time to compose himself. Tune out all the outside noise, and avoid praying to an eight-pound-eleven-ounce blonde hair blue-eyed infant baby Jesus. How stupid was it to pray to an almighty God over some silly high school ball game anyway? God would probably be more likely to make the team lose with the most prayers offered for wasting his time.
Throw the ball with your arm and feet. Turn and shuffle, pull, snap. Feet and wrist. He knew what to do. Pitching was all in the execution, though.
Cole went through the windup and let the ball rip.
The batter never moved a muscle as the ball slapped the mitt. He looked bewildered at the umpire, and then turned his gaze to the catcher as he pulled the ball free from his glove and tossed it back to Cole.
The crowd roared and chanted, “Cold,” again.
Another windup and pitch sent a fastball right over home plate.
The batter swung this time, though the ball hit the catcher’s mitt long before he tried to hit it.
This was almost too easy. Right now, Cole felt like he could walk out on any professional baseball field and hold his own.
“Come on, Cole! Just one more to bring us home!” Coach Jones was on his feet and cheering like the rest of the crowd.
The batter, narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth, took a few dummy swings and rested the bat on his shoulder.
As Cole delivered the pitch, the batter started swinging before the ball left his hand.
No matter.
The batter swished through empty air as the ball went over his bat.
It was over! Cole had won the game!
The Dent crowd jumped to their feet, cheering, and calling his name. Cole’s whole body was electric! He had never felt so high before in his life.
But the crowd noise slowly gave way to a disturbance growing inside his head. All of a sudden, he felt dizzy. His vision started to lose focus.
As if all the muscles had been removed from his bones, Cole collapsed to the ground, and everything went dark and silent.
*
Coach Jones dashed from the dugout and slid by Cole’s side. The boy’s eyes were open, but he wasn’t responding. “Cole, can you hear me? Cole!” He patted him lightly on the cheek and felt his neck for a pulse.
The crowd had gone silent, and a woman in the stands cried, “Oh, no!”
There was no pulse, and Cole wasn’t breathing. “Doctor! I need a doctor.”
No time to panic, Coach Jones knew how to deliver CPR. He began chest compressions and started the count.
*
Cole opened his eyes and gasped deeply for breath. He was lying on the ground but didn’t remember why. Coach Jones was sitting next to him wearing a huge smile on his face.
“Cole! Cole!” Mark Rainwater ran and fell by his son’s side. “Son, are you okay?”
Cole cleared his throat and paused. He remembered winning the game, now, and then feeling sick. “Uh, yeah, Dad. I feel fine.”
“Get the EMTs over here to check him out,” Coach Jones said.
Feeling his energy return, Cole sat up.
“Try not to move too much until the EMTs get here,” Mark said.
“But I feel fine.”
“Cole…” Mark said with parental warning.
“Really. I don’t wanna sit on the ground anymore.” Cole hopped to his feet, and the crowd came alive again. He saw Charlotte and her mom jumping and clapping.
“Cold! Cold! Cold!” the chanting continued.
Cole took off his cap and raised it high in the air, waving at the crowd. His inner core had transformed in some way. He felt so strong that he thought he could crush a coconut with his bare hands.
As he continued to wave his hat in the air, he noticed hairs growing from his knuckles and the palms of his hands.
Cole felt like a new person.
He felt like a new man.
Epilogue
Cha’nu watched with the rest of her tribe as Zax and Kam’bu circled each other in the ring of honor.
The tribe’s chief, Rik’us, was a fair ruler who demanded honor and equality for all.
Zax had awoken in Cha’nu’s care sometime later the day he had been shot. He wasn’t entirely sure what happened but did notice that the wound on his head had been treated with a wipe from his medical kit. He could only imagine that Cole had been the one to do so.
At first, Zax was fearful that Cha’nu had hurt the boy when she had found him injured. Though communicating with her was crude, through drawings he made in the dirt and simple sign language, he was able to piece together part of the story.
A hunter had taken the shot that grazed his head. Cha’nu attacked him just as he took the shot. When she came to rescue Zax, she found Cole and let him go unharmed because he posed no threat. Zax was relieved when he learned that.
At that point, Zax was curious to meet members of Cha’nu’s tribe. He realized the risk he was taking by following her there. But was that any less risky than staying where he was so close to humans? He’d already taken a shot from one hunter. The next hunter might not miss.
The Holder’s language, what he learned they called themselves, was simple and a mixture of broken, spoken words and grunts. In a few days, he carried on basic conversations with Cha’nu, though he was careful not to speak any words of English. He had no idea how she would have re
sponded to that.
When Cha’nu presented Zax to the tribe, the males of the group had an instant distrust of him. Though Zax couldn’t tell if distrust was the right way to think of it, as it could have been more that they had less respect for him. Zax was more the size of the females, with the males being a good six inches taller or more. Plus, he was an intruder with a strange smell.
It helped that Cha’nu was a well-respected member of the tribe. She had vouched for Zax, and that was good enough for most. They were also happy to see that she had snapped out of her depression over losing her mate.
Only one member of the tribe, though, felt strongly enough about giving him a chance to fit in to offer a challenge in the ring of honor. There was no way Zax could refuse.
Kam’bu probably outweighed Zax by a hundred pounds. Not an ounce of that weight was fat.
Zax would have to use speed to counter the difference in sizes.
Tiring of the dance, Kam’bu made the first move as he lunged forward, trying to grab Zax using both hands.
Zax slapped Kam’bu’s hands aside and darted around him as he lost his balance.
Once behind him, Zax pushed both arms under Kam’bu’s arms and brought his hands to the back of his opponent’s neck.
Kam’bu roared in frustration and tried unsuccessfully to reach behind his head and hit Zax.
In full control, Zax wanted to swiftly end the match without either one of them suffering any major injury. Using all his strength, he pushed down on the back of Kam’bu’s neck, buckling his opponent’s legs until his knees hit the ground. Not stopping there, he pushed more until Kam’bu’s forehead touched the earth.
Turning a quick gaze toward Rik’us, he waited for a ruling.
“Cha’pa!” Rik’us declared.
The victor, Zax released his grip and quickly stood.
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