The trapdoor swung open, and Allison’s head appeared. Harrison helped her out, and she immediately threw her arms around him. The gesture caught him by surprise at first, but then he hugged her back, glad for her warmth.
“Get a room, you two,” said Rob, next up the ladder. He had just made it out when he spotted the other man in the room. His jaw immediately dropped wide open. “Holy shit! You’re Derek Jenner.” He turned to Harrison. “Dude, it’s the Crypto Hunter.”
“Yeah, I kinda gathered that already.”
“You’re the Crypto Hunter!” he repeated.
“Yes, indeed. Dr. Derek Jenner, at your service.”
Harrison ignored the exchange and yelled down into the darkness, “Coming, Phil?”
“Is it safe?”
“Just get up here. Unless you’d prefer we leave you behind.”
Within moments, the faux Native American was scrambling up the ladder. Once he was out, Derek surveyed the group and asked, “Is that everyone?”
“Yes...” Rob started to say. “Err, no! My girlfriend is still out there.”
Harrison could have smacked himself upside the head. In all the confusion, he had forgotten about Danni and Paula. “My sister, too. They ran when that thing came after us.”
“We have to go after them,” Rob said, starting toward the door.
Before he could get more than two steps, Derek caught him by the arm. “Not so fast,” he said. “None of you are going anywhere at the moment. For the time being, consider yourselves detained under my authority.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“Detained?” Harrison, Allison, and Rob asked as one.
“Yes, you heard me. Until we have a chance to sort things out, you’re all officially in my custody.”
“No offense, dude,” Harrison replied, “but last I checked, being on a low-budget cable show didn’t come with that kind of power.”
Derek smiled, showing off his straight white teeth. “Just for the record, that low-budget show has been the highest rated thing on the Adventure Channel for the past three seasons. But you’re right. Even pay cable doesn’t come with that many perks. On the other hand...” he said, fishing something out of his pocket, then showing it to the group. It was a badge. “The U.S. government is more than capable of delegating that kind of authority. Any questions?”
“No way! Let me see that,” Rob said.
“As you wish, citizen,” Derek replied, handing the I.D. over to the group for inspection. He was enjoying this part. He always did.
“U.S. Forest Service, Department of Cryptid Containment!?” Harrison read. “No offense, but there’s no such thing.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s a crime to impersonate a federal officer,” Allison commented.
“Indeed it is,” Derek said. “However, I think you’ll find that if you call in my badge number there, it checks out just fine. Unfortunately, we’re a bit out of cell range. Regardless, I can assure you,” he continued, looking them all in the eye, a dead serious tone in his voice, “that if you do anything to step out of line, you’ll be looking at time in a federal prison.”
Harrison opened his mouth to protest, but Derek interrupted him. “Besides which, we have guns. Do you?”
There was stunned silence from the group, then he added, “That wasn’t meant to be a threat, just a fact. Do any of you really want to go running around out there unarmed now that you know what’s waiting?” Again, he was met with silence. “I didn’t think so. Now, let’s go gather ourselves together. You can tell me about your friends, and then we’ll go take care of this business.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Derek helped them dismantle the barricade. The campers retrieved their packs and followed him out into the clearing. The two other men Harrison spoke with had managed to get Greg back to his feet. His arm was splinted, and his head was bandaged, but he was alive. The third man from the group was nowhere to be seen.
“How’s the patient?” Derek asked the thin man as he walked over.
“He’ll need a hospital eventually, but I think he’ll be good to go for now. What about the rest? Anyone else need patching up?”
“The one in the deerskin jacket is going all basket case on us,” he quietly said, motioning toward Phil, who stood silent and wide-eyed. “The rest seem to be handling things okay.”
“Got it.” He proceeded to pull a syringe from his well-organized pack. He walked over to Phil and put a hand on his shoulder, causing the younger man to flinch.
“It’s okay,” the thin man said. “This will help calm you down.”
“Very mild sedative,” explained Derek to the group. “Will mellow him out, but not knock him out.”
Harrison nodded, then said in as calm of a voice as he could, “That’s all fine and good. Now about my sister...”
“We’re taking care of it. One of my men is trying to pick up their trail. Once we have it, we’ll go after them, but we’ll do it my way. If any of you go running off blindly, there’s probably gonna be a bunch of dead bodies in these woods by the end of the day. That thing isn’t playing around. You understand?”
There were nods all around, except from Rob, who asked, “Is it Woodchuck?”
“Huh?” Harrison grunted.
Derek, on the other hand, smiled. “I see we have a fan.” He turned to the others and explained. “Chuck Woodchuck Wayans is my tracker. Good man, formerly with the U.S. Army before signing on with us. Trust me, if it’s out there, he can find it. Word of advice, though, don’t call him Woodchuck to his face. Unless, that is, you like spitting out your own teeth.”
Rob looked confused. “But I thought that was his nickname.”
“No. He can’t stand it. The network gave it to him. Said it made him more approachable. Trust me, it’s only for the cameras.” Derek then gestured toward the other two men from his group, but Rob was one step ahead of him.
“That’s Mitchell, the team medic,” he said excitedly, pointing toward the thin man, the perils of his friends momentarily forgotten. “And that big guy is Francis, their cameraman.”
“Interesting camera,” Allison commented, noting the large rifle he was holding.
“Yeah, about that,” Harrison said, “I can’t help but notice the lack of a show being filmed here. I don’t suppose you’re about to tell me I’ve been punked.”
“We can discuss that later.” Derek pointed toward the tree line. As he did, a short, powerfully built African American dressed in camouflage fatigues stepped out of the brush and walked toward them. As he came closer, the group wrinkled their noses at an odor that hung about him.
“Game scent,” explained Derek, noticing their expressions. “Speaking of which, Mitch, once you get that kid fixed up, everyone needs to be scented.”
The medic gave a thumbs-up, at which point Derek directed the campers in his direction. He then headed toward the man in fatigues, motioned him to follow, and kept walking. Once they were far enough away from the others, he asked in a low voice, “How’s it look, Chuck?”
“It’s weird, DJ,” the other man replied. “The two runners took off in a straight line. Pure panic. A blind man could follow their trail.”
“Is the squatch going after them?”
“That’s the odd part. It’s heading in their general direction, but it’s acting erratically, making a hell of a mess along the way. It’s like every ten yards or so it has to stop and punch out a tree.”
“You know these rogue males can get a little squirrelly, Chuck. That one in the Cascades led us on a hell of a chase, remember?”
“It’s not like that. Like I said, this one is erratic. It’s barreling through there like a freight train. Hell, one of those kids could probably track it down. I’m not sure, man. There’s something off about this one.”
“Well, let’s keep it to ourselves for now. The main thing is that we find it and take it out. That thing’s killed at least four people so far. Much more, and the local government won’t be able to keep a
lid on it.”
“I hear you, boss. Don’t worry. It’s not getting away.”
“Good. Let’s see if we can find those girls before it does. Take point. We’ll move in five.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Derek Jenner addressed the group of shaken, but still very much alive, campers before him. “Okay, listen up. This is the way things are gonna work. That stuff you were sprayed with is squatch ... sasquatch musk. It stinks, but it’ll keep that thing out there from immediately recognizing you as human. Since it seems to have a mad-on for people, I think we can all agree that’s a good thing. But smell is only half the equation. I need you all to be quiet. You move when we move. You talk only when we say it’s okay to talk. You follow those directions, and we’ll all stay alive.”
“What about...”
Derek cut Harrison off. “Your sister and friend are our number one priority right now. We have their trail. Running through the woods hollering our heads off isn’t gonna help them. It’s only going to bring eight-hundred pounds of angry ape down on our heads. We’ll find them as quickly as we can. Okay?”
Harrison nodded, hoping it would be quickly enough. Rob seemed to still be enamored at meeting his TV hero, but it would be only a matter of time before panic for Paula bubbled back up to the surface.
“Good. Chuck and I will take point. You, Harrison, right? I want you behind me. Mitch will walk with the rest of you, and Frank will have our six. That’s the way we go. For now, quiet conversation is fine. When I give the signal, though, that means zip it.”
♦ ♦ ♦
Derek spent a couple minutes going over some hand signs with the group. They seemed like fairly smart kids to him, especially the one that had gone toe-to-toe with the squatch. If he could do that armed with just a knife and some pepper spray, then he was probably reliable. It was the rest Derek was worried about, especially the kid dressed like Sitting Bull. Even with the sedative, he looked like he was ready to bolt for the hills. He mentally noted that Frank would probably need to pull double duty, guarding their rear and keeping an eye on that one.
♦ ♦ ♦
“Are we all set?” There was assent from all, save one.
“How about you, Tonto? Ready for a hike?” The purposely insulting question had the desired effect. Phil glared hard at Derek for a second, but then simply nodded. Harrison tried, albeit not too hard, to suppress a smirk.
Derek and his tracker set off. The rest of the group followed. As they started walking, Harrison turned to his friends to assess them. This Jenner guy had pretty thoroughly taken charge of the situation, and he was glad to let him keep it. However, this trip had been partially his idea and he felt responsibility for his friends.
“How’re you guys holding up?” he asked them as a whole.
“I feel like hammered shit,” Greg replied, his arm in a sling and the contents of his pack spread out amongst the others. “But I have to tell you, the doc here has some good shit in that bag of his.” He hooked a thumb toward Mitchell. “We should definitely party with this guy sometime.” Everyone chuckled, including the medic.
Harrison was glad to hear his friend was in good spirits, although he could tell by the look on his face it was an effort on his part.
“Physically, I think we’re pretty good,” chimed in Allison. “Mentally...”
“I know what you mean,” replied Harrison grimly.
She walked up next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll find them.”
“I know,” he responded before silently adding to himself, I just hope we find them first.
Chapter 12
Danni finally caught up with Paula. Fright and adrenaline had given the scared girl a boost of energy, much like it would a gazelle fleeing a lion. At first, Danni had attempted to keep up with her as she fled through the woods, but Paula had refused to listen to or even acknowledge her. Eventually, she had let her own pace slacken to conserve energy. Danni wasn’t exactly a tracker, but she had spent her fair share of time in the woods and knew what to look for.
Besides, Paula had been making absolutely no effort at anything other than running. She ran straight and true, so Danni had been able to follow her with little problem. Broken branches here, footprints there, a swatch of torn clothing every once in a while ... all of it finally led her to Paula. Her reserves spent, she had collapsed against a tree; where she remained, eyes closed and breathing heavily.
Danni approached quietly. She simultaneously put one hand on Paula’s shoulder and the other over her mouth. She didn’t think the creature had followed them, but there was no point in taking the risk. As expected, Paula’s eyes opened wide and she attempted to let out a shriek, muffled against Danni’s palm.
“It’s okay. It’s just me,” Danni said in a soothing voice. She herself was tired and scared, but since there was nobody else to fall back on, she would have to be the calm, collected one for now.
Eventually, Paula’s eyes focused and she nodded. Danni removed her hand and sat down next to her. She pulled out her canteen and took a swallow of water, then offered it to the other girl who drank with no hesitation.
When she was done, the two sat together in silence for a few minutes until Paula whispered, “Is it gone?”
“I think so.”
“Did the others follow?” Without warning, she broke out into sobs. “Oh God! Rob! I left Rob.”
Danni put an arm around the other girl. Despite that, she wasn’t particularly happy with how Paula had panicked, causing them to split up. Then again, a bigfoot attack hadn’t exactly been on any of their agendas that day.
Thinking back on it, it almost seemed surreal now that they had put some distance between themselves and it – she hoped. She was still somewhat surprised that she hadn’t completely flipped out as well. All things considered, she could probably forgive Paula for losing her cool. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
“But that thing...”
“Harrison is with him. He wouldn’t leave Rob. I know my brother.”
“Do you really think they stand a chance against that thing?”
Danni didn’t want to say what she was really thinking. The thought was far too painful to even consider. So instead, she replied, “Trust me. It’ll take a little more than an oversized gorilla to stop Harrison. Besides, Wild Feather is with them. I’m sure he has a couple of tricks up his sleeve.”
♦ ♦ ♦
“Can we go home now?” Phil whimpered.
“Come on, that’s not something the prideful man would do. Where’s your bow and arrow?” mocked Allison.
Though inwardly Harrison was chuckling, now was probably not the time for any browbeating. “Enough of that,” he chided. “We’re all coping as best we can. We need to stay focused for now.”
Fortunately, Rob was on hand to change the subject. Despite his endangered girlfriend, he was still all starry-eyed with regards to their current company. “So, when are you guys gonna start filming this?”
“We’re not,” Mitchell replied.
“What? You’re kidding me, right? Forget the stupid Adventure Channel. If you get that thing on video, we’re talking the cover of Time Magazine here.”
“I know.”
“Then why? I mean, you don’t even seem all that excited to know that bigfoot is real.”
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