Bigfoot Hunters

by Rick Gualtieri

  From his vantage point, Derek saw the squatch’s head descending, mouth open, toward the poor kid’s neck. The sound that followed was almost too much for his mind to comprehend. He turned his eyes away in horror, but didn’t close them. Something else had caught his attention.

  Halfway across the street, he saw the glint of metal. It was the revolver that he’d dropped earlier. He knew there should still be four shots left in it. Mustering the last of his reserves, he began to crawl.

  * * *

  He wasn’t going to make it. It wasn’t even going to be close. Derek heard a sound behind him, as if something wet and heavy had been tossed to the ground. He knew what it meant. There was a growl, then the creature took a heavy step forward. In another few seconds, it would be upon him.

  Before that could happen, though, an unearthly scream pierced the night. For a second, he thought another of the creatures was still in the area. Then he realized he could understand it.

  “HARRISON!!”

  There was a primal quality to it. It was both a wail of horror and battle cry. For one surreal moment, Derek envisioned Valkyries descending from Valhalla to collect the souls of the fallen. Alas, no winged horses appeared from the heavens. Instead, a lithe form dashed past him, headed toward the creature.

  “Danni?”

  He was almost too stunned to process it. Sure enough, though, it was her. Not only that, but she was actually going after the squatch armed only with what appeared to be a hand axe.

  Derek was almost certain that he’d gone mad. Surely, his mind had cracked in these last few seconds of life and was now filling in the blanks with some bizarre Xena: Warrior Princess fantasy to save him from the awful truth.

  If that were the case, though, then it was one hell of a hallucination.

  Danni dodged left at the last second, just outside of the creature’s reach. She brought the blade of the axe up in an arc and it connected with the squatch’s outstretched hand, severing two fingers in the process. The creature screamed in pain. She definitely had its full attention.

  She turned, nimble as a cat, and raced back toward it.

  I haven’t gone crazy. She has, Derek thought, butt-scooting backwards toward his discarded weapon, unable to take his eyes off the battle.

  The creature swung again, intending to remove Danni’s head with one swipe, but she ducked underneath it and went into a baseball slide. She wasn’t going for home plate, though. As her momentum carried her forward, she again swung the axe. This time, it lodged firmly in the creature’s kneecap. The blade struck bone with a meaty thud and held fast. The beast stumbled, causing her to lose her grip on the weapon.

  That was when Derek’s hand touched something heavy and metallic.

  “Over here!” he screamed at her.

  Danni glanced over her shoulder at the sasquatch alpha. It stumbled again, but didn’t fall. Seeing it was still very much a threat, she got back to her feet and ran toward Derek.

  The creature wrenched the axe from its knee with a pained grunt. It took a step to test the leg, found that it held, then lurched after her.

  They were out of time. As fast as she was, the creature’s long stride more than made up the difference. It was right behind her as she reached Derek.

  “Danni, left, NOW!” he barked, still on the ground, bringing the gun up with his good hand.

  Staring down the barrel of the massive weapon, Danni’s eyes widened, then she threw herself into a hard dive. Once she was out of the way, there was nothing before him except the massive form of the alpha squatch. This close up, it was enormous. Of far greater importance, though, was the fact that, in less than a second, it was going to squash him like a bug.

  Derek couldn’t shoot for shit with his left hand, but he didn’t need to. The beast filled almost his entire field of vision. He fired.

  The gunshot took its toll on both of them. Derek hadn’t had time to steady the shot, thus the recoil sent a shock through his body and jolted his arm upward. The creature, though, fared even worse. Its stomach exploded in a shower of blood and intestines. Gut-shot, it skidded to a halt and doubled over.

  That action brought its face almost even with the barrel of the gun.

  “Smile for the camera,” Derek said as he pulled the trigger again.

  Epilogue

  Overnight, the small town of Bonanza Creek had been nearly wiped from the maps on which it just barely existed. By the time the sun came up, several buildings on the eastern side of Main Street had been burnt down to their foundations, a result of the fire at the bar. Several smaller blazes burned elsewhere in the town. Some were the result of the chaos that the rampaging beasts had caused. Others were purposely set to destroy evidence of what had occurred that night. The smoke that rose from these particular pyres carried the distinct scent of burning hair.

  If the preceding weeks had been slightly dryer, a true disaster might have occurred. Had that happened, a much deeper investigation would’ve been inevitable and the truth might have been impossible to conceal. As it were, the fire didn’t spread beyond the town limits, and thus interest outside of Bonanza Creek was limited mostly to the friends and family of fallen and survivor alike.

  And survivors there were. Some had, amazingly enough, slept through the whole ordeal. One couple had decided to take advantage of the power outage to retire to their bedroom for a night of carnal activity. They lived close to the Gentrys. Had Elmer not neatly removed the head of one of the creatures with a double blast from his shotgun, they might have been paid a visit soon after. Instead, the gunfire and subsequent screams of the beasts had been drowned out by both the R&B music playing from their battery powered radio and the loud creaking of their old queen-sized mattress.

  Others had stayed in their homes behind locked doors. Huddled against the strange howls that filled the night, they did their best to convince themselves that nothing was wrong. Dr. Hanscomb and his wife, Myra, were one such couple. They lived in a small, cozy apartment above his practice. Though they were close to the heart of the conflict, they were left unharmed. A few of the creatures came within touching distance of their home. However, each time they passed it by. Though unknown to either the good doctor or his wife, the odor of the various antiseptics and medicines he kept in his office had served as the perfect mask to cover their scent.

  Dr. Hanscomb was kept busy in the days to come. There were bodies to be identified, as well as injured to tend to. Amongst the latter was that odd group of reporters who had come into town the day before. He knew better than to question them, especially when the one in charge flashed a government I.D. They gave him some cock and bull story about grizzly bears, but he didn’t dispute that either. He hadn’t seen what occurred, and as far as he was concerned, he was too old to go stirring up trouble for himself.

  * * *

  Later that morning, before the surviving locals had much chance to talk amongst themselves, outside help began to arrive. It wasn’t the aid that people would have expected, though. Representatives of either the nearby Pagosa Springs Sheriff or Fire departments were nowhere to be seen. Instead strangers, many of them in unmarked vehicles, arrived in the town. Some offered medical assistance to the survivors – treating them, taking blood samples, and, in all cases, administering painful shots of rabies vaccine. Some assisted in the cleanup efforts. Others scoured the surrounding woods, carrying weaponry that even the staunchest gun lover would’ve considered overkill for the known fauna. When pressed as to what really happened, the locals were given vague and often contradictory information: it was bears, wolves, or a rogue biker gang on the run from the law. By the end of the day, there’d been so many different theories spread that if someone had mentioned Bigfoot, they’d have gotten a laugh and been asked if he brought his friend, the Loch Ness Monster, along.

  In the end, only one survivor of Bonanza Creek was absolutely sure of what had occurred. Kate Barrows was found outside of the burnt remains of her house. She was
carrying on about monsters and appeared to be completely out of her mind to the point where she eventually had to be sedated. In the coming days, when her condition didn’t appear to improve, she was taken to Denver, where she was put under psychiatric evaluation pending a hearing for commitment.

  * * *

  Derek was supervising the ATF agents while they packed his gear in the SUV. One of their vehicles had been salvageable. The other two had been towed away before any curious onlookers could get a chance to snoop around them. He sighed wearily, feeling his hand throb painfully at his side. The entire mission had turned out to be a gigantic clusterfuck. He wasn’t being personally blamed. The few people who knew what he really did understood there was a certain element of uncertainty when dealing with creatures unclassified by science.

  It didn’t matter, though. He blamed himself more than enough. Mitch and Frank had been airlifted to Alamosa for medical care. They were going to be fine. However, Chuck wasn’t. His death was almost certainly Derek’s fault. He should’ve listened to Mitch and disarmed the Barrows woman when he had the chance.

  That wasn’t even scratching the surface of all the casualties he felt weighing him down. Lots of people died who hadn’t deserved it: his teammate, those kids they’d pulled out of the woods, and more folks from this poor town than he cared to think of. He glanced at the heavy cast around his hand. All things considered, he’d gotten off far more lightly than he deserved.

  That it appeared to be over was small comfort. The agents had combed the woods for miles around the town and discovered only one of the creatures still alive. It had been a straggler from the clan, found a few miles to the south, wounded apparently by a car. Between that and the disease, it had been near death when the agents had come across it. They had immediately put it out of its misery, then burnt the body. Since then, nothing further had been found.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” said a somber voice from behind him, pulling him back into the present.

  He turned to find Danni standing before him. He was more than surprised, as he’d given instructions that she be allowed to leave unhindered. She had been through more than enough, as far as he was concerned. That brought another pang of guilt. Her brother’s cause of death had been listed as a bear mauling. Their parents would never know the truth. Even if they did, they probably wouldn’t believe it, but the girl knew. In some ways, that made things even worse.

  “Listen, Danni, I’m sorry...”

  She stopped him with a wave of her hand. “You’ve said it a hundred times already, and I believe you.” Though her eyes were puffy, her voice didn’t waver.

  “Yeah, well maybe I don’t believe it.” He sighed. “After this, I’m thinking of disbanding the team.”

  “What?”

  “What we do ... it’s borderline insane. And this time, a lot of people paid for it. If we hadn’t been around...”

  “We’d have died in the woods, all of us,” she said, her voice taking on an edge. “There wouldn’t be any survivors at all here. Who knows how far those things would’ve gotten before someone stopped them?”

  “Danni, I...”

  “Just stop it with the pity party! I have enough of that for myself right now. Yes, a lot of people died, but not as many as could have. And that’s not even counting everyone you’ve ever saved before now ... unless you were lying about that part.”

  He let her words sink in for a few moments, then he slowly nodded. It was going to be a long time before he was at peace with himself, but she had a point. He almost laughed as a phrase flashed through his mind ... the show must go on.

  “I just have one request.” He thought she was going to ask for permission to let her parents know what had really happened to her brother. Instead, he was surprised, and a little horrified, when she said, “I want in.”

  “What!?”

  “You heard me. This could happen again...”

  “Danni, if this is about revenge...”

  “It’s not,” she said emphatically. “I know enough not to hate all dogs if one bites me. I realize those things were sick. As much as I want to blame them, it wasn’t their fault.”

  “Then what?”

  “It’s about Harrison.” Her eyes began to glisten. “I couldn’t save him. He was so brave out there in the woods...” She paused to wipe a few tears away. “Well, now it’s my turn. I know what’s out there now. I couldn’t help him, but maybe I can help others. If I can do it enough, then maybe...”

  “You can make it up to him?”

  “Something like that. The funny thing is, if our positions were reversed, I know he’d be asking you the same thing.”

  Derek smiled at her. “From what I saw of him, I wouldn’t doubt that for a second.” He was amazed to find himself actually contemplating her request. It was insane, yet he couldn’t help but remember how she had handled herself against the alpha.

  He found himself remembering the Adventure Channel’s demand for a cohost. There was little doubt she’d pass their muster in the looks department, and he’d sure as hell rather have someone who could handle herself watching his back than some airhead cosmetics model.

  Still... “I don’t know, Danni,” he said. “You have no idea...”

  “Yes, I do,” she replied with a tone of finality. “I was studying to be a forest ranger anyway. I’m not afraid of the outdoors, and this seems a hell of a lot better way to apply myself than harassing people about their campfires.”

  “Well...”

  “Besides, right now it seems like you could use the extra help.”

  He winced a little at the thought of Chuck, but again, she had a point. Just because he was a man short didn’t mean that situations weren’t going to pop up again.

  “At the very least, you’re in no condition to drive.” She looked him in the eye expectantly.

  He sighed. “You’re right about that, and I do need to check on Mitch and Frank. Fine, I’ll tell you what. We can discuss it on the ride over to Alamosa. No promises, though.”

  She smiled and held out her hand for the keys.

  He handed them over, and she opened the driver’s side. As she was getting in, he leaned over and asked, “You’re not camera shy, are you?”

  * * *

  Several miles to the south, a Honda Pilot was parked on the side of route 160. Bernadette Hodgekins was sitting in the passenger seat, waiting for her husband, Darryl, to get back. He’d hastily pulled over and run off into the trees to take care of business. She was playing Angry Birds on her phone and thinking idly, that man has the bladder of a mouse, when she looked up and saw movement further down the road, near the edge of the woods.

  At first, she thought it was her husband, then she realized her mistake. Whoever it was, they were far too small. The figure staggered out to the edge of the road, and she was able to make it out better.

  “What are you looking at?” her husband asked from right outside the window, causing her to jump.

  “Don’t do that, jerk!”

  “Sorry.” He followed her gaze. “Is that a boy?”

  “I think so,” she replied, opening the door. “What’s he doing out here?”

  “Don’t know.”

  “Poor thing might be lost.”

  “Well, let’s go see if we can help,” he said as they started walking.

  * * *

  He stared at the two figures through red-rimmed eyes, from within a world of pain. His body ached all over, and there was a fire burning in his brain. Suddenly, though, that seemed unimportant. What mattered was the rage. It took hold of him as they approached. They seemed unafraid, impudently walking toward him. They were stupid things and would soon learn their mistake.

  He bared his teeth in what could have been mistaken for a smile but was, in fact, a snarl. Once – ages ago, it seemed – he had been camping with his parents when they had stepped into a nightmare. A brief flicker in his decaying mind whispered that his name had o
nce been Carl Mercer, but the memory vanished just as quickly as it appeared. All that remained was the rage. It told him to deal with the two stupid things standing before him. It commanded him to make them hurt, to make them bleed ... to make them scream.

  THE END

  Author’s Note

  I’ve always been fascinated by the field of Cryptozoology. Personally, I would hope there isn’t too much argument against the existence of animals that have yet to be discovered by science. Hell, even as I write this, there was a new species of crab discovered just a few days ago. That some of these undiscovered creatures might actually be true monsters – straight out of our wildest imaginations – is one that makes me as giddy as a child. However, I’m split on my thoughts with regards to the outcome of searching for these legendary beasts.

  On the one hand, there’s a part of me that needs to know. That part insists that one day the Bigfeet and Loch Ness Monsters of the world must either be revealed or proven false beyond a shadow of a doubt. The truth is out there, and I must know it.

  But, there’s also a flip side. Another part of me loves the mystery, the what if aspect of it all. Discovering such creatures would go a long way toward dispelling that feeling of wonder.

  Despite how incredible it would be for science to prove that Sasquatch exists, how long would it be before they became mundane? Think about it: a scant hundred years ago, there were nightmarish rumors of man-beasts in Africa. Today, though, people barely give the gorilla cage at the zoo a second glance. How quickly would Bigfoot go from being the legendary wild man of the woods to those annoying apes that keep eating out of my trash can?

  That’s what I mean. There’s the need to know versus the need for something to remain fantastic. Quite the conundrum, isn’t it?

  Fortunately, it’s not one we have to worry about right now. For within the realm of fantasy, which I assure you this book strictly is, there need be no such quandary. The unknown can be discovered, yet still be as awe-inspiring as ever.