Cum For Bigfoot 12 (4 page)

“Look, I know we messed up…but…we were
following orders.”

“Whose orders?”

“A guy named Nick Redfern. He organized the
hunt. We didn’t mean to shoot at you. We didn’t know humans were
with the Sasquatches.”

“Bullshit. Porsche said a guy by that name
was asking questions. He knew she was living with the apes. Quit
feeding me a line of shit.”

“What are they going to do with these
people?” I asked, glancing at the woman. My sexual experience with
the apes had been nothing but pleasure; I suspected hers had not.
Her eyes drifted between us, hopeful, yet filled with
trepidation.

“Leave ‘em I say,” muttered Leslie. “I got my
kid. We can go.” She glanced at a bag on the floor. “What’s in
here?” She knelt before it, rifling through it. “They have baby
milk. This proves they came here specifically for Wolfie.”

Leonard and Bubba remained oddly quiet,
assessing the situation. Leonard’s nosed perked up, as he sniffed
the woman. He seemed to enjoy taking care of females and treating
them well. What was he going to do? Would we leave now and let the
humans face their own fate, or would our apes intervene? To answer
my question, Leonard suddenly grabbed the woman, the gag muffling
her scream of surprise. He deftly untied the rope, releasing her.
This set off her ape captors, who jumped to their feet, with teeth
bared. They snarled and waved their arms angrily.

“Ggggrroooaaaarrr…” Bubba voiced his
displeasure, the hair standing on top of his head. He spoke in
Sasquatch, and the other apes howled at him, stomping their feet
into the dusty floor of the cave.

“I’m leaving,” said Leslie. “I don’t give a
shit what they do to these stupid people.” She brushed past me with
Wolfie in her arms.

Leonard grabbed a pile of black clothing from
the floor, tossing them at the woman. “Get dressed,” he rasped.

He kicked a pair of boots at her. She
scrambled to step into the pants; fear mixed with hope was etched
into her features. She was built athletically with short, reddish
hair, and a pretty, but dust-streaked face. A clean path revealed
the tracks of her tears.

“Whhooaaarrr…” the leader of the rival apes
spat in displeasure.

The argument continued to rage on; all the
while, Leonard worked to untie the men, giving them a push towards
the door. It was extraordinary to witness his humanity, especially
considering he was a creature of the woods. I was also slightly
ambivalent about their release, considering they were mercenary,
and, if given a chance, they would have killed us last night.

Moments later, we found ourselves on the side
of a rocky gorge; Leslie had already descended. She was heading
back the way we came. “Wait, Leslie!” I ran to catch up to her.
“What’s happening?”

“Who cares. We gotta get Pooky medicine.
That’s more important than anything right now.”

The freed hostages followed us. Their
expressions of worry creased their foreheads. “Hey,” yelled one of
the men. “Do you have a way to call for help? We were supposed to
meet someone downstream.”

“Too fucking bad,” muttered Leslie.

He eyed me pleadingly. “Um…I don’t know,” I
said. “I’m kidnapped myself. I’m waiting for a rescue too.” And
that certainly was the truth.

Bubba and Leonard appeared, scurrying down
the mountain. They brushed by the men, not bothering to acknowledge
them. From the determined look on Leonard’s face, we would be
returning to the cave now, our mission accomplished.

“Look! Please,” said the woman. “Can’t you
help us? I know you’re mad, and you have every right to be, but we
have no way out of here. Please.”

We didn’t owe these people anything, least of
all compassion, so when Leonard stopped in his tracks, I was
astounded when he gestured for them to follow. After everything
they had put us through; he was going to offer them sanctuary.
Gratitude shone in their eyes, and they hurried, jogging to catch
up to us. We walked single file up the other side of the ravine,
the hike made more difficult by several feet of snow. At one point,
I felt Leonard’s hand on my butt, the flat part giving me a
substantial boost to make it up the hill. I turned to grin at him,
and he smiled, flashing ferocious looking teeth. Bubba picked up
the package of medication, carrying it on top of his head.

“You’re in contact with the outside world,”
said the woman. “Do you have a satellite phone?”

Leslie glared at her. “What if we’re just
inviting you back to camp, so we can cut you up and eat you?”

I giggled, not being able to stop myself.
“Oh, yum.”

“They have contact. That package is new.
It’ll be all right, Kelly,” said the taller of the two men. His
face was nearly unrecognizable because of the blood.

“I took excellent care of that baby,” said
Kelly. “He’s a real cutie.”

“Please, don’t talk to me,” said Leslie.
“You’re on my shit list, bitch.”

“I’m sorry. I really am. I was only doing my
job. It’s incredible that humanoids exist. We’ve been searching for
so long. These Sasquatches seem really smart. Those other guys were
more like animals.”

I had to sympathize with her, knowing she had
experienced a level of brutality that I could only guess at. “They
are smart. They care about their families.”

“A lot of our team died. They have families
too,” said the shorter man.

Leslie removed one of her gloves and rubbed
her thumb and forefinger together. “This is the world’s smallest
violin, buddy. It’s playing for you.”

The reaction at the cave to the enemy
strangers was mixed. Zelda, whose expression of distaste was
obvious to everyone, set about unpacking the box and withdrawing a
syringe with the medication we needed for Pooky. The wounded ape’s
fever continued to rage, and he had yet to stir from his pelt
before the fire. The newcomers were taken to the hot spring, where
they bathed away the blood and grime. We gave them clothes to wear
that belonged to Dr. Haynes and his research assistant, George.
They had left a bag of supplies here.

After everyone had been taken care of, the
shorthaired woman noticed Kat, the female Sasquatch. She stared at
the ape; her interest was unmistakable. Kat, sensing the attention,
began to preen, which was amusing. She tidied the hair on her face
and licked her lips. From the naughty look on her face, she wasn’t
adverse to lesbian sex, because I had been told she frequently
enjoyed it with Zelda.

“Maybe we should introduce ourselves,” said
the shorter man. “I’m Jack. This is Kelly and Sam.”

“I’m Lena.” I pointed to Leslie, who sat in
Bubba’s lap with Wolfie in her arms. “That’s Leslie.”

Leonard chewed noisily with a mouthful of
bull trout, observing everything. Kat and Dale had gone hunting,
while we had been on our rescue mission, and, as a result of their
efforts, the smell of grilled fish lingered in the air. Bubba Jr.
and Lendal kicked a soccer ball in the more cavernous portion of
the cave. Their laughter could be heard from the other room.

“I can’t believe there’s a female,” said
Kelly. “We were told they were really rare. This is so fascinating.
Our approach was totally wrong.”

“Going after Bigfoots isn’t all that smart,”
said Zelda. “The males typically take the women and kill the men.
These two are lucky to be alive.”

“We really appreciate your hospitality,” said
Sam. “You don’t owe us anything, and yet you’ve been so kind.” He
looked at Leonard as he spoke. “I’m sorry for the mess we’ve
caused. I don’t know who started shooting, but that was a mistake.
We were only trying to distract the tribe, so we could…ahem…collect
evidence.”

“My kid’s not evidence,” griped Leslie.

“I know, but…we needed concrete proof.
Pictures aren’t good enough anymore, because people believe they’re
fake. Our organization has gotten more aggressive with stuff like
this. But I gotta warn you, there’ll be a shitstorm coming, because
of the men that died. They were supposed to pick us up down river.
They’ll be looking for us.”

His speech worried and excited me. I didn’t
want to live with the apes indefinitely. My classes were starting
soon, and I had to talk to my advisor. I glanced at Leonard to
gauge his reaction. His eyes sparked with intelligence, although
his mouth continued to move as he ate. Dale suddenly spoke; his
voice was low and gruff. He seemed to be making his feelings known.
When he finished, Bubba and Leonard glanced at each other and
nodded. The leader of the apes got to his feet. His girth was
expansive, his belly bulging. He grunted and gestured in what
looked like sign language. The entire cave suddenly crackled with
kinetic energy, and every Sasquatch stood.

“W-what’s happening?” I eyed Leonard, who had
raced from the room.

“Looks like we get to hike now,” muttered
Leslie.

Sam seemed perplexed. “Was it something I
said?”

“How observant.” Zelda glared at him. “This
was our winter home. We were supposed to be here for another two
months, and now, because of you, we’re out on our asses.”

“You’re leaving?” He was incredulous. “The
conditions outside are terrible.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Zelda’s scowl took over
her entire face. “Why do you think we hunkered down in this cave?
We’ve got enough supplies to see us through till spring, but now we
have to hit the road and fend for ourselves. It’s a fucking
disaster.”

“I guess I’ll wait here for the rescue,” I
said. “People are coming, right?”

Zelda shook her head. “Honey, that boy isn’t
gonna let you go. I’m sorry to have to break it to you, but there
it is.”

Was she referring to Leonard? A shudder went
through me, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. The cave had been
thrown into an uproar, as humans and apes packed, tossing
provisions into enormous looking backpacks. A type of stretcher was
brought out, made of sturdy looking branches, interwoven with rope.
Tate and Archie placed Pooky on it, because he had yet to wake, but
his temperature was improving.

“I’m going with Pooky,” said Zelda. “I’ll
keep giving him his medicine. Whose going with me?”

“A-are we splitting up?” I had dressed in
layers; a sweater, jacket, coat, and a knitted hat was on my
head.

“We gotta split up, honey. It’s how it’s done
when there’s a crisis. It’s the best way to hide the tribe. We’ll
meet up again soon enough.” Zelda zipped up a heavy-looking
backpack. “What’s the plan, guys?”

“You take Dale and Kat,” rasped Leonard. He
pointed at Bubba. “You take Tate and the boys. I go with Archie and
Lena.”

But this couldn’t be. “Hey, wait! I think
I’ll stay and get rescued. I’m good.”

“Do you have a satellite phone or anything we
could use for communication?” asked Jack.

“Right, buddy. Like we’re gonna give you
that.” Zelda glared at him. “Should I make you a latte while I’m at
it? Double espresso? You need a extra pillow?”

“You’re lucky to be alive,” said Leslie. “You
can shut up any time.” She hugged me, which was a surprise. “Look,
I know you wanna go home, but shit’s going down. You’re gonna have
to hang tight a bit longer. The apes have tracking devices. They’re
being monitored. When Dr. Haynes finds out we’ve split up in the
middle of winter, he’ll know something bad happened.”

“But isn’t it dangerous being outside in this
weather? Isn’t another storm coming?”

“The apes know these woods really well.
They’ll keep you warm and fed. You don’t have to worry about that.
All we gotta do is walk our asses off. I’m sorry, but that’s how it
is.”

“I can walk. I can do that.”

“So you’re being monitored by scientists?”
asked Kelly. “Who is Dr. Haynes?”

“Mind our own business, honey.” Zelda thrust
her arms through a formidable-looking backpack, attaching it at the
front. “Time to hit the road, folks. We’re blowin’ this taco
stand.”

The apes grunted in agreement. Dale grasped
the handles of Pookie’s stretcher and dragged him into the next
cavern. Lugging him around would be a tremendous amount of work,
and it would leave a significant trail, which anyone could follow.
Had the apes thought of that?

“Thanks for helping us,” said Sam. “We really
do appreciate it. You saved our lives.”

“Yes, thank you,” said Kelly.

“Thank you very much,” said Jack. “You’ve
been far more humane than we were. I’m truly sorry for the trouble
we’ve caused. It would’ve been amazing to get to know the
Sasquatches better. This tribe is fascinating.”

“Ah, stuff it,” grumbled Zelda. “Tell whoever
hired you they can piss up a rope. It’s really stupid to go messin’
with Sasquatch. You people should know better.”

He didn’t seem to have a response to that,
and he remained silent, wisely so. They watched us leave; the three
of them stood by the fire, as we headed out of the cave. The
interlopers wouldn’t be hungry or tired. They could relax in
comfort and wait for rescue. We would be the ones out in the
elements for days or more.

Once outside, we split up, and I was relieved
to see Dale and Kat lifting the stretcher, holding it between them.
They wouldn’t be dragging it after all, or at least not yet. I
trudged on, following Leonard with Archie behind me. I wore a
backpack also, but it wasn’t as big. Bubba and Leslie disappeared
down the ravine, followed by Lendal and Bubba Jr. The little apes
were laughing, their raspy utterances drifting to us. They seemed
to always be in fine spirits, no matter what the situation, and I
envied their enthusiasm.

Leonard turned to look at me. “You good,
Lena?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You unhappy?”

“I should be home.”

He snorted. “You are home.”

That was not what I had wanted to hear. “You
can’t kidnap women like this.”