Mack Randle had served in the US Army Ranger Corps and had been trained as a sniper. That was not a big stretch as he had hunted game with his Remington rifle since being a boy of 10 years old. He started off with rabbits and then eventually deer. Even before he had entered sniper school, he could make a shot at 600 yards! However, once getting sniper training. Mack chose not to extend his officer training and ended his service in an honorable discharge. He had other ambitions. Mack became a specialty hunter after being approached by a number of agents from the US alphabet intelligence agencies. It seemed they needed a contractor, mercenary, hit man, or assassin, would be too harsh a term. Let’s just say that they would farm out a job to him when coincidence might make a particular liquidation a bit too sticky. So, Mack made a good living for a sporadic type of “as needed” basis specialization.

Occasionally one might read of the untimely death of some diplomat or suspected spy that reached the back pages of the newspaper and was never a TV news item, and you might speculate that Mack had been paid handsomely as a shooter for hire, who got the job done. The time he had on his hands allowed him to hunt all over the world, and even occasionally handle civilian jobs like the time in southern Louisiana that a group of farmers paid Mack to track down and kill a rogue bear of unusual size that had been killing their pigs and horses, leaving them afraid for their children to be out of the house when not in school.

So, Mack wasn’t surprised when he got a call from a rural land owner who used his acreage to attract sportsmen for hunting, fishing, and wildlife observation such as bird watchers. The big advantage being on private property there were no hunting season regulations or game wardens to trouble hunters, so this fact alone attracted many game hunting enthusiasts so that the land owner made a nice profit off his acreage! But there was a situation. Some unknown predator had been causing problems. Several of his priced game animals had been mauled to death, and one hunter killed under strange circumstances. This had gone on for months! Mack’s name came highly recommended by another such landowner who had used the former Army Ranger’s services!

“Glad you’re here. I’ve had the darndest time with this troublesome critter that’s been killing prey that my clients would normally have a shot at, and I don’t like having to go out and purchase exotic animals, if you know what I mean.” The owner spoke with a cigar in his cheek.

“What do you think it might be?” Mack frowned, puzzled. “You do have hunters active in the area much of the time, right?”

“If you’d seen what this damn creature did to one of my prized boars! Just beat the piss of a 500-pound specimen like nothing! Never seen a bear or any other kind of big cat do that!” The tall heavy-set man griped.

“Well, you’re going to have to close down your operation while I’m hunting this thing down. I’m not going out there while you have active armed men trying to shoot game, and here I am walking through the brush. No way. Tell your customers you’re temporarily closed for maintenance or restocking!” Mack replied.

“How long do yuh think it’ll take?”

“As long as it takes, if you really want to get rid of this predator!” Mack replied.

“Well hell! I’ll be losing money then!”

“I’m not going to get my ass shot off by some yahoo thinking I’m one of your hunting trophies!”

“Okay! Okay! Just get the damn thing!”

“What kind of stock have you invested in? I need to know what I’m getting into!”

He took the cigar from his mouth and explained, “A few black bears, several cougars, a couple of panthers, lots of deer, and few bull Elk! I’ve lost two big boars over the last couple of weeks! “

“Anything else I should know about?” Mack frowned thinking of the hostile environment.

“I don’t rightly know, but whatever it is, it’s intelligent! Been out there myself trying to track it down. No luck!”

Mack sighed, anticipating the scale of this job. “This will cost extra depending on the difficulty of my job. I’m not going to get my ass eaten for nothing!”

“Within reason. I’ll accept.” He reached out to shake Mack’s hand.

“You’ll need to clear your schedule for a week. I’ll need that much time to track and make the kill. I’ll be bivouacked on your property for that time, trying daylight and night time hunting.”

“When can you start?”

CHAPTER II

It was a crisp and misty morning. The sun was low over the horizon, and he could see his breath as he unloaded his truck to get his gear situated. To an inexperienced non-hunter, one might have considered the scene ominous, but for Mack, this was a normal prelude to the hunt. Now there would be the inevitable reconnaissance after he set up camp and got his ammo and fire arms in preparation. From what the land owner had described, it looked like he’d need heavy, knock down, fire power. Mack had brough his 308 Winchester with a telescopic site for long range, but noting the heavy brush and the possibility of close-range shooting also brought a short stock AK-47 in the event an up-close encounter the 308 rifle was simply too unwieldy in the dense woods. He evaluated the land. It was generally flat and slightly hilly. He would survey his best possibilities for laying a field of fire ambush! Mack suspected that there might even be a feral hog population, and that he did not want to run into by himself caught on the ground. If you shot one, the rest of the pack might just attack all at once!

Mack patrolled along a couple of game trails, but no luck. He did notice that everything had gotten unsettlingly quiet, like the noise had been sucked out of the air. This generally happened in the presence of large predators, he hoped. Mack had heard rumors of Sasquatch, but had dismissed these as myths and wives' tales. Yet, he was a bit nervous for some reason. Mack noticed some tracks that paralleled the wildlife trails but off the beaten path by an animal that was smart enough to hide its footprints and they were very large. He noticed spoor, but much too large to be that of a bear! Something was wrong!

Along the path, Mack noticed something else. Tree branches torn down from an 8-foot height, not something that most animals would do! Whatever this was, it was big! Then, Mack came upon a woven structure made of twigs and branches looking like a lean to type of shelter. Why hadn’t Rex, the land owner mentioned this or did he even know about it? Now Mack was really wondering what it was that he was actually up against. Afternoon shadows came fast, and he’d been so immersed in tracking that time had gotten away from him. That was when Mack became aware of a presence as though someone or something had been stalking him from a distance. He crouched from behind an oak tree and flicked off the safety on the AK-47 short stock, waiting.

A tall shadow was cast against the foliage around it about 75 yards away, he estimated, but it wasn’t moving. He strained his eyes to get a better look but there was still no movement. Perhaps it was just an odd shadow or a dead tree stump contrasting from the rest of the woods. He slowly stood and began to approach as quietly as he could, but it disappeared? Was it just a trick of his imagination? Whatever it was, it was gone now. He resumed his return to the campsite. After making a campfire and opening up some of his rations, Mack forgot about the incident as a he tried to get ready for sleep. The stars were intense points of light against the incredibly black background of the night sky.

He quickly drifted off into an exhausted sleep. The chill of the night crept over his camp, but it couldn’t cloak the sound of branches breaking!? Mack crawled out of his tent with his AK-47 cradled in his arms as his Ranger training had been embedded in his actions. He grabbed his high intensity flashlight and scanned the area around his camp. There was movement in the brush but no shape or form behind it! A bear, an elk, or ……? Mack raised the deadly automatic, ready to drop something if it charged! Suddenly a huge branch landed on his tent crushing it! What would have happened to him had he been in there asleep, he wondered? He pressed the trigger and let out a burst that lit up the night briefly in the direction of where the huge branch had been launched! There was no squeal of an animal hit by bullets. Only silence replied to the gunfire. That spooked Mack. Now he knew he was up against something unnatural, perhaps paranormal, and he was on the menu!

He examined the huge limb, 5 inches around, 5 feet long, probably weighed well over a hundred pounds! He pulled it off his tent, and threw it onto the fire to keep the camp lit up! He didn’t sleep the rest of the night. Instead, he kept his attention on the outer perimeter of his camp anticipating another attack. Keeping his head on a 360-degree swivel which was exhausting. As the sun rose. Mack made a hike out of his camp back to his truck and drove over to the landowner’s place to let him know what was happening.

Rex wanted to see for himself, after what Mack had told him. They drove back out, entered the property from where Mack had originally made his trek to where he had established his camp. When they got there, Mack’s tent was torn to pieces, his gear was disheveled, and strewn all over the ground. Rex looked over the area, “And you say someone or something threw a huge tree limb on your tent?”

“This is not an ordinary beast or predator!” Mack replied.

“You sure it wasn’t just a limb tangled up in the branches that the wind may have dislodged?” Rex asked disbelievingly.

“Look man! I was stalked! It was circling my camp!” Mack shot back. “It left huge tracks off the wildlife trails. This thing is smart!”

“What the hell do you think it is?” Rex mockingly asked. “A monster?” he grinned, not so self-assured now.

“I’ve been hunting game on safaris and in every part of the US wilderness you can imagine. I was in the Army Rangers, I told you already! This thing is not normal, not a bear, not a bull elk, not a panther!”

Rex watched the expression on Mack’s face as he spoke and realized the guy was rattled, but noticed something moving in the trees behind him. He grabbed Mack by the shoulder and silently pointed behind him with a finger over his lips. There, both men saw something or someone crouched from behind a large tree trunk. Mack made sure his AK-47 short stock was loaded. Rex had a 45 caliber Glock sidearm holstered, but now he drew it. Both men slowly crept toward whatever it was. Suddenly, it sprang up and darted away with an incredible burst of speed! Both men were startled. Mack ran forward to see if he could see where it had run off but it was useless.

“What the hell was that?” Rex wondered aloud.

“Is there something here you didn’t tell me about?” Mack asked in an irritated tone.

Rex sighed, “When I bought this land about 10 years ago a couple of townspeople told me that the original owner had a strange problem that had caused him to consider selling the land. Something about an old Indian curse and some shape shifter he’d seen. I didn’t pay any attention. I thought it was all bullshit! “

“And you never had any of your customers say a damn thing about being spooked over a strange animal or being?” Mack’s tone was getting more agitated.

“Damn it, all I know is that I have animals being attacked. I thought it was a panther or a bear! I had no idea it could be anything else! I thought you with your experience could handle this!” Rex replied.

“I’ve been charged by a grizzly. I’ve taken down lions. I’ve damn near gotten gored by a boar, but I never had a 2-hundred-pound tree limb get thrown at me, and you just saw what up and hauled ass out of here!” Mack locked eyes with Rex.

Rex appeared intimidated, but what happened next caused fear and panic! A rock came sizzling through the air and struck Rex in the head! The taller man went down like a load of bricks! Mack immediately ducked as another rock came humming over his head! Angrily Mack grabbed his rifle with gritted teeth. He checked Rex who was out cold with blood flowing from his forehead, but he was still breathing! Mack turned in the direction from where the rocks came from and slowly approached crouched and ready to fire. He worked his way up into the area where he thought the rocks had been thrown, breathing heavily in anger and anticipation.

There was the vague shadow of a dark figure behind some brambles! Mack wasted no time and fired several bursts into the vegetation! This time, there was a deafening roar but more like a scream! It was the loudest animal cry he’d ever heard! It wasn’t the sound of any animal he’d ever hunted or seen. Mack pushed though the saplings and vines and there was a body! Covered in fur, almost human, it was not an ape, he trembled as he looked down. Suddenly from behind came the rustling of brush! “Oh, hell no! Not another one!” Mack’s mind raced as he swiveled to his rear ready to shoot! It was Rex with a bloody handkerchief over his forehead.

“I damn near killed you! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry, you might say I’m a little woozy right now!” Rex ambled forward to see what Mack had been gawking at. “Damn, you killed a person!”

“That’s not a man! Damn it! It’s a fucking creature of some kind!” Mack grumbled. “Let’s see that wound on your head.”

“You’ve got quite a bruise on your forehead. Come on back to your place. We need to get some ice on that. You might have a concussion,” Mack sighed resolutely.

“But, what about that thing you killed,” Rex stammered. “We got proof of a Bigfoot!”

“Oh really, or a charge of murder by the authorities if they think this is some kind of feral human being. Look what you just said!”

“Well hell, Mack, I just got the shit knocked out of me!”

“It’s fucking dead! It aint going anywhere. Come on I’ll drive you back to your place.”

Back at Rex’s place, Mack applied a bag of ice to the landowner’s forehead, “Now I’m going to ask you some questions to make sure you don’t have any internal skull damage or a concussion. In the Army Ranger’s basic training he had to take a basic medic’s course for preparation in battle. You have a nasty contusion and cut, but the bleeding stopped.”

“We need to do something with that body, Mack! There’s animals out there that will scavenge it! “

“Alright, alright, tell me where you have a shovel and I’ll go bury it!”

“No! No!” Rex stammered. I have a meat locker on my property! We’ll freeze the body until we figure out what to do with it!”

Mack sighed, “Okay, I’ll go load the son of a bitch up then and bring it back.”

“No, that damn thing is too big! You can’t handle it alone. I’ll help.”

“You sure?” Mack examined Rex’s facial expressions.

“Yeah. Let’s go! We’re burning daylight!”

It took some time for Mack to maneuver his pickup truck to the spot where the creature had fallen, but he was finally able to get close. The body was still sprawled out over the floor of the woods, undisturbed. Mack wondered this if there was one of these things there could be more. He had his rifle strapped to his shoulder just in case. Both men had to drag the body toward the tailgate then both had to grab both arms and raise the torso onto the truck bed. The damn thing stunk and it was heavy.

Finally, they got the corpse loaded. Rex was huffing and puffing while Mack worried that he might pass out and Mack would have another body to load into the truck bed. “You alright?” Mack asked Rex.

“Yeah, I’ll make it,” Rex nodded. “Just a little dizzy that’s all. Man, you put 5 bullet holes in this sone of a bitch!”

“Yeah, I had it on automatic! “

Chapter III

The doctor examined the X-Ray of Rex’s skull and walked over to where he lay. “You may have a slight concussion on top if the laceration and bruising. What happened anyway?” Rex glanced over at Mack with a blank expression. What was he going to say? “A bigfoot threw a rock at me?”

“Piece of equipment hit while we were unloading the truck. The rig came loose,” Mack muttered.

The doctor frowned, “We’ll need to stitch up that cut so as not to leave a scar. And, I recommend 24 hours of observation.”

Rex nodded his head, “I can’t Doc. I gotta get back to me property! Just stitch me a up and I’m be on my way!” His eyes shifted to Mack.

“Don’t worry Doc, I’ll be driving and I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“I don’t like this! You have a bruise in your frontal lobe! If you fall asleep you might go into a coma!”

“Doc, I’ll deal with it. I got Mack here to help me if anything goes wrong. Just stitch me up, damn it! “

“Nurse, I’ll need a local anesthetic!” The doctor relented.

They drove back from the hospital two hours later. Rex was tired but still coherent. “I gotta tell you that damn creature had an arm like a major league pitcher!”

“Yeah,” replied, “It damn near hit me too, but luckily, I ducked or we’d both probably be dead! That thing meant business! “

“Let’s go to the locker and check up on that thing before we go into my house,” Rex muttered.

Doctor Higgins was troubled. He had treated a man who had suffered a head injury but refused his diagnosis. Worse it could have led to more serious complications without observation. Another thing that bothered him was the awkwardness of the two man as though they had something to hide, and another point of suspicion. Both men were covered in blood on their shirts and pants. That couldn’t have been all blood from the patient’s head injury! He put a call in to Sheriff Austin’s office He thought it wise to ask what the law might have to say about this just to be safe.

Deputy Winters was a bit miffed, “Well, Doc, the man is on his own property. He runs a ranch operation and resort. Accidents do happen.”

“I just thought the two men acted odd, and the blood on their clothes.” Doc Higgins emphasized.

“How do you know that hadn’t butchered some game? Don’t you think if they were guilty of a murder they’d be a little more cautious about it?”

“Can you at least do a welfare check on my patient? He had a head injury and refused recommended treatment.”

“Alright Doc, I’ll stop by and see if anything unusual is going on,” The Deputy hung up irritated at having to make what would apparently would be a waste of time, but there was always that possibility. He knew who the landowner was, Rex Dawson, a man of considerable power and wealth. He checked his side arm, grabbed his hat, and strode out to his cruiser. Luckily there were no calls for assistance going on. He notified the dispatcher where he was going.

Mack kneeled down next to the corpse. Hair matted with dried blood, more than 7 feet of muscle, and nearly ape-like features except for the face. It was almost human, and that bothered Mack. This could cause a misidentification! Rex leaned up against the sheep metal wall of the meat freezer. His head was wrapped in a bandage, and he was feeling a bit woozy from the wound, the medical treatment, and the local anesthetic. Mack studied Rex carefully.

“You need some bed rest before you do something stupid and fall over!” Mack warned.

Just then a car arriving on the driveway alerted both Rex and Mack! It was the deputy! Mack glanced at Rex, “You let me handle this! Give me your arm and lean on me.”

Mack kicked the door to the meat freezer shut as he began walking Rex to his house. The Deputy approached adjusting his hat and straightening out his holster belt. The deputy looked sharp in his dark shirt, black slacks, and cowboy boots, a typical iconic image.

“They two of you alright?” Winters asked as he approached.

“Yeah, we just got back from the hospital and I was helping Mister Dawson inside so we can get him some rest,” Mack replied as nonchalantly as he possibly could.

“Mister Dawson, you do a look a bit busted up,” the Deputy observed.

“Yeah, they got me on some medication and I need to get to bed. Luckily, Mack here was able to help.”

“You two just butcher an elk or something?” The Deputy frowned. “You two sure got a lot of blood on you.”

“We had to load the game in the meat locker. That’s why,” Mack cautiously replied as he continued walking Rex to the door of his spacious patio.

“Mind if I take a look? I hear you have a lot of exotic game that hunters pay you to hunt.”

Both men froze. Mack tried reverse psychology. “Well, you can look but the game has been wrapped up,” he replied hoping it would work.

The Deputy paused and gazed at the two men, “I’ll check anyway just to be sure.”

Rex nearly shouted out, but Mack covered his mouth. It was a moment of truth, and Mack wondered just how serious the situation could get. Deputy Winters opened the meat freezer and immediately was stunned as he looked down. He nervously reached for his holster and glanced bewilderedly at Rex and Mack, “What the hell is this!”

“Relax!” Mack replied in a calm voice. “What do you think you’re looking at?”

“A fucking dead body!”

“Look closer, Deputy, what does that look like to you?” Mack urged.

“It looks like a man!” Winters stammered.

Mack approached with hands palms up, “Take a closer look. That’s not a human being. The body’s covered in fur. Look closer.”

“Yeah, the damn thing liked to have killed me and it was slaughtering my game!” Rex blurted out.

“Why did you two lie about this?” The Deputy with his handgun drawn, nervously asked.

“What was I going to tell the doctor? “Hey, Doc, my friend here got hit in the head by a rock thrown by a Bigfoot, and I had to shoot it! Now how was that gonna sound? Crazy right?”

“So, what the hell were you two planning to do with this thing?” The deputy asked, standing halfway in and out of the freezer door looking like he’d seen a ghost. “I’m going to have to call this in.”

“Deputy, you do that and you’ll get all of us killed, or at the very least, disappeared!”

“What the hell do you mean?”

Mack walked carefully toward the Deputy who tensed and raised his gun. “I mean, do you think the government won’t try to cover this up, destroy your reputation as an officer, maybe just make you and us disappear?”

“W-what makes you think that?” The Deputy now with a confused expression on his face.

“You can put away the gun. You don’t have anything to fear from us.” Mack reassured the deputy.

“So, what now? What are your plans?” Deputy Winters asked nervously.

“Look, I’m a former Army Ranger. I’ve seen men chewed up in battle, I’ve been assigned on assassination missions. I know how the government handles situations like this, and they cover it up, disclaim, and you’re lucky if all they do is destroy your integrity. In all likelihood you will simply disappear along with the two of us!”

“Then what the hell do we do?” Winters stammered as he replaced his revolver back in its holster.

“We, Rex and I, are going to call several university professors of biology, Anthropology, or Zoology, and get this specimen analyzed under civilian control not the federal government. You call and report this and we not only lose control over this situation, but we may very well lose our lives!” This is how the classified world works, you have no idea, Deputy!

“Look, the damn thing tried to kill Mack and I, it was destroying my animals. We had no choice!” Rex explained. “This was all out of self-defense! Take a look at that beast! It must weigh 400 pounds! It’s all muscle too!”

The Deputy rubbed his face in frustration, “Damn! Why did I have to come to work today?”

The only thing we have to worry about is if some son of bitch in a university turns this in to D.A.R.P.A. the public needs to know about this. We don’t need any more cover-ups!”

“So, what am I supposed to do over this?” The Deputy asked with a hint of contempt in his voice.

“You, like the wise young man I hope you are. Will allow us to turn this specimen over to science, and let them deal with it. Let the people know what the hell is going on! The people have a right to know!” Mack explained.

Rex broke in, “Yeah, I’m not looking to make money on this thing like some freak show attraction! I got what I wanted. The threat to my animals is gone now! That is unless there’s more of them out there, God forbid.”

“I will admit, my sheriff department has gotten its fair share of wild hairy man reports, and we thought this was just a bunch of Malarkey, but this! Damn, forgive me for being totally flabbergasted.” The Deputy just nodded in astonishment.

“So, what’s your decision. I need to know,” Mack shot back.

“Do what the hell you need to do then. Keep me out of it. I got a fiancé and I’m planning to have a normal life. Just let me know how things are going. I’ll just report that the welfare check was uneventful,” The Deputy sighed resolutely.

Mack shook his hand warmly, “You’re doing the right thing for all of our sakes.”

“Kid, do you hunt?” Rex asked.

“When I get a chance.”

“Tell you what. I’ll set you up on 2 free game safaris. You can hunt the most requested game I have on this preserve! All expenses paid. On me.” Rex offered proudly.

“That’s a nice offer, Sir but I don’t want to accept any bribes,” Winters replied back.

“It’s not a bribe, son, we didn’t do anything wrong. This is just a reward to you for making the right call.”

“This is a lot for me to handle right now. Let me think about it, okay?” Winters responded. “Don’t worry, I won’t say a damn thing. I’d rather just forget this whole thing happened.”

“You’d be better off, but don’t think that you can just forget all about it. You’ll need to make sure you don’t slip up and tell your fiancé as this could even endanger her.”

Deputy Winters solemnly nodded, “I guess you’re right.”

A few minutes later, Deputy Winters drove off. He’d called in to report that the welfare check had turned up nothing abnormal.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and to some bed rest, Rex,” Mack said as he watched the man for any indicators of nerve disfunction or motor reflex issues but he seemed fine.

“Don’t worry I can shower myself. You can help yourself to the bar and kitchen. There’s another guest room with a bathroom where you can get that blood and shit off you too. Over there,” Rex pointed out.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Mack replied as he eyed a bottle or rum on the shelf.

“Hey, Mack. Do you think we can trust that Deputy to keep quiet about this?”

“We don’t have much of a choice now do we?”

“No, Rex replied grimly.”

“Knowing you’re a former Army Ranger, never told you I was an 18-year-old Marine on top of the Embassy in Saigon in 1975 helping people escape the damn Communists! We couldn’t possibly get everyone out as the damned VC sat just blocks away in their tanks! It was humiliating too. If I’d been the admiral offshore, I would’ve ordered an airstrike on those bastards once we had withdrawn!”

“That was tough,” Mack nodded. “Must have really sucked!”

“Yeah,” Rex said as he made his way to the shower.

The morning came fast. Mack had fallen asleep on the huge sectional in the TV viewing room in a bathrobe he’d put on after taking off his filthy and bloody clothes so he could shower. It seemed Rex was still asleep as he looked up some local medical schools and colleges, he might contact about his little scientific bombshell laying in that freezer out there. Mack came to the door and knocked gently at Rex’s bedroom door. No answer. He knocked again just a little louder. Still no answer. Finally, Mack slid open the bedroom door, there was Rex seemingly still asleep until Mack walked over and noticed Rex wasn’t breathing! He probed for a pulse but the body was cold! It hit him like a gut punch.

“Goddam you, Rex! I thought you were a fighter!” Mack felt rears flood his eyes. He was flashing back on all the buddies he’d lost in battle and it was all hitting him again! “Jesus, Rex! You had unfinished business!”

He covered Rex’s head with the sheets and stood there for a moment in a deathly silence. There was nothing left to do now but get his clothes washed, hurry up and make some calls, and notify the coroner’s officed that Rex Dawson was deceased. Mack felt as if this whole job he’d taken had been nothing but a curse and now this. He caught himself hyperventilating. Mack leaned hard on the kitchen counter trying to regain his composure. His PTSD was kicking in again. He splashed water on his face, and took a deep breath or two and held it in until he got control of his dizziness. There was nothing left to do but follow through with his plans. Alone now.

 

END of Part I