Mia knelt on the ground. “I’m so sorry.” She reached out and placed her hand on the bigfoot’s arm. Mia gave the hand sign for ‘thank you’ even though she doubted if the animal would understand.
The female bigfoot nodded her head that she understood. She raised her hand to pass Casey over to his rightful mother, but the infant protested and continued to cling to the bigfoot’s fur.
After a few failed attempts at exchanging the baby, Casey eventually let go, and Mia took her son into her arms.
Clay came over and put his arm around Mia’s shoulder. “Finally, we have our boy back.”
But the joyful moment was cut short when they realized that the female bigfoot was dead.
Mia unzipped her jacket and placed Casey inside even though he stunk. She partially zipped up the front in a makeshift papoose.
“Now we can get off this godforsaken mountain,” Clay said as he reloaded his rifle and they started back through the cave.
53
“What do you mean, you told Mason to kill them,” Ethan yelled. He raised his gun in a threatening manner as Landon went for his rifle.
It was Micah who intervened this time.
“Killing each other’s not going to solve anything.” He hobbled over and stood in front of Ethan to shield him.
“Don’t think I won’t shoot you, old man,” Landon said.
“Well, you go right ahead and try,” Micah snarled back, holding up his rifle and shaking the barrel at the other man as if bullets weren’t threatening enough.
Blu turned away from the feuding men and barked at the open doorway.
Muffled gunshots could be heard in the distance.
“Sounds like they’re coming from the cave,” Micah said.
“What do you think?” Ethan asked the old-timer.
“Don’t know.”
Another gunshot echoed out from the throat of the cave.
“That’s a Winchester,” Ethan said. He glared at Landon. “What’s Mason packing?”
“An assault rifle. That’s not him.”
“Then it has to be Clay. I’m going in there,” Ethan said and started for the door.
“I’m coming too.” Micah grabbed his crutch.
Blu went for the door.
“No, Blu. You stay here.”
The coonhound gave Ethan a puzzled look.
“I don’t want you walking into a bullet.”
Micah was already out on the porch and was halting around the side of the cabin.
“You better not hurt my dog,” Ethan said, but when he looked over at Landon, the man had passed out and was lying flat on the bunk.
Ethan ignored Blu’s persistent whining and closed the door after him.
54
When Clay and Mia reached the junction, they couldn’t exit the way they had originally come in as there were more little people storming into the cave. They had no choice but to pick another route and ran up the passage that was adjacent to the one they had just come out.
They had no way of knowing where the passage would lead them or if it was going to end up like the other tunnel and become a dead end. If that happened, they would be cornered with no way of escape.
Casey was beginning to cry again which worsened their situation because if they came across another hiding place, the sobbing baby would only give them away.
The footfalls behind them were getting increasingly louder.
They were relieved when they came around a bend and stumbled into an enormous chamber with a high ceiling. To their right was a foul-looking underground body of water and a granite bank full of fifty-gallon casks piled near five wide-belly boilers.
“What is this place?” Mia said, as she stopped running.
“An abandoned distillery,” Clay said, frantically looking around. He could see natural sunlight filtering into the cave from somewhere up ahead. “I think that’s the way out.”
But before they could even go a few feet, a throng of little people poured out of a passageway and cut them off. More tiny feet could be heard, coming out of the tunnel directly behind them.
Clay and Mia watched in horror as the ghoulish creatures began to form a circle around them until they were completely surrounded.
Over a hundred skeletal-looking demons pointed their spears and took a single step toward the center of the circle where Clay and Mia stood helpless.
“What are we going to do?” Mia said, beginning to cry. She zipped her coat up more to cover Casey’s head. Somehow, the infant had managed to doze off.
Clay raised his rifle even though there were only a few bullets in the chamber.
“I love you, Mia,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
The ghouls took another step, shrinking the circle.
55
Mason walked out of the tunnel into a large subterranean cavern, right into the midst of a mob of ghouls that had congregated around Clay and Mia. He could see the couple over the heads of the short creatures.
Clay and Mia saw Mason but didn’t immediately acknowledge him, as the menacing bunch of little people hadn’t seen him yet. They were too engrossed taunting their captured prey.
And then Ethan ran in, followed by Micah, who was struggling to keep up.
“Oh, my,” Micah said, once he saw their predicament. “This ain’t good.”
The two men were standing about twenty feet away from the outer circle of little people. By now some of the ghouls had turned their heads and were looking at the new arrivals. A few were also staring at Mason, having just realized his presence.
Now that they knew he was there, Mason figured there was no reason not to talk to the others. “Well, I’d say they have us outnumbered twenty to one.”
“That’s how I see it,” Ethan said.
Some of the ghouls glanced back and forth but most of them still had their eyes on the prize in the middle of the ring.
“We have Casey,” Mia said. “He’s inside my jacket. He’s safe, I mean…”
“Thank God for that,” Ethan piped in.
“Glad to hear,” Mason said.
The monstrous fiends took another step inward, tightening the circumference of the circle; the deadly spears now only five feet away from prodding Clay and Mia.
“Well, I don’t see any point in stalling, do you?” Mason called out.
“Nope,” Ethan replied.
“Let’s do this!” Micah hollered.
Mason charged into the evil throng as Ethan and Micah fired their rifles.
The thunderous gunshots echoed in the granite cathedral akin to a boxing-match bell ringing for the fight to begin.
56
Mason plowed into three ghouls and picked them up in his arms as he ran. As soon as their feet left the ground, the creatures tried to squirm out, twisting in his grip and dropping their lances.
One turned its face completely around and bit into Mason’s face. The only thing it got was a mouthful of beard and a head butt from Mason that caved in its forehead.
Charging through the circle, Mason used the ghouls as a shield and ran directly into the demon pigmies on the other side. The spears thrust out in front of the standing ghouls, impaled the three in Mason’s clutches. He was fortunate to have escaped being stabbed, released his dead cargo, and yelled to Clay and Mia, “Follow me!”
Clay and Mia dodged the spears and dashed through the hole in their ranks.
But instead of finding an avenue of escape, Clay and Mia quickly realized that they were up against the wall with no way to go as the little people were already breaking away from the circle, and again, were boxing them in.
Not bothering to aim, Mason fired off a couple haphazard shots.
A ghoul hit the dirt when a bullet blasted through its sternum.
Suddenly, Mason was a madman. He grabbed the nearest ghoul, robbed it of its spear, and repeatedly, stabbed the hell out of it.
He yelled a battle cry and rushed the horde.
Clay stood in front
of Mia to protect her and their son. He fired off a shot, levered another round, blasted a ghoul at close range and blew off its arm. After going through the motion of ramming another bullet into the chamber and pulling the trigger and nothing happening, Clay used the rifle as a sword and fenced their attackers. He knocked a spear aside and drove the gun muzzle into a ghoul’s face.
Micah had run out of ammunition and was stumbling back toward the boilers as a score of ghouls came after him. He staggered up the embankment having to use his crutch as both a means of helping him along and fending the monsters off. He went behind a boiler, and stumbling back, the end of his crutch came up and struck a rusted valve handle and snapped it off at the bib.
He could smell the vapors of high-grade alcohol. A plan came to mind and he reached inside his trouser pocket. He pulled out a flint and struck the metal, creating a spark.
A small explosion erupted.
Micah flew in the air and was thrown ten feet.
The whiskey barrels nearest the ruptured boiler were ablaze and the fire was spreading. Smoke rose off the casks and was drawn upward through the airshafts.
Ethan ran through the surge to see if Micah had survived the blast.
He was grabbed from behind and lifted off his feet. Ethan turned his head and was surprised to see that he was in the death grip of the black bigfoot.
“Not you again,” Ethan yelled in the creature’s face.
He fought to free himself, but the bigfoot was determined. Before he knew what was happening, they were both in the water. The bigfoot released Ethan and pushed him further into the pool. Ethan splashed down in three feet of dank, polluted water.
The bigfoot lumbered over, grabbed Ethan by the shoulders, and pushed him under.
Ethan tried to pry the creature’s hands off, but its grip was too strong. Bubbles started coming out of Ethan’s mouth as he struggled to get free.
The liquid contents of the burning barrels gushed out, and like a fiery lava flow, came down in a scorching wave and spilled onto the subterranean pool. A carpet of flames moved rapidly across the body of defiled water.
So intent on killing its foe, the black bigfoot wasn’t even aware of the approaching danger until it was suddenly consumed in flames. It yowled with pain and immediately stood up and waded through the watery inferno onto the shore, flailing its burning arms as it ran from the cavern.
Ethan could see the seething blanket of fire on the surface. He rolled over onto his stomach, spun around, and swam as fast as he could underwater until he reached the bank. He vaulted out of the water onto the rocks and rolled a few times to put out the fire clinging to his clothes.
He rushed over to Micah, who was limping over the rocks. Most of the flames had died down as the near-empty casks and boilers were no longer a fuel source.
Micah took one good look at Ethan’s smoldering clothes. “Guess that didn’t work out so well,” he said in a feeble apology.
The little people were already starting to converge.
Ethan looked over and saw Clay and Mia pinned in a corner.
Mason wasn’t doing any better. A band of ghouls was moving in for the kill.
“Well, Ethan, it’s been a pleasure knowing you,” Micah said.
57
Ethan and Micah braced themselves for an attack. Despite everyone’s valiant efforts, there were only twenty or so dead ghouls sprawled on the cavern floor, which was hardly a dent in their army.
As the little people formed an encompassing semi-circle entrapment and slowly moved in, Clay and Mia were able to edge along the wall to where Ethan and Micah were making their stand.
Mason growled at the hideous creatures, who returned his taunts with snarls of their own, snapping their teeth and chattering in their nonsensical babble. He kept sidestepping, and eventually joined the rest of the group.
The leader in the snow fox headdress raised its spear—a preparatory signal to charge.
“This is it,” Ethan said.
But before the ghoul could instigate the onslaught, there was a loud roar from the mouth of the cave.
Alden rushed in and came to an abrupt halt, slamming his fists on the ground. He glared at the congregation of ghouls and snarled like he was ready to take on the entire legion of little people.
“Well, I’ll be,” Mason said. “And here I thought he was a coward.”
“Go back, Alden!” Micah yelled. “Save yourself.”
But instead of heeding his friend’s advice, Alden only bellowed louder. To further show his defiance against the ghastly horde, the bigfoot picked up a good-size stone and threw it into the crowd.
The rock was thrown with such force—and precision—that it struck one ghoul in the head then ricocheted into another one’s skull.
“Talk about killing two birds with one stone,” Micah yelled, pumping his arm in the air.
The ghoulish mob ran at Alden, but it was obvious by his resolve that the bigfoot wasn’t going to back down. It was going to be a fight to the death.
And just as Alden was going to be overrun, the bigfoot hunkered down on the ground as a hail of rocks flew over his head and pummeled the first wave of ghouls.
The bone-crushing projectiles punched through their small bodies.
Ethan, Micah, Clay, Mia, and Mason were stunned to see the gray bigfoot clan charge into the cave, pitching heavy rocks with a tremendous degree of accuracy. The little people were falling like saplings in an avalanche.
The bigfoot rushed the shorter creatures, swatting them with their big fists, picking some of them up and hurling their scrawny bodies through the air. Even though they were armed with spears, the ghouls were at a slight height disadvantage as their jabs and thrusts were ineffective on their taller eight-foot-tall opponents. A few bigfoot had suffered minor leg wounds.
It was one thing for a hunting party of little people to overpower a single bigfoot, but it was another thing for them to take on the entire clan.
A bigfoot grabbed the arm of the head ghoul in the white fox headdress just as another bigfoot seized the other arm. The ghoul was yanked apart like a brittle wishbone.
The skirmish was a chaotic cacophony of fierce grunts, clashing bodies, yowls, and roars.
Soon the battlefield was littered with a multitude of little people, so many that the bigfoot were having to step over the heaped bodies in order to combat those that still remained, while the others retreated into the tunnel that led back to the valley.
Ethan took a rough count and estimated that the bigfoot had eliminated two-thirds of the ghouls.
“Good for them,” Clay said, remembering the bigfoot skeletal remains that they had found in the little people’s boneyard cave. It was long-time the bigfoot got their revenge.
Once the last ghoul had been driven away, the gray bigfoot clan mustered and began ambling toward the cave entrance. As each one passed Alden, they exchanged huffs and grunts—warriors congratulating each other on a battle well fought.
Ethan and Micah started walking toward the mouth of the cave. Clay, Mia, and Mason following right behind.
It wasn’t until they were feeling the warmth of the afternoon sun on their faces that a huge shape came out from behind the rocks.
The black bigfoot was grossly disfigured from the fire and its coat was still smoldering. It lurched forward with its arms outstretched to grab Ethan.
A single gunshot sounded and the bigfoot fell to the dirt.
Everyone looked at the man across the clearing.
Landon lowered his rifle and shuffled a couple more steps before he, too, dropped to the ground.
“Landon!” Mason yelled, and ran over to this brother.
Ethan came over and knelt beside the man who had just saved his life. He put his finger on Landon’s neck and felt for a pulse. “I’m sorry, Mason.”
“I can’t believe it. All my brothers are gone.”
Mia put a consoling hand on the big man’s shoulder. She unzipped her jacket and let Clay take Casey, who
was still naked and very grungy.
“We better clean you up, little man. Whew,” Clay said, and walked toward the cabin.
Blu came running across the clearing, right up to Ethan.
“Glad to see you, too,” Ethan said with a smile as the coonhound licked his face.
58
After Ethan and Mason finished patting the dirt over Landon’s grave, Mason used one of the shovels that they had found in the cave and made a cross with a tree branch and the spade’s handle. Everyone gathered around the gravesite to show their respect even though no one had any words of condolence to offer.
“Sure you won’t come with us?” Ethan asked Micah, while the others got ready for the tedious hike down the mountain.
“I’ll be fine,” Micah replied. Alden stood next to the old man like a curious child, not really comprehending what was going on but sensing that it was an important moment.
“So you think Alden will stay with you now that he’s been accepted by the others?”
“Don’t know,” Micah said. He looked at the bigfoot and made a couple hand gestures. Alden replied likewise. “He thinks he will.”
“That’s good. I’d hate to think of you up here all by yourself.”
“You’re never alone up here.”
“No, I guess not. Think you’ll have any more trouble from the little people?”
“I imagine so. But it’s nothing we can’t handle,” Micah said, and then put his hand on Alden’s shoulder. “Ain’t that right, Alden.”
The bigfoot managed a grin.
Clay walked over. “We’re set to go. Thanks for your help, Micah.”
“We mountain folk have to stick together.”
Mia joined them. She had fabricated a sling better suited for carrying Casey, who was swaddled to stifle his body odor.
She kissed Micah on the cheek. Then she stepped over, and surprisingly gave Alden a kiss on the cheek as well, despite his repugnant smell.
The Beasts Of Stoneclad Mountain Page 14
