He might have been too far away to hear the rider stirring, but for some reason, he believed that they were incapacitated. With blaster in hand and stealth in his steps, Zax maneuvered through the forest using the trees to block sight of his approach.
He first spied the vehicle on its side. Painted a swirl of greens and browns, Zax thought it blended well with the forest. This certainly looked like a hunter’s vehicle, but to a Nu-Man, the size of it made it look like a toy.
A few feet away lay the rider, crumpled up in a pile of leaves and unmoving. Judging by the person’s size, they weren’t an adult. What would a kid be doing out in the woods this time of night?
Then he noticed the kid’s attire; the shirt and pants had a similar camouflage swirl pattern. Why would a kid go by himself this deep into the woods at this time to hunt?
Zax set the vehicle on its four wheels, as it was in danger of tottering over. He checked but saw no firearm of any kind on it or in the area. The only thing that looked like a weapon was a human’s baseball bat. No one would go hunting with a bat as their only weapon. About the only thing a bat would be good for was keeping attacking dogs at bay.
Still no movement from the kid. A helmet hid the rider’s face, but Zax had no doubt it was a young male.
Was the youth dead?
Stepping cautiously over to the body, Zax reached down and searched for signs of life. The kid’s heart rhythmically pounded through the carotid artery in the neck. Okay, now that he found the kid alive, what? He couldn’t just leave him there; others were sure to come searching at some point. The boy might have internal injuries or broken bones. Zax did not need this complicating his situation now.
With a frustrated sigh, he gently lifted the boy from the ground and carried him the short distance over to his cave. If he found the kid in good enough condition, he might just leave him on his own to wake up. Zax could watch from a distance until he awoke and left. If not, well, Zax didn’t want to think about having to bring him somewhere to get medical attention.
Once inside, he illuminated the cave with the rangefinder’s small light, and laid the boy down on his makeshift bed. Zax hesitated to remove the helmet, fearing he could worsen a neck injury. But, he couldn’t leave the helmet on him.
Zax carefully pulled the two straps outward at the bottom of the helmet to loosen it. Then, he slid the helmet off the kid’s head.
Stunned, he marveled how much the boy looked like Tarik. Was this a trick his mind was playing on him? He moved the rangefinder’s light around the kid’s face, thinking his brain placed false images in the shadows. Did he see what he wanted to see?
Certainly, all humans didn’t look alike. The farmer he saw earlier looked nothing like Tarik. But there was something uncanny how Tarik and this boy favored one another. The boy looked just like a younger version of Tarik! How could this be? Zax understood genetics and knew a person could look like an ancestor. But the genetic material used in Tarik’s birth was entirely at random. What were the chances that he would travel hundreds of years back in time and find Tarik’s genetic twin?
A million questions flooded Zax’s mind and set him in a minor panic. What did this mean? Did it even mean anything? Was this part of the Universe’s plan or just a once in a trillion coincidence?
As near as he could tell, the boy didn’t suffer any broken bones or lacerations. Head trauma had knocked the boy cold, and there was no way of knowing the severity until he awoke. Time, would bring all answers.
*
When Cole opened his eyes, he had no clue as to where he was. The air was cool and slightly damp. Weak sunlight shone into the dark room from his left side. Something seemed a little off in his head, and he wondered why he was lying down in a pile of pine needles and grass on the hard ground.
He rose up on one elbow and looked around, blinking his eyes to bring the scene into focus. He was in a cave with a strange odor.
“Don’t be alarmed,” a male voice said from his right.
Cole darted his gaze over to it, but the cave was pitch dark.
“How are you feeling?”
Waking up in a dark cave and hearing the voice of a man he couldn’t see had Cole’s defenses up in high alert. His mind quickly went back to his last thoughts and remembered heading toward Douglas’ farm. Charlotte! He needed to save her. His mind must have been so engrossed in his mission that he got careless and wrecked his four wheeler.
“There’s no reason for you to be scared, but I do need to know if you’re injured.”
If the unknown man wanted to hurt him, Cole guessed he would have already done so. Right now, he had few options. His head felt too weird for him to jump up and make a run for it. “I…I think I’m okay.”
“You sure? You took quite a tumble out there.”
“Hey, who are you?”
“I’m just a stranger that happened to find you in the woods. You were traveling too fast in the dark. What were you doing up so early coming all the way out here?”
“What are you doing out here?” Cole didn’t feel like answering a bunch of questions right now. He just wanted his head to clear so he could go after Charlotte.
“Camping. I’m a nature lover. No crime in that, is there?”
“No, I guess not,” Cole said, not believing a word of that. “Why are you hiding in the dark? Let me see your face.”
“Me? I’m shy. You can leave now. Your vehicle is not far over to the west. You’ll have no trouble finding it.”
Cole sat up and felt the birds swim around inside his head again. “I’ll leave in a little bit.”
“So, you are hurt?”
“Maybe, just a little. But that doesn’t matter. I gotta go soon.”
“You don’t need to do further damage. Rest a bit. Then you can leave. Drive slowly. I don’t know where your home is, but you need to go there and tell your parents what happened. I’m sure they’ll want to take you to a doctor.”
Bringing his legs inward and sitting cross-legged, Cole arched his back trying to relieve some of the stiffness from lying on hard ground. The dull, semi-nausea feeling started to disappear. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be sure to do that.” This game of his host hiding in the dark was getting old. He hoped there would be no surprises when he did try to leave.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.
An object in the darkness sounded an alarm and flashed a bright light. When Cole saw the man who sat next to it, he was too afraid even to breathe.
It wasn’t a man.
It was bigfoot.
But it couldn’t be bigfoot. He had just had a conversation with a human. Now Cole felt even more scared. What kind of deranged person had he come upon?
The costumed man picked up the object and silenced the alarm. The light was still on but no longer blinked. It was obvious he realized that his secret had been discovered.
Cole stood on wobbly legs and made a break for the cave’s exit. Before he had taken three steps, powerful hands grabbed either side of his shoulders and lifted him off the ground.
“Calm down. Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.”
The strange odor was worse now. This guy mustn’t have bathed in a month. He was strong, too. Cole wondered how he was able to grip so good with those large, fake hands. “Let me go! Let me go!” He was completely powerless.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” the man said, and then heaved a big sigh. “This is just great,” he said under his breath.
The man placed him back on the makeshift bed. “Sit, and let me figure out what to do.”
Cole did as instructed. It hurt the back of his neck when he looked up to gaze at the man’s face. This was a tall man in the best-looking costume he had ever seen. Nothing at Comic-Con came anywhere close to such precise detail.
The man stepped over into the dark side of the cave and came back with a backpack and what looked like an electronic tablet—the device that had alarmed earlier. He fiddled with the tablet for a bit and sat down, laying the device on the ground
. “Would you like some water?”
“Aren’t you hot in that costume?” Cole had to admit; it didn’t look like a costume at all. But there was no way that this was a real bigfoot.
The man held out his hand within Cole’s reach. He rolled his eyes, and said, “See for yourself.”
The boy pushed his fear aside and touched the back of the man’s hand, feeling bones under the skin and the coarseness of thick animal-like hair. He then felt the man’s fingers and the calluses on his palm. This was not a man in a costume. “Who are you?”
“My name is Zax.”
“That’s it? Just, Zax? You don’t have a last name?”
“Well, not the way you do. When we’re born, our names include our birthdate, sub-location, regional location, and other identifying data. It’s all stored on a crystal that we carry around with us.”
“Where are you from?”
Zax laughed. “Would you believe it if I said I’m from near here?”
“I don’t know what to believe, right now. What are you? How is it you sound so human?”
Gazing toward the ground, Zax said, “That’s a long, long story.” He shook his head, and said in a low voice as if to himself, “One that I’m trying to rewrite.” Pausing, he continued, “I’m going to keep things as simple as I can.”
Zax then pulled two bottles of water from the backpack and gave one to Cole. “You haven’t told me your name yet.”
“Cole.”
“Just Cole? You don’t have a last name?”
Cole realized that the creature was poking fun at him. “Rainwater. My name is Cole Rainwater.”
“Rainwater. That’s a very interesting name.” Zax drank some water and said, “Cole Rainwater, I am from a few hundred years in the future. There is an event that’s going to happen very soon that will alter human evolutionary future. I am a product of that event. I am a Nu-Man, a name given to us because we are the new man.”
“Who gave you that name? And they crossed humans and bigfoot?”
“There is a selfish alien race that will overrun Earth and genetically engineer the new race. The problem is that there is a genetic anomaly that is killing all of my people. The Earth will be left to its conquerors, with all memory of humans and Nu-Mans forever erased.”
“How did you travel back in time?”
“I came across using an alien time machine. I’m here to place false data in the alien probe that discovered Earth. That way, I prevent the invasion from happening, and mankind continues on its natural path.”
Thinking a minute, Cole said, “That means that there will never be any Nu-Mans. You won’t ever be born.”
Zax nodded and shrugged his shoulders. “Everything I knew and loved will never exist. It does give me a heavy heart if I allow myself to think about it too long.” He reflected a bit more and drank from the bottle. “Say, you want something to eat? I have some packaged food fit for humans.”
“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.”
Zax pulled something from his backpack that looked like a large candy bar and unwrapped it.
“What’s that?”
“This? It’s a nutrient bar. It’s only made for Nu-Mans, though.” The big guy took a bite.
“I really need to go now,” Cole said, feeling almost back to normal.
“Hold on. I can’t just let you leave. I can’t have anyone interfere with my mission.”
“So what are you gonna do with me?”
After finishing half the bar, he folded the wrapper over the end and placed it in his backpack. “I don’t know. What do you think I should do?”
“If you let me go, I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”
“You promise? I don’t even know you. How do I know that you will keep your promise?”
“Because if I tell someone and they stop you from finding the alien probe, the Earth will be taken over by aliens.”
Zax stared back intently. “Why do you believe me?”
“What choice do I have? You look like bigfoot, and you speak English better than I do. I’ve read some far-out science fiction stories that were less believable. Plus, you’re here. I can touch you. There’s no other explanation other than what you’ve told me.”
“Okay, good. The alien probe has arrived and is orbiting Earth. Sometime tomorrow it will land near here. I have to replace a data crystal with the false information. After that, well, it’s life in the forest for me, I guess.”
“Did you live in the forest before in your time?”
Zax chuckled. “No, we lived a much more modern life than your standards. I sure do miss my bed.”
“We can be friends. I can help get you something better to sleep on.”
Zax smiled. “You know, I am going to need a friend. Friends keep promises and can be trusted.”
“Great, now, you said you had a mission. Well, I have one too, and I gotta go.” Cole didn’t wait for permission, he stood and began to walk away.
“Remember your promise, Cole. The fate of the Earth rests on your shoulders.”
Right now Charlotte’s life seemed more important than the whole Earth’s future. Judging by the light outside, he must have been out for a couple of hours. He hoped Brennon, if the boy had come as asked, still waited near Douglas’ farm. Cole would call and check as soon as he had bars on his phone. Darn the bad luck! He wanted to get there before it was light. Fate had thrown a curve in his path. Of all things! He’s off to do the riskiest, dangerous thing in his life, and he meets a genetic hybrid from Earth’s future! As much as he would have loved to stay and ask a thousand questions, time did not afford him the luxury.
Just as he stepped outside the cave, Cole stopped when he remembered something Fate had said. Fate is not always an enemy. Sometimes fate is an ally. Turning toward Zax, he asked, “Will you help me?”
“Help you do what?”
Cole waved his hands in front of him. “It’s a long story. My girlfriend…well, she’s not my girlfriend, yet, has been kidnapped and she’s being held on a farm. I think the guy there might be a human trafficker and will try and sell her, and I’ll never see her again. I’ve got to rescue her before that happens.”
Zax stood, and said, “Wait a minute. How do you know all of this?”
“I’ve found some evidence and let’s just say no one else believes me. Don’t you see, it’s up to me to save her. You can help. Please, Zax.”
“You can’t go to the law enforcement?”
“No, I don’t have any hard proof. I just know some things that all lead up to her being on the old man Douglas’ farm. I don’t think we have much time left.”
Picking up the rangefinder, Zax pushed the screen until a map popped up. “We’re here, by the red marker. Where is this farm?”
Cole looked at the tablet and got his bearings. “Oh, it’s right there. Just a couple of miles away.”
“I’ve been to that farm. Saw some older man there. He had a gun.”
“That’s old man Douglas. He’s an ex-con.”
Zax hesitated, and said, “Explain.”
“He spent a lotta time in prison.”
“I understand now.” Zax brought a knuckle up to his mouth as lines crinkled on his forehead. “Cole, I think you believe your story. I’m just not convinced that you’re right about this girl being there. Seems like the authorities would have better information than you.”
“I believed your story,” Cole said as if this was the first test of a new friendship.
The seconds ticked by as their shared gazes never wavered.
“Let me get my blaster. We’ll get there as fast as we can.”
Chapter 22
Cole matched the speed of the four wheeler to keep pace with Zax, which was a difficult task at times. In fact, occasionally he had to play catch up with the time traveler. Zax could maneuver much faster past obstacles than he could on the four-wheeler. To his advantage with the light of day, Cole could see the hazards long before they presented a problem.
&nbs
p; Just as they neared the far edge of Douglas’ property, Zax motioned for Cole to stop.
He let off on the accelerator and slowed to a halt.
“Time to shut it down. We don’t want him to know we’re coming,” Zax said.
The engine died, and Cole hopped off the vehicle. He went to speed away and stopped, and then retrieved his baseball bat.
“You’re not going to need that,” Zax said.
“I’m bringing it anyway. Let’s go.” Cole tore off toward Douglas’ barn, of which he could just make out in the distance.
Zax’s long stride kept Cole pushing himself to keep up. It was obvious the hybrid trotted at a moderate pace while he ran faster than his comfort allowed. Endorphins and horrific images of the two storming the farmhouse and finding Charlotte in Douglas’ evil clutches helped boost his resolve to cover the distance.
As they neared the chicken coop and the barn, Zax extended his left arm in front of Cole and slowed his pace to a walk. “We’ll take it slower from here.”
In between short breaths, Cole said, “But we need to hurry.”
“Yeah, but we need to be smart, too. I hope that you realize what I’m risking by coming here with you?”
The immediacy of the situation hadn’t allowed for Cole to really consider Zax’s plight. Not that he didn’t believe what the Nu-Man had told him. The fate of the whole human race was certainly more important than the life of just one person. He could tell himself that, but he couldn’t get himself to overrule his irrationality right now. Charlotte needed saving. He didn’t care if he risked death to save her life. He didn’t care if he risked the lives of every other person on the face of the planet. There was only one thing that mattered: Charlotte Meadows.
The chickens didn’t give their position away as they arrived at the barn. Zax hugged the side of the building as he snuck around to get a view of the front of the house.
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