Bigfoot

32.

She could feel the vibration as he spoke. Azzalea laid her head back on his chest while he carried her back inside.

"It's still cold out. You need to stay inside."

She closed her eyes as he worried over her and the weather.

~~~~~~

Wade checked his watch. They all needed to cross as soon as the patrol passed and was out of sight.

Randy was impatient. "Fuck Wade, when is it supposed to happen."

Wade scowled at him. "They changed the fucking times when this guy and his friend got passed. It's all random now."

"Sorry." Blake said sheepishly. He had begged his mom to go to his grandparents, who loved not far from Wade Walker. Wade had told him about the hunt and he begged the man to take him along. He knew he would pay dearly for sneaking out and staying gone for days, but he had to go. Wade said he knew where the same squatch who attacked him lived with that woman. He had to see it. Blake had to see her. He wasn't going to be ok unless he did.

Wade shook his head. "He's a dick. Don't worry about him or his brothers." He looked over to Randy and the three men he brought with him. John, Ralph, and Wayne were awful people, but when Randy called to them, they came. It was nuts. The whole family is screwed up.

Everyone knew Randy had bought Azzalea. Everyone knew that the brothers would get them a piece of her whenever they felt like it. They didn't even try to hide it. The brothers would go around telling whoever would listen about their crazy times at Randy's house. It's not like they were related. They claimed that made it ok.

Wade still didn't blame Azzalea. He would have ran off too. He was betting on the squatch not being there. He wanted to find the cave and see if they could get the door open. After searching through it, he wanted to find the clearing where the old man said there were graves. If Wade had his way, he would bring back as much proof as possible.

What he really wanted was to bring back the body of the squatch. If the thing was there, it was definitely male and had latched on to Azzalea as a mate. Wade didn't think he was going to be able to shoot the creature. His family had been killed by them years ago and they had more people, but not nearly as much fire power. They had been ambushed. This time he was going in prepared.

If things went south, Randy was going to lose his life. This Wade was sure of. 

"When is the fucking patrol coming through?"

Wade shook his head and checked his watch. "It should be soon, like I said, every patrol is random now. You never know when it's co-" Headlights came from down the path. "Duck!"

The five men pushed themselves against the hill they hid behind.

The sound of the old motor in the pickup truck filled the night with it's noise. The backfire made the youngest of their group, Blake, jump.

Wade turned and locked eyes with him. "If you want to back out-" He paused and looked around to everyone, "if anyone wants to back out, now's the time to do it. Once we get in those woods, we are in danger. Once we leave the safety of this man made road, none of us are guaranteed to make it back."

They all shook their heads and Wade nodded as glanced over the hill. The older pickup made its way down the road and finally disappeared from his sight. "Let's go."

The men hurried across the road with their gear, hunched over as if they were in a war movie. The minute Wade's boots hit the forest floor, he felt dread. He refused to turn around. He refused to give into the fear. People thought he was crazy. People thought he needed some sort of mental help.

His job was in jeopardy.

He was losing 'friends' by the day.

His entire life was falling apart.

Wade needed proof. 

Randy spit on the ground and held on to his rifle tight. They were going to go as far as they could while it was still night time. The further from the city, the better. He didn't want to get caught by the police, the patrol, or anyone else who may be lurking in the forest. His only goal in life was to get his Azzalea, take her home, and make it so she will never be able to leave again.

His brothers were not taking the whole thing as seriously as he was. Randy knew if that sasquatch was real and had his girl, it wasn't going to just let them have her. It can kill Wade, it can kill that kid, and it can have all of my fucking brothers. I will get my Azzalea.

Randy had full intentions of leaving the other men for dead while he escaped with Azzalea in tow. 

Next update will be on May 17, 2021!    Much love to you all!   ~Autumn