They looked at one another for a split second, eyes locking, and Stone saw intelligence and emotion in the creature’s eyes.
“It’s all right now,” he said.
Maybe the Bigfoot understood, because it draped its long arms around his neck and laid its head on his shoulder.
As he left the lab, he took another look around. The Illuminati thugs were struggling to get past the door that held them captive. Stone saw a wildness in their eyes that reminded him of the stories of Viking berserkers.
He had taken two steps into the room when the lights flickered and dimmed. An alarm bell rang. The lights flickered again. A metallic clank echoed through the room. He looked over to see that whatever system held the gate closed had failed. Inch by inch, the thugs were raising the gate.
Stone began to run.
26- The Fight
Stone was halfway up the iron rungs that led to the upper level when the lights went out again. Straining to bear his own weight along with that of the juvenile Bigfoot, his sweaty hand searched for the next rung. He found it, its cold surface icy. It gave a little bit beneath their combined weight.
“Hold on a little bit longer,” he mumbled. The young ape let out a groan. “You, too.”
In the darkness below he heard shouts and snarls. The Illuminati soldiers were catching up to him. Stone climbed faster. His boots slipped and he nearly fell, but he kept going. The sounds came closer.
He reached for the next rung and his hand closed on empty air. He wobbled and then regained his balance. He had reached the top!
Once out of the shaft, he finally had a free hand to draw his Webley. His first shot missed, but the muzzle flash gave him a glimpse of a giant man, his teeth bared in a bestial grin, scrambling up the rungs with spiderlike agility.
Stone fired again, but the man barely seemed to feel the impact of the .455 slug as it buried itself in his shoulder. His next shot took his target in the eye. He gave a jerk, his body freezing in place as the slug penetrated his brain. His fingers went limp and he fell, taking two of his comrades along with him.
The sudden gunshots had terrified the Bigfoot. It began to howl and flail its arms. It struck the wrist of Stone’s gun hand so hard that his hand went numb. The Webley clattered down into the pit.
“Consarn it!” he swore. “See what you did?”
Without a weapon, he had no choice but to make a run for it. He dashed out into the canyon.
All too soon he heard the Illuminati closing in on him, still howling with bestial rage. Stone had been a track and football star in high school and college, and could outrun most men, but he’d never run a race with a Bigfoot in his arms. As the sounds of pursuit close in, he was forced to accept that he wasn’t going to outrun them. He would have to stand and fight.
“I’m gonna rip your arms off!” one of the Illuminati shouted. “I’ll eat your…”
A shot rang out and the man let out a roar of pain. And then the forest was filled with flashes of gunfire. More shouts of surprise, pain, and anger behind him. He stole a glance back. A couple of the Illuminati were down, most were bleeding from multiple wounds, but they were still coming. It took a lot to take these men down, if they truly could be considered men anymore.
One of the brutes was almost on top of him. And then a figure came dashing out of the forest. It took him a moment to recognize Constance. She was dressed in snug-fitting clothing and carrying a pistol.
She took aim and squeezed the trigger. Stone winced as the bullet missed him by inches. He heard a sick thud behind him as the slug found its mark. And then Moses burst out of the forest, armed with a shotgun. He opened up with both barrels into the attacking Illuminati.
“Keep going!” Constance shouted. “We’ll cover you.” Calmly, she raised her pistol and fired again.
As Stone dashed into the shelter of the tree line, he caught a glimpse of the rest of his rescuers. The shopkeepers, Vince and Deb, along with Harold and Marian Moss. All were armed with hunting rifles and had formed a skirmish line.
When he had reached the shelter of the forest, he stopped and gently laid the young Bigfoot onto the ground. Turning around, he looked for someone to fight, but the battle was coming to an end. The last of the Illuminati soldiers lay on the ground. His shoulders sagged with relief.
“I can’t believe you all are here,” he said to his rescuers.
“We always knew this canyon was a dark place,” Deb said. “It was finally time to take a stand.”
“I’m sorry I let you all come here,” Moss said. “I swear I didn’t know this place was here. I haven’t been down into the canyon since the incident.”
“You couldn’t have stopped us,” Stone said. “We are a determined bunch, especially Trinity. Speaking of, where is she?”
“She and Alex are leading the kidnapped women out of the canyon,” Moses said. “They were moving slow, so we told them to get a head start.”
“Good decision,” Stone said.
A shot rang out and he turned to see Constance standing over one of the fallen Illuminati, pistol in her hand. As they watched, she moved to examine another fallen man. She frowned, prodded him with her toe. When he let out a groan, she shot him, too.
“What are you doing?” Stone called.
“Following orders,” she said. “I’m with the Bureau of Investigation.”
“You knew what was down here and you let us walk into it unaware?”
“Of course not. The plan was for me to attach myself to Trinity, let her guide me to the facility, assess the situation, and take care of it myself. But Trinity proved to be much more secretive and impetuous than I expected. Once she disappeared, I needed help to find her. After that, things spun out of control.”
Stone shook his head. “Using me is one thing, I’m accustomed to it. But you didn’t have to make Alex think you cared for him. That was cruel.”
Constance hung her head. “I wasn’t pretending. I only hope he will forgive me.”
“You won’t get any help from me,” Stone said.
“What exactly is this place?” Vince asked.
Stone described what he had seen and what he had learned from Ward. When he finished, Harold Moss whistled.
“Of all the things my mind could conjure up, I never dreamed of the Illuminati trying to grow Bigfoot-human hybrids.”
“The women will need discreet medical attention,” Constance said. “And the Bureau will take control of the facility. I cut the solar power line. That will have to be repaired.”
“That was your doing?” Stone asked.
“You’re welcome,” she said.
“The loss of power caused their cage to fail,” Stone said, pointing at the fallen Illuminati. “You almost got us all killed.”
“My apologies. On the bright side, these were all self-defense killings. Much cleaner than if we were forced to dispose of these men later.”
“Do what you like,” Stone said, heading back toward the facility.
“Where are you going?” Constance called out.
“To get my Webley. And then there’s one more thing I need to do.”
Interlude 8
If the usual pattern held, there would be another beating within the hour. He needed to act fast.
He stripped off his clothing and tossed it in the corner where he usually slept. He set the full cup of coffee there, too, and covered it with the overturned bucket that served as his latrine. The coffee aroma needed to be faint. Like coffee breath. Last, he rinsed the smelliest parts of his body using the cup of water provided for his meal.