
Chapter 1 – Sunrise
The dawn on this Sunday morning in glorious mid May morning was a beautiful thing to behold, the red and orange hues danced off the horizon like watching a laser light show made just for you. Seventeen year old Danny Simms and his buddy Joe Walsh were up early hunting. Their camp is a good forty minutes away in a remote but beautiful part of the Mt Massive wilderness area, about 5 miles North West of Turquoise Lake not far from the “Homestake Reservoir”. The Elk here are plentiful during the cull each year and not many other hunters venture this far in but the bucks are huge and the area breathtaking. The only real problem either of them had was their own personal hygiene, but neither could have anticipated what happen next.
“Snap” a twig in the distance Danny heard it first and held his fingers to his lips as a shhhh to Joe.
He motioned with two fingers to move quietly around to the left army style, and stay low was the next signal. Joe moved out and could not make out the figure off into the distance even with his rifle wedged into his shoulder looking thru his scope all he could see was a figure not what it was.
Both boys moved like seasoned Afghanistan snipers with barely a noise between then only hand signals and the occasional low grunt. They made sure they moved up wind of the figure as it huddled over something in the distance. Joe thought he was witnessing his first glimpse of Big Foot as it didn’t look like an animal forme thru the scope as it was up on two legs at times but then down on all 4 to feed. The moon was Low but still remarkably full in the sky adding to the minutes they were loosing of twilight as a weapon of surprise against the unknown prey. Danny circled around the other way and was obstructed by trees and motioned for Joe to take over the stalking. Joe gave very precise instructions for Danny to stop as he went in closer.
Joe closed the distance of about 10 meters in five minutes being careful not to disturb the animal or whatever it was. He looked away for a second at Danny and gave him the OK signal with his hand and then looked back to the area where the thing was feeding. Nothing! The tree line was darkened in dappled light from above and the light streaming in just above the horizon now filtered into the trees. Joe looked at Danny and shrugged with a look of its gone. The ground where they needed to get to was dry grassland about knee high away from the outcrops they had been sticking to, if they crawled it would take forever. Joe looked at Danny and was about to rise when he saw something in Danny’s eyes he had never seen before, FEAR!
Joe never had a chance to understand what was happening to him his throat was removed with one deft move and bite, blood gushing like a broken tap sprayed the surrounding area to about 3 feet away. Danny was stunned what the fuck was it? It moved so damn fast he didn’t have time to register what in the fuck it was. He held the rifle to his shoulder and scanned the area, too scared to make a sound. His heart was pumping at 100mph pushing oxygen and adrenaline around his body at an alarming rate, this mixed with not breathing properly started making him feel light headed. “Breath you idiot” he thought to himself.
Danny dare not move but he needed to see if Joe was ok, his whole being telling him not to move, to wait until daylight proper and then get in the space about 50 meters to his left so he had a full view of his surroundings. It would be a forty minute trek back to camp and a phone signal to call for help as they were in a fairly remote area near the dam. As Danny scanned the area in front and each side he slowed his breathing to a manageable state, placed his eye to the powerful lens and scoped the area efficiently.
A single drop of moisture fell on the back of his neck and he could not think why, the morning was clear and warm. Then he smelt the acrid coppery taint of blood in the air mixed in with what can only be described as sweat and dirty moist carpet.
Danny swallowed slowly as he closed his eyes and lowered the rifle slowly holding the shoulder strap in his left hand. His bladder released and the warm sensations of his own urine run unnervingly down his left leg as he heard a low guttural growl, he thought of his girlfriend his mother and father his sister and then Joe and with that his spinal cord was split in two as the beast clamped its huge vice like jaws around his solid youthful neck and ruined it forever. The last thought Danny had was what is this thing, then darkness, all encompassing darkness no bright light no tunnel just death as he was partially devoured as breakfast for the hungry beast.
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