JOEY KESSLER, LOCAL RESIDENT, FARMER: I lost me about seven head of cattle that night, including my bull. Beats all I’d ever seen or heard about and I’ve had a cow wander up and somehow get smashed in a pumpjack, guts and innards bursting from its hindquarters. I thought that was the worst I’d seen.
STEPHEN PARKER: A jarring pain shot up from my heels and vibrated my spine as I crashed into the bottom of the ravine the creek ran through. I was worried I had blown out my ankles, but the dirt and ground were soft and damp and cushioned my fall. I heard sticks and brush breaking and dirt falling down behind me. I looked back to see Nick sliding down after me, calling my name out in a whisper.
SKYE HERRERA: Haley and I had split up from the boys. Nick had hissed at us to, “Run!” and went on after Stephen who had fallen off into the creek. In our panic, we jumped the nearest barbed wire fence and into a wide-open field. The moon was up in front of us and there was a low-lying fog clinging to the ground. A herd of cattle mingled in the middle of the pasture before us. Maybe we figured we could run aways down the field and look down into the creek for Nick and Stephen. Meet up with them. It’s not like we had much time to discuss it.
HALEY ADAMS: I was like, “Shit dude, cows freak me out.” Skye said, “Keep going. They won’t mess with you.” We started running towards them because that was really the only way. I glanced back and saw Big Baby leap the fence like it was nothing.
STEPHEN PARKER: We tramped down the creek, splashing through the cold water and mud. Nick asked if I had a phone and I told him no. It wasn’t common in those days for everyone to have one. Half the people I knew had a little Nokia, but that was it. All of a sudden, Nick held up his finger as a sign for us to stop and listen, but before a moment passed he started waving his hand in a panic, grabbed me by the sleeve and tugged me along.
HALEY ADAMS: We were darting in and out of cows and they were starting to stir around us, waking up I guess. Some were lying down and started standing up and I almost tripped on a little calf.
STEPHEN PARKER: Large trees were dotted along the creek and over time, floods and erosion carved the soil and widened the ravine until their root systems were exposed. Along the walls of the ravine, were shallow alcoves formed by these exposed roots and eroded dirt. Nick shoved me into one of these and crawled in after me.
SKYE HERRERA: The cows kinda surrounded us and started following us, like they thought we were there to feed them or something. I was worried we might trip and get trampled in the dark. We were moving pretty fast and they were picking up their pace, clomping after us.
STEPHEN PARKER: I could hear the heavy footsteps making their steady and unrelenting march down the creek. They were close. I tried my best to not breathe. The tall figure crossed our field of vision and stopped. With that bit of moon in the sky, this was the closest look I had gotten to the monster all night and the best look I was going to get.
You heard, what? That he had one of those pull string things in his back? Like a baby doll? The kind that you yank and it says, “Mama, mama, mama”? That’s not what I saw. Earlier I said I saw what I thought was a piece of rope slung around his shoulder. Well, it was something like a rope alright, but it was coiled and spiraled and bluish gray and attached to his lower stomach.
His arms…they weren’t normal either. They were these fleshy, segmented rolls that telescoped into each other. Like a real-life Michelin Man. He was still thick as hell and obviously very strong.
He stood there for what seemed like forever, slowly turning toward us. That’s when I saw what was up with his face, a half mask of melted pink rubber covering the top of his head, a mouth revealed below. A mouth rimmed in inky smudges that began to widen into a toothless grin, gums clamping down several times with a wet, smacking sound. He reached behind his head and then that staticky voice crackled out from somewhere.
“Mama, mama, mama.”
He raised the blade.
OTTO FIELDS, LOCAL RESIDENT: I heard the killer had this thing in his back, like one of them strings baby dolls have. Y'know with the plastic ring you pull and then it says stuff?
WENDY PORTER: LOCAL RESIDENT: All that stuff they say about the umbilical cord or the pull-string, I think that’s a buncha bullshit. How tall can this tale get? Inbred, maybe. ‘Cuz there’s a lotta folks ‘round here that have family trees that are more like a telephone pole if you get my drift. I think the killer was some sort of ‘roided out freak. Lived out in the woods cooking up super meth and taking steroids. Got a bad batch and went on a rampage.
STEPHEN PARKER: I was ready to embrace my fate when up above, the cows started mooing.
HALEY ADAMS: It was a domino effect with those damn cows. First it was one, this kind of high-pitched bellow. Then the others set in. A whole goddamned chorus. I told them to shut the fuck up, for God’s sake.
STEPHEN PARKER: Big Baby turned toward the cows and ran toward the side of the ravine, scaling its walls in an instant.
SKYE HERRERA: I could hear Big Baby crunching behind us. I’d never been so scared in my life.
HALEY ADAMS: I remember being acutely aware that I was much faster than Skye. I was trying to match her pace. I could’ve easily smoked her and left her in the dust. Probably would’ve bought myself some time and I remember in all the panic and fear having that thought, y’know? “Leave her. Leave her.”
Like that joke about how you don’t have to outrun a bear, you only have to outrun your friend. Except it’s real life and nobody’s laughing.
SKYE HERRERA: From behind us there was a thick slapping sound, like someone slapping a broomstick on a leather couch. This was followed by a crunching and a wet plopping, dead weight hitting the ground. It came again and again and there was the clang of steel. The cows were really bellowing and screaming now, some of their cries strangled out into the night. Others rushed past us. We were really lucky that we didn’t get trampled in the ensuing stampede.
HALEY ADAMS: The pasture ended in a rise and another fence. The cattle dashed past us.
STEPHEN PARKER: Me and Nick clawed our way up the sides of the ravine, pulled ourselves up on vines and exposed roots. We could see a little stampede of black shadows, Big Baby following them, swinging his giant blade around like a samurai. He sliced the head off a cow that didn’t have any hind legs left, that was just dragging itself forward. The strength that it would take to do such a thing. I had half a mind to dip back down into the creek, bury myself and hope for the best.
SKYE HERRERA: By this time, we’d made it to the fence. The cattle had veered off, changed course except for the few that had managed to clear the fence. Haley, she helped me over first. I’m always gonna be indebted to her for that . . .
STEPHEN PARKER: We finally found the girls, they were way ahead of Big Baby, but he was closing fast with his steady pace. Cows were running back his direction, towards the creek, any which way they could in their raw animal panic. I knew the feeling.
HALEY ADAMS: Skye gets over the fence. I’ve got a foot on the barb wire near the post and I’m about to step up and pull myself over.
STEPHEN PARKER: Big Baby was out in the middle of the field, probably fifty yards away from Skye and Haley. He raised his fist, the one with the blade in it and cocked his arm. Nick stood up and started yelling at him, “Hey dickface! Over here ya fuckin’ pussy!” It was too late for a distraction. In one smooth movement he yanked his arm down at the elbow. The blade was now a missile. It was heading straight for them.
SKYE HERRERA: I turned to help Haley. There was a ripple in the light, something moving towards us. There was an impact, a thud. Haley’s eyes got big. A choking sound escaped her throat. She fell forward.
JOEY KESSLER, LOCAL RESIDENT, FARMER: I ain’t ever seen carnage like this and I’ve been around the block a time or two. Cows cut in half, beheaded, just cut every which way. My best bull sliced right up the middle. Pure cruelty. I didn’t have any livestock insurance. Had to eat the cost. A pitiful waste. Over by the property line’s where we found the girl. It was like following the bloody clues to the nasty surprise at the end.