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Oh. My. God. This is boring. We can't talk. We can't sleep because we might miss something. All we can do is sit and stare. I never realized how difficult it was to do nothing. I had way too much time to think, which is never good for me or those around me.
Before we had to stop talking, Tom and I agreed that one of us would try to stay awake and watching at all times. Our cryptid training with Chance included the fact that bigfoot are believed to be crepuscular—meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk. Although that was the popular belief everything we know about bigfoot is speculation. Harry's journal seemed to support the idea that the bigfoot family was crepuscular, but we couldn't be sure. The more hours of the day someone was watching the more chance there was we'd see something.
Although Chance assured me that my outdoor gear would keep me warm, I still felt cold. Sitting around doing nothing didn't help. I was bored, cold, a little scared, and disappointed that I hadn't broken up with Tom. I was glad when Tom suggested I sleep, at least I'd be warmer in my sleeping bag.
It was my second shift observing when I thought I saw movement across the clearing where the Sasquatch trail was. Without pulling my eyes away from the area, I reached back into the tent and grabbed Tom's ankle. A moment later his head was peering over my shoulder. I pointed. We watched but didn't see anything.
During Tom's next watch, I had trouble sleeping. I decided that as soon as we got back to the point where we could talk, I'd tell Tom. I wasn't going to beat around the bush and wait for the perfect moment. I was just going to tell him that I thought we'd be better as friends. If he asked about Chance, I'd be honest. He was Chance's best friend, and Wilkins’ Gap was a small town. Tom would know I was dating Chance.
It was dark, cold, and creepy on watch during the night, but I saw nothing—no movement, no lights, no creatures. I'd slept some but had no problem waking up when it was my turn to watch. In an effort to keep myself awake during my shifts, I made a process of training my eyes on a certain rock on the left, moving up, over and down. I repeated the cycle over and over. I had just started another cycle when I saw movement by the rockface.
I watched as a large creature wove his way around rocks and brush. It appeared, then disappeared, but I was able to follow him by the movement of the brush. I couldn't decide whether to reach for the camera, scream, or wake Tom. I realized I'd been holding my breath. I reached back and grabbed Tom's leg. When he appeared at my shoulder I pointed. As he watched, I crawled to the camera we had set up on a tripod, I adjusted it as best I could and started taking photos. Chance told me to just keep snapping pictures in hopes I'd catch one of the creature. I tried to follow it in the view finder, but it was difficult in the early morning light. The creature stopped, sniffed the air, and looked right at me. I was too far away to be able to tell if he actually saw me or not, but I didn't plan to wait around to find out. "We need to go," I whispered.
"I'll pack up, you keep watch," Tom replied. "Do you have your rifle?" I nodded and glued my eyes to the last spot where I'd seen the creature. I kept snapping pictures long after it disappeared from view. "Pack up the camera, and let's get out of here," Tom said.
We crossed the clearing as quickly as we could, both of our heads continuously scanning our surroundings. We kept going until I couldn't breathe. I reached out for Tom's shoulder.
"Sorry. Had to stop," I said, bending over and trying to catch my breath. Once I was breathing normally, I took a drink of water. "I gotta asked. Did you see that?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah."
"Cool.
"Very."
We headed out again at a more normal pace, but still on high alert. The further we got from the clearing, the easier it was to return to normal. Like that would be possible after what we saw. A couple of times, I felt like someone was watching us or following us, but I looked and didn't see anything. The third time the feeling hit, we had just stopped for a water break. "I feel like someone's following us," I said.
"When?"
"A few times, but just now too."
"I think we should keep moving as fast as we can," Tom said.
I nodded my agreement. As I tipped my head back to take another drink, I thought I saw a flash of light reflecting off metal.
"Tom, look," I said, pointing.
Before Tom could turn around, a loud crack rang out and Tom fell to the ground. I dropped down beside him and saw the blood stain on the front of his jacket. Another shot hit a tree just to the left of where Tom had fallen.
We were sitting ducks. If someone was shooting at us, I was pretty sure it wasn't bigfoot, I remembered the rifle I was carrying. I had no hope of hitting whoever was firing at us, but maybe they'd back off once they knew we were armed.
I looked at where the bullet grazed the tree, turned my weapon in the direction the bullet would have come from and fired. Immediately another shot rang out, but I didn't hear it hit anything. I fired again. I waited but no more shots came. I stood there frozen. I needed to check on Tom, but I also needed to stop the person shooting at us. While trying to decide what I should do next, I heard a deep rumbling growl, followed by more shots, then a human scream which quickly faded into nothing. It seemed like I stood there sighting down my rifle for hours, but I suspect it was only a few minutes.
Tom moaned. I knelt down beside him. "Tom, are you OK?"
"Not really. I've been shot."
"I know. Sorry. I don't know if they're still out there or not." I really didn't have options. The blood stain on Tom's jacket was spreading quickly. I knew that was bad. If I focused on tending to him, whoever was out there could sneak up on us and kill us both. Either way, Tom could be dead.
I shrugged out of my pack and dumped out the contents. I found the first aid pouch and unzipped Tom's jacket, finding more layers soaked with blood underneath. It looked like the bullet hit the front of his right shoulder. "Tom, you still with me?"
"Yeah."
"It looks like you were hit in the upper right shoulder. There's a lot of blood. I need to stop the bleeding, right?"
"Right. I might pass out."
"Understood. I'll do my best." I pulled an extra thermal from my pack and balled it up. I pulled the scissors from the first aid kit and cut through Tom's fleece, thermal, and thermal underwear. I applied the balled-up shirt directly to the wound and held it in place with both my hands. Keeping the pressure on, I looked around but saw no signs of movement. While I sat there putting pressure on Tom's wound, snow began to fall. "Not now," I pleaded, but it kept falling.
"Cold," Tom said. Keeping the pressure on with one hand, I pulled out my sleeping bag, and covered Tom with it. In my head, I ran through the first aid protocol. Stop the bleeding. Clean the wound. Seal the wound. Treat infection. Treat pain, Treat shock. I lined up the supplies I needed to accomplish that while still applying pressure with one hand.