Page 5 of Squatch Out!

CHAPTER THREE

OLIVIA

T he rising sun is still burning off the early morning mist as we get ready to hit the road.

With my venti quad shot oat milk latte in one hand, I press my back against the plastic trunk hanging out of the hatchback.

Using all my strength, I push with my feet to get it to slide just a little farther .

But it’s not budging, and I’m regretting pulling it out so I could double-check my gear.

How the hell did I get it to slide into the car without any trouble yesterday?

I can’t help the way my eyes narrow with jealousy at the full-sized SUV the guys were able to rent from the same place, mere hours after I was told they didn’t have the one I reserved.

“We’ve got plenty of room if you want to put that in our rig,” Brian offers when he sees me struggling.

Muttering under my breath about stupid misogynistic car rental companies, I dig my heels in and give the trunk another push. This time it slides all the way in.

“Nope, I got it. Thank you, though.” I turn around and slam the hatch shut with more force than necessary.

Tony joins Brian, followed by Darren a moment later, and now all three of them are watching me with matching looks of confusion.

Stifling the urge to flip them off, I remind myself they have no idea why I’m so irritated because I never mentioned the mix-up at the rental place.

Instead, I go full passive aggressive and give them the most saccharine-sweet smile I can manage before stomping over to the driver side and slamming myself inside.

While I wait for them to finish loading up their stupidly roomy SUV, I sync my cell phone to the Bluetooth and queue up my playlist as I drink my caffeine overdose.

An eternity later, Brian backs out of his parking spot, and off we go. It’s a two-hour drive to the remote campground I’ve reserved for the next five days, and now that we’re on our way, my eagerness to get up into the mountains has returned.

The moment we turn off the highway and onto the two-lane twisty road that will take us to our destination, I realize that none of the pictures I saw online do this place any justice at all.

With the sultry tones of Sleep Token blasting through the wimpy speakers, I stare in wonder at the unimaginably beautiful scenery.

Rolling hills are broken up by dense patches of evergreens.

Off in the distance, a large herd of elk graze, paying us no mind.

Even farther off are the white-capped peaks of the Cascades, including one of the distinctive volcanos that dot the range.

Most of the trip is up a steep and winding road, and I end up taking back every bad thing I ever said about my nimble little hatchback, since the larger SUV seems to be having much more trouble.

I bet it’s using up twice as much gas too.

By the time we get to the small parking lot at the end of the road, the coffee has hit and I’m scrambling to get my seatbelt off and out of my car.

I run right past the guys who have gathered around billboards with maps—and probably the rules of the park—heading straight into the rough-looking outhouse.

A few minutes later, feeling considerably lighter now that my eyeballs aren’t floating, I join the guys at the maps.

Brian offers me a sympathetic smile before breaking some disappointing news. “The road that leads up to our campsite is more of a trail, and the site itself isn’t going to allow two vehicles. So, you’ll have to leave your car here and ride with us.”

I wedge myself between him and Darren to squint up at the map. Damnit, he’s right.

Honestly, I’m skeptical of any vehicles being allowed up the private trail. But it’s getting late, and hauling all our gear on foot is definitely less appealing than riding with the guys and chancing breaking a rule.

Blowing out a sigh, I shrug. “It’s fine.” Then I head back to unload my car.

The drive up to the campsite is…

It’s breathtaking. I thought the drive through the mountains was beautiful, but this? It’s… absolutely magical.

On either side of the dirt road that’s not much more than a vague path, patches of late-season lupines and avalanche lilies dot the green rolling hills that rise to meet the jewel-blue sky before falling to kiss dense woodlands filled with evergreen and spruce.

The campsite is nestled along the aptly-named Windy Ridge, with lots of room for tents and a central firepit.

Tucked several yards away inside a small shack, I spy the pit toilet.

It’s expectedly windy as I zip up my jacket over one of my favorite t-shirts that says, I can do anything with a little sarcasm and profanity. Then I jump in to help unload our gear.

We each have our own tent, and while I’m setting mine up, Tony starts a fire.

By the time we’re all settled, and our dinner is roasting on the grill, the sun has started to set.

I lean back in my camp chair, a lightweight fleece blanket draped around my shoulders, as I watch the sinking sun set the sky on fire.

While we eat, the thready clouds turn from vibrant orange with streaks of purple and magenta to royal blue before fading to a star-speckled black.

“When was the most recent sighting in this area?” Brian asks. He’s on the opposite side of the fire from me and cast in shadow.

It’s the first mention of bigfoot since dinner last night, and I don’t like the way my chest tightens. But then I remind myself this is why we’re here.

“There was a big one last summer.” I pull out my cell phone. There is no service up here, but I saved some screenshots of the article I found. “A hiker was chased off the mountain.”

The story had garnered a lot of attention when it hit the media, before it was quickly beat down.

The witnesses were discredited, and it was called a hoax or misunderstanding before it faded away, like they all do.

But it was the main reason why I chose the Olympics rather than the more popular forests in southern Washington and Oregon.

“Did it say anything else about what happened?” Tony leans forward expectantly.

“The article listed all the usual specifics,” I reply.

“The hiker was backpacking across the Olympics when he started noticing that sticks and pinecones were being thrown at him. Then there was the foul smell.” I’ve always been curious why sightings are often preceded by a pungent scent.

I don’t recall noticing one when I was a little girl, but maybe I wasn’t downwind?

“When the hiker wasn’t easily frightened off, the bigfoot charged at him from the trees.

It was howling and making all kinds of noise as it chased the man back down the trail the way he’d come. ”

“That must have taken ten years off his life,” Tony chuckles.

“Did the article mention what the howls sounded like?” Darren asks.

Brian turns to his friend. “Dude, you keep asking about noises. What gives?”

Darren presses his lips together, and for a minute, I don’t think he will answer, but then he comes to a decision. “I have a theory, and I want to try something.”

Before any of us can say anything, he’s out of his chair and rifling through the back of the SUV. When he comes back, he’s got his cell phone in one hand and a speaker in the other.

“I have a recording of a sasquatch mating call,” Darren says, dead serious.

I’ve heard of hunters playing sounds they believe are from bigfoot, but their results have been mixed, and I’ve never heard of them producing any solid proof.

“How do you know it’s a mating call?” Brian sounds skeptical, and the firelight that dances across his face makes him look like he’s starting to question his decision to bring Darren along.

Darren stares down at his phone at the sound bite he has queued up. “I trust my source,” is all he says.

Something about this has my stomach twisting with nerves. “I don’t know—” I start to say, but he ignores me and flips on the speaker.

A low hum fills the night just before he pushes a button and the most god-awful screaming cuts through the silence. It’s so sudden, it startles me, and I slap my hands over my ears, but that’s not enough to keep it out.

“Stop!” I shout.

But he’s not listening. Instead, he’s scanning the trees with a hopeful expression that smooths out the harsh lines he’s worn since yesterday.

“Darren!” I yell as loud as I can, jumping up from my chair and stalking toward him. “Turn that off!”

The screams coming from the speaker send all the hair across my body standing on end and makes my stomach clench. Behind me, the other guys have also started yelling at him to turn it off.

When he continues to ignore us, I march up to him and snatch the phone from his hand. My fingers fumble with the smooth surface but eventually I hit the stop button, plunging us back into a thick, blissful silence.

“ Jesus fucking Christ ! What is wrong with you?” I snap.

For a moment, his lip curls, and he looks like he’s going to be mad, but then his eyes snap to the tree line behind me.

The way his eyelids peel wide sends a rush of adrenaline flooding my system.

My heart kicks rapidly in my chest, and I slowly turn around.

My mouth falls open as a group of trees begin swaying frantically like something big is coming down the side of the ridge, knocking them aside in its wake.

No way.

I look over at Tony and mouth the words, “ Are you seeing this?”

When he glances at me, his eyes are just as wide as Darren’s, and he shakes his head with disbelief. My mind races to come up with a reasonable explanation for what could be knocking those trees around like that. Elk? Maybe if it’s a whole herd. A moose? Bears?

I start backing away. Everything I’ve read says only black bears live in these mountains, and they would be far too small to cause that much movement.

Just before whatever is coming toward us should have burst out of the tree line, everything suddenly stops. Seconds stretch, and when nothing else happens, we slowly relax.

“Can you believe that?” I giggle nervously.

Brian barks out a single harsh laugh, and Tony lets out a relieved breath. “For a second there, I really thought–”

A throaty growl echoes from the darkness, preceding a huge hairy creature that suddenly bursts through the trees, heading straight toward us.

Oh, shit ? —

For a moment, we’re all frozen as we watch the creature's long arms swing angrily in time with his longer strides. And that’s not the only thing swinging .

My mouth drops open at the sight of the baseball bat-sized erection bouncing back and forth across his thighs with each step.

I give my head a shake, managing to drag my gaze away from his raging boner to his face. Heavy brows are dropped low over sharp eyes. His wide mouth is turned down at the corners in a— wait .

My heart starts pounding anew because Bigfoot and his swinging dick are coming straight for me .

I start to backpedal, trying to keep my balance without tripping on the uneven ground as he barrels toward me. Darren stands frozen while Tony and Brian snap to action to come to my rescue.

“Hey!”

“No!”

They yell, coming at him from the side, but the bigfoot merely uses a giant hand to easily shove them aside, knocking them to the ground, before colliding with me.

Big hands circle my waist, and I scream as he lifts me off my feet like I weigh nothing.

I fight against him with everything I have, pushing at him with my hands and kicking out with my feet to no avail.

He tosses me over his shoulder without missing a stride and breaks wide when my protectors come at him again.

He just barely avoids them before disappearing back into the trees the way he came.