Swamp Monster Massacre by Hunter Shea Read Free Book Online

kick your ass.”
    The barrel of the pistol slowly descended between them.  
    “Is this one?”
    The pilot took off his hat and rubbed his bandaged head. “Shit, I’ve heard of skunk apes, but I thought that was just a load of crap. Far as I knew, it was just a story to scare kids from going into the woods and swamps at night.”
    “So this thing that dragged that kid off and dodged my bullet is part skunk and part ape? That just doesn’t sound possible.”
    Jack shook his head. “The name is misleading. It actually has nothing to do with skunks or apes. The skunk part comes because of that awful stench. I suspect being a large biped in this kind of climate would lead to a certain degree of, well, stink. The term skunk ape is just a localized version of a much more well-known creature. I’m sure you’ve all heard of Bigfoot?”
    There were a few nods, but most looked at him like he had sprouted fairy wings and a golden horn from his forehead. He patted his messenger bag.  
    “I’d show you more about skunk apes and Bigfoot on my laptop, but something tells me I’m not going to get a Wi-Fi connection out here. There’s this podcast called the Paranormal Podcast. Guy called Jim Harold has interviewed folks about the skunk ape. It’s really fascinating stuff.”
    One of the girls turned to the pilot and the thug and asked, “You think it’s related to that?”
    Her head turned to an area near the water.  
    “Mind if I see what it is?” Jack asked.  
    “Sure. Come with me.” Walking behind her, he could catch the fading odor of her perfume, a welcome relief. One side of her hair had been hacked to hell, but she still made it look good. A mosquito tried to wriggle up his nose, and he almost broke it trying to slap the annoyance away.  
    She turned to him and said, “I’m Maddie. My sister back there is Liz.”
    “Nice to meet you, Maddie,” Jack said, then added, “well, as nice as it can be under the circumstances.”
    “I’m going to warn you, it’s pretty grisly.”
    She fixed him with her gaze and he straightened as best he could. He’d seen that look countless times before. Just because he was small in stature didn’t mean he couldn’t handle the ugly parts of life.  
    “I’ll be fine,” he said, and moved past her.  
    She was right. It was grisly. The furry body looked like it had been tossed in a man-sized blender and put through the chop cycle for ten seconds.  
    “You might want this,” Maddie said, handing him the stick the pilot had used before.  
    Jack poked and prodded, not even noticing that everyone else had come down to watch. Everyone but the Italian kid.  
    It smelled rancid. Blood-soaked hair covered every square inch of it. Definitely looked like a pair of legs, and there was a fleshy area that could have been a hand.  
    He gave a start when he turned and saw the group was just inches from his back.  
    “If I saw this alone, I wouldn’t try to attempt to classify it, but, when you add in what just happened, I’d definitely say it looks, and smells, like a skunk ape. A young one at that.”
    Maddie’s sister, Liz, moved in closer.  
    “Are you saying we ran over a Bigfoot baby?” she said, bending at her knees to get as near as she could without getting into the tainted water.  
    The pilot looked back at where the kid had been taken. “If that’s true, then we have one pissed-off momma Bigfoot on our hands.”
     
    “Skunk ape or Bigfoot or not, we can’t stay here and wait for it to come back,” Rooster said. “Before you all attacked me and sent this boat to shitsville, I was fixing to get to my father’s safe house. Last I remember, he had a ham radio and crank generator, and usually canned food and water. The food and water are probably spoiled by now, but the radio is the key. I’d guess it’s about another five miles north of here, which ain’t gonna be easy to navigate on foot.”
    He left out how unsafe it would be, seeing as they were