I followed her finger to the side of the skull. It was smaller than the rest and right at the temple was a hole. All of the skulls had them. They had all been shot in the head.

“What happened here?” Sabrina asked.

I glanced around the cell. “If I had to guess,” I said. “It looks like somebody tried to study these creatures and when the money ran out, they killed them.”

“That’s a harsh guess.”

“Yes it is.”

Just when I was thinking warm and fuzzy thoughts about my fellow man, a face appeared in the hole and roared. I jumped and aimed my gun at the face and started to pull back the trigger. At the last second Sabrina slapped my hand. The gun went off. The bang was deafening inside the steel cell. It scared off the creature from the hole, but it also rattled Sabrina and me.

“What the fuck?!” I yelled at her.

She looked more upset than angry. “Don’t kill them.”

I just sort of convulsed in confusion. “If I don’t they’re going to kill us, and eat us, I might add.”

“I know, but . . .”

She didn’t finish her thought and she didn’t have to. I knew.

I touched my hand to her cheek and smiled. I had me an idea.

“I lied to you,” I said.

“You lied? About what?”

Outside the creatures grunted and stomped their giant feet.

“When you asked me not to bring any drugs on the trip.”

She tilted her head in that I don’t understand what you are saying to me sort of way that only a woman can pull off without looking fake. It worked. I felt like a complete heel.

I tried to look her in the eyes as I pulled the baggie out of my sock. It was full of pills, painkillers mostly. “I’m sorry.”

She looked disappointed, then confused. “Why are you telling me now?”

The guilt was gone. I wasn’t that whipped yet. I smiled and pulled a bag of beef jerky out of my pocket and proceeded to empty the meat on the floor, then I did the same with the pills. I placed four or five of the stronger pills onto a slab of the dried meat and then folded and rolled the whole thing into a jerky/painkiller burrito.

By now Sabrina had figured out what I was up to and was busy making the second one.

“Think it’ll work?” she asked.

“One of these can knock me out.”

She just nodded.

When we were done we had three large meat-and-sedative burritos ready for use. I tossed some of the extra meat out to whet their appetites and they went for it. I saw a huge hand grab the first bit, then heard the sound of chomping and what might have been Bigfoot yummy noises.