Chapter 3 #3
“Depends on the expedition.” She points toward the screens. “This one? We have a cluster of sightings over the last few years. Similar descriptions. Similar elevations. Similar times of year. We don't go in expecting to see Bigfoot, but we go in expecting something.”
“Such as?”
“Tracks. Hair samples. Audio anomalies. Broken trees. Structures.”
“Structures?”
She nods. “Large branches woven together. Not nests exactly. More like markers. Sometimes arches.”
“Okay, what exactly are markers?” I asked, trying to keep up.
“Great question! A marker is really any physical sign suggesting that Bigfoot may have been in an area. I know it’s confusing. The definition is intentionally broad because it’s rare for research groups like ours to have true, definitive proof. We’re more focused on patterns of evidence.”
I nod. “I can get down with patterns.”
“Good,” Maya smiles, and I feel a connection forming. “Have you heard of wood knocks?”
I look at her, feeling slightly dumb.
“Like knocking on wood?” I ask.
“Mm-hmm. Sharp knocks against trees. Lots of theories. Territory. Communication. Could be people. Could be something else.”
I squint. “That's actually a thing?”
“Very much a thing. Bigfoot enthusiasts have recorded them for decades. Doesn't mean they're supernatural. But they're weird,” Maya explains.
I glance toward Miles, hunched over at his desk as he scrolls through a webpage. I squint at his screen. “Is he on… Reddit?”
“Always,” she sighs.
I give a tight smile. “Ah, gotcha,” I say. No greater benefit to society than a nerdy white man on Reddit.
“It’s research. He cross-references everything.”
“With Reddit?” I ask, my alarm thinly veiled.
“With databases. Relax,” she says, chuckling. She points to another screen. “Thermals. Drones. Topographic maps. We narrow areas down to likely corridors and then hike them.”
“And the weird screaming?”
Jax perks up at this. “Sasquatch vocalizations!” he shouts with glee. He’s got the energy of a kid in a band at Warped Tour, excited to be wherever he is at that moment.
Taylor groans from the driver's seat. “Please don't,” she calls out.
“No, seriously!” Jax says, his interest palpable. “There are reports of infrasound too.”
“Wait, I read about that!” I match his excited energy. “That’s what people say messes with their organs and stuff, right? The frequencies they feel more than hear?”
Maya nods. “Elephants use it. Tigers do. Some researchers think certain experiences people describe—panic, nausea, dread—could be connected.”
“Researchers?” I ask.
“Bigfoot researchers.”
“Oh.” I pause. “Researcher” feels generous. When I hear that word, I picture someone with a Ph.D. and a university email address. Maybe a lab coat. At minimum, a study that’s survived peer review.
Not someone who believes in Bigfoot.
I keep that part to myself.
Mostly because I need these people to like me for the next few weeks.
But also because there’s something almost disarming about how seriously they all talk about this.
Like there’s absolutely nothing strange about dedicating your life to finding things most people stopped believing in around the same time they stopped checking under the bed for monsters.
I make sure my smile is back in place as I ask, “So… have you guys actually found anything?”
Maya considers it. Across from us, Miles glances toward us for a second before returning to his maps.
“Well, yes. We believe people experience things,” she says finally.
“And Bigfoot?” I ask, wanting more certainty.
She smiles, then looks out the windshield.
“The world is weird, Daisy,” she says quietly. “People see things. Hear things. Lose things. Find things. And sometimes there are patterns. That's all.”
“Okay, but let's say Bigfoot exists,” I carry on.
Jax spins around in his chair and doesn’t stop spinning in circles. “Which he does.”
“What then?” I ask.
Maya shrugs. “More proof we’re not alone.”
“More?” Maya seems to pick up that I’m looking for her to get real.
“Yep. We’ve absolutely encountered paranormal anomalies that suggest the veil is thinner in this universe than most people think.
Ghosts, local cryptids, you name it. We’ve worked cases across the country that provide evidence of unexplainable phenomena.
Our goal—or the goal of this particular mission—is to get more evidence.
Tracks and audio, mostly. Winning gold would mean getting video footage.
And, with your help, we get more reach, which means more financial support, so we can keep doing this kind of research. ”
“No pressure for either of us then?”
She laughs, and I can feel her warmth through it.
The “quick” drive takes another hour, and the barren desert gives way to southwestern forest. Red rock fades into dense stands of ponderosa pine and Gambel oak, the air sharpening with elevation.
Meadows open unexpectedly between clusters of trees, bright green against volcanic soil, while old cinder cones rise in the distance like sleeping giants.
The farther we climb, the more the landscape changes its mind.
One minute we're winding through a thick forest that smells of vanilla and rain, and the next we're skirting wide valleys framed by sandstone cliffs glowing gold in the late-afternoon sun.