PART TWO
Two weeks later ol Pete was deep up in the Himalayas with crew of seven legionnaires. On the first day, the hike up to Yeti territory was strong and unified. Everybody was pumped. The sun was out and about, the sky a true blue. Songs were sung. Smiles beamed beneath the cotton ski masks.
It didn't last long though. Their guide, Kang, was more of a lush than Pete. He made Pete look like a one-beer-a-day kinda guy. The camp was usually set up where Kang had passed out. Progress was measured in hours and bottles of wine. The mercenaries started to get a case of the ass. They wanted booze and whores brought up to the tents. Things were unraveling. Kang slid, sighed and slurred. He demanded more money. Pete nursed a bad case of altitude sickness. Ten days into the expedition the only snowman in captivity was the one the soldiers had constructed for knife throwing practice.
One dim morning they the Yeti let its presence be known. A roar louder than anything any of them had ever heard ripped down from above. Then they felt a rumble. Some one cursed in French. Then the avalanche smashed across the mountain burying everyone underneath ton after ton of rock and snow except for Pete, Kang and one of the soldiers. There was nothing left to do but to pick up and keep on going.
A week later Pete’s luck surfaced for a second time. He had been up on a boulder scanning the valley with binoculars when he saw it: The Abominable Snowman, ten feet tall, pointy-head and claws that could slice through steel. It was squatting next to a dead mountain climber trying to pull the head off but the last few sinews and neck flesh weren't having it. Pete motioned to Jean-Paul and whispered if he could get a shot from that distance. The Frenchman said nothing. He raised the modified sniper rifle and set it down on the icy rock. Seconds the length of minutes thumped by. There was a quick pop. The high capacity tranquilizer round rocketed through the frigid air and penetrated the thick skin of the giant. Pete saw the Yeti crumple to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
