Eight

Sirens joined the chaotic chorus of crying animals and Michael felt a surge of panic run up his spine.

“They’re gonna kill him,” said Michael. “None of this is his fault.”

“I’m sorry son, but he’s a killer. Scientific breakthrough or not, I think it’ll be pretty hard for him to go unpunished. We’ll see what we can do when they get here.” The security guard shook his head when Michael started to move. “Best not to try and run away. It’ll only make things worse.”

The caveman started to growl, and he stood tall. He waved his axe around and pounded the ground with a giant fist.

“Better try and calm him down, they’ll shoot on sight with him looking like that.”

Michael approached the caveman with his hands out. The caveman looked at him and slowed down.

“You can’t be doing that big fella. You look scary to them.” Michael mimed in hopes to calm the caveman down, but nothing worked.

“Michael? Michael!” screamed Jane. Michael looked up from the enclosure and saw his mother at the edge of the enclosure. “What are you doing young man?” She then registered what the caveman was doing. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“No, I’m not. Mum, he didn’t mean to kill all those people. He’s scared.”

“I know that. Most others don’t.” Jane climbed down into the enclosure and cautiously approached her son.

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The caveman roared and took a few steps toward Jane, but stopped when she embraced Michael.

“Everything okay dear?” Michael looked up to see Seth, Sanada and Harold.

“Yeah.”

Michael listened with nervousness as the other sirens stopped. Car doors slammed and six other police officers joined the wall of the enclosure.

“Its okay guys, everything is under control. Just a simple misunderstanding. What, with him being a caveman and all.” Seth attempted to explain to the other officers.

The caveman hollered at the new arrivals and swung his axe around once again.

“Please put down the weapon,” called one of the officers.

“Officers, please. He can’t understand you. Give me a moment, I can get him to stop,” said Michael.

“Stay away from the killer, kid. He’s too dangerous,” replied the officer.

“Officers, my name is Jane Craig. The head of biology at the university. This man right here is a certified caveman. We are currently studying him. You need to know two things. He is the most significant scientific discovery in a lifetime. And, he’s absolutely terrified. Think of the worst fish out of water situation. No friends, no family. Everything he knows is different.”

“Ma’am, we strongly believe he’s responsible for the deaths of six people.” The officer made his way into the enclosure. “And he killed a bunch of chickens and has damaged property. And then you expect me to believe this is a bona fide caveman?”

“Yes,” said Jane.

Michael approached the caveman once again and managed to put his hand on the caveman’s wrist. The caveman stopped swinging the axe.

“So, I’m supposed to excuse him for everything he’s done?”

“Yes.”

“Shit. This is all above me.”

A gunshot cracked through the night and the caveman dropped to the ground. Everyone turned to see a seventh police officer now stood at the perimeter of the enclosure.

“I got him.”

***

“Hey mum, I finished it.” Michael ran downstairs with a thick slab of paper and slammed it on Jane’s desk.

“What did you decide to go with, novel or movie script?”

“Script. I’ll keep tweaking it, but I’ll probably start filming it over summer. Who knows, maybe some big studio would want it?”

“Oh, I hope so.”