Two

“Are we almost there?” whined a tinny voice. A pimple-faced teen, the source of the voice, managed to pull himself onto a fallen tree-trunk and sat down with a whack.

The weather was pleasantly warm, and countless birds sang and flew through the trees. A fever-dream of colourful flowers gave the never-ending forest a warm and homely feel. The swirling storm of appetizing aromas was enough to give anyone a fresh surge of energy.

“Quit your bellyaching Cohen, we’ve still got many miles ahead of us before we can camp for the night.” A middle-aged man dressed in khaki and a blue scarf around his neck returned to the kid and smiled.

“But what’s the point of all this?”

“You boys must complete all of this wilderness training if you don’t want to face further punishment.” The man smiled as he took off his sunglasses.

“But its hard.”

“You boys should’ve thought that through before you broke the law.” The man approached Cohen and leaned in with a stubby finger. “If you keep complaining, I’ll fail you, even if you pass everything.” He flashed another charming smile, put on his sunglasses and jogged back to the other teens.

“Stupid, lousy crap.” Cohen made to catch up to the rest of the group, but felt his ankle twist and his leg pull. Suddenly, his body lurched forward and he couldn't stop himself. Cohen was slashed and battered as he slid, and crashed into a tree at the bottom.

“Are you alright?” called the man in charge. Cohen could hear the laughter of the other boys.

“Yeah. Bit sore." He staggered violently as he walked, and splashed into a river.

As Cohen picked himself up, his hand brushed something that was immensely cold. It didn't look like an ordinary boulder.

“Hey. I, I think I found something!” Cohen wiped away at the muddy surface and was astounded to find a distorted shadow within.

Professor Jane Craig, the head of biology, and the one personally in charge of overseeing the specimen, continued to stare in awe at the discovery in front of her.

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“This is the discovery of a lifetime,” said Jane. She pulled her brown cardigan tightly around her as the cooling mists spread from the ice. “Have you seen anything quite like it, Harold?” she turned to her supervisor.

“In all my long years, I’ve never seen one this complete.” Jane was certain she’d caught the glint of a tear behind his monocle.

History Professor Sanada, a man whose fashion often set trends, smiled. “It’s perfect. It’ll secure funding for years to come.” The smoke of his never-ending pipe swirled with the cooling mist.

"Is this your latest crackpot scheme to make yourself famous?" chided a snarky voice. The three of them turned to see the frustrating face of Professor Anderson, the head of mathematics. His sense of style reflected his snide aura.

“Really Anderson?” asked Sanada.

“There’s no way this can be fake. Look at it. You can feel the cold coming off it,” said Harold.

“All tricks if you ask me,” scoffed Anderson.

“Tests are being done from core samples as we speak. But I think you’ll find it’s the real thing, Anderson.” Jane glared at Anderson.

“What is your deal?” asked Sanada.

“He’s just jealous,” said Harold.

“Me, jealous? I don’t need to sell stories to the media to prove I’m needed here.” With a smile, Anderson turned and walked away.

“So, what do you plan on doing with it?” asked Sanada.

“We’re gonna thaw him out,” replied Jane.

“But wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“Only if we’re not prepared,” said Harold. “We plan on having a team of professionals here to help us. A therapist that specialises in children. An animal behaviourist, some security guards. And I’m sure they’ll bring with them some other specialists. We’re not fully equipped to deal with rehabilitating a cave man.”

“Will there be journalists here?” asked Sanada. Sanada pulled out a small metal container and poured his spent tobacco into it, and prepared another session for his pipe.

“Naturally,” said Jane.

“What about the group that found it? They’ll want something, right?” Sanada asked.

“We’ve given them each a little money, and have said they can all sell their stories after we’ve broken the news of the specimen,” replied Harold.

“When will we get the results from the samples?” Sanada asked.

“Hopefully by late tomorrow. Then we’ll go ahead with the big reveal and the press,” said Jane.

Later that night, the janitor, a man named Steve, was just about finished for the night when Professor Anderson approached him.

“Good evenin Prof, didn’t know you were still in.”

“I just finished grading some papers. Say, could you do a favour for me?” Anderson flexed his fingers.

“Sure thing.”

“Down in the lab, basement level one, in the blue wing. There’s a large contraption that’s down there. I think I turned it off, but can you double-check for me? If its left on overnight, it’ll burn the whole place down.”

“Ahyup.”

“Thank you. Cheerio.”

It was close to midnight when Steve made his way down to the basement.

“Think I’m a ruddy errand boy. These lazy teachers. Why I oughtta.” Steve looked at a strange contraption that he guessed was the one Anderson meant.

He found it was already turned off and grumbled when he found a huge puddle on the floor.

As Steve grumbled to himself about the puddle, he failed to notice the soft footfalls approach him. A low growl caused Steve to whirl around and come face to face with a large, hairy, muscular man. A stone axe swung up and ploughed into his brain.