Un-Evolved

Chapter 1

"Get up Tanner!" Charles shouted, standing over him. Tanner opened his eyes reluctantly, squinting in the lantern light. "Come on mate," Charles continued in his stereotypical Aussie accent, "We need to get an early start this morning if we want to bag a bloke!" "What does that even mean Charlie?" Tanner asked. "First of all," Charles replied, "I told you not to call me that. My name is Charles Austin Williamson, and I'd prefer you'd call me as such." Tanner rolled his eyes drearily. "Second, if we don't collect our 'quarry' by today, our fathers aren't gonna show us much mercy, eh?" "What are they going to do, ground us?" Tanner replied sarcastically. Charles chuckled, and stood. "Come on, get up! Geoff found something you might wanna see." "Give me a moment." Tanner replied. "I'll be out in a minute." "Alright, meet us in the lab." Charles said as he left the tent.

Tanner stood from the cot, and tidied it up. After a quick trip to the toilet (aka the small ditch behind the tent) and a thick layer of deodorant and bug spray, he put on his usual attire of khaki cargo pants, a pale blue t-shirt, and modified military style boots. He also grabbed his blue ball cap with the WJF logo. The Williamson and James Foundation was founded by his and Charles fathers 15 years ago in order to explore the farthest reaches of the unexplored Earth. Lastly, Tanner grabbed the pale green vest that hung from the coatrack. It held his essentials when traversing the vast African wilderness that he was placed in.

He marched toward the research tent on the opposite side of the camp, also referred to the lab, stopping at the dining hall to grab his thermos of coffee and a couple bottles of water. He arrived at the lab, and went inside. In the large tent, there were dozens of fold-out white tables, with assorted equipment, and blinding fluorescent lights blanketing the ceiling. Tanner saw Sarah towards the center of the room, setting up her workstation early, as usual. Geoff and Charles stood in the back corner, staring at something on a table, which was obscured from view. "Good morning everyone." Tanner said tiredly. "Well then, you're up bright and early!" Sarah replied without looking up. "Wait," he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket, "what time is it?" He switched on his phone, revealing that it was seven thirty in the morning. "Why did you get me up so early Charlie?" Tanner sighed. Charles threw him a nasty look, and Tanner caught Sarah smiling. "Let me show you." Charles said, seeming less cheery than usual. He walked over to the table, and was confused by the object displayed before him.

The object was a large, white, chalky mass with small dirty spots here and there. It resembled a large, upside down foot, with four toes, scaly patterns, and what appeared to be webbing between the toes. "Do you know what this is?" Geoff asked. "It would appear to be some sort of cast of the foot of a... Well, some creature." He replied. Charles pulled out his phone, and took a picture of the cast.

"You are correct Mr. James," Geoff said with a hint of confusion in his voice, "and do you know what species it might be?" He seemed annoyed at this point. "I don't know. Mutant alligator? Or... uh... world's largest duck?" Tanner replied, grinning. "You're both wrong," Charles chimed in sarcastically, "It's obviously Big Bird from uh..." Charles snapped his fingers, attempting recognition. "... Sunflower Street or something." Both Geoff and Tanner looked up, as well as Sarah from the opposite side of the tent. "Sesame Street." They said in unison. "Right." Charles replied.

Geoff rolled his eyes and said, "The point is, we don't know what kind of organism produced it. I need your help today." "Sure thing," replied Tanner, "what do you need us to do?" "The print was found about thirty or so miles North of here, by one of our researchers. I want you two to go and see if you can find anything of interest. Take notes on what you find." "On it mate." Said Charles. "Mind if we grab some breakfast first?" Tanner asked, and Charles was quick to reply, "You would Tanner." "What? I didn't have dinner last night. You know how much I hate corndogs."