Cave Men by Frankie Love
Storm
The momentshe steps on shore I can tell she's on a mission. "I'm yours?" She scoffs at me. "I'm nobody's." She rolls her eyes. "I don't know what you're getting at, but I need you both to get out of my way."
Carnage and I keep our feet firmly planted on the floor of the jungle. She groans. "Are you kidding me? That's how you're going to play this? Look, I was just in some freaky earthquake, and then I got accosted by some creepy hippo in the lagoon. And now I'm coming across two cosplay cave men in the jungle. I really don't know what you're getting at, if you're in some documentary or making some C-level film, but I don't have time for this." We don’t move. I stare, transfixed. She groans. "Seriously, I'm not interested in your games."
"Games?" I ask. "I'm not playing any games."
She smiles tightly. "Great, so can you move?"
Carnage and I only step closer together, blocking the path. There are giant palm trees all around us, and dense jungle vines. This is the only clear path forward. And I know because it leads directly to our camp.
"You know where you're going?" I ask her.
"Yes," she says, "I do. I'm going back to the Palm Paradise parking lot because wherever I am right now is not where I want to be."
"You're not going to find it this way."
She frowns. "Oh really? Which direction do I need to go then, Mr. Know-it-all?"
"Wow, you got some attitude on you, don't ya?" I look her up and down.
Damn, it's been so long since I've seen a woman. Six years, to be precise. Six long, lonely years. When I landed in this prehistoric hell, I was by myself. Year four, I found Carnage. Thought I won the goddamned lottery. It was better to be with him than to be alone. But together we're not doing much better. It's awful out here. We’ve been wishing for the life we had, praying for a future we'll never get, but now—she's here.
"I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you," I tell her, "but that hotel doesn't exist. The life you had, it's gone. And whatever you think you're here to find, you won't."
Carnage whistles low. "Damn, bro. Way to give it to her straight."
I shrug. "She doesn't want me to pretend. Do ya, Sugar?"
"My name's not Sugar, it's Summer, and no, I don't want you to bullshit me, but I don't know what you're talking about."
Carnage smirks. "We're talking about time travel, honey."
"Time travel?" she repeats in disbelief. "I don't know what you're saying. You want me to believe we just time traveled?"
"Not we," I say. "Carnage and me, we've been here for six years."
"Six years?" The gorgeous girl's jaw drops.
I'd like to keep her mouth wide open. I have a cock I could fill it with.
Damn, I know that's crass even for me, but fuck I'm lonely, horny, ready, eager, everything. I wasn't joking when I said she was mine. She is. She just doesn't know it yet.
She shakes her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. There was an earthquake. I was in a cave. I fell down a water chute sort of thing. Ended up here. I just need to get back to the cave and retrace my steps." She presses a hand to her forehead. "This is not how the day was supposed to go. I was going into the jungle and into that cave to find Fancy, not you two... What are you doing, anyway? Are you filming a movie? Are you like, making TikToks or something? Is this a new trend?"
Carnage and I share a look, having no idea what she's talking about. "TikTok?" I say.
"You don't know what TikTok is?" she asks.
I shake my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
She whimpers. "You’ve really been here six years?"
"Six long years," I repeat.
"Oh my God," she groans.
"What?" I ask.
"Did we really time travel?"
I chuckle. "Uh, yeah, we really time traveled."
"The earthquake… that might have been what happened to Fancy. This might be where she went."
Summer sits down on a fallen tree, setting down her backpack, the color draining from her face. Her hair is long and wavy, drawing in the heat of the jungle sun. Her skin is bronze and beautiful. Her measurements would give Marilyn Monroe a run for her money.
"Oh my God," she says, covering her face with her hands. "Fancy didn't get kidnapped. She didn't get sex trafficked. She time traveled." The woman drops her hands. "What are your names?"
Storm and Carnage, we tell her.
"You were two of the men on the Special Ops mission who were lost in a blast six years ago. You were searching for a known terrorist."
"How do you know all that?" I ask her.
She swallows. "I know because I was in Mexico looking for my best friend who went missing in the jungle. The authorities told me that there have been several different people who have gone missing after exploring the caves in the vicinity over the last few years—three other women, and the group of men on your Special Ops mission. Everyone thought they either were lost or killed or never wanted to be found, but no one guessed time travel. What time is this?"
I shrug. "I think it's the Paleolithic Age."
Carnage nods. "Prehistoric shit. We're not exactly sure. We aren't history buffs, but it's after the dinosaurs so that's good. But there's still some wild shit out here."
Summer swallows, biting her bottom lip. "But there are no other humans."
"None," I tell her. "That's why we're really fucking happy to see you."
"But there has to be," she says, "there has to be other people here. The other people on your mission and the other girls who were lost. Fancy for one, and there were two other women. This girl who was here with her family for a wedding, and another girl who was on a backpacking trip. They came to these caves and were never seen again. It can't be a coincidence. They must all be here."
"Well, that sounds like a fantasy," I tell her, pressing my lips together. "I mean, that'd be nice, but we've been here six years and haven't seen a soul." I shake my head. "Look, I want to believe that the other guys on our mission are alive. Just as bad as you want to believe your friend Fancy is alive, but we got to be realistic. We haven't seen them in all this time. Maybe..."
"What?" she asks.
I shrug. "Maybe they're gone."
"No!" Summer shakes her head. "I refuse to believe that. I just wonder if everyone traveled to the same moment."
"I don't think that's how time travel works." I explained.
Carnage laughs. "What do you know about time travel anyways?”
I shrug. “When we met up, I counted that I’d been here four years, but you’d only accounted for three months. When we get spit out on this side, time doesn’t match up perfectly.”
"Either way, we’re stuck here?" Summer asks.
"Yeah,” I say. “You’re stuck, with us."
She stands, picking up her bag. "Well, no offense, but I'm not sticking around. You're both handsome and all, but..."
"But what?" I asked.
"But I came to Mexico to find my best friend and I'm not giving up until I've found her."
She stands just as a woolly mammoth walks through the jungle.
Summer's eyes widen. "Is that…?" She points to the tusks.
I nod. "Yeah, it's a woolly mammoth."
Her eyes widen with fear. Just our luck, she’s terrified of a harmless beast.
We can use that to our advantage.