and turned a
sickly grey as visions of the great saurians crossed his mind.
‘You get my drift, shithouse!’ Sam screamed
into his face, prodding him in the guts with the loaded
Winchester.
‘Get lost,’ Joao muttered, lowering his eyes.
Maybe the stories about this madman were true. Better to shut up
till they got to civilisation.
Unnoticed, Rui had regained consciousness,
and during this heated exchange had sneaked his pistol into his
hand. He still lay with his eyes closed, fighting the pain that had
threatened to overwhelm him. The talk about the crocodile had
convinced him that they were very close to a very narrow edge. He
prayed that Joao would quit nudging.
‘Let’s see what we have here,’ Sam turned
towards the knapsacks.
Beneath the closed lids, Rui’s eyes rolled
back in their sockets. In the heat of the moment he had forgotten
about the rhino horns.
Joao felt he could actually taste death as a
bitter sensation on the back of his tongue. Let this be the one day
that the madman sticks to the rules, he prayed. If only the other
rangers would come back. With enough witnesses around maybe he
won’t feed us to the crocs.
Sam released the buckles on the first
knapsack and opened it.
As two big rhino horns fell into the dust,
Sam’s jaw dropped and his eyes bulged.
Time stopped.
Far off, near the spruit, a fish eagle let
out a forlorn ‘crouuuu, crouk crouk crouk!’
Dropping the knapsack and grabbing his rifle
in both hands, Sam swung round. ‘I’ll fucking kill you!’ he
screamed.
With a hoarse scream Rui sat up and shot Sam
in the stomach with his pistol.
Sam’s knees buckled but he continued are arc
along which the muzzle of his gun was swinging, past Joao, to Rui.
As Rui’s finger was tightening on the trigger for the second shot,
death leapt from the muzzle of the 300 Winchester Magnum in the
form of a tongue of fire that seemed to momentarily touch him above
the right eye. The front of his skull caved in and exited through
the back, taking away the top half in a pink vapour of living
tissue and bone chips. ‘Nooo!’ Joao screamed, lowering his hands
and storming towards Sam. Louis swung his R1 through a short arc
and connected Joao in the face. Joao went over backwards,
unconscious and with a broken jaw and cheekbone. Sam worked the
bolt of his gun while sagging to his knees and turned towards the
unconscious form of Joao. Louis stepped up to him and took the
rifle from him as he collapsed. ‘Enough, my friend, let’s have a
look at you.’
He laid the semi-conscious Sam on his back
and pulled his shirt from his trousers. A purplish hole to the
right of Sam’s navel was oozing dark blood. There was no exit hole,
so the angle was anybody’s guess. Louis picked up the pistol.
Fortunately it was a .32 calibre. Nevertheless, thinking about his
limited knowledge of human anatomy he knew Sam could very well be
dying. The kidneys, abdominal aorta, spine . . .
The black rangers came stampeding through the
bush.
‘Aaron, tie that piece of shit up as tight as
you can and keep a gun to his head. Don’t move Sam. Get some shade
over him and don’t give him anything to drink. I’ll fetch the truck
and radio for the chopper.
Louis had never run a kilometre in such a
short time.
He was totally out of breath and there was a
sharp pain in his side as he fell into the cab, grabbing the mike
and switching on.
‘362 Louis calling Skukuza. Emergency code
One, Emergency Code One. Come in, Skukuza!’
The Skukuza Commando had a 24-hour radio
watch for emergencies. This was mainly a backup service, as all
rangers always left their radios on.
Louis’s call was picked up throughout the
park, including the head office of Nature Conservation in
Skukuza.
‘We got you, Louis, Skukuza acknowledging.
Stand by. Mr van Reenen is on his way.’
Before Louis could trigger his mike again
John van Reenen was on the air.
The whole park was galvanised. Emergency Code
One meant a life-threatening
sickly grey as visions of the great saurians crossed his mind.
‘You get my drift, shithouse!’ Sam screamed
into his face, prodding him in the guts with the loaded
Winchester.
‘Get lost,’ Joao muttered, lowering his eyes.
Maybe the stories about this madman were true. Better to shut up
till they got to civilisation.
Unnoticed, Rui had regained consciousness,
and during this heated exchange had sneaked his pistol into his
hand. He still lay with his eyes closed, fighting the pain that had
threatened to overwhelm him. The talk about the crocodile had
convinced him that they were very close to a very narrow edge. He
prayed that Joao would quit nudging.
‘Let’s see what we have here,’ Sam turned
towards the knapsacks.
Beneath the closed lids, Rui’s eyes rolled
back in their sockets. In the heat of the moment he had forgotten
about the rhino horns.
Joao felt he could actually taste death as a
bitter sensation on the back of his tongue. Let this be the one day
that the madman sticks to the rules, he prayed. If only the other
rangers would come back. With enough witnesses around maybe he
won’t feed us to the crocs.
Sam released the buckles on the first
knapsack and opened it.
As two big rhino horns fell into the dust,
Sam’s jaw dropped and his eyes bulged.
Time stopped.
Far off, near the spruit, a fish eagle let
out a forlorn ‘crouuuu, crouk crouk crouk!’
Dropping the knapsack and grabbing his rifle
in both hands, Sam swung round. ‘I’ll fucking kill you!’ he
screamed.
With a hoarse scream Rui sat up and shot Sam
in the stomach with his pistol.
Sam’s knees buckled but he continued are arc
along which the muzzle of his gun was swinging, past Joao, to Rui.
As Rui’s finger was tightening on the trigger for the second shot,
death leapt from the muzzle of the 300 Winchester Magnum in the
form of a tongue of fire that seemed to momentarily touch him above
the right eye. The front of his skull caved in and exited through
the back, taking away the top half in a pink vapour of living
tissue and bone chips. ‘Nooo!’ Joao screamed, lowering his hands
and storming towards Sam. Louis swung his R1 through a short arc
and connected Joao in the face. Joao went over backwards,
unconscious and with a broken jaw and cheekbone. Sam worked the
bolt of his gun while sagging to his knees and turned towards the
unconscious form of Joao. Louis stepped up to him and took the
rifle from him as he collapsed. ‘Enough, my friend, let’s have a
look at you.’
He laid the semi-conscious Sam on his back
and pulled his shirt from his trousers. A purplish hole to the
right of Sam’s navel was oozing dark blood. There was no exit hole,
so the angle was anybody’s guess. Louis picked up the pistol.
Fortunately it was a .32 calibre. Nevertheless, thinking about his
limited knowledge of human anatomy he knew Sam could very well be
dying. The kidneys, abdominal aorta, spine . . .
The black rangers came stampeding through the
bush.
‘Aaron, tie that piece of shit up as tight as
you can and keep a gun to his head. Don’t move Sam. Get some shade
over him and don’t give him anything to drink. I’ll fetch the truck
and radio for the chopper.
Louis had never run a kilometre in such a
short time.
He was totally out of breath and there was a
sharp pain in his side as he fell into the cab, grabbing the mike
and switching on.
‘362 Louis calling Skukuza. Emergency code
One, Emergency Code One. Come in, Skukuza!’
The Skukuza Commando had a 24-hour radio
watch for emergencies. This was mainly a backup service, as all
rangers always left their radios on.
Louis’s call was picked up throughout the
park, including the head office of Nature Conservation in
Skukuza.
‘We got you, Louis, Skukuza acknowledging.
Stand by. Mr van Reenen is on his way.’
Before Louis could trigger his mike again
John van Reenen was on the air.
The whole park was galvanised. Emergency Code
One meant a life-threatening
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