A Survivalists Tale (7 page)

I went back to see how Tom was doing and saw the group was helping him back up to his feet, Tom was saying get everyone back to camp there is a lot more of them and they murdered Ian. The two biggest men, Steve and Jake crossed their hands forming a seat for Tom to sit on and ran him back to camp with one of his arms around each of their necks, the rest followed. I threw a Kalashnikov to Carol and said if anyone turns up let Carol and myself shoot, we don’t want them to know how well we are armed. I then told the others make a gate at the back and one at the riverside, just wide enough to squeeze through and no more. I asked Abraham how was Tom, he said he was hit three times, he has a small flesh wound just above the hip, he was hit in the left shoulder, that was a through and through  and square in the back that’s when you saw him go flying. So how bad is the wound in his back, oh there’s no wound in his back just a bruise his rifle though is dead. Therefore, he isn’t too bad at all, I gave him something for the pain and Amanda is setting him up on a drip to replace some of the blood he lost. He wants to get up and get the bastards that shot Ian, he said they didn’t even give him a chance, they were hidden in the bush as we stalked closer they shot him they then came out and looked down at him lying there wondering what happened and then shot him in the head. How did Tom escape, he stopped for a piss behind some bush and couldn't believe what he saw, he then empted his rifle in to the group, he’s not sure how many he hit but knows he hit some. He also said as he was running back he passed a dead Elephant with its tusks cut out, so he reckons they are poachers. Damb it is a lot worse than I thought, get everyone together and tell them to start packing anything they can carry, only essentials. Ten minutes later, we heard two land rovers and saw headlights a bit further out than Tom had been shot; they were looking for the tracks. I said to the team, listen what I need for you all to do is you remember the ravine running down the hill we came down, they all nodded, I need you to go through the trees trying to leave as little tracks as possible and head up that ravine to the top. When you get there set up a firing base, pile rocks and anything around in a circle for protection from bullets, if we can hold out until this storm blows over, the producers will see what’s going on and send help. I need Carol with me, so you guys will have to work together, we will meet you there as soon as possible, we will try and head them of in a different direction, so carry what you can. Carol and I headed out the gate towards the river, we ran as fast as we could bent over in the grass for cover, it was getting very dark now and I reckoned they would have night vision goggles with them, which was soon confirmed when they headed in our direction five minutes later. They were still a distance of when we caught a break; the two jeeps were smashing through some bushes when one went nose down in the ground, they had found the ditch, that the water had formed during flooding as it ran to the river. The other had piled into the back of the first, as they had been going a good thirty odd miles an hour they were in the shit. Carol said we should get as close to the river as we can, I said no, they will be shaken up, we should head for them and not let them get organised, so we did as fast as we could, we could see them in the headlights of the jeeps. There were four of them two in each jeep; the driver of the first jeep looked in a bad way, he mustn’t have been wearing a seat belt, what was I thinking, none of them would have been wearing seat belts. One saw us just as we got close, he swung around and let of a full clip at me, god knows where his bullets ended up for they weren’t even close. I stopped took careful aim and shot him twice, I then put three in his mate as he stood up to see where I was, Carol shot the other two. We got lucky they were all dead, I grabbed a pair of night vision goggles from the head of the first one I killed and quickly had a good look around, there were no other heat sources close to us, so I threw a pair to Carol and switched the headlights off, we could now see a lot better. I said to Carol we will take the jeep that’s not in the ditch and collect all their weapons and supplies, which there was quite a lot, we piled it in the jeep and I disabled the other jeep so that even if they could get it out of the ditch, they wouldn’t be able to use it. I cut the diesel injector pipes which are metal but very thin and then stabbed holes in the engine sump to let out the oil, I also stabbed the engine management system. This jeep wasn’t going anywhere fast, we started the other jeep and noticed water leaking out from the front; I reckoned it had burst the radiator; well it only had to get us up the top of the hill. I drove up the river, which wasn’t that deep and help keep the engine cool, until we reached the bottom of the hill and then engaged the four-wheel drive and drove to the top. I had aimed to the left of where the team would be and when we cleared the top, we carried on over until we were out of sight and drove along the other side until we reached close to the team. Then we started to shout that it was us so we didn’t get shot at by our own team, we soon found out that shouting had saved our lives for four of the guys had came along side ready to shoot us. Even with the NVGs (night vision goggles) we hadn’t seen them sneak along the other side of the hill, the guys were fucking smart, which was such a relief. The storm was really was starting to get going full blast now, so once we had unloaded everything from the jeep we could, we let of the hand brake and let it roll down the hill on the opposite side from the poachers. David asked why did I keep the battery and the headlights from the jeep, so I showed him, I said put the NVGs on and look at the end of the flint, when he was ready I struck a spark and he ripped the goggles of, he said fuck me for a second I was totally blinded. I said well imagine if they had NVGs on and were sneaking up the hill and some rotter flashed the main beams at them a few times, kind of ruins there advantage. I said we put them out on the sides, away from anyone and when they shoot at them, less chance of any our team being hit, that’s why I grabbed so much wire from the jeep.

Helen called over these binoculars are good, I can see the rest of the poachers, they are miles away but following some tracks and there seems to be quite a few of them. Betty said what are those strange looking guns, Nathan, I looked and she pointed to the three RPGs, they are rocket-propelled grenades Betty and will come in real handy. Jacky and David asked you never said why poachers would be really dangerous, well for starts they don’t mind killing people, especially witnesses. Which we all are now, they also must have been using this place for many years, that means at least some of the guards for this park are taking back handers. It also means they only have a short time to make us and everything we have done so far like the jeeps and the people we killed all vanish. We had the tarps from both jeeps spread out as a roof over our little fort, we also thanks to the jeeps had plenty water food and ammunition, the RPGs weren’t the only thing we had, we had eight grenades of some kind and their pots and pans. So let’s get some food on and check the weapons, we now had eight Kalashnikovs and three RPGs with nine grenades and the eight hand-grenades and four thousand rounds, these guys were very well supplied, or they had been carrying the ammunition for the others. Helen called out I have them now there are three trucks and six land rover jeep type vehicles, I can see when the lightning flashes, there are around twenty natives in the back of each truck, two in the cabins and the jeeps have white people in them and they look full but I can’t tell properly. They had made a type of bed area where Tom was laying down with Abraham looking after him; Amanda was checking everyone else for signs of shock or scratches, which can quickly become infected at times in the bush. Helen had given the binoculars to Steve when she went to get something to eat, it was Steve that said we have a second group coming up quite fast towards the others, I would say another truck and two more jeeps. Amanda waved that she wanted to speak to me and Carol alone; we went, as far from the others as we could, she then told us Helen, Margret and Tom can’t actually shoot anyone. It’s against their religion, Tom wants to but Helen has explained if he does, he will hate himself for the rest of his life, as they were Quakers. Hey that’s ok they needn’t feel bad about it, they just won’t have to worry as everyone here are good people they will understand. I asked Carol to quietly let the others know and I would speak to the three of them together, so Amanda sent them over. I told them the facts, no one here would blame them, it was a good religion and more people should feel the same, they all said they felt so guilty as they felt they should be helping their new family, I said you can still help. Do you know how to cook, the girls said you know we do, so you take over the cooking and Tom can help with the watching for the poachers and if anyone is shot you can help the doctors. There are more ways of helping than killing people trust me, we went back to the team and the team came up to them and gave them hugs and back slaps for Tom and they all told them they thought they were great for holding to their beliefs under such circumstances. I thought shit, and asked who has the binoculars, Dave had them, I said check the trucks and see if the same amount of people are still on them. Fuck said David after a short while, there must be about forty spread out in a wide line making their way towards us and a truck was heading off to the left and two were heading off to the right. They have no lights on so must be using the NVGs, the two on the right are just coming up to the river and are about to cross. Oh, man you should see this they have just lost a truck, what do you mean I said that river isn’t that deep and the trucks should be able to cross no problems. Yeh that might be true but one of the trucks just drove into a big hole, the entire front of the truck right up over the cabin is under water. I think it’s the two drivers are now arguing with each other, I can see their arms flapping around, we heard a shot, what just happened we asked, David gave a laugh and said, one just shot the other, they are now climbing on to the one truck and heading to where ever they are going. They are going to try and surround us I said, it would have worked but I don’t think they know quite how many of us there is, but they do know where we are that’s for sure. The scar rifles had been adapted at some time so they could fire the same ammo as the Kalashnikovs, so we had enough weapons to give the rifles a rest when they got too hot.

I saw in the flashes of lightning some nice dips in the land that they could use if they got close to us so I nipped out with some of the grenades and set traps for them, if they used them they would get a very unpleasant surprise. I had just got back when the rain hit, it was unbelievable like someone turned on a tap, you couldn't see more than four feet in front of you. David came up beside me and had to shout to be heard, I don’t think they know where we are after all, I said what makes you think that, well before the rain started I was watching them closely and it looked like they were sneaking up on the camp. I bloody hope so, but just in case be ready anyway. Carol shouted what about the trucks that split up, they could be thinking they should come over the hill and down behind the camp that way.

The rain got even heavier and you could barely hear yourself think, the biggest flash of lightning yet and there right in front of us were six men in a line well sort of a line. We opened fire just before them and just at the exact same time as the thunder, we hadn’t a clue if we hit them but fired about sixty odd bullets in there direction. Just as the thunder stopped, another flash not as bad this time showed six bodies in front of us shot to bits, we watched for more but none showed. The rain stopped about three minutes later and in the distance walking down the hill away from us were at least fifty men heading down towards the camp. Two had narrowly missed falling into the ravine and kept giving it side-glances, I said get ready to open fire, we need to hit as many as possible in a short time. Why said Jess they have passed us, yes but once they find we are not in the camp and four of their men are missing they will be coming back up that hill in full strength. So we need to get as many as possible, every one with a rifle got ready I said pick your targets carefully, if you are on the left pick men who are far to the left if you are in the middle then the men in the middle are yours, and same on the right got it. They all acknowledged with a nod of their heads, wait until they are about half way, now I shouted and fired, they didn’t know what hit them, remember single shots I roared, the poachers were off running down hill as fast as they could towards the trees. Only nine made it to the trees, I thanked the rifle instructors in my head for doing a cracking job. I heard the trucks at the bottom of the hill, take of as fast as they could, they had the same idea as I had, I was going to go down take over the trucks and try drive us out of here.

When I saw them run through the trees I called for some of the guys as I ran down to get the guns and ammo from the dead and wounded, one of the wounded tried shooting me but he missed and I didn’t. We focused more on their ammo and any grenades they had, we had enough rifles one of them had a snipers rifle, I grabbed that and all the ammo he had for it as they were bigger bullets, we also grabbed their canteens. I think their wounded expected a bullet in the head, but that wasn’t how we were, so we left them and got back up the hill as fast as possible. We just got into cover when bullets started to smack all around our barricade of rocks and dirt I thought just in time but not for Paula and Mike they hadn’t made it. They had both been shot just as they dropped into cover; Amanda checked Mike and Abraham checked Paula and both were dead; we said prayers over them and then wrapped them in spare tarp and carried the part way down the other side of the hill. We covered them with rocks and then it was back into the new camp, I was so bloody angry for the first time in my life, I took control of myself and loaded the sniper rifle. Now I was going to get some pay back I remembered what I had been told by my instructor all those years ago, shooting down hill aim high, shooting up hill aim low, I checked the wind and then watched for my targets. I could see natives trying to blend in with the trees, but I was looking for the white men, the bosses, the scum. There I saw a fat white man poking his head out from behind a tree to tell some natives to get up the hill and the native was shaking his head, I squeezed the trigger and fatsos face went splat, as the heavy round tore off the front of his face and he fell out away from the tree.