Nothing Left But Fear

by Russell, Adrian

  With all the arrangements made, he sat back in his chair and drank the rest of the wine in his glass.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Scott had been out of a job for over a year before he met Druker and was nearly at the point of moving to a different country. He had been considering South Africa or Kenya, as there seemed to be more jobs there, but he preferred Zambia, as the wildlife in this region was some of the best in Africa.

  When Scott encountered Druker in a bar in Mfuwe, he had jumped at the chance to work for him, especially for the amount of money offered, which was totally unheard of in these parts. The job had not been advertised, but instead this guy seemed to be going around chatting to people and talking about the job. It was the barman who pointed Druker in the direction of Scott, as he knew that he’d been looking for work for a long time now and that he’d come to the bar to drown his sorrows on too many occasions recently.

  When Druker had told him about the position and what the job entailed, he was initially a bit apprehensive, but his money was fast running out. He was fortunate, though, that his parents still supported him and he would often call them to keep them up-to-date with how he was doing. His father, knowing that he’d been out of work for a while, would offer to fund him through tough times then transfer money to Scott’s bank account.

  Scott’s wages were 20,000,000 Zambian Kwacha per month for what he did, whereas he had been applying for various jobs up to this point and knew that a head ranger would be paid between 7,000 to 8,000 Rand per month in places like South Africa, which is the equivalent of 3-3.500,000 Zambian Kwacha.

  He had most of the relevant experience for a head ranger-type of role. Usually, top of the list was Big Five experience, followed closely by a qualification with the FGASA. He had a Level II FGASA qualification, which centres on being a guide in Africa, but also goes into depth on types of animals, conservation management, and even teaches the night sky, weather and climate.

  One of Scott’s favourite modules was Module 15 on Animal Behaviour. This subject really interested him; he was fascinated with interpreting the signs animals give off, especially the larger ones, like elephants. He also had a particular fondness for rhinos, and had spent a year working at a Johannesburg zoo with the white rhinos there.

  His new boss, in talking about the type of animals on the estate, which included all the Big Five game animals, made it clear that Scott’s role included their protection, but that he would explain the rest of his job in due course. He confirmed that poachers were a problem, which Scott already knew, and that he would be issued the necessary firearms to deal with them, as it was likely they would be encountered at some point. His boss was very clear about what the approach should be, though: Shoot first and ask questions later, as the poachers were pretty ruthless.

  In previous jobs, he had come across the aftermath of poachers who had killed animals. Finding animals in this way always made him extremely angry. He recalled finding a female rhinoceros bleeding to death after poachers had left her without her horns, having sawn them off whilst she was still alive.

  Although to date he’d not encountered any face to face, he vowed that he would make sure he made it count when and if he did come into direct contact. He hadn’t yet decided what he would do, but he felt that shooting poachers would be too humane and not what they actually deserved.

  Now, in his bed at the estate, he had awakened with all these thoughts running through his mind, as he recalled a nightmare he’d had in the night where he encountered a poacher, who had shot him at close range.

  This morning he woke up later than he usually did. It was the sound of some birds fighting outside his window that had startled him awake this morning, and as he looked out it was already light. He looked at his phone, which showed 6:43 a.m.

  ‘Have I got time to go to the gym?’ he thought.

  He loved the gym. He would go on most days, as his new job allowed for this and the site had its own personal gym. He preferred to use free weights rather than the machines, as he felt this worked his muscles in a much better way.

  Scott got out of bed and dressed in his sports gear. He left his small room for the short walk to the gym, hoping that he would still have time to work out before his boss came looking for him. His room was small, but it was nice enough for him to take himself away if he so wished. However, if he decided he wanted to get away from everything, he would always prefer to venture out into the wild and spot animals instead, so he was rarely in his room, except for when he slept.

  The food at Druker’s place was amazing and Mulubwa, the cook he had hired, was really great. There was always plenty to eat, too, and as she knew he worked out, she would always make sure he had extra. She would always come and find him to give him extra treats that she’d made in the kitchen.

  Scott and his boss had returned home yesterday in the early evening from the UK. He knew that even though he had awakened late, that Druker would probably already be up and preparing things for today, so he was waiting for the call and to receive his final instructions for this morning, which had been outlined the night before.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  As Graham walked slowly, but hidden from sight, towards the sound of the herd of elephants, his heart was pounding. Soon he spotted movement to his right and could see the huge rump of an elephant through the trees. Not wanting to disturb the creature, he stopped in his tracks, but as he stood there he could feel something tickling him. Looking down, he saw a group of ants crawling up his leg. Then they began biting him. Shaking his leg, he let out a small screech, then realised what he had done. He had announced his presence to the elephants!

  The elephant nearest him turned to the sound it had just heard and let out a huge trumpeting sound to warn him off. The ants continued to bite hard into the bare flesh of his leg as he moved back away from the elephant. The huge creature turned its whole body to face Graham, who slowly retreated. His focus was more on the elephant in front of him rather than the searing pain in his leg.

  He managed to fade away into the bush and he was pleased to see that the elephant decided not to pursue him. He took this opportunity to kill the remaining ants that were still crawling up his leg.

  He’d never felt as helpless as he did now and he had never felt fear like this before. Knowing there were wild animals all around and with the realisation that survival was the game, he knew there would be no let-up. He understood that he was now a part of the ecosystem. No longer was he ‘Man,’ the all-conquering animal above the other animals on the planet; instead, he now formed a part of the natural balance of nature and the survival of the fittest.

  He found himself not wanting to die. He became determined to escape this wilderness, even though in the last few years he had often felt depressed and useless, with many thoughts of suicide. He had been claiming benefits for over five years now, since he had been made redundant, and had found it all too easy to not get employment. Now all he did was while away the endless idle hours playing on his computer at home.

  He began to imagine eating either a kebab or a fried chicken meal, as he had never been as hungry as he was right now, and with these thoughts of food running through his head, he found a spot to sit so he could look at his feet.

  Plopped on a bare area of dirt, he could now see how badly they were cut from walking on the rough ground. He looked around to see if there was anything he could use as makeshift shoes, but there was nothing that remotely resembled any form of foot protector.

  Groaning as he got to his feet, he limped back in the direction of the elephants, which was not difficult to discern, what with the amount of noise they made whilst demolishing the surrounding trees and ‘talking’ to each other.

  As he walked towards them, the herd seemed to be a bit farther away. It would appear that they were now on the move. Not wanting to lose touch with them, he walked a bit faster, even though his feet gave him a lot of pain. He knew he had no choice.

  Pressing on through the bushes, his
heart started pounding yet again, as he knew the herd was only meters away, and he didn’t want to run into them like he’d done before.

  The pain increased with every step he made. He was limping now, which made it harder to keep up, and although he couldn’t see the elephants, he could hear them crashing through the small trees and bushes.

  He was already out of breath, as this was the first form of exercise he’d done in years. He had to stop. He stood for a moment to regain his breath, whilst he leant over and put his hands on his knees.

  After he’d had time to recover, he began to walk again and soon broke from the cover of the trees to a more open, grassy area. There in front of him was the herd of around 20 or so elephants, including some quite small calves. They were walking quickly enough for him to need to keep up a fast pace.

  Fortunately for him, the elephants didn’t seem to pay too much attention to their stalker and continued on their quest, which he hoped, was for water. He knew that, so long as he could get some drinking water, the reserves of fat in his body, which were plentiful, would keep him going for at least a couple of weeks, although he hoped to be rescued well before then.

  Very much aware now that he was on an open savannah, he looked around to see if there were any other animals in the vicinity. In the distance, he could see a large herd of what looked like wildebeest and zebra, and he knew very well that where there were grazing animals, there would always be predators like lions around. Trying not to think about this too much, he continued to follow the elephants, keeping what he felt was a safe gap between them.

  As he trudged along, Graham occasionally looked out across the savannah. In the far distance, he could see a mountain range, which looked gloomy. Looming above these mountains were some very dark rain clouds. Then he saw a couple of lightning bolts, followed by the distant rumble of thunder. The clouds were obviously giving up their life-giving water, as he could see the dark streaks that represented rain reaching to the ground below. This scene looked more like an oil painting — an ominous one at that; it almost didn’t look real. The streaks of dark rain looked like an artist had splashed his paint brush violently across a canvas after having painted the black-looking clouds on a previously blue sky. Visually, the clouds and the shadowed mountains almost merged into one, as the sky met the land in this mighty storm.

  He continued walking, following the elephants, whilst hoping these clouds and their accompanying rain would come his way. He was buoyed by the sight, as this meant that the dry land around him could get some rain and he would get water.

  Between where he walked and this distant scene, he could see many umbrella trees sticking up out of the landscape. These individual trees were interspersed with larger clumps of trees, while in between them was grassland. As he proceeded across the savannah, he tried to walk under as many of the trees as he could to get as much shade as possible.

  ‘It would be nice to have those rain clouds over me right now, as at least this would give me some respite from the heat of the sun,’ he thought. ‘I could also drink the rain, too, and be cooled down.’ But as he looked at how far away the storm was, he realised that it was unlikely to get here soon, if at all.

  Still struggling to keep up with the herd, he had to break into a slow jog, which was even harder on his feet, and as he was already out of breath from his fast walking, he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for too long. He was surprised at how quickly these huge creatures could move, and so effortlessly, especially as they had some quite small calves in tow. He was also hoping that due to their sheer size and from the noise they were making, that they would scare off any animals in their path.

  Getting more and more out of breath, he was partly jogging and partly hobbling to keep up the pace, whilst making sure he didn’t lose sight of the herd. In the distance, he could also see a span of grass that was greener than the other grass and surrounded by a few trees. Soon, to Graham’s relief, he could see an area of water. It was a waterhole. Well, actually he saw it wasn’t so much a hole as a large, curved, boomerang-shaped body of water, which fortunately for him was nearer than he thought it might be.

  He then saw that not far away from the waterhole was a river — a large, meandering river, which was full of water. He knew now that he would be able to drink very soon, but that he would also have to be very cautious, because rivers and waterholes in Africa harbour very deadly creatures, like Nile crocodiles and hippopotamuses.

  The elephants marched on towards the waterhole, whilst he hobbled along slowly behind, not quite knowing what to expect when he got there.

  As Graham slowly approached, he could see the elephants playing in the waterhole, stirring it up into a muddy frenzy. Suddenly, his heart froze. There was a pride of lions on the other side!

  Graham felt sickeningly vulnerable again and a new surge of adrenalin was released into his blood stream once more.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The new creatures that David could see were now bounding at full pace towards the herd of moving wildebeest, and at this stage they were gaining on the huge mass of animals. The wildebeest, which by now had all gathered into a tight galloping herd, were surrounded by an ever-increasing, billowing cloud of dust. The distinctive mooing of the wildebeest echoed from the herd as they ran, with each and every one of them eager to avoid being made into the next savannah meal of the day. The distinctive sound of the accompanying zebra, like donkeys on speed, also resounded from the running herd, as these creatures panicked along with the wildebeest.

  The animals that chased after the herd were sleek and had light brown-looking fur, which almost blended in with the grass they streaked through. Lions!

  As they moved even faster, finally into a full-on run, David seemed to see every sinew of muscle that moved under their skin and fur.

  His heart raced at almost an impossible rate, as he was experiencing feelings of fear that he’d never known before.

  It was an almighty shock to his feeble body structure, but somehow deep within his psyche there were automatic systems kicking in over which he had no control.

  The scene unfolding before him was becoming more like an extract from a wildlife program on TV, but the difference was that he was a part of it.

  ‘Fuck lions!’ he said out loud, yet mesmerised as if he were a rabbit in the headlights of an oncoming car.

  He was stunned to discover that he was witnessing the full-on attack by a whole menacing pride of lions on this herd of wildebeest. But more shocking to him was there were no fences and no safety barriers between him and the predators.

  ‘What if they see me and decide to chase me instead?’ he couldn’t help but ask himself.

  He stood frozen to the spot as the herd moved off into the distance, marked by the dust that then trailed away behind them, slowly settling to the ground again.

  The lions finally had to give up on the chase. They’d found no easy pickings this time and no lagging weakling to chase down quickly. It hadn’t helped the pride that David had disturbed the herbivores in the first place, which had been slightly before the lions were ready to pounce, allowing the herd to get a head start on their attack.

  The thoughts that were going through his mind now were jumbled. His adrenalin-rich blood had heightened his senses and his heart was pounding so hard that he was worried that it might explode in his chest.

  But he soon began to feel exhausted, even just standing still and watching. Finally, he decided the best thing he could do was go back into the cave for protection. This would allow him thinking time to consider what he should do next. He was also mindful about getting out of the line of sight from the now frustrated and probably hungry lions.

  ‘Who brought me here?’ he suddenly raged. ‘Was this some kind of a bizarre joke?’

  After what seemed like forever, he got back to the cave and slowly moved inside away from the entrance. As he did, he heard the roar of a lion outside, a sound that was too close for comfort. He simply couldn’t believe what
was unfolding before him.

  ‘I’m in a cave in Africa with wildebeest and zebra outside and a pride of lions on the loose,’ he said out loud, trying to accept this stark reality.

  He couldn’t go too far into the cave, as the light faded very fast the further he moved away from the entrance. This made it very difficult to see, but right now he was more worried about getting as far away from the danger as possible.

  As he stood for a moment, he could almost hear his heart pounding inside his chest. He’d never felt as scared as he felt right now. There was a peculiar rawness about what he was feeling, and he could almost taste the fear.

  Whilst waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim light, he once again tried to remember how he had arrived in this strange location. His mind was still fuzzy, and he was sure his heightened stress levels would not help him recall things more readily.

  The sound of the dripping water returned to his ears, echoing in the distant part of the cave. It was much too dark to see how far back it was, and he had no idea what might also be down there lurking in the darkness. As there were lions stalking him outside, there could well be other animals that lived in the cave getting ready to attack.

  He stood still for a while, frozen to the spot yet again and pondered about what he should do next, as he strained to see beyond and into the darkness. His eyes continued to adjust to the dim light around him, and as they did, he moved farther away from the entrance.

  David was now straining to look deeper into the cave, trying to see this imagined pool of cool water, where the continuous rhythmic sound of mineral-rich drips was tantalisingly out of sight.