Nothing Left But Fear

by Russell, Adrian

  Graham could still feel the urine and faeces on his bare legs, as he stared at the huge lioness ahead of him. Then all of a sudden, as he could not take his eyes off the big cat except to glance across at the second lion to his right, he heard the sound of hooves. The herd of zebra and wildebeest behind him had erupted into a frenzy of fear and were stampeding to escape! Looking around at what was happening, he could see the herd heading his way — right into the waiting teeth and claws of the lions in front of him.

  As the whole panicked herd reached where he stood, he froze to the spot with his heart pounding. There were more wildebeest than zebra, and the animals dodged and ran around him on both sides. Luckily, he wasn’t trampled. The sound was almost deafening and he could feel the thunder of the hooves beneath his feet. Not knowing which way to look or what to do next, he glanced towards where the lions were crouched in waiting and could see the lion ahead of him leap into action.

  The herd also saw the huge lioness, as she leaped forward, but for one poor wildebeest it was too late; she was on the animal and too close for it to avoid the inevitable. The lion jumped with her front legs and claws outstretched onto the back of the wildebeest, as the muscles and sinews in her lean body showed through her skin and fur. Her leap ended with her reaching around with her mouth, which latched onto the animal’s throat, as her whole body almost somersaulted over the wildebeest. She wrestled the animal to the ground not much more than 30-40 metres away from where he stood.

  When the other lions joined her to finish the kill, the first lioness had already begun to sink her teeth into the neck of the wildebeest, crushing the windpipe beneath. The animal was letting out bleating sounds; it sounded like a young cow, as its legs flailed around.

  The beast never stood a chance. Graham could only watch the poor creature kick and jerk almost in defiance at its inevitable doom. The last few flickers of life came from its hind legs, as they twitched a few final times and then stopped moving. The lion kept her grip on the animal’s neck, as if to squeeze out every last drop of life from this magnificent creature, as the rest of the pride joined in and started to bite into the animal’s skin. He knew the animal was already dead, but it appeared to him the other lions were beginning to eat the beast whilst it was still breathing.

  As he stared at the scene, he saw that it stood between him and possible safety in the trees ahead. He hoped that the lions were now preoccupied with their kill, so this might give him the chance to get to the trees unnoticed. Not wanting to move right away, he was mesmerised as the lions ripped into the flesh of the now motionless wildebeest.

  It then dawned on him that this was food that the lions were eating, and what he could quite easily eat, too, but he also recognised there was one huge problem: There were now six hungry lions tucking into this large lump of fresh meat.

  There was no way he could even think of budging these animals away from their food, so instead he began walking towards the shelter of the trees. Since he now had to circle around the feast ahead of him, this increased the distance he had to walk. He really wanted to wash himself first, since he had faeces on his legs, but he didn’t want to go back to the waterhole, as this was further away now than the trees. He was also not happy going over to the river, which ran to his left and at this point seemed to have a rather large drop to the water’s edge, for fear of encountering other sinister creatures.

  Graham hobbled on towards what he hoped was safety. But before he’d taken too many steps, he saw movement in the grass ahead of him and around the edge of the trees. Something was coming towards him. Then he saw what it was, and quickly realised there were several of these creatures emerging from behind the trees.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Druker sat at his desk surveying his computer screens. He lit up a cigarette, taking a slow drag as he studied the tracker map screen intently, then letting out the smoke in a long, drawn-out breath.

  He noted that the marker that signified Lane had finally moved and was still moving.

  As it progressed, Druker got agitated and stood up, whilst staring at the screen and seemingly not knowing quite what to do next. Lane had obviously left the cave and begun to move around, and he was heading in a northerly direction.

  He started to pace the room, whilst maintaining his stare at the screen, with his face moving almost owl-like, as he moved around. He took another long drag on his cigarette and scowled. ‘The fucker’s moving and the tracker’s working,’ he thought, surprised at how he was reacting to what was going on.

  His experiment was actually in progress and this person, who he’d brought all the way from the UK, was finding out the hard way what it was like to go back to nature. He was wondering what might be going through Lane’s mind right now and he also wondered how long it would be before he encountered a dangerous animal, and what would happen when he did.

  ‘I bet he doesn’t last long; he can’t. He’s not a real wild animal,’ he thought, almost challenging his notion that he might not last the day.

  Finding it very difficult to relax, he left the room to find his colleague again. He walked out onto the veranda and shouted, ‘Scott!’ at the top of his voice.

  ‘Scott!’ he repeated again, more impatiently this time.

  Within seconds, Scott came running across the other side of the yard from behind a small out building.

  ‘What is it, Druk?’ he asked.

  ‘The little fucker is up and moving!’ Druker exclaimed, as he turned to walk back into the wide doorway. Scott followed his boss back to the office.

  ‘Which one?’ Scott asked.

  ‘Lane.’

  Scott and Druker entered the office. They were both almost bursting with excitement. Druker pointed to the screen monitoring Lane and Smith and said in a challenging manner, ‘Look, he’s moving, so how long do you think he’ll last, Scott?’

  ‘Hey, Druk, as I’ve already said, I’m not going to bet on this; we will just have to see how it goes,’ Scott replied, ‘but if those hungry lions have anything to do with it, then not very long.’

  ‘We’ll see,’ Druker replied triumphantly. ‘I bet the fucker is shitting himself right now and I’ll bet you he’s as confused as fuck.’

  Then he added, 'He's decided to walk north and away from the cave and it’s nice to see our trackers are working just fine. I’d love to see the look on Lane’s face right now, as judging by the dot, he’s now well away from the cave.’

  Scott looked at Druker and realised how much this project meant to him and how it obviously satisfied some very deep-seated torment that Druker was holding onto.

  Whilst they were talking, both men were still staring at the computer screen, fascinated by this moving dot. They both seemed mesmerised by the whole thing and neither of them looked away from it each time they spoke to one another.

  ‘We must keep a close eye on his movements and make sure we monitor the park for any other human activity, especially if any safaris come our way,’ Druker instructed.

  ‘We don’t want my project ruined before we even properly start by someone stumbling onto it by accident, now do we?’

  ‘No, sir, we will keep monitoring the radios for any clues to rangers coming into our area,’ Scott replied agreeably, as he knew full well that if Druker got mad about something he could go completely berserk.

  ‘Who is monitoring the radios now?’ Druker asked.

  ‘Joshua is, sir; when you called me I left him in the radio room and he was on it,’ Scott said.

  When Druker had purchased the reserve, it had come with existing rights for the nearby reserves to use, in conjunction with their own acreage. This did add a bit of risk to his project, but with the site so large, the chances of someone stumbling upon his individual experiments were remote.

  Of course, this was important for the free movement of animals across one site to the other. No one wanted the animals to be fenced in, as it provided for a better environment for the wildlife to be able to roam free.

 
He decided that where there were two marks out at once, he would restrict them to one area, whilst keeping them far enough apart so as not to find each other. Also, with their radio monitoring system, this gave them an advantage and a head start when anyone was coming onto their land. It might not always work, as the other rangers didn’t always use the radio, but they had the risk covered as far as they could.

  ‘He’s gone quite far from the cave, actually, considering it’s the heat of the day and he has bare feet,’ Scott remarked.

  ‘Yes, he has, and I bet his back is hot and burning from the sun,’ Druker replied with the slightest of grins on his face.

  ‘There were lions in the area when we dropped him, as we saw the pride not far from the cave,’ Scott explained. ‘They may leave him alone, as it is very hot, but then again they may see him as an easy meal and be tempted to attack.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me that before. And you’re still not willing to take a wager on this one?’ Druker challenged him again.

  ‘No, sorry boss, it’s not my thing. Besides, you have already claimed he’ll not last the day, so what would I bet here?’ Scott remarked, smiling at his boss before noting, ‘Hey, look, Druk, the other mark is now moving.’

  ‘So he is. So he is,’ said Druker. ‘Smith didn’t sleep for very long, then, after you left him.’

  ‘No, I guess the drugs were close to wearing off when we dropped him off,’ Scott confirmed.

  The two men stood staring at the screen, watching intently as the two markers moved slowly along. It was several minutes before either spoke again, as they seemed to be transfixed by watching the moving dots.

  ‘I wonder which one will last the longest,’ Druker finally said to break the silence.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  David now found himself face to face with a huge rhinoceros, and, despite the rhino’s bad eyesight, because he was so close to the animal, it had also seen him.

  He also saw that there was a smaller creature standing next to the rhino. He realised that this was a mother and her baby - now he appeared to present a threat to her offspring.

  The beast with its massive bulk and curved horn started to grunt, and then made a move towards him, as he tried to hide behind the nearest tree. However, very soon the two-ton rhinoceros was coming at him fast, and he found that he needed to run.

  He dodged through the trees, running for his life, as he heard the huge beast not far behind. As he ran, he was now not aware of the hard ground digging into his feet. The adrenalin suddenly pumping freely through his veins numbed any pain his feet might feel.

  He knew almost instinctively to dodge left and right while running to make it harder for the animal to catch him, as the creature’s huge bulk made it more difficult for it to change direction in the way that he could.

  Soon the grunting he could hear was not far behind him as the enraged animal hurtled through the grass.

  With each stride he made and as each of his feet hit the surface, he could feel the ground vibrating with the immense weight of the creature that thundered along behind him.

  And then he felt it — a huge blow to his back as the rhino made contact, sending agonising pain down his spine despite the high levels of adrenalin coursing through his body. The huge animal’s horn had hit him square in the back. Flung like a rag doll, he instantly found his face in the dirt.

  It was as if he’d been hit by a freight train, with his own momentum combined with the rhino’s blow sending him sliding along the rough ground. He knew this meant that his skin was being torn away, leaving deep gouges on his face and chest. As he came to a stop, more searing pain shot all the way up his back and into his neck and head.

  Knowing that the psychotic animal was not going to leave it at one hit, all David could do now was to instinctively pull himself into a tight ball.

  He curled up, waiting for the next blow for what must have been just seconds, but which seemed like an eternity. Then he began to scream, hoping in some way that this might scare the ferocious beast away.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Hyenas! Graham recognised instantly that these were the creatures emerging from the trees and heading towards the lions and their kill. He knew all too well that hyenas were opportunists and would scavenge when they could, taking every opportunity to steal the hard-earned meals of others, seemingly most of the time those of lions.

  He was quick to realise that although the hyenas were probably focused on the bloody carcase of the wildebeest, which the lions were still chomping on, he was still very much out in the open and vulnerable to an attack by them too. He knew he would be such easy prey for them.

  The hyenas continued to emerge from the cover of the trees and he could see the lions now getting visibly agitated. One of the lions broke away, making an aggressive surge towards the approaching pack of hyenas, letting out a loud roar.

  The hyena nearest to the lion backed off rapidly, making sure not to get caught by it, but at the same time baring its teeth in a minacious grin. A second lion then turned and snarled at the pack of hyenas, which were now circling the pride and their wildebeest meal.

  Graham stopped where he was to survey his options, but all the time knowing that he was out in the open and completely defenceless. The hyenas blocked the most direct route to the safety of the trees and the lions were ever more agitated and restless with the closing net of harassing beasts.

  The hyenas continued to make their unmistakable cackling and snarling sounds at the lions. There seemed to be more and more of them arriving from the cover of the trees and grass and Graham counted probably 30 or 40 in total. The lions were snarling back at the hyenas and gesturing to leave their kill alone, but the hyenas were intimidating and they outnumbered the lions by around five to one.

  The lions were not going to give up without a fight, though, and ran at the aggressive leaders of the clan. The commotion was very loud now, as each lion tried to grab a bit of flesh from the dead wildebeest in between snarling and biting at the hyenas. Although the hyenas outnumbered the lions, they had to be careful, as lions individually are larger and stronger and could quite easily kill a single hyena, but there were so many of them that the lions were fighting a losing battle.

  He was not sure what to do. The two sets of predators were so intent on each other and on the dead wildebeest, that they ignored him, but for how long? He began to work his way to the cover of the trees, at the same time giving an even wider birth to where all the action was taking place in front of him…his heart was pounding!

  The trees seemed like such a long, long way away, and yet in reality were only probably about 100 meters from where he was. Would it be better to run? But this might attract more attention than his slow walk; besides, his feet hurt so much, running was not really an option.

  The fight between the hyenas and lions raged on, with the hyenas getting bolder and louder, as the clan closed in on the kill. The male lion made it his role to fight the hyenas off, but as there were so many and coming from all directions, he was never going to win. The fighting got more and more intense and the stress levels got higher by the second.

  The hyenas would take it in turns running at the lions to take a nip at their legs when they were not looking and then the lions would turn and fight back. Each of the lions would turn and lurch at the hyenas whilst bearing their teeth, but each time the hyena being targeted would be too fast and get away, only for another one to come at each of the lions from a different direction.

  Neither the lions nor the hyenas could afford to get injured from this fight, so the battle of cat and mouse continued. The lions were reluctant to give up their prey, whilst the hyenas were hungry and equally as persistent to take it over. The persistence of the hyenas eventually paid off, as the outnumbered lions were forced to run away from their food. The hyenas jumped in and were soon ripping apart what remained of the carcass.

  The cackling and arguing continued, but now this was between the hyenas, as each wanted to get a
piece of the meat and carcase. Graham watched mesmerised by what he was witnessing, as he saw a whole leg being ripped away from the wildebeest’s body. As the hyena that had won this prize ran off with the leg dangling from its mouth, its hope of eating the leg in peace was dashed, as it was chased by a few of the others in the clan, each as desperate and hungry to eat.

  Although he continued to walk in the direction of the trees and couldn’t tear his eyes away from the feeding frenzy, Graham suddenly realised that the dispossessed lions were now heading in his direction.

  He froze to the spot as the pride of lions headed towards him. If only he had made more ground whilst the animals were fighting, he’d be nearer to the trees and close to relative safety. Seeing the eyes of the lions ahead of him and the size of the huge male lion, his heart was in his mouth. He realised very quickly that the lions had spotted him and that he was in their hunting sights, as two of the lionesses lowered onto their haunches and were now in attack mode.

  As they continued to advance, he instinctively turned to run.

  He was no athlete, and with his injured bare feet on the hard ground, he made slow progress. He knew that the lions were probably hot on his tail. He couldn’t see any lions as he glanced back, but he was sure they continued the chase and it wouldn’t be long before he was being pulled down and suffering the same fate as the wildebeest.

  Within seconds one of the lions would have its huge mouth and teeth around his neck, crushing every last ounce of life out of him. He imagined the other lions joining in to tear at his flesh as the life in his body drained away. He could only imagine the pain that would sear through him until he welcomed the solace of death, when all his agonies would disappear.

  As he ran, the seconds seemed like minutes and time seemed to slow to a snail’s pace, as if everything were in slow motion. He could sense everything around him in absolute detail, as his sight seemed to be enhanced. The lions must be close now, as the seconds of his running went by, and he was surprised at how long it had seemed, as he glanced back again and spotted one of the lionesses almost on him.