The Jaded Kiwi

by Nick Spill

  “Fuck,” Hei Hei grunted. “Cops.”

  The policemen in the van did not know what to make of the roar that came over the radio.

  “They’ve got Saunders,” a voice crackled.

  “Everyone move in now! Take them out.” McShane gave the order he had dreaded. They had planned a simple ambush, a surprise arrest with a lot of manpower and no shooting. Saunders was to get close and yell out the standard line about being surrounded by police and drop your weapons and stick your hands in the air, but the Maori war cries had upset everything. Bloody fucking Maoris. Playing by their own rules. McShane didn’t even know what the fuck they had yelled out. There could be a whole tribe of them up in the bush armed to the teeth. Please, god, don’t let anyone listen in on my channel.

  Wiremu could make out two camouflaged cops ease into better firing positions.

  The next policeman got into a crouched stance in the grass and trained his rifle on Hei Hei’s chest as he fired. Hei Hei turned at the last second and caught the bullet in his left shoulder. He staggered and watched as Rere, spotting the flash, turned to fire both barrels at Hei Hei’s attacker. The policeman fell over backwards screaming.

  To Hei Hei, who had endured more pain in the last day than he had in his entire life, an extra bullet going through his left shoulder did not make much of a difference. He stuffed his shotgun into his jacket and clambered over the tree using his right arm. When he got to the man who writhed on the ground in agony, Hei Hei tore the 9mm pistol from the cop’s holster, aimed the barrel at the man’s head and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. He flipped the safety and pressed again. The pistol jumped in his hand as he fired twice. The screaming stopped and the policeman lay motionless on the ground.

  Hei Hei ducked down as he turned and aimed the pistol at his next attacker, who, half-hidden in the bush, had popped up and fired at him. Hei Hei kept squeezing the trigger until he could see the body fall over and jerk in the grass as the bullets hit it. Hei Hei collapsed next to the dead policeman with his legs splayed behind him. He used the cop as a shield. He let drop the empty magazine and replaced it with one from the dead man’s belt. The other three Maoris kept under cover, not knowing where the other policemen were hidden or how many there were.

  “Anderson’s been hit. Three are around the truck with shotguns. The fourth is lying next to Saunders on the other side of the log.” The voice crackled over the radio. They had all heard the pistol and rifle shots.

  McShane turned to Grimble and Cadd as they anticipated his order. They eased their way to the van side door. Adams remained hunched over the speaker to the radio.

  “Take the two outside. Get up behind the truck but stay under cover,” McShane yelled at Grimble. “Karl, take the kit up there and see if you can get to the wounded.” He turned to the radio operator, “Radio in a medi-vac now.”

  The two detectives ran across the road with their revolvers drawn. The other policemen in camouflage gear followed. Three carried rifles, the fourth a large first aid kit.

  Mokau was at the rear of the truck when he aimed at the two men dressed in camouflage gear he could see running up the track. He fired one barrel at each of them. He clipped the first in the leg, who collapsed whilst the other dived for cover and opened fire from the ground. Mokau rolled over and under the truck to reload. A stream of bullets raked the ground around him and burst the tire nearest him, but he remained unhurt. He crawled to the side of the deflated tire, his shotgun held in both hands in front of him.

  Freddy knelt down by the fallen tree and spied one of the policemen who had taken up a position where the track opened up. He raised himself so he was kneeling in the long grass with his rifle aimed at Rere. Freddy fired at the man and missed. The short barrel was not accurate over twenty feet. The policeman rolled over and sprayed the top of the fallen tree with bullets. Freddy ducked and broke open his barrel to reload. The gunfire stopped and he peeked over the top to see the man he had missed crawling to a rock for cover.

  Hei Hei, on his belly behind the body, spotted the man and came to his knees with his pistol in one hand. He emptied the magazine into the torso of the crawling policeman as Freddy leaped up from cover and spotted another with a rifle behind a tree. He fired both barrels at the tree and the blast blinded the marksman. The cop fell over, his earpiece and microphone smashed by pellets. His face was covered in blood. He could not see. He lay in the undergrowth, silent, lest he be executed like Anderson.

  Hei Hei picked up the M16 next to the cop he had shot and put the stock to his good shoulder. He looked down the sights, scanning the bush for any movement. He saw a glimpse of metal behind a bush and he let fire with the M16. The shots went wild, but the figure ran towards a more substantial tree. Rere aimed at the man and squeezed both triggers. Hei Hei adjusted his aim and sprayed the tree. Between the two of them they managed to hit the man’s knees before he reached cover.

  Wiremu watched Rere and Hei Hei mow down the last policeman he had counted in the bush.

  Mokau crawled backwards to the front of the truck. He could not get under the engine, so he rolled over and ran back to the Holden hunched over. The sharpshooter hidden in the bush hit Mokau in the back, breaking his spine in half. Mokau died as he hit the ground.

  • • •

  Mel heard shots fired as she came over the ridge. On another occasion she would have enjoyed walking through the bush. But she worried that Wiremu had been the cause of the gunfire as she came to a gap in the trees and made out a clearing in the distance. She could see the truck and the red Holden and what she took to be little puffs of smoke. The shots echoed through the valley so that it sounded like a battle. She kept to the shadows as she picked a path down the hill.

  • • •

  Hei Hei’s shoulder stung. He managed to turn his head and yelled at Rere and Freddy.

  “Where’s Mokau? Get these guns.” He stumbled back to the other man he had shot and pulled out the pistol and the magazines for the M16. Rere ran over and snatched the other rifle. Hei Hei pointed to the side of the clearing nearest them. Rere and Freddy ran to his left, into the bush. Hei Hei went back to the fallen tree. He took his shotgun out from his jacket; he reloaded it and placed it with the pistol on top of the fallen tree. He eased his eyes over the trunk and aimed the M16 down the track. Let the Pakeha come. I’m going to die how I lived. They’ll never capture my fucking spirit, he cursed under his breath.

  The sharpshooter, who had been clipped in the legs by Mokau’s blast, could see Hei Hei’s head over the fallen tree. He waved the four advancing policemen back. Grimble and Cadd went to one side of the track whilst the other two disappeared into the undergrowth on the other side. The two detectives hit the dirt when they heard the M16 fire at them. Branches and leaves crashed down on their heads.

  Wiremu stepped out from his hidden vantage point and edged downhill so that he could come up behind Rere. First he was betrayed by Hei Hei who had come to kill him and steal the truck, then Hei Hei must have been snitched on, for the police were out in force. He had to be careful lest he be shot. He was a Maori and a target even though he had not fired a shot, yet. He took out his shotgun so he could either use it or throw it away.

  Sergeant Adams was the oldest and most experienced in the squad. McShane had been reluctant to use him, but now he had no choice. He had his men in the three cars listening to their radios. His assistant had already radioed in on another channel for a medical helicopter and as many St. John’s ambulances as possible. The Armed Offenders Squad was being assembled, and the nearest police stations in Henderson and Titirangi had been alerted and were rushing up there. By the time anyone arrived, it would all be over.

  He had instructed Adams that there would be no survivors. Every last Maori had to be shot. To endure the police inquiry would be one nightmare, but to be dragged through a trial? There could be no witnesses.

  Adams crept along the edge of the path opposite the side Grimble and Cadd had taken. He saw the trees above
them raked with gunfire and noted the line of fire. He kept under cover and in the shadows. The surviving policemen had radioed in their positions. Adams heard through the radio that the two Maoris, armed with captured M16s, had run up the adjacent ridge with two policemen following them. The other Maori was behind the fallen tree.

  Once he had managed to get to higher ground, Adams moved under a five-finger bush and found he had a perfect side view of Hei Hei. He got the Maori into his sights and squeezed off a burst. Hei Hei’s body moved back and forth as it was ripped by the bullets. He fell to the ground, facedown. Adams radioed in his hit and ran across the clearing to where the other two Maoris had disappeared. He kept in contact with the two pursuers as he raced through the undergrowth to meet them. As he climbed over the next ridge, he saw a small gully that was ideal for an ambush.

  Grimble and Cadd, without radio headsets, followed the two marksmen across the clearing. Adams directed them to steer the remaining Maoris back into the gully he had selected.

  Rere and Freddy hid behind a thick totara tree, back to back. They caught their breath and waited to hear their pursuers come crashing through the undergrowth. They planned to poke their guns out from behind the tree and cut them down and then escape across the next ridge. Freddy knew if they kept in that direction, heading into the setting sun, they would come across a road. They could follow this back to Titirangi and hitch a ride to Auckland. He did not think about roadblocks, just about Hei Hei. How could Hei Hei die? They had heard an M16. He must be alive.

  They heard a crashing sound, and when it got nearer, they nodded to each other and swung their weapons around the trunk. But the two cops sprayed the tree with a rapid burst. Rere and Freddy swung back behind cover. They had seen that the two cops were far apart, and that if they made a run for it they could get mown down in the cross fire.

  Adams heard the gunfire and was informed of the position of the two Maoris. He changed his plan and sprinted through the bush and up the adjoining ridge to get in position behind them. On this side of the ridge there was less vegetation and he made good speed. He was well ahead of Grimble, Cadd and the other two who were crashing through the thick bush, searching for the fifth Maori.

  The two Maoris stuck their guns out again to draw fire, quickly withdrew them then swung around again to fire back. Their shots went wild though they did see where the two cops were hiding. Rere reloaded his shotgun. Freddy set the M16 to automatic. He whispered to Rere that he would fire a couple of bursts and that Rere should run to the next tree on his right. He would follow, once Rere let blast with his shotgun. “Don’t shoot me, now, you fat Maori bastard,” Freddy finished. Rere had too much adrenaline in his blood to joke.

  Adams came into position over the ridge as he saw Freddy fire back at the two policemen pinned down. He aimed at Rere as the larger Maori ran to the next tree. The bullets ripped Rere’s stomach open as he fell. Freddy turned to where the shots came from and tried to fire back, but he was hit in the chest three times. He slid down the tree trunk. His chin rested on his shoulder as blood dribbled out of his mouth.

  Adams radioed in the two hits and alerted everyone that there was still one Maori not accounted for. He bypassed the two policemen who had been pinned down and double tracked over the ridge again. His instincts told him the other Maori was somewhere close by, hiding.

  • • •

  Wiremu heard the M16s below him. His shotgun at the ready, he quietly pushed his way through the dense side of the hill away from the clearing and to where he thought the firing had come from.

  • • •

  Mel felt she was surrounded by gunfire. She expected to see armed policemen appear at any moment in front of her, so she climbed a tree on the side of the ridge to see what was happening. If anyone came near her, she could stay up there, immobile, for a long time. Nobody would look up a tree expecting to see a woman. Balanced on a wide branch, she leaned forward and saw the top of Wiremu’s head appear through a five-finger bush to one side of her.

  • • •

  Grimble, Cadd and the other two had fanned out across the ridge and were sweeping the area with their weapons. Their eyes followed their front sights as they scanned for the missing Maori. The two policemen kept in radio contact with Adams on the other side of the ridge and with McShane in the van. They went from tree to tree, not knowing when they would draw fire.

  Grimble, on the right flank, spotted a bush rustle ahead of him. He walked with a crouch, careful not to crack any dry twigs or trip over the vines in the undergrowth. With his revolver in a two-handed grip, he recognized his prized Maori despite the short haircut. He was right behind Wiremu Wilson.

  Wiremu sensed someone was behind him and slowly turned, bringing up his shotgun to fire. Grimble could not believe his luck as he aimed at the Maori. He was about to squeeze the trigger when he was hit on the right shoulder. He lost his balance and fell to the ground flat on his face. The revolver dropped from his hand. Wiremu froze his right index finger, in shock.

  Mel had dropped onto Inspector Grimble, knocking him out. She slipped off his shoulder with her left foot and rolled over on the dirt to quickly regain her balance. Wiremu saw Mel give a powerful front snap to the fallen policeman’s head. She turned to him and waved her hand back. They sprinted up the ridge and over into the next valley. Expecting to feel gunfire rip into their backs, they ran down the hill as fast as they could. Mel pointed in the direction she thought Henry would be waiting for her as she kept ahead of Wiremu. They did not say a word.

  • • •

  Hei Hei opened his eyes. He was facedown in the grass. He knew he had been hit. He could taste blood in his mouth. He could not feel any part of his body. All he could think of was that he had to get to the truck and drive away. If he made it back to the city, he would survive. He tried to lift himself up but fell back. Now he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his chest and back. His shirt was wet, but he did not look down. He got up on his right elbow and dragged himself to his feet using the log for support.

  There was a policeman with his back turned towards Hei Hei, attending to the injured marksman farther down the track. Hei Hei fell over the trunk onto his back. He gritted his teeth and managed to stand up without screaming. He grabbed at the red Holden and slid his feet towards the Bedford truck, leaving dark red smear marks along the side of the car. His boots made squelching sounds. When he got to the cabin, he tried to pull himself up the step by grabbing the door handle. He failed. He kept trying to reach up with his right hand. He finally managed to swing into the cabin and collapsed into the driver’s seat. As he reached for the ignition, he caught sight of a shape hidden under the dashboard.

  “Fuck! Hei Hei, you’re gonna get us all killed!” Rangi whispered as he eased his head out.

  “Shut up,” Hei Hei croaked as he started up the motor and forced the gear stick into reverse.

  The truck lurched forward as Hei Hei realized he was in first. He fought the stick with his left hand to pull it into reverse, although he thought he was going to lose his arm in the process. His sight went blank and he gasped for breath. He tried to focus on the side mirror as the truck went backwards heading straight to the fallen marksman and his attendant.

  The policeman with the first aid kit had secured tourniquets to both of the fallen policeman’s legs. There was little he could do about removing the pellets imbedded in his fellow officer’s thighs. He looked up to see the truck backing into them. He screamed into his mouthpiece that someone was moving the truck as he dragged the half-conscious marksman into the bush.

  “Hey, Rangi! Look in your mirror! Guide me out!”

  Rangi had no choice but to lift up his head and peek out the side window. “To your right. To your right!”

  The truck’s front wheels ran over the marksman’s feet before Hei Hei could straighten up. He picked up speed down the track as he saw the opening to the road.

  McShane immediately ordered the cars to block the opening. Two cars formed an inverted
V, whilst the third blocked the road. The two policemen leapt out and squatted behind their vehicles, their M16s aimed at the Bedford.

  Hei Hei could barely steer with one flat tire and his left arm was getting weaker. He did not hear Rangi shout. His ears hurt from all the gunfire. He felt the truck crash into the cars as a bullet shattered his side window.

  The rear bumper of the Bedford swiped the side of one car then dug into the other, pushing both back into the road. The tires were shot out by the intense fusillade of bullets, but Hei Hei kept his foot on the accelerator as the wheels continued to dig into the road. Rangi screamed above the gunfire that he should give up, but Hei Hei was too close to death to surrender.

  The three policemen moved back to the road’s shoulder and continued firing in short bursts at the cabin as it came into their sights. The windshield shattered and Hei Hei was blinded by glass as he vainly felt for the gear stick. His left hand would not work, and he had to force his right hand across his body as he ground into second gear. He hit the accelerator with all the energy he had left. A stream of bullets ripped through the metal door and into Hei Hei’s side. The truck lurched forward, veered off the road and slammed into a tree. The rear wheels were still moving as the nearest policeman waved to the others and ran to the front of the truck. He duckwalked up to the driver’s side, slid up to the smashed window and poked his rifle inside. He raked the cabin with a prolonged burst. He stepped back, swung open the door and his partner emptied his magazine into the body slumped over the steering wheel. Hei Hei, riddled with dozens of bullets, was finally dead. There was a low moan from under the front seat, and without identifying the source, the first policeman emptied the remainder of his magazine into the curled up body at point-blank range. The moaning ceased.