A Survivalists Tale Page 6

  I saw the bunch that must be in charge as they were telling one of the other whites from the other fire what to do, I could hear some of the argument, it seemed the ones in charge wanted to make us all vanish and leave a mystery so they could come back in a couple of years. I lay all three RPGs where I could reach them quickly and the spare grenades alongside them, there was a big rock right in the middle of their fire, which they had the coffee pot sitting on. I aimed right for the centre of it and fired my first rocket, before it had even hit I was picking up the second one, they were all rushing for the trucks so I fired right at the left thick gate post and blew it up. Turning quite a few of them into dead porcupines, the next went into the biggest truck I could see. I knew they were firing at me but I focused on loading and firing at the trucks, once I had run out of grenades the trucks and jeeps were well on fire, I then started to shoot the ones running towards me. I just kept shooting and saying this one is for Ian this one is for Paula and this is for Dave and Margret and so on. I heard even more shooting coming from the camp area and thought they were almost on me how come they kept missing me I could feel my clothes being hit but felt no pain so they were rubbish shots. I heard more trucks arriving and thought well it was nice while it lasted, these fuckers had brought machine guns, not fair not fair at all. I could shoot more of them but night was falling pretty damb fast, then Carol was grabbing me and shouting something but I couldn't hear her as the thunder was growing louder in my ears. I tried to give her a telling off as she was supposed to stay and keep the team safe, I loved her but she would be the death of me and then someone turned off my lights. I remembered coming to on the back of a truck and thinking the poachers have got me, so I tried to get up so I could kill them but they just held me down and before passing out again. I heard one of them laugh, well he wouldn’t fucking laugh when I woke up again, I would tear off his head and shit down his neck. I then heard more laughter and passed out big time,

  I came to and wondered what the fuck was happening to me, I was laying on something and all I could see was a floor, well a carpet, a crappy light brown carpet. I wondered what the fuck happened, have I been taken by the poachers, if so this was a kind of weird torture, mind you they weren’t doing that bad for I was in unbelievable pain. I tried to move and let out a groan of pain instead, then a female voice said I wouldn’t move boss man or you will undo the surgeons good work so far and believe me you have pissed him of enough. I said I recognise that voice, what the hell happened Pat are the team safe, she told me yes, the rest of the team is safe all bar you that is, what the fuck are you banging on about woman. All will become clear if you are patient, then she gave a snort, of course that would be another miracle, maybe one too many, Pat will you just tell me what the hell happened. Just then she must have laid down on the floor, for I could see her now, looking up at me, she said that’s better I can’t stand talking to a bare arse. I said Pat my arse better not be bare or when I do get up from here, I will be kicking yours and the fucking doctors. She smiled and said only kidding boss, now here is what happened, you have been shot eight times twice in the head, so you have nice type of solid plastic plates attached to your skull. The other six got you in different parts of your chest area, before you ask you should be dead well eight times over, even the doctors can’t work out how you are still alive. You were put into a coma as soon as they got you in here and have been in one for over five months, people all over the world have been sending you gifts and get well cards. The five who died have been buried and some cremated and their families have all been to see you and wish you well, the woman called Margret I believe was a Quaker and her people took care of her funeral and she has become some type of important person in their religion a saint or something. They have been gathering in their communities and saying prayers for your recovery, mind you so has by the sound of it half the bloody world. I have been doing the PA job you hired me for, the rest of the team have been here on and off for months and a certain lady almost blacked my eye for me when I told the doctors family only, she said the team has become your family.

  By the way you might want to know they rounded up all the poachers and the white men who were behind it were killed by some rocket toting nutter, but they found the buyers and the rest of the criminals behind it and they were convicted of murder in the second degree or whatever the Africans call it. The upshot is they are spending the next couple of decades in one of the worst African prisons the law could find. There is so much happened two of your team are getting married, who I asked, well give a girl a chance to tell you, its Tom and Helen, but they won’t get married until you can attend. The others have been catching up with their people, but are planning to start a community together with the team and others who want to opt out of the rat race.

  Just then I saw Pat getting pushed over a bit and another head appeared, it was Carol, Pat said afternoon Carol and carol said afternoon back and then they started to have a conversation about me, as if I wasn’t there. Hoy, I said I'm right here you know, they both burst out laughing and pat said see what you are getting involved with, he’s a right grumpy bugger. Carol said tell me about it if he keeps this up I just might not marry him at all, mind you she said his dads not bad looking for his age. I said ha bloody ha right pair of comedians, just then a pain shot right through my head and the alarms went off, I saw the looks of horror on their faces just before I blacked out again. The crash team came running in closely followed by the doctor, she rushed to the machines and checked them, she then looked at the two worried women picking themselves of the floor. What’s wrong with him doctor they both said at the same time, one of the team re-set the machine as the doctor walked over to where the girls had been laying down talking to Rick and reconnected the tube that had been knocked loose. Oh, he will be fine when he wakes up but you might not want to mention that one of you knocked his meds tube out, he was getting a very strong painkiller and then he wasn’t. Therefore, when the pain hit he passed out, both Pat and Carol looked so embarrassed, the doctor relented and said may be it would be best if we swung the bed up at an angle, so he can see his visitors, rather than have them on the floor she said. With a little smile on her face, she swung the bed so it was like Rick was laying on a steep slope; they got a couple of seats and sat so they could see his face. While waiting for him to come round they looked guiltily at each other, how are we going to tell him we caused him to black out said Pat, simple said Carol I'm blaming you. They both started laughing at the same time, are we going to tell him, Carol said and give him something he can moan about to us, I don’t bloody think so. Well to bloody late ladies I fucking heard you both, trying to flaming kill me well that’s nice, Carol said trust him to come round at the wrong time, typical man, so are any of you pair of hyenas going to tell me what happened. The last thing I knew was the poachers had more trucks coming and more help from the old camp and then nothing. Carol said well it was you who had help from the camp that was us; we came down from the hill and shot the two they left at the bottom of the hill. Then we all ran towards the explosions and shooting, just in time to get the ones charging your position. The trucks you heard were the park rangers and some soldiers, it seemed they caught the ones that were taking bribes and dropped them of tied up when the passed through a big pride of lions, they reckoned the wildlife should get to speak to them about betrayal. So how come the court took our word for everything that happened, well that was another thing none of us had to give testimonies, it was all on camera. I said I saw the cameras and they were no lights showing, that’s true but when you looked at the cameras they were re-setting to record only and when they do that they don’t show lights, it’s to save power they said. When the storm calmed down a bit the cameras all sent their recorded footage in and it took the editor a little while to realise what was happening, they even had Ian being killed by the poachers. They weren’t kidding when they said they had cameras everywhere, they said they had them out so far for they wanted to see us hunting and what p
lants we pick. The bit that makes me sad said Carol is where you are being shot to bit and it’s as if you can’t feel it for you just keep on fighting. Well I said I thought that was obvious, sweetheart I'm a survivor.

  The End

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