situation, and this was the first one
in years.
‘John here, Louis. Talk.’
‘We need the chopper and the doc for an
urgent casevac. Sam has been shot in the stomach, .32 calibre, no
exit. Not haemorrhaging badly externally, but I don’t know what’s
going on inside. I cannot determine what’s been hit. We got Joao,
wounded but not serious. His brother is dead. Where the Nwanetzi
firebreak crosses the Shinkekkengan there is a hill to the east. We
will organise smoke. Hurry. Over.’
‘Got it all. We’re on our way. Tell Sam to
hang in there, we’ll have the chopper there shortly. All personnel,
keep this channel open, please.’
Louis started the Toyota and pulled away
without removing the camouflage. In a cloud of dust and flying
branches he bounced onto the fire break and speeded towards the
hill.
He skidded to a stop next to Sam and piled
out of the cab. ‘How is he?’ he asked Aaron who was busy planting
more branches around the already heavily shaded Sam.
‘What’s the matter, pal, I wasn’t shot in the
voice box, you know.’
Louis heaved a sigh of relief and knelt next
to Sam. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Not as bad as I thought it would be. I am
beginning to think that being gut shot is overrated. My leg is
hurting more than my stomach. Must be lodged in the sciatic
nerve.’
‘I think it’s too high for that. At least it
doesn’t look as if the abdominal aorta or one of the big kidney
vessels has been damaged. Looks as if you’ll survive this one, my
mate. John says for you to hang in there, they’ll be here shortly.
Relax a while, I want to get us a signal going.’
He issued instructions for plenty of wood and
leafy branches, and a big fire was built downwind of Sam.
Joao was still out cold, or pretended to be.
Louis checked the knots and told Aaron to have him dragged into the
shade. The way the rangers handled Joao without him complaining
convinced Louis that he was indeed still out cold.
He also had Rui covered with branches, taking
a last look at the awesome havoc created by the Winchester.
He sat down next to Sam again, noticing the
pallor that was slowly spreading from the corners of his mouth.
‘Build us a pipe, Louis,’ Sam extracted his
pipe from his shirt pocket.
‘Lie still, dammit. I’ll do it.’
As they lighted up, the radio in the Toyota
crackled to life: ‘Chopper calling 362, Louis come in.’
Louis jumped into the cab and grabbed the
mike. ‘What the hell is keeping you, Vick, are you taxiing to
Nwanetzi?’
Vick Steyn was one of the nest chopper pilots
in the country, and could earn double his salary anywhere else. He
was, however, also one of the men that wouldn’t swop his job for
anything in the world.
‘Cool it, Kosie,’ (everybody was Kosie to
him, much to the chagrin of many of his friends), ‘we had to get
organised first. Doc asks how the patient is doing.’
‘Still alive and smoking. The external
bleeding has just about stopped. He is losing s bit of colour,
though. Whereabouts are you?’
There was a slight pause. ‘ETA about fifteen
minutes. What’s the area like for landing?’
‘Like a parking lot. No problem.’
‘A team has been dispatched from Satara to
pick up the other two. They should be there in about an hour. You
can start smoking us in.’
He instructed Aaron to start the smoke and
had another look at Sam. He was looking worse.
‘Hey! Jenkins! Can you hear me?’ Joao had
obviously regained consciousness, and was screaming through his
broken teeth with great effort.
‘I hear you, shithouse.’
‘You killed my brother. For that I swear I
will kill you. Are you listening to me? I am going to kill you!
Heal fast and come back, I will be waiting for you. I promise
you.’
‘Fuck off, asshole. I will personally see to
it that you do a lot of waiting in jail for a very long time. When
you get out, come back any time. I will be waiting, too.’
Louis walked over to where Joao was lying in
the shade, intending to
in years.
‘John here, Louis. Talk.’
‘We need the chopper and the doc for an
urgent casevac. Sam has been shot in the stomach, .32 calibre, no
exit. Not haemorrhaging badly externally, but I don’t know what’s
going on inside. I cannot determine what’s been hit. We got Joao,
wounded but not serious. His brother is dead. Where the Nwanetzi
firebreak crosses the Shinkekkengan there is a hill to the east. We
will organise smoke. Hurry. Over.’
‘Got it all. We’re on our way. Tell Sam to
hang in there, we’ll have the chopper there shortly. All personnel,
keep this channel open, please.’
Louis started the Toyota and pulled away
without removing the camouflage. In a cloud of dust and flying
branches he bounced onto the fire break and speeded towards the
hill.
He skidded to a stop next to Sam and piled
out of the cab. ‘How is he?’ he asked Aaron who was busy planting
more branches around the already heavily shaded Sam.
‘What’s the matter, pal, I wasn’t shot in the
voice box, you know.’
Louis heaved a sigh of relief and knelt next
to Sam. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Not as bad as I thought it would be. I am
beginning to think that being gut shot is overrated. My leg is
hurting more than my stomach. Must be lodged in the sciatic
nerve.’
‘I think it’s too high for that. At least it
doesn’t look as if the abdominal aorta or one of the big kidney
vessels has been damaged. Looks as if you’ll survive this one, my
mate. John says for you to hang in there, they’ll be here shortly.
Relax a while, I want to get us a signal going.’
He issued instructions for plenty of wood and
leafy branches, and a big fire was built downwind of Sam.
Joao was still out cold, or pretended to be.
Louis checked the knots and told Aaron to have him dragged into the
shade. The way the rangers handled Joao without him complaining
convinced Louis that he was indeed still out cold.
He also had Rui covered with branches, taking
a last look at the awesome havoc created by the Winchester.
He sat down next to Sam again, noticing the
pallor that was slowly spreading from the corners of his mouth.
‘Build us a pipe, Louis,’ Sam extracted his
pipe from his shirt pocket.
‘Lie still, dammit. I’ll do it.’
As they lighted up, the radio in the Toyota
crackled to life: ‘Chopper calling 362, Louis come in.’
Louis jumped into the cab and grabbed the
mike. ‘What the hell is keeping you, Vick, are you taxiing to
Nwanetzi?’
Vick Steyn was one of the nest chopper pilots
in the country, and could earn double his salary anywhere else. He
was, however, also one of the men that wouldn’t swop his job for
anything in the world.
‘Cool it, Kosie,’ (everybody was Kosie to
him, much to the chagrin of many of his friends), ‘we had to get
organised first. Doc asks how the patient is doing.’
‘Still alive and smoking. The external
bleeding has just about stopped. He is losing s bit of colour,
though. Whereabouts are you?’
There was a slight pause. ‘ETA about fifteen
minutes. What’s the area like for landing?’
‘Like a parking lot. No problem.’
‘A team has been dispatched from Satara to
pick up the other two. They should be there in about an hour. You
can start smoking us in.’
He instructed Aaron to start the smoke and
had another look at Sam. He was looking worse.
‘Hey! Jenkins! Can you hear me?’ Joao had
obviously regained consciousness, and was screaming through his
broken teeth with great effort.
‘I hear you, shithouse.’
‘You killed my brother. For that I swear I
will kill you. Are you listening to me? I am going to kill you!
Heal fast and come back, I will be waiting for you. I promise
you.’
‘Fuck off, asshole. I will personally see to
it that you do a lot of waiting in jail for a very long time. When
you get out, come back any time. I will be waiting, too.’
Louis walked over to where Joao was lying in
the shade, intending to
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