They both watched the screen intently as just one of the dots was moving very slowly, whilst the other remained in one place.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Konner soon realised that he’d observed a cheetah moving slowly through the grass, and following behind were a couple of her cubs. Not really too sure whether this was a dangerous situation or not, he remained as still as he could, hoping that the cheetah wouldn’t see him and continue walking by.
Fortunately for him, the cheetah either didn’t see him or wasn’t too bothered by his presence, and walked off into the distance with her offspring in tow.
By now the sun was getting lower in the sky. He was still surprised at how quickly it began to set, which was totally different to where he lived in America.
As the sunlight dimmed, he got up from his resting place to continue walking. He decided to go in an easterly direction, knowing that the sun set in the west. He had no idea if this was the right or wrong decision, but he had to walk somewhere, otherwise he’d simply die of dehydration by remaining where he was.
Before he had made very much progress, a spectacular sunset began to appear. Ordinarily, he might have appreciated such a wonderful scene, but in the circumstances, it was very difficult to enjoy all the colours.
However, Konner did decide to turn and watch the sun finally disappear below the horizon. He could almost visibly see it move towards the distant ground, turning the sky above it into a beautiful palette of deep oranges and reds spread out across the African sky. He watched a flock of birds fly across the scene, then the hues of deep colours finally gave way to a dark night sky. It was as if someone had switched the lights off, and he felt the night suddenly close in on him.
In the dark, the crickets came to life, as if someone had also flipped a switch on a huge, ratcheting machine. Each cricket rubbed its legs together, as if to outdo the others in a noise battle. The sound didn’t comfort him at all; instead, it reminded him about how exposed he was in the dark in the middle of an African plain.
As he looked at the night sky, he was amazed at how bright the stars were. They were all so vivid! Konner had never seen a night sky like it, but he understood that the phenomenon he was witnessing was due to the absence of any light pollution.
Knowing why the stars were so vibrant made him realise just how far away he was from any civilisation. There were absolutely no people or houses nearby to create the type of light pollution he was used to around where he lived, so although he stood in amazement at the wonder of the sight before him, he was feeling a bit lost with what it represented to him right now.
He knew about how to find the North Star, though, so he looked for the ‘Plough,’ which he knew was an easy way to identify the group of seven stars that he thought looked more like a saucepan.
Once he’d found them, he could simply look along what are known as the pointer stars. These were the stars that made up the far edge of the saucepan. The North Star lay about five times the distance between these two pointers in the direction they pointed, and north lay directly under this star. So he simply needed to keep the North Star on his left shoulder. So even though he wasn’t sure if this was the right way, at least he’d be moving consistently in one direction.
Walking carefully now, the darkness around him seemed oppressive. There was no moon to light the way, so the ground in front of him was hard to see. His eyes had adjusted to the dim light as much as they were going to, but he still couldn’t really see where he was going. Quite often, he found himself treading on stones and what seemed like thorns, which made him wince.
Despite this pain and discomfort, he knew that he had to keep moving. He was now even thirstier than before. The anxiety he felt — something he’d never felt before — was made worse when he was unsure whether the direction he was walking was the right one.
In the distance, he heard the sounds of wild animals — sounds that were unfamiliar to him but that were too close for comfort. And, to his horror, he realised they were straight ahead of him.
Konner immediately stopped dead in his tracks. He felt his heart rate jump to a level he’d never experienced before. The night was impenetrable. No matter how much he stared in the direction of the sound, he was not able to see a thing — although he wasn’t too sure if he wanted to see what he’d heard.
Not feeling safe going toward where the sounds had come from, he changed his direction. His biggest fear now was that some huge creature would suddenly appear out of the night and jump at his throat.
Although he was in an expanse of open plain, he felt somehow like he was in a dark and enclosed room. His senses were at an all-time high. His hearing seemed to be heightened, and he was more alert than he could ever remember being.
His heart was pounding, as the adrenalin flowed freely through his veins. ‘Please, God, forgive me my sins. Please help me get through this,’ he whispered.
Sensing movement to his left, he heard an animal in the grass. He strained once again to look into the dark, trying desperately to adjust his eyes to see what he’d heard. His heart thundered to another level, so he could even hear the sound of his blood pumping around in his head, as the arteries and veins around his ear drums sounded out the rhythm of each cardiac beat.
The next thing he heard was like an old man laughing in slow motion, another sound he had never experienced before. He was being stalked, but he wasn’t quite sure why they hadn’t attacked.
‘I’m easy prey, but maybe they don’t know that yet,’ he thought.
He dared to continue his slow walk. And then he heard the sound of the slow laughing sound again, as if he were being taunted by a group of bullies. But it wasn’t the laugh of a person he heard — it was some kind of animal, which appeared to be mocking him. The next sound he heard was similar to a screeching bird, but he was sure they weren’t birds. Whatever they were, they seemed to be closing in on him.
Stubbing his foot on a rock, he stumbled and fell to the hard ground. His bare skin was cut as he hit the African dirt, but he quickly got up and looked around.
As he stood, he could still hear the sound of these strange creatures, followed by a loud growling, which was even closer than any of the other sounds so far. He was convinced that this was a lion. He froze to the spot. If it was possible, another full dose of adrenalin pumped into his blood stream to make his already fast-beating heart beat even faster. Even more than before, it felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest and present itself as a ready meal for these creatures of the night.
As he strained to look around, trying to work out where the first attack might come from, directly in front of him he could just about make out a tree, albeit a very vague shape in the dark.
Thinking, ‘Climb the tree. Get away from these creatures and sit out the night.’
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
As Carly stood next to the river, she couldn’t see what was moving the trees, but it wasn’t too far away and now she was scared. All she could think to do was to scream at the top of her voice to try and scare whatever it was in the trees away. It seemed to work, as the movement stopped for now and it didn’t bark again.
She was painfully aware of how thirsty she was, so she fumbled towards the river’s edge and dipped her toes in the water, wondering whether it would be okay to drink.
The water didn’t look very clean. ‘What if it’s contaminated?’ she thought, as she had no idea where she was or where the river came from.
The need for a drink was more overpowering than her logical reasoning of whether it was okay to drink or not. Her mouth was parched, which had been the case ever since she’d awoken.
She leaned down to the water’s edge, cupped her hands, and took a drink. The water was cool, and although it tasted a bit strange, it was refreshing to her parched mouth and throat.
When she got up from the river’s edge, she began to get more concerned, as it was beginning to get dark; she could see the sun starting to set.
‘I can’t b
elieve that I’m out here in the jungle naked and all alone and it’s getting dark,’ she thought. ‘I must find somewhere to hide for the night.’
Hobbling across the rocks and ground next to the river, she began to make her way downstream, searching for a likely place to hide. All around were tall trees. Previously where she had seen blue sky through their gaps, this had changed to a darker blue. She could see the orange of the sunset coming through the trees ahead.
To her right, Carly spotted a small clump of bushes, which were closer together than any of the other bushes around. She made her way over to this area, as she thought she could use this as shelter for the night.
She knelt down and crawled into the bushes and lay on the ground, trying to conceal herself as much as she could. She managed to break off a few of the branches to put around her, which would help to disguise her position from any passing animals.
She was surprised at how quickly it had gone dark, which caught her out. In the UK, night came much more gradually than this. All of a sudden she was under an African bush in the dark and all alone, with her heart racing. Suddenly she could hear the sound of crickets that were all around her. It was as if someone had flicked a switch for them all to come alive as soon as it went dark. She couldn’t see a thing, so even if an animal were stalking her, she wouldn’t be able to see it coming.
The ground where she lay was also very uncomfortable. She knew that she wouldn’t get very much sleep, if any at all, as her fear would probably keep her awake.
Then she could hear a high-pitched squeaking sound, which was very close to where she lay, and then there were other unfamiliar noises that seemed to come from all directions. It was as if the woods had come to life, simply because it had gone dark. It seemed as if the darkness was closing in on her, too, so she tried to curl up into as tight a ball as she could. She even put her hands over her ears to block out the sounds, but this didn’t work very well. She lay there terrified and alone.
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
Konner was still frozen to the spot for an instant, switching his stare from one direction to the next, not really knowing where to go from here. Climbing the tree seemed the best option right now, but that meant moving again.
He finally gathered the strength to move towards the tree, and just as he reached the trunk and stretched up to climb it, he caught a glimpse of something running across in front of him. He very quickly grabbed the branches above his head, as the shape of the creature could just be made out in the darkness.
His worst nightmare had become a reality. A large, maned lion was staring up at him. As the huge creature suddenly made a fast move towards him, he also heard something move directly behind him.
He was surrounded by a pride of lions. ‘I’m being hunted!’ he thought.
As he grappled to move higher in the branches, he sensed the lions surging forward. Then he reached up for the next branch above his head and slipped back. The bark on the tree was sharp on his hands and on his already cut feet.
Its roughness was tearing into his broken skin, but the fear of being eaten alive kept him pushing forward. The adrenalin helped to anaesthetise the pain his cuts would ordinarily have caused. He regained his hold on the branches and managed to get a good footing, as he heard one of the lions at the base of the tree.
He heard the sound of claws against the bark below him, as one of the huge creatures stretched up, trying to catch his legs. He reached up further into the branches of the tree, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his leg, as the lion’s claws hooked him from below. Fortunately for him, the lion couldn’t manage to get a good hold, as it was also struggling to climb the tree at the same time.
When the big cat let him go, he managed to move this leg further up the tree, and was able to climb higher into the branches. The fear of being chased was almost too much, as he grappled to get up and away from what he realised was an attacking lioness.
The thorns of the tree spiked into his skin too, as he lifted his body up and his head was forced into the foliage and the hard thorns above him.
The thorns, which were there to discourage animals from grazing on the leaves, pierced his bare skin like pins being stuck into a pin cushion. His white flesh began to ooze dark, red blood from each of these pin-prick holes.
He paused for a moment to feel his skin where he’d been stabbed, and he could feel the blood oozing from his wounds. His hand was now wet with his own fresh blood, which he was sure the lions would smell from below. This realisation spurred him to keep climbing, even though he was scared of heights.
Ever since he was a boy, he had never liked to climb ladders and didn’t even like tall buildings, but his fear of what lurked below far outweighed his acrophobia. All he wanted to do was to escape.
As Konner worked his way up and into the safety of the branches above, he kept telling himself, ‘Lions can’t climb trees.’ He would be safe up here for now, he hoped, although every time he stopped to check his footing, he could hear the noises of the lions below, growling with frustration and scratching at the bark of the trunk.
Finding it difficult to see where he was going, and not too sure how high the tree was, Konner struggled on, actually unsure whether lions could climb or not.
The dangers lurking below seemed so far removed from his normal routine at home. And he’d been out here only a few days to shoot at these lions, so it felt surreal to him. It was as if he’d been placed into some weird movie, in which at any point he’d spot the camera and the director would shout ‘Cut!’
His head continued to bash into the thorn-covered branches above him. The more he pushed on and up the tree, the more his body was being cut to shreds.
He could never imagine climbing a tree as a kid. His friends would always tease him for being a wimp as they climbed for apples and he didn’t. So how he’d managed to get to this point was a bit of a surprise to him.
Konner pushed further and further up into the branches of the tree, trying to find a safe stopping place. He pushed his back against the narrowing trunk and peered down. He could hear the lions in their hunting frenzy below, but couldn’t see much at all, which only added to his fear. He imagined suddenly seeing the piercing eyes of a lion making its way up the tree, and he could see the face of the lion he’d shot, as vivid as if it were real.
‘Surely, if I can get up high enough, I’ll be safe,’ he thought. ‘Lions can’t climb trees,’ he kept trying to convince himself.
‘Maybe if I get to a safe point in the tree, someone will find me tomorrow and help me get away from here.’
As he had this thought, he felt the lump in his neck again. He was now convinced that it was something they had placed under his skin, and was what they had referred to as ‘the procedure.’
‘They’ve put a tracking device under my skin,’ he thought.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
Carly tried various positions under her temporary bush-covered bed, but there was not one that made it any more comfortable than another.
It was so dark that she could hardly see a thing, but her eyes had adjusted somewhat to the night and she could now just about make out the bushes above her head, so she decided to try and gather a few of the leaves for temporary bedding.
The few that she could gather, she put on the ground around where her bottom was sitting. This helped a bit, but she now wished that she had managed to get some grass to lie on, but it had gone dark so quickly that she didn’t have time. Not only was it too dark to see where the grass was now, but there was no way she was going to start walking around out there, either.
She knew that this was going to be a very long night. She continued to listen to the various animal noises, with each new one making her jump. Her heart rate continued at a high level, as adrenalin was being pumped though her body.
Right now she thought that a cigarette would help calm her nerves, and she was struggling with having had this luxury taken away. ‘How dare they treat me like this,’ she thought.
Then she remembered Graham again, the man in the cage next to her who had tried to fill her in on what was going on. He had seemed kind. For a brief moment, she fantasised that they could get together when this ordeal was all over and be friends.
‘Maybe we’d meet at the Railway Tavern in Chelmsford for a pint,’ she thought. ‘I’d tell him my story and offer him a cigarette.’
But as she lay there, she could still feel her heart. She worried whether it would be able to cope with beating at such a high rate for such a long time. She didn’t think that it would be possible to sleep at all, with this heightened level of anxiety. She began to wonder how animals ever managed to sleep, with the constant fear of an attack.
‘How on earth am I going to continue with this?’ she thought. ‘This is my first night, and if I don’t get any sleep tonight, what about tomorrow?’
It was only now that she began to have a realisation about her own life back home. ‘I’ve never really appreciated what I have, nor how easy I have it,’ she thought. ‘Perhaps this guy Blake is trying to help us see a way forward, and at the interview with him, he was testing me. I know that now.’
‘I need to find this guy and appeal to his good side. I need to speak with Blake, and tell him that his test has worked on me.’
Then her thoughts turned back to reality. ‘I need to get through the night. I need to somehow survive this.’
Out here alone and in the dark, she also began to think about her dad and how she missed him. As she did, tears began to flow and then she began to sob uncontrollably. Her sobbing was interrupted by the sound of something out in the dark, a new sound.
‘What was that?’
Her heart rate suddenly rose, as a fresh load of adrenalin flowed into her veins. She lay there waiting to see if she could hear the sound again, but all was quiet, except for the noise of the crickets.
Nothing Left But Fear Page 19