Prose

Ryno takes the Heckler and Koch 417 attaches a new magazine to it and cocks the weapon, before he puts the safety catch on.
 
“Can’t we do anything to help the animals,” Maria wants to know and her eyes burns worried in his.  To both of them the killing of the animals is pure madness

”I can fire at their soldiers on the riverbank, but it will bring them and the horde that is chasing the elephant’s right to us,” Ryno explains.  “But... we have got to do something.  We cannot let them mow those animals down, without doing anything,” Maria says heatedly.

”It will probably be more merciful to let them kill the elephants.  Those men are too unruffled.  There is probably a big landmine field between them and the animals, into which they are being chased.”

The bizarre scene that unfolds before them on the open piece of veldt next to the river is for Ryno and Maria like a nightmare, where they hopelessly watch the animals being mowed down.

The helicopter gunships come much nearer and hang just above the bushes, behind the storming animals and the cannons in the noses of the aircraft start firing.

The elephants run forward in a solid stream into the landmine field.  The few that comes wounded through the landmine field are shot down by the soldiers with the machineguns and there are wounded animals moaning inside the landmine field where they have been shot to pieces.

Ryno and Maria notices the line of soldiers coming along behind the elephants driving them on into the landmine field from the west and they are starting to shoot as they come nearer to the animals.

Ryno is very angry and dumbfounded by the slaughter that is happening on the other side of the river.  He feels like taking sniping shots with the Heckler and Koch 417 on some of the soldiers, but is only observing as it is the only thing that he can do.

Hours later the silence is overwhelming and only the smell of the massive elephant slaughter hangs in the air, before the oncoming soldiers starts to talk with each other.

Some of the Hind helicopter gunships land and instructions are given to remove the ivory teeth and from the distance a convoy of Gaz trucks drive nearer.

That night the enemy is celebrating on the other side of the river and hundreds of fires are burning and Ryno knows that the enemy soldiers are unsuspecting and at ease.

Ryno and Maria sneaks to the road and crosses it at an unprotected bridge and in the early morning hours, Ryno steals one of the Gaz-lorries and drives away slowly without lights.  They are scared of having woken some of the sleeping soldiers, but the most of them are drunk from having too much liquor and do not worry about the lorry that is leaving.

Later Ryno switches the lights of the vehicle on and for hours they drive into the direction of Cassinga.  Unexpectedly they drive into a UNITA ambush and around them soldiers armed with RPG-7 rocket launchers and AK-47 sub-machine guns rises and forces them to stop.

Fortunately they do not start shooting and one of the soldiers knows Maria, who explains to them that they want to go the nearest Unita camp.

The soldiers however keep their AK-47’s aimed at Ryno and Maria and five of them get on the back of the lorry and orders Ryno in what direction to drive.  Maria protests that she and Ryno belongs to an allied force and are both South Africans, but it changes nothing to the animosity of the UNITA soldiers.

Ryno presses her hand reassuringly, while he keeps watching the soldiers.  “What are your plans with us,” Ryno wants to know from the leader of the group of soldiers in Portuguese and he has got to shout to be heard above the noise of the lorry.

The man draws his shoulders up and Ryno cannot find out if it is because the man cannot hear him, do not understand him or does not want to talk