HAUNTED PARK

CHAPTER 5

SAM

This is going to be a very dangerous mission judging by how it started on the very first day.

We are in a mission with our employer himself to source for some trophies in a park in the outskirts of an African city.

My boss Nelson is involved in the import and export business but mostly he smuggles wildlife trophies hidden inside his cargo to the far east.

The work of obtaining the illegal merchandise is delegated to local hunters but lately they have become so corrupt they swindle the money and never deliver the cargo.

In light of this Nelson has decided to come and do the hunting himself, and he took me and three others with him.

We need elephant tusks and skins from snakes which are not in short supply in this park.

We bribed government officials with a few dollars then we were allowed entry disguised as tourists.

Our papers say that our group will be camping for three days but we intend to stay for about two weeks.

In our repertoire are powerful guns and other weapons, silencers and scopes for magnifying our targets.

Our entry into the park was uneventful, we didn't need a guide because we had read many books to prepare ourselves and today we only put theory to practice.

Immediately we settled on our intended campsite we lit a fire to warm our food and that is where our problems started.

A herd of Buffalo stampeded on our camp, stamping out the fire and destroying our equipment in the process.

We ran for our life and climbed trees to escape from the angry herd.

Many of our weapons were damaged too and what remains are the small pistols and only one hunting rifle.

A member of our group later told us that buffaloes hate fires and smoke and when they spot it they extinguish it immediately. You gotta love nature.

As a result of that misfortune we had to eat cold food and lie in the open field, waiting for night to fall for us to start hunting.

Later in the afternoon a heavy rain found us sleeping and drenched us to the core.

Nelson is already regretting why he came here after facing all this adversity but I feel that the worst is yet to come. I have been to other parks but this one seems eery and every time I have the feeling one gets when someone is watching them.

It's still drizzling and Nelson can't smoke because his cigarettes have been rained on. He curses at everything, prompting the other three members of our group to stay away from him.

The rain subsidizes as night falls and we move to higher ground to look for a good place to set up another camp.

We get there as the moon splashes its beautiful rays upon the ground, so clear you can see everything around us.

Then the sounds of crickets and other insects breaks the silence, creating a good break from the noise from industries and vehicles back home in Europe.

We settle down again to a cold meal, aware of what may happen if we light a fire and as we lay down to rest I start hearing strange noises, like humans talking, down the slope.

“What the f**k? Do we have humans here? Or it's some f*****g hunters?” Nelson asks no one in particular.

“I don't know. If they're hunters they may complicate our mission.” I reply as the inaudible noise gets more loud.

“Take one man with you, shoot any human you see.” He orders.

“But sir, we don't have enough ammunition after what the buffaloes did to us.” I reply.

“Do as I say you dimwit. I am here to think for you and next time don't dare to question my orders. Are we clear?” He asks, coming close to me to emphasize the importance of his point.

“Yes sir, we are clear. I am sorry.” I respond.

“Get moving.” He says

I gesture to one man to join me and we descend to the forest below us. The noises are now too loud and in the moonlight we can see silhouettes of moving animals coming up the slope.

I get hold of my pistol and my partner follows suit.

A minute later the silhouettes materialize into human looking forms and I instruct my partner not to shoot.

The half human half animals don't see us and they pass a few meters from us. They are more than fifty and they head to the camp.

After they are gone I tell my partner to relax and let Nelson and his crew deal with the mysterious entities. We move quietly and climb trees near the camp and watch.

A few minutes pass and a loud gunshot shatters through the silent park. Someone has fired our hunting rifle, expending the few rounds of ammunition we have.

Then sounds of cursing as Nelson advises the men to fight.

The camp is in chaos and another rifle shot goes off, echoing through the cliffs beyond the trees. A serious battle is obviously being fought in there.

Finally I catch a glimpse of Nelson and another man running outside towards the trees. I can hear clearly what he's saying.

“Run for your lives. Climb on some tree, these ain't ordinary animals, they are f*****g ghosts. Don't shoot, it's a waste of ammunition." He says as he goes up a tall tree.

His companion finds a tree too and goes up quickly.

The third man isn't so lucky. He is the last to emerge from the tents and as he makes his way to the open space the creatures pounce on him.

A very gory scene takes place as they tear him apart, eating his flesh and cracking his bones while still alive. He screams for help but none of us is willing to risk their lives to save him.

His screams stop and the creatures continue devouring his flesh as we watch in horror.

This park is dangerous and I am certain now that we won't be doing any hunting.

We will be lucky if we come out alive.