Escaping Pursuit

The evening was dark and thick mist was rolling over the waters of Cape Town’s notoriously dangerous ocean. There was no moon to be seen and the only light on the beach was a lonely fire dancing on a few dry logs.

“We really shouldn’t be doing this Gunter,” said Dannie, “if the cops come by they’ll arrest us and call our parents.”

“Stop worrying Dannie,” replied Gunter as he tossed another log on the fire, “We are well covered by the high dunes around us and no one ever comes up here.”

“I know, I just don’t feel very comfortable with breaking the law,” said Dannie closing his dark brown eyes and leaning back with his arms planted in the sand behind him.

“We aren’t really breaking the law as much as slightly bending it,” said Leon, “And besides, what can really happen out here.”

Gunter smiled at Leon, he knew that was no real comfort to Dannie, he had always been a more conservative type. Gunter and Leon on the other hand loved to live a little on the wild side. Gunter brushed the palm his hand on his jeans in an attempt to clean the sand off but was only partially successful. As always a few stubborn cornels of sand desperately clung to every nock and cranny they could find. Giving up on the hopeless task Gunter carefully used the cleaner sections of his fingers to fix his short blond hair which the wind had ruffled.

“We should really try to get out of here before that mist reaches the road,” fret Dannie, “My dad would kill me if we got lost and he found out I wasn’t at home all night.” 

“Seriously Dannie, chill out,” said Leon who had just put away a combination lock he had been playing with and broken out the marshmallows. He casually impaled one on a long stick and held it over the fire, “Everything will be fine, I know this road like the back of my hand. We won’t get lost.”

“Yes, yes, you’ve said,” sighed Dannie.

Gunter smiled at the exchange and also reached over to retrieve himself a marshmallow from the bag. He was of slender build and though he was still only a boy of thirteen, it was clear he would grow up to be a handsome man. Gunter lower his roasting stick over the fire, he found himself getting lost in the constant twirl of the flames as they jumped into the air and disappeared.

Dannie kept scanning the area, paranoia was plucking his eyes left and right, expecting to see danger coming towards them at anytime. Dannie had dark hair to match his olive complexion and he was fairly tall for his age. He wasn’t exactly handsome. He was actually rather plain despite his muscular build which he had earned through a short, yet tough rugby carrier.

Dannie tried to calm himself, taking a deep breath he offered up a quiet prayed that they be kept safe. It was as if Dannie could see the calmness that his two lifelong friends were sporting but he just couldn’t seem to reach it. Dannie whipped his head around to look towards the dune at their back. He could’ve sworn he heard something.

“Did you guys hear that?” asked Dannie quietly.

“You’re just being paranoid, Dannie. Here have a marshmallow and stop fretting,” said Leon as he held up the bag.

Without reply Dannie stood up and started walking towards the dune. Leon shook his head, causing his pudgy cheeks to jiggle a little and put the bag down again.

Dannie reached the top of the high rising sand and saw their three mountain bikes sitting quietly and unmolested next to the road. Dannie looked around, sure he had heard something, but relieved that it wasn’t someone steeling their bikes. He turned back to look at the beach where his friends sat and took another deep breath to calm himself. Again Dannie prayed for God’s protection, he felt a bit guilty asking God to look after them even though they were there breaking the law, but he felt certain God would understand his position.

Dannie finally felt he had regained his composure and began his decent towards the fire. The sound of voices pierced Dannie’s gut like a cold knife cutting into his stomach and suddenly his heart was racing in his throat. Cops! thought Dannie and he dropped his stance into a crouch. He could see two men just off to the right and one of them was holding a torch. They must be cops, thought Dannie again, They’re here for us, I know it!

One of the two men dropped something in the sand and they stopped to pick it up. With the momentary distraction Dannie claimed his opportunity and bolted towards his friends. Gunter and Leon were caught completely off guard when Dannie slid in next to the fire, kicking up sand and sending it streaming into the flames. Without missing a beat Dannie began shoving arm loads of sand onto the fire.

“What are you doing man!” exclaimed Leon, “You got sand all over my marshmallow!”

“There are two cops coming, quick help me to cover this up,” said Dannie as he continued to work on his heap.

“Chips!” said Gunter as he whirled himself upright and helped Dannie to stamp out the last remaining flames.

“You two are being silly,” said Leon, “Why would there be cops here? It’s probably just some ‘Capies’ diving for Crayfish.”

“I’m not willing to risk it,” replied Dannie who grabbed Leon by the arm and half dragged him towards a thick fynbos growth nearby.

“Keep quiet and don’t let them know we’re here,” said Gunter, “Even if it’s not cops, we never know if they might be potential robbers.”

“Whatever,” said Leon nonchalant and he plonked himself down. Opening the bag of sweets he began helping himself to what remained while the other two were otherwise engaged.

Gunter and Dannie peered over the fynbos, no more than a minute went by before they saw the light of the torch break over the dune. The two men walked right up to the sand covered site of the boys’ fire and one of them kicked at the pile.

“I smell a cova’ up jong,” said one of the men in the signature Cape Coloured accent.

“Keep focused Jonny,” said the other man in a thick Afrikaans accent, “It’s probably just some bum warming himself.”

“What eva’ Piettie, but this thing is still warm,” replied Jonny.

“Come, leave it, the boss is waiting for us,” replied Piet.

“Agh, old Treva’ can wait five mo’ minutes man,” said Jonny.

Gunter nearly gasped out loud when he saw the third man approaching the two men from behind, but he covered his mouth, successfully silencing himself.  Dannie looked over to Gunter with his eyes wide and his friend returned the gesture. The sound of two gunshots going off ripped at the boys’ guts, and Leon nearly choked on a half eaten Marshmallow as he jumped up. Gunter and Dannie instantly tackled Leon, bringing him down and covering his mouth with their hands.

Gunter was the first to look, trying to see what happened. Both the men lay face down in the sand and a dark figure knelt over them with his back turned on the boys. Gunter strained his eyes to see what the man was doing and came away with a glimpse of the man recovering a pouch from each body.

“We have to phone the police,” whispered Dannie.

“No wait, we would have to explain what we were doing here,” replied Gunter in an urgent yet hushed tone.

“You would rather let a murderer go unpunished than explain to your parents you snuck out to braai marshmallows on the beach?” asked Dannie, lifting his left brow accusingly.

“No, but…” Gunter searched for the right answer but he knew it already, he just didn’t like it.

Dannie looked back and saw the man standing up. He inspected the sand covering the fire and found it was still hot. His head popped up as he began to scan the area and after a moment he took a step over Jonny and retrieved the flash light. Dannie pushed Gunter’s head down as the light flashed over their hiding spot. Leon was slowly creeping up behind them to see what was happening and ducked down moments before the light cut over them.

Dannie’s heart was racing and he could barely contain his fear. He could hear the man’s footsteps in the sand as he walked towards them. They had been there for at least four hours and they had played cricket on the beach, so most of the sand was disrupted, but he none the less feared that the man would see their fresh tracks leading to this hiding place. He ventured a look and saw the light was moving up the dune.

“He’s going to see the bikes,” said Leon.

“We need to get out of here now!” said Gunter urgently.

“How, he is going to the bikes,” said Leon.

“Run you dimwit,” replied Gunter.

“Run, are you kidding me, I haven’t run anywhere in three years. I might die from a heart attack,” replied Leon.

“If you stay you will die from a gunshot,” replied Gunter as he began making his way south along the beach, dragging Leon along, “Come on Dannie.”

“Wait, what about my new bike?” asked Dannie in a panic.

“Come!” commanded Gunter and Dannie reluctantly obeyed.

They ran as quickly as they could. They were trying to make their way up to the road as they moved. Twigs were lashing at Dannie’s legs but he ignored the pain. He wished he had worn his jeans like Gunter but when he was dressing earlier he couldn’t see jeans as appropriate dress for the beach.

“Guys, we have to stop,” said Leon as he gasped for air, “I am going to burst a lung and my ribs ache like somebody kicked me.”

“We have only been running two minutes,” replied Gunter disapprovingly.

Leon dropped to the ground and said, “Yes, go on without me, I can’t make it.”

Dannie grabbed Leon by the arm and pulled him back on his feet, saying, “Get your lazy butt moving, we’re not leaving anyone behind.”

“No guys, really…” said Leon as both of the others took an arm over their shoulder and began dragging him along.

Light slashed over head and all three of them dropped to the floor. A large rock cut into Dannie’s knee and he fought the urge to yelp in pain. They lay dead quiet, listening to the steady rhythm of foot falls approaching them.

Dannie started softly chanting to himself under his breath, “I will fear no evil, I will fear no evil.”

Gunter looked over to his friend and he felt the need to chime in bubble inside him. Dannie had always been more faith driven and Gunter hoped that his friend’s faith wasn’t misplaced. The footsteps slowed and the light streaks became more focused, centring on their location.

Leon was the first to panic and he jumped up to start running before the other two could stop him. A bullet whizzed over head and the bang signalled the start of the other two’s race as well. Another bullet whizzed overhead and Dannie ducked low, running in a crouched posture. Panic was flooding his mind and fear threatened to paralyse him, but something in him screamed ‘keep running!’.

Dannie broke into a clearing and he heard a snatch at his feet. He could feel broken rocks shoot up and bite into his leg. He knew the bullet had just missed him. As he came over another dune he saw an industrial complex of some kind.  He had never seen it before and he couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but now wasn’t the time to ponder. His last point enforced by another bullet exploding in the sand near him.

Dannie ran right towards the buildings. He was sure the rise behind him would give him a minute of cover to find a hiding spot. A hand seemed to materialise in front of him and hauled him into a doorway. Dannie pulled back a fist and readied a swing.

“Hey, stop, it’s me,” said Leon whose round figure was dripping with sweat.

Gunter popped into the door a moment later. He had been right on Dannie’s heals all the way.

“We can’t keep running, we need a plan,” said Gunter through his exhaustion, “What is this place anyway?”

“I think it’s a hydro plant or something,” said Leon.

“Whatever this place is, it’s not important. We have moments before that guy figures out where we went,” said Dannie.

“Ok, listen up, I have an idea,” said Leon.

“We aren’t going to hide in a corner eating marshmallows Leon,” said Gunter sarcastically.

“As good a plan as that would’ve been, that isn’t what I had in mind,” replied Leon.





The door opened slowly and the light from the torch penetrated the gloom inside. The dark figure cautiously took a step inside and thoroughly scanned around the room. Several metal walkways surrounding seven large reservoir tanks filled the room. The light went down to the floor and the man knelt at two drops of blood, smeared by the soul of a shoe, probably a sandal. The torch continued to scan the floor and it found several more drops of blood leading to the staircase.

The man walked forward, he could almost feel the heart beats of his prey. No one had ever gotten away from him and he wasn’t about to let it start now. One foot after the other pounded on the metal stairs as he slowly followed the blood splatters, his flash light leading him on. At the top he came to a standstill and listened. Creaks in the metal plates of the catwalk, the panting breath of a boy overcome with fear, these were his guides and he was adept at finding them.

The man began to walk forward again, surveying as he moved. His mobile torch giving the feeling of a photocopier at work as it broke the darkness at Dannie’s feet. Dannie was terrified but he held it together. He wouldn’t give up his position unless he absolutely had to but the footsteps coming ever closer made it a monumental task. His hands began to shake and he nearly dropped the large monkey wrench he was holding out in front of him. Pulling it closer to his body and willing himself to stay calm, he stopped the shivering. He could feel the light approach and when the man turned the corner the light felt like a hot flame on his skin.

Dannie sat dead still, somewhere in the back of his mind he thought that if he didn’t move the man might not see him, even though he could nearly taste the steel of the man’s pistol pointing at his head.

“Where are the others?” asked the man calmly.

“What others sir, there was only me,” replied Dannie, fear causing him to shake as he spoke. He tried to blink the light out of his eyes and see the man’s face but failed.

The sound of a chain rattling behind the man drew his attention and he whirled around just in time to see Leon swing by and over Dannie’s head, missing his intended target completely before the chain shook loose. With a loud bang and the chime of a chain piling on the floor, Leon hit collapsed next to Dannie. He came up uneasily and cringed in pain.

The man with the gun had to bite back his laughter and he quickly subdued the urge before saying, “Only one of you, huh?”

The pain flared up the man’s arms and he dropped both the flash light and the gun. With a scream of pain he looked down to see Gunter who had just struck him with a heavy metal pipe across the arms. He swung out his less injured left arm and smacked Gunter across the face, sending the boy straight to the ground. The other two reacted instantly, Dannie trading his wrench for the gun before Leon snatched up the torch and Dannie’s wrench.

“Hold it right there!” commanded Dannie as he pointed the gun at the man, “Point the light at him not me you idiot.”

Leon said, “Oh right,” and moved the light over to the man who was holding his right arm against his chest. The arm was swelling up quickly where Gunter had struck.

The light revealed a tall muscular man wearing a navy blue tracksuit. Neatly cropped brown hair topped off his long face and his dead green eyes gave him a sinister look.

“Let me go now and I won’t kill you,” said the man.

“Actually we were thinking we would just give you to the police and you won’t be able to kill us anyway,” said Dannie.

“Besides, you shot at us and we can’t just let that go,” said Leon, “otherwise all you shady types will think you can come around shooting at us.”

Gunter came to his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve. His head still spun from the blow and he tried to shake off the dizziness but to no avail, in fact he thought he might’ve made it worse.

“You ok Gunter?” asked Dannie.

“As ok as I can be considering,” replied the boy holding his head.

“Pat him down and tie him up guys,” said Dannie with a tone which implied that it should have been done already.

Gunter stepped forward to pat the man down but in a flash of movement he felt the man grab him by the arm and drag him in close. He could feel something sharp touching the skin of his neck and he tried to retreat but he was blocked.

“Either one of you moves and your friend dies,” said the man. Looking Dannie in the eye he added, “I wonder if you would have had the gall to kill a man anyway, boy.”

“I promise you I will if you harm my friend,” said Dannie returning a dead stare.

Gunter looked down to see the man was holding a knife in his injured hand. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and tilting his head to the side he bashed upward over his shoulder with his steel pipe. The man roared with pain and Gunter pushed away his arm before diving away.

“Now!” exclaimed Gunter as he landed next to Dannie and without thinking Leon stepped forward to smack the man on the side of his head with the large tool in his hands, knocking him out cold.

“Quickly tie him up!” directed Danie and Gunter jumped forward with the chain to wrap it around the man.

“Did you see that!” exclaimed Leon, “Did you! That was the coolest thing I’ve ever done! I’m awesome!”

“You did well considering you complete botch of the original plan,” said Dannie sarcastically.

“Hey, how was I supposed to know he would hear me coming,” said Leon.

“You were swinging on a rattling chain, you were supposed to wait for Gunter to distract him by beating the pipe on the catwalk,” said Dannie.

“Chill out man, everything worked out and I was awesome,” said Leon.

“Well mister awesome, do you happen to have a lock on you for this chain?” asked Gunter.

Leon stuck his hand in his pocket and recovered a combination lock and a cell phone. He handed the lock over the Gunter saying, “And that is just another testament to my awesomeness.”

Dannie and Gunter flashed each other a disgusted look and then turned their collective gaze on Leon. Dannie snatched the cell phone from his hand and said, “You had this with you the entire time and you didn’t think to just call the police?”

“What, oh, the cell phone, yeah, I just didn’t think of it I guess,” replied Leon with a smile.

“Well, your awesome status is revoked,” said Gunter shaking his head.

Dannie began dialling and held up the phone to his ear.

“Now all that is left is telling our parents what happened,” said Gunter.

Dannie nearly put the phone back down at the thought, “My dad is going to skin my hide.”

“Don’t worry about it, that’s tomorrows worry. For now we just need to get the cops over here to arrest this guy,” said Gunter as he closed the lock on the chain, securing it to the catwalk.