Suddenly the hum of insects ceased. Something drew my attention, behind my father, down the street. I called to him, in surprise at the unexpected sign of life, and a bit frightened by the furtive nature of the movement. My father looked up at me, following the direction of my gaze, and saw the spectres in the deepening dusk. 'Get inside,' he shouted. He stood up, holding the heavy wrench, and ran towards the cab. I was frozen. The shame of it would eat at me for months, that inexplicable stupidity. I stood motionless, my eyes fixed on the shifting shadows as they coalesced into solid shapes. Dogs. Supple, quick. 'Nico,' my father shouted, with a terrible urgency. He stopped in his tracks, to try to fend the determined dogs away from his child. After that, everything happened so fast, yet it was also as if time stood still. I remember the finest detail. The despair on my father's face when the dogs cut him off from the truck, just three metres away. The whirring sound as he swung and swung the massive adjustable wrench. The electrically charged air, the smell of ozone, the stink of the dogs. They dodged backwards to evade the momentum of the deadly spanner, always too agile, just out of reach. But they stayed between him and the truck door, snarling, snapping. 'Get the pistol, Nico. Shoot.' Not an order. A terrified plea, as if in that moment my father saw his death and its consequences: his son, lone survivor, stranded, doomed. Excerpted from Fever by Deon Meyer All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
