PRIMAL Renegade (A PRIMAL Action Thriller Book 8) (The PRIMAL Series) Read Online Free Page A

cradling his AK assault rifle. He sipped from a canteen as he watched the remaining members of his hunting party resting in the shade. They had walked for a half a day to reach the banks of the river. All were seasoned bushmen but the heat had made it hard going. The walk back in the cool of the night would be easier. He squinted and scanned the scrub for any sign of their young guide and one of the trackers. The pair had been sent forward to locate the rhino and check for rangers. “Kogo, where the hell is that little thief? He better not have sold us out.”
    Kogo lay in the shade half asleep. “He'll be back. The rangers can't pay him what we can.”
    “Maybe, but I still don't trust him. You know what they say, you can't buy a Zambian, you rent them.”
    Colin, the grizzled Rhodesian, laughed from where he was assembling his dart gun. The weapon resembled a hunting rifle complete with a scope and long barrel. In place of gunpowder it used compressed gas to propel a poisoned projectile out to a range of seventy yards. That meant the hunter had to stalk very close to the target and a rhino was not an animal you wanted to anger. It was a job requiring steely nerves and a crack shot; Colin was both.
    A rustle in the bushes alerted the men. Safety catches clicked to fire. The thick grass parted and the young former ranger appeared with the tracker. Both were sweating heavily as they dropped in the shade.
    “Well?” demanded Mamba.
    “We found her,” reported the tracker. “She and the calf are not far from here. They're sleeping in the shade of a big thorn tree.”
    “Good, we'll make the kill now and recover the horn.” He glanced up at the darkening sky. “By the time we finish it will be nightfall.”
    “Solid plan.” Colin slid a dart the size of a cigar tube into the gun and closed the bolt. “Ready when you are.” The projectile contained nearly an ounce of pure cyanide, more than enough to kill a full-grown rhino. He had three more like it secured in his hunting vest.
    Mamba tucked his water bottle back into a pouch. “Lead the way, little ranger boy.”
    The youth scowled and set off back into the bush with the others in tow. They followed a game trail along the riverbank to a thicket of saplings. The teenager held up his hand then pointed. Mamba knelt and peered through the branches. It took him a second to spot the massive animal. She resembled a granite boulder in the fading light.
    “She's a big one, eh , ” whispered Colin as he cradled the dart gun. “Good thing I brought extra darts. Might not go down with just one.”
    “Just get it done.”
    Colin slid forward on his chest, tucked the weapon against his shoulder, and aimed through the scope.
    Mamba crouched behind him watching the massive beast as she rested on her belly. He couldn't see the head but he had no doubt the horn was impressive.
    The gun emitted a pop not unlike an air rifle and the dart struck the thick hide with a thud. A loud bellow reverberated as the rhino struggled to her feet and turned toward them, nostrils flaring.
    Now Mamba could see the long curved horn as well as the sheer size of the fully-grown rhino. She bellowed again and he caught a glimpse of the calf cowering behind its mother. Mamba shouldered his assault rifle as the one-ton animal lowered her horn. He swore it was staring directly at him.
    Colin had already reloaded the dart gun and fired once more hitting her square in the chest.
    “Jesus Christ!” Mamba yelled as the rhino charged.
    She halved the distance between them in under a second. As she was about to plow into the thicket where they hid she skidded to a halt and stood panting not a dozen feet away. Mamba raised his AK and aimed at her head.
    “Steady.” Colin pushed the barrel of the assault rifle down. “She's done.”
    The rhino wheezed and convulsed. Her eyes grew wide as her front legs crumpled and she dropped to her knees. It took mere seconds for the huge dose of cyanide to cripple her