The Last Hunt
A work of fiction by Tsao Alexander
Waterton Publishing Company
No part of this book was created using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
This is a work of fiction. The events described are imaginary and the settings and characters are fictitious and not intended to represent actual places, companies, or persons.
Copyright © 2026 by Waterton Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Published simultaneously worldwide.
New chapters to be released (see below). Be the first to receive these by making a $10 donation to the author. We appreciate your gift!
THE LAST HUNT
CHAPTER 11
Thomas began to see some merit to this adventure as he walked along in front of the porters. He would certainly have a story to tell, should he survive, and what an experience it will be! Under no circumstances would he allow the guides to paint him yellow. Besides, he figured he could just walk back to the lodge if things got too unpleasant.
“What kind of handgun will I have?” Tom wondered aloud.
“It is a nine-millimeter Glock,” answered Jane.
“How many rounds of ammunition?” Tom was feeling more confident.
“One hundred,” answered Gab.
“What if it jams. Will I be without a gun?” Tom’s confidence was wavering.
“If you are unable to fix it,” Jane answered, “you call us, and we will have another gun delivered to your camp.”
“What if I run out of ammo?” Tom was like a child playing a game of what-if.
Neither Jane nor Gabelo responded to Tom’s ridiculous question. But finally, Gab said, “Then your reputation as a marksman would suffer serious damage.” Thomas agreed.
The group reached the camp soon after that and took another break on the veranda of a cabin. Next to the cabin door was an old wooden sign that read “Stanley’s Home.” Tom asked Gab what it meant.
Gab told Tom that Stanley was a bull elephant, a huge tusker famous in the area about fifteen years earlier. Gab explained that some poachers killed Stanley, or so they thought, then sawed off his tusks and part of his trunk and left the great beast in agony to be scavenged and rot. What the poachers in their haste did not realize, however, was that Stanley was still very much alive. “Perhaps they did not care,” Gab added in a forlorn tone.
It was Shammi who by accident came upon the place where Stanley had lain awake suffering this terrible violence. Shammi touched the blood and ivory powder in the dirt, and then followed the tracks, human and elephant, for two miles. There, in some matted grass, Shammi found the bodies of three White hunters; they had been brutally trampled to death.
Shammi concluded that Stanley had caught up with his assailants, taken them by surprise, and killed each in an act of worthy retribution. “Shammi then followed the elephant’s tracks to this place, where you are now sitting,” Gab said, “and found Stanley, dead.”
All were quiet for several minutes and then the porters stood and began the task of setting up the camp. In the meantime, Tom sat in a chair on the veranda and thought about Stanley. He thought about his own quest to kill a tiger. And he thought about the meaning of the word, “home.”
Gabelo interrupted Thomas’s contemplation: “Here is your radio, Tom.” Gab handed the radio to Tom. “It is set on only one frequency and you will only be able to communicate with one of us from Hunter’s Paradise.” Tom pushed the talk button and muttered a few words.
“What if the battery dies?” Tom asked.
“There is a battery pack and a gas generator.” Gabelo replied.
“So, if I call you and tell you that I am starving, will you come save me?” Tom’s question had some merit. Why have a two-way radio?
“No,” Gab answered, “the point of this adventure is that you must save yourself.”
“You mean, I could die?” Tom’s voice cracked.
Jane handed a Glock pistol to Tom. “Here is your sidearm,” she said, “and if you are somewhat smart, and somewhat courageous, and not of weak moral character, you will not die, unless of course you make yourself lunch for some predator, or run afoul of a large herbivore.”
Tom felt the gun in his hand and opened the chamber. There were no cartridges. “Where are my bullets?” he asked his guides.
Gab answered: “We will tell you where they are after we leave tomorrow morning. We will call you. We would not want you to do something unfriendly with a loaded gun.”
Jane snickered. Tom frowned. “And I assume the knife will be with the bullets?” Tom surmised with a question. Jane and Gab both confirmed Tom’s assumption.
“Now, let’s talk about the ground rules,” Jane looked at Thomas. “First, you know of course that it is illegal to kill a tiger.”
Tom shuffled his feet and looked at the dirt; “Sure, but…that’s why I’m here. You guys said I could hunt tiger. Why else would I be here?”
“A tiger will be released near here after we leave,” Gabelo replied. “You can hunt the tiger and the tiger can hunt you. This is Hunter’s Paradise.” Gab and Jane studied Tom for his reaction. His face was rather pale.
“You will not be able to shoot the tiger from a safe distance, and you will probably not be able stalk the tiger and kill it,” Gab continued. “The only way you kill the tiger is if you get off a lucky shot when the tiger is charging. It would be an awfully lucky shot. So, what I am saying, is that you should avoid the tiger unless you want a problem.”
Jane added that Tom “should also avoid close contact with lions, hippos, buffalo, and elephants. They can also pose a problem.”
Tom was beside himself; “What did I pay you guys for?” he demanded. “To be stuck in the wild for a week without killing anything?”
Gabelo looked at Jane and she obliged by answering the question: “You will have to eat, so you will have to kill, or you will have to study the book in the cabin, it is about edible plants. If you want to eat meat, you will have to kill something that will not kill you. We usually suggest impala, if you can get close enough, or warthog, but they can also be unfriendly if wounded.”
“I don’t believe this,” Tom said after a short pause. “What is the purpose of this exercise, anyway? To turn me into a vegetarian?”
“You will see,” Tom replied. “Our clients almost always find the experience rewarding.”