Chapter 3 Escape

Gao Yang covered the magazine with his hand, trying hard not to make a sound while unloading it. Once the magazine was detached, he couldn't help but lament in his heart.

Only one bullet remained in the magazine. Counting the one in the chamber, Gao Yang had just two bullets left, but there were still three enemies, and it was clear that the enemies definitely wouldn't be short on ammunition.

Gao Yang knew he had to figure a way out. Even if he could take down one enemy with one bullet, the remaining one would still be able to kill him. Gao Yang didn't dare to hope he could take out another with a knife, especially since he didn't know if the enemy had reinforcements.

The only good news was that night was falling. Gao Yang estimated that in another hour, the sun would set completely. As long as he could hold out until dark, he'd have a chance to escape.

After reinserting the magazine, Gao Yang rose to survey his surroundings again. He saw no trace of the enemy, but this time he didn't lie flat on the ground; instead, he knelt on one knee, staying as concealed as possible while keeping a vigilant watch in all directions.

It wasn't long before Gao Yang saw a head slowly emerge from the bushes, look around, then bend and run forward a few steps quickly, and, after a mere two or three seconds, dive back into the underbrush.

A few seconds later, another person's head appeared from the bushes about a dozen meters away, and, after running forward a few meters, they too hid in the brush.

The enemies had begun to cover each other's alternating advances. The two people Gao Yang saw were, at most, forty or fifty meters away—too dangerous. Gao felt he could not allow the enemy to approach so easily any longer.

He held his breath, raised his gun, and aimed where the first person he saw was hiding. Soon, that very person's head appeared again, though three or four meters off from where they had initially been, running fast. Without a second thought, Gao Yang swung his gun and pulled the trigger.

Hitting a moving target was what Gao Yang did best.

The gunshot echoed, and a man fell. With the fifth bullet, Gao Yang killed the fourth man. Though it immediately drew a barrage of wild gunfire, the enemy did not dare show themselves. This blind shooting posed little threat to Gao Yang.

After moving a short distance, Gao Yang stopped again and maintained high alert, watching the remaining two opponents. His last shot had clearly had a deterrent effect; the enemy no longer dared to alternate their advance, staying hidden in the bushes, refusing to show their heads.

Gao Yang and the two enemies were in a standoff, neither daring to move first. At this point, it wasn't just Gao who was scared. Although Gao had only one bullet left, his foes evidently didn't know this. Gao feared that the enemies might rush him together, while they, in turn, feared showing their heads would draw a lethal bullet. As the saying goes, they were both wary of each other.

Time ticked away, and as the sky gradually darkened, Gao Yang's chance of escape increased. The remaining two enemies remained motionless, and Gao began to calculate in which direction he should flee.

About a hundred meters to the east of Gao Yang was a river, while the remaining two enemies were to the northwest. Gao had two choices for escape routes: head south or first south and then take to the river and follow it downstream after getting away from the battlefield.

Gao decided to go south first and then head to the river. The main reason for choosing the river was his painful right knee, which made it difficult to move on land; however, in the water, it would be much easier.

When it became so dark that he could barely see anything, Gao decided it was time to move. But just as he was about to initiate his action, he realized he had made a serious mistake.

Gao had been wearing a life vest the whole time. Though the orange life vest was very conspicuous, he had not planned on taking it off, as if he were to escape through the river, he would need to rely on the life vest's buoyancy. While he could swim, the prospect of swimming when injured and starving would mean certain death without the life vest.

In daylight, the color of the vest wasn't too problematic with the cover of the bushes. However, now that night had fallen, Gao was shocked to find that the vest was emitting a soft glow, and quite brightly at that, certainly enough to be seen from a long distance away. If he were in the water, he would inevitably be spotted.

Gao Yang felt a mix of amusement and frustration as he quickly took off the life vest. He then attempted to remove the glowing strips, only to reluctantly discover that forcibly tearing off the glow strips would cause the life vest to leak air.

It was then that Gao heard what sounded like rustling. He knew he could not delay any longer, so he regretfully set the life vest aside and began to crawl slowly southward.

Gao Yang was very patient and didn't rush to run but continued to crawl, knowing that at this time his opponents couldn't see him; as long as he didn't make too much noise, he would be fine.

After Gao Yang had crawled a considerable distance, a burst of short gunfire suddenly sounded from behind; he felt that the enemy must have opened fire after discovering his life jacket.

Knowing the enemy hadn't given up on pursuing him, Gao Yang slightly quickened his crawling pace, but then a thought suddenly crossed his mind; he felt maybe he should try to lead the pursuers away.

After hesitating for a moment, Gao Yang began to turn towards the riverbank, but after crawling a distance, he would stop to listen for any movement behind him.

When he was about twenty meters from the riverbank, Gao Yang stopped crawling because moving forward any more meant no more cover from the grass, and he didn't want to risk coming out of the bushes; all he wanted was to stir up some noise in the river.

To Gao Yang's frustration, having crawled so far, he hadn't even encountered a single stone, and there was nothing nearby to use. After pondering for a moment, he gently removed his magazine and threw it hard into the river.

At the last moment, there was already a bullet in the chamber; an empty magazine served no purpose.

The gunfight had scared all the nearby animals away; there was no sound on the savannah, and the noise of the magazine falling into the water was very loud as it made a noticeable 'plop' on the surface.

Whether it was effective or not, this time Gao Yang didn't stay any longer, turning into the depths of the savannah and continuing to crawl forward. Only when he felt he had gone far enough, and could crawl no longer, did he finally lie down on the ground for a rest.

Gao Yang felt terribly hungry and utterly drained of energy. By his estimation, he must have crawled at least three to four hundred meters.

What Gao Yang needed most was strength; these were exceptional times, not the moment for conserving resources. Reluctantly, he took out the remaining chocolate bar, slowly unwrapped it, and swallowed it down in just a few bites.

With something in his stomach, Gao Yang felt much better, and the energy provided by a large piece of chocolate allowed him to persevere a while longer. After resting for a bit and feeling some strength return, Gao Yang checked his surroundings, saw pitch darkness, and without hesitation, immediately stood up and began moving south.

Although his right knee was still in pain, he could at least keep moving, albeit unavoidably slower. Gao Yang didn't dare to stop and kept pushing forward.

Gao Yang didn't know exactly how long he had walked, only that it seemed endless. The time he took for rest grew longer and longer; almost every five minutes of walking required fifteen minutes or even more of rest. He was parched and famished, exhausted to the extreme. If it weren't for his determination to live and return home, Gao Yang would have already lain down.

By this time, the moon had risen, but fortunately, it wasn't a full moon, providing only a faint light; even if there were pursuers behind, Gao Yang's tracks were not exposed.

By the moon's position, Gao Yang figured it was about two or three o'clock in the morning; utterly unable to persist, he finally decided to stop moving.

Sitting down against a large tree, having moved away from the combat zone, howls of wild animals came from all around, some sounding very close.

Although he couldn't identify the specific calls, Gao Yang knew that Africa's three most ferocious beasts—the lion, leopard, and hyena—all were active at night, with hyenas being mainly nocturnal. He felt he was lucky not to have encountered any dangerous animals so far, but it was also possible that he had already crossed paths with them without knowing.

Actually, the threat of wild animals wasn't the most dangerous; more fearsome were hordes of mosquitoes and other flying insects, which could not only cause welts but also transmit infectious diseases like malaria.

Fortunately, before coming to Africa, Gao Yang, of course, had to prepare for the local environment. Although limited on space, the medical kit might miss other medicines, but it certainly included insect repellent.

After spraying some insect repellent, Gao Yang didn't care about anything else. Hugging the gun with only one bullet left in his arms, he soon fell into a deep sleep.