Brian Carter didn’t have to wait long before he saw a head slowly emerge from the grass, look around, then, after a quick glance, the person bent over and dashed forward a few steps, only to immediately duck back into the grass within just two or three seconds.

A few seconds later, in another patch of grass about a dozen meters away, another person popped up, ran forward a few meters, and then hid again in the grass.

The other side had started to advance in alternating cover, and at this point, the two people Brian Carter saw were no more than forty or fifty meters away from him. That distance was far too dangerous; Brian Carter felt he couldn’t let them get any closer so easily.

Holding his breath, Brian Carter raised his gun and aimed at the spot where he first saw the person hiding. Soon, the first person he’d spotted poked his head out again. Although he was now three or four meters away from where he’d hidden before and was running quickly, Brian Carter didn’t hesitate to swing his gun and pull the trigger.

Hitting moving targets was what Brian Carter did best.

With a gunshot, the man fell. Using his fifth bullet, Brian Carter killed his fourth enemy. Although this immediately drew a wild barrage of gunfire, the other side didn’t dare show themselves. This kind of blind shooting posed little threat to Brian Carter.

After moving a short distance, Brian Carter stopped again, remaining highly alert as he watched for any movement from the two remaining opponents. His last shot had clearly had a deterrent effect; the enemy no longer dared to advance in turns and stayed hidden in the grass, refusing to show themselves.

Brian Carter and the two opponents were now in a standoff, neither daring to make the first move. At this point, it wasn’t just Brian Carter who was nervous anymore. Although Brian Carter had only one bullet left, the enemy obviously didn’t know that. Brian Carter feared the two might charge him together, while the enemy feared that poking their heads out would mean instant death. As the saying goes, “a thin stick beating a wolf—both sides are scared.”

Time ticked by, and as dusk fell, Brian Carter’s chances of escape grew. The two remaining enemies made no move, and Brian Carter began to consider which direction he should flee.

A little over a hundred meters to the east of Brian Carter was a river, while the two remaining enemies were to the northwest. Brian Carter had two options for escape: head south, or go south first and then enter the river to float downstream after leaving the battlefield.

Brian Carter planned to go south first, then head for the river. The main reason for choosing the river was that his right knee was still in pain, making movement difficult, but once in the water, it would be much easier.

When it was completely dark and he could barely see anything, Brian Carter decided to make his move. But just as he was about to act, he realized he’d made a big mistake.

Brian Carter had been wearing a life jacket the whole time. Although the orange life jacket was very conspicuous, Brian Carter hadn’t planned to take it off, because if he wanted to escape via the river, he’d need the buoyancy it provided. Even though he could swim, with his injury and extreme hunger, taking off the life jacket would be a death sentence.

During the day, the bright color of the life jacket wasn’t much of a problem thanks to the cover of the grass. But now that it was dark, Brian Carter was shocked to discover that the life jacket was actually glowing softly, and quite brightly at that—enough for someone to spot him from far away. If he was in the river, he’d be impossible to miss.

Brian Carter couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. He quickly took off the life jacket and tried to see if he could remove the glowing strips, but to his dismay, he found that if he tore them off by force, the life jacket would definitely start leaking air.

Just then, Brian Carter heard a faint rustling sound. Knowing he couldn’t delay any longer, he reluctantly set the life jacket aside and began crawling south.

Brian Carter was very patient. He didn’t rush to get up and run, but kept crawling, knowing that his opponents couldn’t see him as long as he didn’t make too much noise.

He crawled for quite a distance when suddenly a burst of gunfire rang out behind him. Brian Carter figured the enemy must have spotted his life jacket and fired at it.

Realizing the enemy hadn’t given up the chase, Brian Carter crawled a bit faster. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him: maybe he should try to lure his pursuers away.

After a moment’s hesitation, Brian Carter began crawling toward the riverbank, but every so often he would stop and listen for any sounds behind him.

When he was about twenty meters from the riverbank, Brian Carter stopped crawling. There was no more grass for cover ahead, and he didn’t want to risk leaving the grass. He just wanted to make some noise in the river.

To his frustration, after crawling so far, he hadn’t come across a single stone, nor was there anything nearby he could use. After thinking for a moment, Brian Carter quietly removed his magazine and then threw it forcefully into the river.

The last bullet was already in the chamber, so the empty magazine was useless.

The gunfight had scared off all the animals nearby, so the grassland was completely silent. The sound of the empty magazine hitting the water was especially loud, making a crisp splash on the surface.