No matter whether it was effective or not, this time Brian Carter didn’t stop at all. He turned and crawled deeper into the grasslands, only stopping to rest when he felt he had gone far enough and truly couldn’t move any further.

Brian Carter felt unbearably hungry, completely drained of strength. By his own estimation, he had crawled at least three or four hundred meters.

What Brian Carter needed most now was energy. In extraordinary times like this, it was no time to save supplies. Left with no choice, Brian Carter took out his last piece of chocolate, slowly unwrapped it, and swallowed it in just a few bites.

With something in his stomach, Brian Carter felt much better. The energy from the large piece of chocolate would allow him to hold on for a while longer. After resting for a bit and regaining some strength, Brian Carter checked behind him, but saw only pitch darkness—nothing at all. Without hesitation, Brian Carter immediately stood up and began heading south.

Although his right knee still hurt badly, at least he could keep moving, though his speed was inevitably much slower. Brian Carter didn’t dare stop for even a moment and forced himself to keep going.

Brian Carter had no idea how long he had been walking—only that it had been a very long time. His rest periods grew longer and longer; he was stopping to rest for fifteen minutes or more after every five minutes of walking. He was thirsty, hungry, and utterly exhausted. If not for the belief that he had to survive and make it home, Brian Carter would have collapsed on the ground long ago.

By now, the moon had risen. Fortunately, it wasn’t a full moon and only provided a faint light. Even if there were pursuers behind him, it wouldn’t be enough to expose Brian Carter’s whereabouts.

Judging by the moon’s height, Brian Carter guessed it was around two or three in the morning. Unable to go on any longer, Brian Carter finally decided to stop.

Brian Carter sat down with his back against a large tree. Now that he was far from the area of fighting, the howls of wild animals echoed all around him, and some of the sounds seemed very close.

Although he couldn’t tell exactly what kind of animals were making the noises, Brian Carter knew that Africa’s three great predators—lions, leopards, and hyenas—all hunted at night, with hyenas being especially active after dark. Brian Carter felt he’d been lucky not to have encountered any predators so far, though perhaps he already had and just didn’t know it.

In fact, the threat from predators wasn’t the greatest danger. Even more terrifying were the swarms of mosquitoes and other flying insects. Not only could they leave his head covered in bites, but they could also transmit malaria and a host of other diseases.

Fortunately, before coming to Africa, Brian Carter had prepared for the environment. Space in his medical kit was limited, but mosquito repellent was a must.

After spraying some repellent, Brian Carter couldn’t care about anything else. Hugging his gun—which had only one bullet left—he quickly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 4: Everything Is Because of the Gun

In his sleep, Brian Carter seemed to hear laughter—a strange, piercing laughter that drifted near and far, circling around him.

Brian Carter remained in a half-awake, half-asleep state. He could hear the eerie laughter close by, but extreme exhaustion made him unwilling to react. For some reason, though, when the laughter suddenly stopped, Brian Carter felt a jolt of fear and snapped awake from his stupor.

Many people have experienced this: waking up with a start from a deep sleep, even though nothing has happened. That’s what happened to Brian Carter. But when he suddenly woke up, he was shocked to find at least four or five pairs of green-glowing eyes staring at him, and right in front of him stood a hyena.

At first, Brian Carter thought he was having a nightmare. But after just a moment of daze, he remembered—he wasn’t sleeping in his bed at home, but alone on the African grasslands, and standing before him were at least a dozen real, live hyenas.

Brian Carter caught a strong stench. One hyena was almost nose-to-nose with him—if it opened its mouth, it could bite his throat.

Nearly scared out of his wits, Brian Carter reacted instinctively. He swung the muzzle of his gun, aimed at the hyena’s head, and pulled the trigger. With a bang, the hyena in front of Brian Carter immediately collapsed, and the rest of the pack scattered in terror at the gunshot.

Brian Carter scrambled to his feet, his heart pounding wildly. He stood there gasping for breath for a long time before his nerves finally began to calm down.

The hyena he shot was hit between the eyes and was dead beyond any doubt. Brian Carter prodded the corpse with his gun to make sure it would never get up again, then sat back down heavily.

Brian Carter knew that even if there were other wild animals nearby, the gunshot would have scared them off for now. But thinking about how he’d almost become a hyena’s meal, Brian Carter couldn’t help but feel waves of lingering fear.