A Mercenary's War Chapter 2: Gun Warfare

Chapter 2: Gun Warfare

The sudden sound of a gunshot left Gao Yang dumbfounded. Before he could even call for help, a fierce blast of gunshots erupted.

In response to the explosive sounds, Gao Yang abruptly turned his head. There were two opposing tribes with raised guns just five to six hundred meters away. Though they weren’t too far, Gao Yang couldn't see very clearly. Yet, he was sure that they weren't hunting. They were exchanging fire. This was a battle.

Gao Yang's heart sank. Without a second thought, he lay prone in the grass. Though he was far from the action, Gao Yang didn't want to get hit by a stray bullet, nor did he want to be discovered by either side. Who knows what kind of people were fighting. It was best to stay out of it.

His ears rang with the sound of gunshots and his line of sight was obstructed by tall strands of grass. Nevertheless, Gao Yang had no intentions of peeking out to check what was going on. He only prayed that no one could see him.

The battle started abruptly. Although the gunfire seemed to be dying down, it didn't quite come to a complete stop. In fact, Gao Yang was startled to hear the sounds draw closer and closer.

The sound of gunshots were sparse, but they were closing in on him—fast. 

Gao Yang groaned inwardly. He felt his mouth going dry, his hair standing up, and both arms trembling uncontrollably.

He forced himself to calm down. Pulling out his hunting knife from his waist pocket, he took a few deep breaths and carefully raised his head to examine his surroundings.

Two black men in camouflage, one behind the other, ran towards Gao Yang’s hiding spot. Chasing after them were seven to eight soldiers who were constantly shooting at them. Just then, the man who was lagging behind took a shot to the chest, resulting in a burst of blood. The man fell to the ground.

As the only one left, the black man ran towards Gao Yang. What disturbed him most was the exceptional speed at which the man ran. A minute after the gunshot, what was a good several hundred meters between them was now just fifty meters. The man quickly closed the distance between him and Gao Yang as he was desperately fleeing for his life. 

From time to time, the black man shot a few rounds behind him while running in order to slow down the soldiers. Once again, he turned around to shoot, but this time his gun didn’t make a sound. He'd run out of bullets. In that moment, a single bullet shot the center of his forehead dead on. With a muffled “Poof!”, the black man's brains exploded.

Laying in the grass, Gao Yang didn’t need to raise his head to see the event unfold. If the black man didn't die, all he had to do was walk two steps forward and he would have treaded onto Gao Yang. 

There was a celebratory cheer when the remaining black man fell. It was at this moment that Gao Yang wanted to actually cry. He regretted not running when it first started. If he'd run from the very start, then perhaps there wouldn't have been a battle. Now that he wanted to run, it was too late to do so.  

The cheering quickly came to a stop and a voice followed after.

“Yi Jia, go and take a closer look. Everybody else, clean up. Let's quickly get out of here.”

The person spoke English. Although he had an accent, Gao Yang could understand him with no problem.

The sound of footsteps drew closer. He was so close that he could touch the corpse if he reached out his hand. Gao Yang knew he couldn't hide out for much longer, and so after some hesitation, he decided to take action.

To avoid any misunderstandings, he put his hunting knife behind his waist, laid on the ground, and said in English, “Don't shoot! I am Chinese. I don't have a gun, and I come in peace. I survived a plane crash. Listen carefully. I am Chinese. I survived a plane crash, and I come in peace.”

“Who is it? Come out with your hands up.”

Gao Yang was slightly relieved when they didn’t immediately shoot. 

“I'm coming out. Do not shoot! Sorry, I'm seriously injured. I can't move quickly. Please don't shoot.”

As he spoke, Gao Yang slowly stood up and raised both hands. Just then, he noticed that the black man who stood closest to him was just seven to eight meters away. Besides him, there were six other black men scattered about a hundred meters apart with their guns pointed at him.

After analyzing his face, the man closest to Gao Yang decided he wasn't dangerous and his face relaxed a little. From afar someone screamed, “Yi Jia, who is he?”

The man named Yi Jia raised his bloodstained AK-47. Although he was dressed in tattered camouflage attire, he surprisingly was wearing flip-flops. His outfit didn’t quite look like that of a standard soldier.

Yi Jia pointed his gun directly at Gao Yang, as he hurriedly ran towards him. Taking a closer look, he tilted his head before loudly calling to the people behind him, “It's a yellow little sh*t. He says he's Chinese and doesn't have a gun.”

Gao Yang raised his arms high. Though he was incredibly nervous, he managed to force a smile, “Sir, I was in a plane crash. I am the only survivor. If you and your friends could kindly help, I will do all that I can to repay you all. Please, whatever you do, please don't kill me. I'll give you lots of money. Saving me will be a blessing for you all.”

As he fearfully spoke, Gao Yang's eyes never left Yi Jia's rifle, as that b*stard Yi Jia had his finger on the trigger. He and Yi Jia were practically face to face, with the gun in arm's reach from his head. 

After Gao Yang finished speaking, he received no reply from Yi Jia. Instead, he heard people from afar say the words that he’d dreaded to hear: “Kill him!”

Gao Yang’s heart froze. Yi Jia didn’t immediately pull the trigger, but turned his head to shout, “He says he’ll give us lots of money.”

“Moron! Kill him!”

Hearing them say, “Kill him!” once more, Gao Yang no longer hesitated. As Yi Jia turned his head, Gao Yang took advantage of that opportunity to grab the rifle. He pointed it to the sky, pulled out his hunting knife with his right hand, and brought Yi Jia to the ground with his own body.

Suppressing Yi Jia, Gao Yang attacked him with his knife. Yi Jia pulled the trigger instinctively, causing his gun to rapidly fire which rang in Gao Yang’s ears. Gao Yang persistently held on to the now piping hot barrel, trying his best to not let the scorching muzzle point towards him. He then took his hunting knife and ruthlessly stabbed Yi Jia’s abdomen. 

Shifting his position, Gao Yang pulled out the knife and mercilessly rammed it into Yi Jia’s heart. Yi Jia shuddered for a moment before he finally stopped moving.

It sounded slow in description, but in actuality, all of this happened instantly. It only took Gao Yang two to three seconds to make his move from start to finish. In those few seconds, the men that stood far from Gao Yang had only just registered what had happened.

Gao Yang grabbed the AK-47 and took a deep breath. He got down to one knee, raised the gun, and took aim. “Pap! Pap!” He fired two shots.

Men fell as the shots were fired. Gao Yang had killed two men instantly with two shots, each to the chest.

After Gao Yang’s two rapid shots, he rolled to the ground and pulled the knife out of Yi Jia’s body in one swift motion. He hastily crawled to one side instantly as bullets flew towards where he was just earlier. Blades of grass flew up in the air. 

Gao Yang’s precise aiming had shocked the enemy. Although they vigorously opened fire, they were too afraid to charge in. As for Gao Yang, even he was surprised by his accuracy. Who would have thought that even after many years without practice, his aim was still so accurate.

After crawling over ten meters, the gunshots ceased. Gao Yang didn’t dare continue. He stopped and slowly lifted himself up to sneak a peek. The four leftover soldiers stealthily walked with their backs hunched as they slowly drew closer to him.

Gao Yang took a deep breath before quickly getting down to one knee again. “Pap! Pap!” Two more shots, and another man from their squad fell.

This time, the enemy was somewhat ready. With the limited range of the AK-47, Gao Yang had released two shots, but only took down one enemy.

Gao Yang didn’t really have a plan from the start. His strategy only consisted of killing, taking their gun, and firing quickly. He still hoped for the enemy to let him go. He even offered to help them, up until they screamed to kill him—twice. That was when Gao Yang decided to make a move. He eventually succeeded beyond his expectations. But when he opened fire for the second time, Gao Yang done it all consciously with less promising results.

After taking the shot, Gao Yang dropped to the ground again before quickly getting back up. He pretended he didn’t hear the “Doof! Doof!” sounds of bullets striking the ground beside him, and continued on with his head covered.

Once the gunshots had stopped, so did Gao Yang. He carefully lifted his head up to scan the area, but failed to find the enemy. The tall, dense blades of green grass provided excellent cover. As long as you stayed close to the ground, it would be difficult to be spotted.

Gao Yang let out a short sigh before he gradually crawled forward. Suddenly, he became conscious of his injuries: the intense pain in his right knee and his severely burnt left hand from holding the rifle’s barrel. Gao Yang could only grit his teeth, and he carefully moved on.

The grassy field was dead silent. It was as if a battle of life or death had not occurred moments ago. Having crawled dozens of meters, Gao Yang stopped and scanned the area. Just then, he saw the forehead of a black man looking in his direction, but the man hadn’t noticed Gao Yang.

There were seventy to eighty meters between them, and neither of them dared to move closer. This allowed Gao Yang to relax a little and finally get time to check how many bullets he had left.

Chapter end