Unlike before, when he had risen to the sunroof to mount his sniper to shoot, Nicholas pulled the back chair forward and slipped into the back storage.
The first thing he had done when he reached the Valley of Darkness was arrange the back storage. And once he had rearranged it well, he found the perfect space to shoot from.
There was a small sliding space… large enough for his upper body to pass through easily if he wasn't careful at the same time, allowing him to throw stuff out as well.
He crawled over to the laid-out sniper and took a deep breath.
"If the mutant still hasn't discovered us, shoot the machine gun once we are slightly ahead of it," Nicholas ordered the car.
[Command accepted]
Nicholas nodded before he focused.
[Mutant has detected us and begun to give chase]
A wide smile appeared on Nicholas's face. 'Perfect... let's finish this.'
He opened the storage covering more, giving himself even more space to throw and at the same time allowing the mutant to easily see him.
Since he had taken his time to lightly rearrange and strap the items in the storage, the items he needed were close by while the ones he didn't need had little chance of falling out and interrupting his actions.
The mutant came into view less than a minute later.
Compared to before, the mutant did not try to roar or make any other noise, in fact it lifted it long left hand from the ground trying to prevent any noise… It was obviously trying to sneak up on him.
Its caution was understandable when its current state was considered.
Not only were its wounds not fully healed… they seemed worse. The grenade had done far more damage to the creature than Nicholas had expected.
Its chest-mouth was now a ragged, smouldering crater and ribs that were once teeth were splintered, blackened shards jutting outward like broken prison bars.
The slime that once gushed from its pores now bubbled and boiled, evaporating into a foul, greasy smoke that stung the eyes and throat.
Its brown, wet skin was blistered and peeling in patches. Underneath, something else was revealed… not muscle, not bone, but a pale, writhing mass that looked like a nest of pale worms or exposed nerves, all squirming independently.
From what Nicholas could observe through his sniper scope, although the creature was regenerating, the healing was flawed.
The edges of the wound were cauterized, black and the creature's usual slimy regeneration couldn't close the gap properly.
Instead, thin, wet tendrils were slowly, painfully reaching across the cavity, trying to stitch the flesh back together but they kept burning away.
A small smile played on Nicholas's lips.
He considered letting the mutant get closer so he could do the same thing as before but he soon shook his head.
While that might work on any other creature, this one had shown its ability to learn and adapt. Nicholas doubted it would repeat the mistake of trying to charge up its roar around him.
So, Nicholas pulled his trigger.
*BANG*
The bullet soared through the sky before slamming into the mutant.
*SCCCCRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEECCCHHHHHH!*
The bullet landed directly on one of the still-open wounds, inciting a very enraged screech from the mutant.
And unlike before, where the creature simply tanked every bullet, it did not do the same this time.
It tried as much as possible to dodge the bullet, which slowed it down.
Nicholas smiled… This was going even better than he hoped.
He considered simply trying to wear out the mutant but given everything he had seen, he didn't think that was possible… at least not before spending several days.
So, his best choice was to find a way to kill it.
Nicholas picked up a grenade and threw it at the mutant.
The mutant's eyes widened in horror, and it immediately veered off its path, trying to completely avoid the projectile.
It had felt the effect of the grenade before… It didn't want to fall victim to it again.
The mutant circled around the spot where the grenade had landed, it went as far as to enter the trees to avoid the explosion.
But it did not stop chasing Nicholas.
This had gone beyond getting just a meal. It was now personal especially after Nicholas had destroyed its chest mouth, the mutant wanted revenge.
But that did not stop it from glancing back waiting for the explosion to happen… but nothing.
Nicholas could almost see the confusion on the mutant's face as it glanced back, waiting for the explosion that never came.
A small smile appeared on Nicholas's face.
For the next few minutes, he only shot once in a while to keep the mutant on guard, preventing it from speeding up with abandon.
Nicholas watched as the mutant began to close the gap between them. Then he glanced down with his one working eye as his hand reached to grab another grenade.
But he missed… Instantly Nicholas realized something was off.
Everywhere was unusually dark.
"Hey, why did you turn off the light?" Nicholas asked the car in confusion.
[Light function currently active. Do you require higher brightness?]
Chills ran up Nicholas's spine as his mind put two and two together.
The car didn't turn off the light... NO... His only working eyes had simply stopped working.
'Shit.'
He blinked hard trying to focus, to see through the darkness but nothing.
He could see absolutely nothing.
'Yeah, I am fucked.'