51 From noon till the break of dawn Part 2

Zin quickly scouted the Reavers for their weaponry.Single action custom made rifles.Each Reaver had a rifle strapped on their shoulders. Although the guns were crappy, they were still firearms.The rifles they carried were not of high quality, with low accuracy and range. Plus, it was not possible to fire consecutive shots. But they were more than enough to kill a person, and much more powerful than crossbows or arrows.Towards the end of the trail of the junkwagons, there seemed to be a line of chopped off heads skewered on a long string dangling behind. As the junkwagons bumped on the road, the heads bounced off and dragged on the ground.First scavengers appear, and now Reavers.Scavengers came to loot the equipment of the Wargrave, hoping for a jackpot, and now the Reavers were coming to raid those scavengers.It was a very common scene.—Vrrrrooooom! —"Hey, hey, hey! I see footprints!""Look at those footprints! They look so fresh!"There were seven Reavers approaching, and they stopped as soon as they spotted footsteps near the riverbed. The seven junkwagons stopped, and the Reavers got off the junkwagons with their rifles in hand."They ran away in a rush.""Hahahahaha!"The scavengers ran away, but the sands on the riverbed showed their tracks. Therefore, there was no point in hiding.When people are in a pinch, they make irrational decisions. If the scavengers had scattered and run away, at least a couple of them would have survived.One of the Reavers yelled, "If you come out now, I will kill you nice and clean!"If the scavengers didn't come out from their hiding places, they would be tortured to death and murdered. The Reavers were very aware on how to inflict the most pain to a person. And the Reaver's threat was not just words.However, none of the hiding scavengers responded. They were hiding inside the armored vehicles and hoping for a miracle.Leona quietly watched the Reavers.She wondered how the scavengers would be feeling at the moment. They were probably terrified and about to die of a heart attack. They were probably also hoping someone would rescue them.The Reavers started giggling and searching the area by following the tracks. Shortly after, they yanked out a terrified scavenger out of a tank."Ah, aaah… Aaaaaah… Please have mercy, let me go.""Oh man, look at this poor guy. So desperate.""Please don't kill me! I'm sorry! Please!""Yo! What a funny dude."One of Reavers smiled, revealing his yellow teeth. He looked at the scavenger who was trembling in fear."I don't know what you are sorry about, but if you are sorry, why did you hide?"—Shank! —"G…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarggh!""Wow, you must have been eating pretty well. What a great voice you have!"The scavenger screamed as the Reaver hewed at his leg with a machete. The other Reavers laughed at the scavenger who was bleeding and struggling to get away."Motherf—s…" Leona cursed in a whispering voice. The Reavers were inflicting misery on others, and they enjoyed watching them crawl in pain. Leona attacked others if she needed to, but she didn't attack others just to see them suffer.She had witnessed such cruelty in Ard Point, but she was still not used to it. The Reavers were toying around with the injured scavenger. They were ready to dissect the scavenger alive with a knife."Ha, hahahaha! Hehehehehe!"The scavenger who was trapped seemed to have gone mad as he was laughing like a crazy man. The Reavers followed other foot trails to capture the remaining scavengers. Another one was spotted.He did not have the courage to rescue the friend who was being tortured, he was only aware that he had to run away.They jumped out from their hiding places, and started running away. The Reavers looked at them and shouted, "They're fleeing!""Shoot them!"—Bang! Bang! —"Ack!""Argggh!""Nggaaaah!"Shots fired off from the rifles, and three of the five scavengers fell down to the ground. Two of them seemed to have dodged the bullet and kept on running."Fire again!"The Reavers were not going to let the scavengers run away, and they started to reload their rifles. Zin was surprised at how the Reavers were reloading the rifles.Regular ammunition?The single action rifle looked crappy, but it operated like a bolt-action rifle. They were not using steel bearing balls, but regular ammunition. Steel bearing balls required the use of gunpowder, but regular ammunition could be gained by looting.The rifles that the Reavers were using fired regular ammunition.Zin took a closer look at the ammunition that they were loading into the rifles.They are 5.56mm bullets. I can use seven 7.62mm bullets to gain a whole lot of 5.56mm bullets…Zin quickly thought, and held his breath.Not a bad deal at all.—Bang! —"Whoa!"The shot was fired from the M700 Remington with a low sound. Leona was surprised when Zin fired suddenly.The target was about thousand feet away. It was not too hard for Zin to shoot a running target from that distance. Before the gunshot could be heard, a Reaver was hit in the head and fell down."What?"The Reavers were not sure what was going on as they watched one of the Reavers drop down dead.—Clack! —In a split second, Zin loaded the next bullet.—Bang! —The second Reaver went down, and then the remaining Reavers realized what was going on and yelled out, "Sniper!""Take cover!"The Reavers moved swiftly after the two Reavers were slain a couple of seconds apart. Their reaction time was not too slow.The Reavers started to take cover, but they were not able to figure out where the shots came from. Three of the five Reavers were able to take cover hiding from Zin shooting, but two were not.One of them hid behind a tank, but unfortunately he was wide open to Zin.—Bang! —The third bullet pierced through the head of the unlucky Reaver. The fourth Reaver realized that he was taking cover in the wrong direction, and he jumped to the other side of the tank to hide from Zin.Leona was astonished as she witness the three Reavers get taken down in a blink of an eye."Over there! He's at the hill of the other side of the river!""Hide inside the tank!"The four Reavers were able to figure out the sniper's location based on the deaths of their friends. They all went inside the tank to take cover. However, even if they knew where the sniper was, there was not much they could do about it.Their rifles were weak, with a range of at most three hundred feet. They did not have the means to counterattack.The surrounding area was open, and there were only destroyed tanks for cover. On the other hand, the sniper was in high ground, and carrying a sniping rifle that could reach the whole river bed area.The Reavers had to run in the open fields to flee from the sniper. But that meant that they would be in the range of a sniper who had proven able to headshot themA while ago, the Reavers were having fun, but now they were panicking, with their lives in the hands of the sniper. They had nowhere to go because of the sniper.The scavengers were not able to run away from the Reavers because of the difference in firepower. Now, the Reavers were unable to attack or run away from Zin.Leona now realized how important a good weapon was.The sniper who could snipe enemies that were hundreds of yards away would be powerless if he was armed with only a pistol.Life in the wilderness was determined by firepower. The range of the firearm, pre-emptive attack, and strategic locations, such as high ground, were the deciding factors in a gun battle.Zin was able to maintain advantage over the Reavers in every aspect. The Reavers had nowhere to go. His shooting skill was important, but the equipment, awareness of surroundings, and holding strategic location mattered as well.Zin did not talk. He was teaching Leona how to survive in the wilderness by his actions.The Reavers took cover and went inside the tanks. They were smart enough to know how to identify the location of the snipers.The scavengers fled the scene.Zin didn't explain, but Leona was able to understand what was going on.The Reavers were confused until they figured out the direction of the sniper, but now they were waiting.They were going to wait out in the tank until the night came. There was still some time until the sun set, but they were going to wait out the hours to survive.Zin was actively observing the situation.They went inside the tanks, so I can't snipe them even if I move to a different spot. Using a heat pressure warhead would be a waste. I suppose I can cross the river to take them out…However, the Reavers would be on full alert, and they would start a counterattack if they heard someone coming across the river.And there was no benefit in moving to a different spot. Crossing the river would expose Zin to the counterattack of the four Reavers.I could go around them, but there is no point in giving up this location.He did not need to search and kill the enemies. Zin was already in a position where he could spot all the movements of the Reavers. Crossing the river to attack the Reavers was foolishly aggressive.In the wilderness, it was important to be calm and cool. Being defensive and conservative was how people survived in the wilderness.I should wait until they start coming out. I'm sure they'll start moving come night.Zin and the Reavers decided to wait until night came. Leona did not know what Zin was thinking, but she remained silent next to him.Zin calmly stared at the opposite side of the river.