"It seems that I fall asleep" Sol opens his eyes. "Oh shit, It wasn't a nightmare!"
What he sees in front of him is a gigantic snake, or what used to be one.
It seems that the snake was molding because what he sees in front of him is a gigantic husk of snakeskin, to be exact hundreds of them. Each of them is smaller than the other, the biggest one is kilometers long.
Every mold is closer to him than the previous one. They look like a white snake but more transparent.
Ten meters from him is a meter long snake, a real one. It stays there with eyes closed and it's metallic blue scales gleaming. They look so beautiful that it amazes Sol to no end.
If he didn't see how big and scary it was, he won't believe anyone that says it is a giant snake. Even if they torture him, he still won't believe it.
Feeling that some of his strength is back, Sol tries to get up slowly. He is afraid that any sound he makes will wake this thing. A single glance from it and he will be done for. He can't depend on luck that it will close its eye for some reason once it is awake.
Looking to the side, Sol tries to get his hood that was stuck on a tree branch. He stays as quiet as possible. Every time he makes a little sound, it makes him wince.
Every sound he made, makes him feel closer to death. After he put on his hood, he feels a little bit calmer.
Now he has two choices, one, walk away slowly and hope it will not get up, or two, kill it while it was asleep.
While running seems like a safer choice, it isn't that safe. On the way to the clearing, there is a lot of branches and he wasn't sure that he can get away without any noise. Once the snake is awake it will be another wild goose chase. "Surely it won't be slower after whatever evolution it's been through"
Killing it isn't easy either, he needs to kill it in one swing or it will be awake and he will be the one dying. Thinking about it make his hair stands on ends, "at least my life is in my hand, I better fight for it than gamble it"
Sol checks his body before going into action, his body is no longer sore and his left hand can already move albeit painfully. If his deduction is correct then his healing speed increased from the warmth he feels when he kills the monkey. "Let's look for a definite answer after I survive and get back to the city."
Checking for tools, he has a curtain for a hood, a kitchen knife that was blessed with shards, and a hunting rifle with ten spare bullets.
He planned to use his hood to cover its eyes, while his left-hand holds its head and his right hand beheads it with his knife.
He doesn't plan to use his rifle because he wasn't sure if a bullet will kill it, as his last battle with the monkey shows him how ineffective his rifle is.
Sol stands above the snake body behind its head, so if it opens its eye he won't be in its field of vision.
His hand trembling and his back sweating, Sol pray that he can kill it in one swing. He tries to calm his mind and focus, but as his focus rises his breathing sound becomes clearer to him.
"It isn't faking it's sleep right?" The longer he waited the more doubt he has.
"if I die so be it!!" He steels his heart.
Sol's left and right hand move together in one smooth motion. His left-hand catches the head while his right-hand swing with all power he can muster.
He can hear the sound of wind being cut while he swings his knife. He clenches his jaw, ready for any outcome, "please die!"
When his knife collides with its neck's scales, a metal hitting metal noise can be heard. His knife stops dead on its track and a spark can be seen from the collision but not even a scratch can be seen on its scales.
"Fuck!!" Sol screams, he tightens his left-hand grip on the snakehead as tight as he can.
A hissing sound can be heard from the snake behind the curtain and its body start to swing wildly, Its tail whips his body, and Sol can feel his skin searing and bones fractured from the impact.
The snake body starts to wrap around his hand and it tries to break his arm. "ARGHH!!!" Sol screams.
Sol can feel a burning sensation from the snake body and head, but he won't let it go. He can feel his arm bone breaking and flesh burning but he knows that if he let it go it will kill him in seconds.
Sol's mind is becoming fuzzy and he falls to the snow kneeling.
"What to do now?" Sol is out of option, his knife doesn't work and he can't run away. "Damnnnn it!!"