The most chilling piece of Etherscope's report was the damage to the power system. No more instant acceleration. No more ramming. Against this monstrous boar, the van was a sitting duck.
The boar!
Zephyr's eyes snapped to the creature. It hadn't emerged unscathed. It lay sprawled on the ground, blood streaming from a gash on its head, one of its massive tusks broken, revealing bloody pulp beneath.
A deep growl rumbled from the boar's chest. With the van's systems damaged, the sound wasn't muffled. The raw force of it hit Zephyr like a physical blow. A deep, resonating sound that vibrated through his bones, paralyzing him.
It felt like a giant hand squeezing his heart, his lungs. He could barely breathe.
A terrifying roar.
The boar staggered to its feet. Its skull might be fractured, but fueled by some monstrous vitality, it was still a terrifying force.
It glared at him, eyes like headlights, just a thin, cracked windshield between them.
With a sickening crunch, the remaining tusk hooked the van's undercarriage, lifting the front end. It was trying to flip them.
Zephyr's blood ran cold. If the van rolled…it was over.
"Come on, come on!" He yanked the gear shift, turned the key. The engine sputtered, then caught. The wheels started to spin.
It still ran!
Instant acceleration and collision were gone, but basic functionality remained.
The front wheels spun uselessly in the air. The rear tires scrabbled at the ground, spitting gravel.
It wasn't much, but the boar was injured. For now, it couldn't flip them.
But the van was tilting higher, precariously balanced.
Damn it!
His face was grim, hands clenched on the wheel, foot on the gas. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
Stay calm. Think. Survive.
An idea sparked. His fingers flew across the control panel, hitting a sequence of buttons.
A beep. The panel flickered back to life. He pressed his hand against it. This was it.
Air cannon pressurization initiated. Estimated time to pressurization: 9.5 seconds.
Etherscope's voice in his mind. He exhaled. Ramming and acceleration were gone, but the weapons systems were still online.
Besides the reinforced chassis, the van had weapons. Etherscope had briefed him during the modifications, but he hadn't tested them, afraid of attracting attention. Then the apocalypse hit, and he'd been too busy running.
Now, there was no time for testing. This was trial by fire. Failure meant death.
The air cannon. 500L of compressed gas, muzzle velocity 810 meters per second. More than twice the speed of sound.
The Nazis had experimented with air cannons in WWII, trying to shoot down planes. Accuracy had been a problem.
What effect would it have on the boar?
The power was immense, but compressed air wasn't a solid projectile. Blast waves could throw a person across a room, but plenty of people survived explosions. He couldn't be sure.
And he only had one shot. 9.5 seconds. By then, the van would be on its side.
"Let's do this."
He hit another button. A barrel extended from the front of the van, pointing at the boar's underbelly. It had been concealed within the chassis.
He stared at the 60mm muzzle, heart pounding.
Pressurization sequence initiated. 9…8…7…
The countdown. The sound of fate.
The barrel could be adjusted. Where to aim?
Belly? Head? Throat?
The boar's hide was thick, bulletproof, he was sure of it. Every part of it seemed like an armored fortress.
6…5…
The countdown continued. The van tilted further.
Pots and pans slid across the floor with a metallic clang.
He gritted his teeth, engaged the emergency brake, unbuckled his seatbelt, grabbed a wrench, and jumped down from the driver's seat.
"You stupid pig! Die!"
In a moment of pure rage, he swung the wrench, smashing it against the windshield, toward the boar.
The glass, already cracked, spiderwebbed further. Tiny shards rained down.
It was a futile gesture, but the boar, a beast driven by instinct, reacted.
It fixed him with its blood-red eyes.
4…3…
The final seconds. Judgment.
He slammed a button, kicked open the door, and leaned out.
Suicide, almost. But his mind was clear. Most of the van's weight was on the boar's tusk. It was leveraged, pinned. If it wanted to attack him, it would have to withdraw its tusk, dropping the van, all four wheels hitting the ground, slamming into the boar, pushing it back, maybe even knocking it down.
It was a gamble, but in these few seconds, the boar wouldn't be able to reach him.
"Die, you pig!"
He hurled the wrench at the boar's massive eye.
The boar couldn't dodge. The wrench connected.
But the van was rocking, and he wasn't a marksman. It hit the corner of the eye socket.
Even a glancing blow near the eye, rich with nerves, caused the boar pain.
It roared, a sound that shook the earth.
The force of it nearly ripped him from the van. The infrasound resonated through his body, stopping his heart, blanking his mind.
But one sound cut through the roar. The Etherscope countdown.
2…1…0!
"Die!" He roared, fighting the dizziness, using the Etherscope interface to make a final adjustment, aiming the air cannon directly into the boar's open maw.
Its mouth was wide, roaring its fury. The barrel was practically inside.
Fire!