Tyrannosaurus, Let Me Take It for a Spin

The guest bedroom window had roughly the same structure as those in most villas.

The window was divided into three sections. The narrow sections were on either side, while the middle was one enormous pane of glass.

To push open the middle glass panel, they needed to activate the switch by the bed and have it lift electrically.

The windows in the smaller sections on either side, meanwhile, could simply be opened by hand.

Beyond the window was the manor's backyard. Directly below, some twelve or thirteen meters away, was the swimming pool, where traces of blood still remained.

The zombies that had splashed around in the pool were gone by then, leaving only several wet trails leading toward the parking lot.

Past the pool was a broad shooting range, where they had practiced shooting the previous afternoon. The range was equipped with clay pigeon launchers and tracks for moving targets.

Beyond the shooting range was the forest connected to the manor, a sensible arrangement that prevented stray shots from harming anyone.

After confirming the situation outside the manor, Gavin moved close to the window and looked to the left for the zombie horde.

At that moment, the zombie horde was at the far left edge of the view from Madison's room.

The backyard was dimmer than the garden and parking lot. Gavin narrowed his eyes and carefully judged the distance.

After reaching a rough conclusion, he straightened up and reached for the window hinge at the edge.

He ran his fingers over it twice, confirming that it was well-lubricated and maintained, then slowly pushed the window open.

He tested it by opening it a little. The window moved exceptionally smoothly, without making the slightest sound.

Only then did Gavin turn back to Madison and mime zipping his lips shut.

Madison nodded in understanding, while Gavin continued pushing the window until it was fully open.

Seeing this, Madison stepped forward and held the window to keep it from sliding shut unexpectedly. At the same time, he handed the bottle of liquor in his hand to Gavin.

The two liquor bottles were different models. After weighing them twice in his hand, Gavin silently looked toward target lane three on the left.

He took aim and threw.

The bottle cut through the night at high speed, then smashed accurately against the target with a crisp shattering sound.

Especially in the open shooting range, the breaking sound was even clearer than it had been in the parking lot.

Beside him, Madison quickly raised a hand and gave Gavin a thumbs-up.

Gavin did not even look at him. He checked his watch first, then pressed himself against the glass and fixed his eyes on the zombie horde.

By his estimation, with far fewer obstacles in the way, the horde would need around eleven or twelve seconds to cover those eighty-odd meters.

But Gavin discovered that when the zombie horde left the parking lot, it was delayed for a while by the shooting range fence.

Only a very small number of zombies at the front cleared the fence in a single jump. Nearly all the others slammed into it, then scrambled and crawled their way over.

By the time the horde finally began piling up around target lane three on the left, Gavin looked down at his watch and saw that fifteen seconds had passed.

So Gavin fixed his attention on the shooting range fence.

A moment later, he understood. The shooting range fence was around 160 centimeters high, enough to effectively keep wild boars from the forest from charging into the range.

Most sedans stood around 140 centimeters tall from front to back, while SUVs were taller and sports cars lower.

Gavin firmly committed that twenty-centimeter height difference to memory. He decided that whenever he planned an escape route in the future, he would remember heights of 160 centimeters and above and apply them when choosing obstacles.

Then, without saying a word, he headed for the bedroom door, picking up another liquor bottle along the way.

After leaving the room, they followed the wall as usual to avoid the zombie by the first-floor serving hatch and arrived at the terrace at the far end of the villa's shooting range.

This time, Madison followed him onto the terrace and stared blankly into the gloomy darkness.

Gavin judged the distance, smashed a bottle out into the night, then watched the spectacular sight of a hundred zombies surging away.

Time passed slowly. Once the zombies finally began spreading out and patrolling around the target location, Gavin waved and led Madison back into the corridor.

As they walked, Gavin seemed to hear something, so he glanced back.

The faint noise was coming from Madison's slightly chattering teeth.

He said nothing and kept moving. Only after reaching the side door leading to the parking lot did he pat Madison on the shoulder.

"Come on, buddy. Let me take your Tyrannosaurus for a spin. I've never driven this kind of pickup before."

As he spoke, he held out his hand to Madison.

With Madison as nervous as he was now, Gavin had no intention of putting the steering wheel and their lives in his hands.

Madison froze slightly. As he instinctively pulled out the keys, he asked, "Didn't we agree that I'd drive? That's my baby. Besides, you should get some rest too. We've been relying on you this whole time."

"Enough. Why worry about that? I'm going home to rest after this."

"Your home's all the way in Chicago. I still have to pray you don't have trouble sleeping in a new bed, haha."

Gavin chuckled and casually patted Madison's shoulder.

Seeing that Madison was still standing there in a daze, Gavin grabbed his upper arm and continued, "I still haven't called my family. Once we're in the car, help me make a few calls home."

"Would you believe it? It's not that I don't want to call. I just don't dare to."

"What?"

Hearing that, Madison froze slightly and looked at Gavin suspiciously.

"You get scared too?"

"Of course. When Charlie Sheen's AIDS scandal broke, I was fucking scared to death."

Gavin made the joke, and Madison's eyes widened in disbelief.

Madison hurriedly asked in shock, "Wait, what did you say? Charlie Sheen's AIDS scandal? When did that happen? How come I never heard about it?"

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. How could I not know about news that big? Are you screwing with me, shithead?"

While Madison was saying that, Gavin reached out and snatched the keys from Old Mac's hand.

After noticing that his left hand was empty, Madison instinctively grabbed at the air twice. Then he wiped the sweat from his hand on his pants, shook the combat knife in his right hand twice, and said, "Gavin, was that true? Charlie Sheen really has AIDS?"

"Who knows? I only heard about it."

Gavin gave an unconcerned reply.

Charlie Sheen's AIDS scandal was supposed to happen in 2015. It was only 2013 now.

Gavin had only said it to ease Madison's nerves.

Once Madison had calmed down a little and his breathing had steadied somewhat, Gavin placed a hand on the door and said quietly, "All right, stop thinking about that nonsense. Even if Charlie Sheen didn't get AIDS, he'd probably be a real zombie by now."

"Back to our plan. I just checked, and there aren't any zombies visible in the parking lot. Their sensitivity to sound has become their weakness instead."

"Stick close to me. We won't do anything unnecessary. We'll get in the car and leave this shitty villa!"

"Buddy, enjoy the sound of the Tyrannosaurus's engine!"

With that, Gavin deftly pulled open the door and moved toward the stairs in a half-crouch.

The moment Madison walked down the stairs, the tension that had only just eased returned in full force.

After Gavin left the stairway, crouched low into the garden, and moved toward the parking lot under the cover of the bushes—

Madison's teeth started chattering faintly again.

But Gavin had no time for him. All Gavin could see now was the surrounding environment and that Dodge Ram TRX!

Though the Tyrannosaurus was in the middle of the parking lot, far from the exit—

It was actually closer to the villa.

After passing through the garden and going past only two rows of cars, Gavin reached the Tyrannosaurus.

Though Madison was nervous, the moment Gavin stopped, he still instinctively went around him and stopped by the passenger-side door.

Gavin checked his watch, then pressed the key fob. The Tyrannosaurus's headlights lit up instantly, accompanied by two soft unlocking beeps.

The moment the headlights came on, Gavin yanked open the door, tossed the rope-wrapped backpack and combat knife directly onto the back seat, then dove into the driver's seat and started the vehicle as fast as he could.

By the time the Tyrannosaurus's engine began to rumble, Madison was already in the passenger seat, turned around and gripping the seatback as he stared through the rear window.

Even though his teeth kept chattering, even though both hands clenched the seatback, even though cold sweat gradually ran to the corners of his eyes, he kept staring fiercely in the direction the zombies might come from.

As Madison kept watch, Gavin lightly pressed the accelerator.