Heaven-Sent

While Madison was intimidating Eugene, William finally regained his freedom.

He scrambled over to his father and silently wept over his body.

"Madison!"

Gavin wiped his tactical knife clean, stood up, and called to Old Mac, who was still restraining Eugene.

"Quit messing with him. Bring him over. I have questions for him!"

"Sure thing, boss!"

Madison replied loudly. As he deliberately emphasized "boss," he leaned in close to Eugene's face and stared hard into his eyes.

Under Madison's gaze, Eugene nodded repeatedly. "I get it, I get it."

"Good!"

Madison snorted, grabbed Eugene by the shoulder, and headed over to Gavin.

Eugene's feet barely touched the ground as Madison dragged him along. He was unceremoniously dumped in front of Gavin.

Gavin stood over Eugene and looked at his face as Eugene lifted it from the asphalt. "What's the situation in Ennis?"

"What do you think? I'd just reached the edge of town when I saw thousands of zombies surrounding that RV and charging toward me!"

"How many?" Gavin frowned.

"I don't know, but at least a thousand. You know Ennis is a big town!"

"And then?" Gavin narrowed his eyes.

"Then William saw his dad embedded in the insurance—"

"I'm asking about the horde!"

Gavin abruptly cut Eugene off and leaned down to make his point.

"When you left Ennis, was the horde following you the whole way, coming toward where we are now?"

As he spoke, Gavin bent down and hauled Eugene to his feet.

Eugene used Gavin's support to steady himself. He was just about to brush off his clothes when Gavin clamped a hand around his neck!

With one hand, Gavin lifted Eugene by the throat.

Watching Eugene struggle in his grasp, Gavin fell silent for a moment, then turned to Madison. "Old Mac, there's an unconscious woman in the RV. Go check on her."

"Haha, now that's satisfying to watch. I'm on it!"

Madison laughed loudly as he walked over to the RV, opened the door, and climbed inside.

Only after Madison got aboard did Gavin look Eugene over, then toss him aside, his face turning purple.

Thud.

Eugene hit the ground. Before he could even register the pain, he clutched his throat and began coughing.

After coughing hard more than a dozen times, Eugene gasped and struggled to his feet. "You're one tough bastard!"

"Cut the crap. What's the horde doing?" Gavin asked coldly.

Eugene rubbed his neck hard and gave an awkward smile. "All I know is, the last time I saw them, they were still chasing our two cars without stopping.

"How would I know what happened after that? I couldn't see them anymore.

"Anyway, the road ahead is definitely blocked by the horde. Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

As he spoke, Eugene realized just how bad things were.

He'd been in the direction of Dallas before, and the roads over there had long been overrun by the horde. He'd even hit several zombies.

Now the road from Ennis was blocked too!

Eugene's face darkened. Gavin let out a breath and said, "We're nowhere near out of options yet. Don't give me that dead-mom look. I'll go check things out near Ennis. There might still be a way through."

"And you, keep an eye on that cop who's got half a dad left. His crying's about to bring every zombie in Texas over here!"

As he spoke, Gavin pointed at William and the half of his father that remained.

Eugene couldn't help snorting. "Bullshit. I'm not some lackey who follows you around like a puppy, you—fuck!"

Halfway through his sentence, Eugene's pupils shrank. He rubbed his neck and quietly took a step back.

Seeing that Gavin didn't press him, Eugene finally let out a breath and grumbled as he dragged William away from his father.

"Let go of me! Let me look at my dad one more time. Why did you kill him? He might still be alive. He's still moving, he—?!"

William kept struggling and babbling nonsense. Fed up with listening, Eugene drove his knee hard into William's neck.

At last, William passed out completely. Eugene dumped him in the passenger seat of Old Ford.

Once he'd dealt with William, Eugene returned to Gavin and stood there awkwardly for a while.

The longer he stood there, the more uncomfortable he felt. He spat and said, "I'll go check on that chick you mentioned too. I learned how to treat minor injuries in the army. It's all fuck—cough, it's all experience!"

Without waiting for Gavin to reply, Eugene headed toward the RV.

Gavin went to stand behind the little girl who was throwing up and silently watched her.

Feeling Gavin approach, the girl retched twice, then raised her head and looked at him with pale blue eyes.

Seeing the vomit at the corner of the little girl's mouth, Gavin couldn't help swallowing.

"Gross."

He muttered, then went back to the Tyrannosaurus, fetched a bottle of water, unscrewed it, and held it out to the girl.

"Rinse your mouth."

"Th-thank you—ugh!"

Before the girl could finish thanking him, she saw the young zombie nearby. She promptly threw up again, crying as she did.

Gavin didn't hurry her. Instead, he leaned against the RV and lit a cigarette.

He'd barely taken two puffs when the girl got herself under control. She rinsed her mouth and looked up.

"Thank you!" she said earnestly.

"I'm Winnie, Winnie Baker. I know you. My brother loves watching you play football!"

As she spoke, Winnie looked sadly at her brother.

She took a closer look at the bloody hole in his head, retched again, then turned back to Gavin. "My parents and I thought he was just sick, but it wasn't an illness, was it?"

"Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Either way, I don't want him getting the chance to infect anyone."

Gavin replied and took a deep drag from his cigarette.

Watching the smoke slowly drift away, Winnie took a deep breath, then said, "I know. A lot of people got the same sickness just now. They knocked my dad down, and they almost dragged my mom out of the car. She slammed the door shut so hard that she knocked herself out."

"So you drove your way out. You've got guts, kid."

Gavin nodded in approval.

The situation with this family in the RV was obvious. They'd made it out of Ennis Town by pure luck, with the little girl stepping on the gas and coming through like a godsend.

It was just as Gavin had figured. Even in the early days of the apocalypse, surviving by luck wasn't enough; people needed certain qualities if they wanted to make it further.

Like Eugene's decisiveness and the little girl's calm courage.

As for luck, that hardly needed to be said.

After all, once everyone had turned into zombies, anyone who hadn't already turned was being blessed by luck.

Even after Gavin praised her, the girl didn't get smug like most kids. Instead, she shook her head with the air of a little adult.

"I can't drive. I've watched my dad drive, but once the car got moving, I didn't know what to do. I'm lucky you helped."

"Come on. If God didn't mind giving you a hand, why should I be stingy and only help you halfway? Do I have to act even colder than God?"

Gavin exhaled smoke and beckoned to the girl with his cigarette.

"Let's go check on your mom. I hope her condition doesn't hold us up too long."

With that, Gavin turned and walked toward the RV. The little girl followed close behind, deep in thought.

As an American girl, she'd been forming cliques with the other girls in her class since third grade.

So, in this group of strangers, the one who was probably their leader was worrying that her mom might keep holding them up?

Winnie's little face scrunched up in thought. Then she suddenly turned to look toward the passenger seat of Old Ford.

When she saw the unconscious police officer, her eyes lit up, and she immediately wore a look that said, "I'm" clever.

By then, Gavin had reached the RV. Madison was helping the woman sit up, while Eugene stood on the RV's steps, grumbling.

"I'm telling you, two slaps and she'd wake right up. She's only got a little cut on her head. Two slaps would do it!"

"Shut your mouth, Redhead!"

Madison yelled back at Eugene while holding the woman's chin and shaking her back and forth. He seemed to shake her a little too hard, because the woman opened her eyes in a daze.

"What's... Wait, Edward! Winnie!"

The moment she came around, the woman screamed and tried to sit up. But as soon as she exerted herself, the world spun around her, and she staggered backward.