Faster Than Him

About ten seconds passed before Gavin's vomiting turned into dry heaving.

Suppressing his nausea and pounding heart, Gavin spat out the sour liquid in his mouth and shakily backed out of the bathroom.

Holding his combat knife, he went to the window, crouched down close to the glass, and pressed his face against the floor-to-ceiling window as he inspected the villa's backyard.

The pool was still the same pool, but the figure that had been thrashing around moments ago had already fallen into the water.

Murky blood rapidly spread through the illuminated pool, growing ever more gruesome as the two figures churned the water.

Huff.

Gavin exhaled sourly, carefully stepped back two paces, gently drew the curtains shut, then hid by the corner of the window and pulled them open just enough to keep watching.

The gunfire in the yard had long since stopped. No more screams rang out. Only several twisted, sprinting figures kept darting through the garden.

There were no so-called roars—or perhaps those roars simply could not pass through the well-insulated glass.

But Gavin did not feel any better.

Because those savage figures were running far too fast!

Like they were sprinting the hundred meters!

With a heavy heart, Gavin lowered the curtain, returned to the bed, and dropped onto it.

The plush carpet beneath his feet and the soft bed offered him no comfort at all. The phone by the bedside, however, gave him a little warmth.

Only then did he think to grab it. He checked the time first: 2:52 in the morning.

A zombie crisis breaking out at this hour was even worse.

Tonight was supposed to be his celebration night—the glorious night when he led the Dallas Cowboys to dominate the NFL and win championships for five straight seasons.

That was why he had been in the mood to party until nearly three in the morning, only to witness Gigi turn into a zombie in the bathroom.

What about everyone else?

Even someone or other had only ever seen Los Angeles at four in the morning!

And it was only three now!

At this hour, if even one person in a household turned into something like Gigi, that family probably could not avoid being wiped out.

No attack was deadlier than one launched while people were asleep.

All kinds of chaotic, uncontrollable thoughts swirled through his mind.

Gavin rapidly scrolled through his phone, yet could not find a single piece of news related to zombies.

There were no reports of strange outbreaks like the ones often shown before a zombie crisis in movies.

There were no firsthand videos of zombie outbreaks around the world like the ones that often appeared in games.

Looking at the news on his phone, Gavin even felt as though this was some kind of prank, as if the zombie crisis had only erupted inside the estate villa where he was!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thump!

The sudden pounding on the door made Gavin leap straight up from the bedside.

He rushed to the door in one breath and nervously stared at the constantly shaking door.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Gavin!"

An urgent shout came from outside.

"Are you fucking alive?"

"Madison?!"

Gavin was startled. He recognized the voice—it belonged to the offensive lineman who had been on the Cowboys' offense with him for four full years.

He was also a behemoth standing 207 centimeters tall and weighing 310 pounds.

Hearing Gavin's voice, Madison clearly froze for a moment before pounding on the door even faster.

"Shit, thank God, you're alive!"

"Open the door, please, open the door!"

"They're almost on me, Gavin! Help me, Gavin!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Listening to the increasingly frantic pounding, Gavin had no time to think. He had to make a choice.

Should he let Madison, who could still speak like a human for now, into his room?

He could not help glancing back at Gigi in the bathroom.

If Madison turned into a zombie afterward, then with his build, Gavin absolutely could not deal with him as easily as he had dealt with Gigi!

But after a momentary daze, Gavin raised his hand and opened the door, allowing the staggering Madison to tumble headfirst inside.

Thud!

The moment he hit the carpet, Madison scrambled forward on all fours and shouted at Gavin.

"Close the door! Close it!"

"I know!"

As Gavin replied, he quickly stuck his head out and swept his gaze in both directions.

In the left hallway, two blood-smeared figures were only seven or eight meters from the door. They were once his teammates, but now they charged at him on all fours with twisted movements.

There was no one in the right hallway. Through the window at the end of it, he could only see faint moonlight.

After one look, Gavin pulled back inside and slammed the door shut, locking it.

The moment he secured the lock, violent impacts came from outside.

Boom!

His teammates' powerful bodies slammed against the door, making Gavin's heart tremble along with it.

At his feet, Madison crawled another five or six meters before finally rolling over and sitting on the floor.

Bracing both hands against the carpet, Madison spoke rapidly through trembling lips.

"Leonard's dead. Kendrick bit him to death right in front of me. I even saw Kendrick rip Leonard's guts out and stuff them into his mouth!"

"Kendrick's gone crazy. He's a fucking lunatic!"

"Leonard went crazy too. His guts had been pulled out, but he still lunged at me. I was fucking terrified. I pissed in the hallway. Damn it, fucking—"

"Shut up!"

Gavin turned and took two steps before kicking Madison in the shin, making him scoot backward on his ass in pain.

As Madison tried to get up, he happened to turn his head and see Gigi lying sprawled in the bathroom.

"Fuck!"

He jumped in fright, quickly scrambled to his feet, braced himself against the bathroom's glass wall, and stared at Gavin nervously.

"You killed someone! You killed someone too!"

As he spoke, he looked even more nervously at the knife in Gavin's hand.

"Shut up. Keep it down. Don't tell me you don't know what those things are like!"

Gavin cursed at him, then carefully examined Madison from head to toe.

Good. Other than looking a little disheveled, Old Mac had no wounds or bloodstains on him. He did not look like he was about to turn into a zombie.

As for whether Old Mac would become a problem for him...

It was fine. Gavin knew he could run faster than Old Mac.

Across from him, hearing Gavin's words, Madison's Adam's apple bobbed as he asked.

"You mean... zombies?"

"What else? Rabies?"

Gavin cursed again, then returned to the door and anxiously watched it being struck over and over.

He knew his teammates Kendrick and Leonard too well. Together, they weighed at least 580 pounds. Could this door really withstand them slamming into it with all their strength?

But getting rid of them...

What a joke. Gavin was not even wearing underwear right now. How could he possibly be willing to take that risk?

So Gavin leaned against the door, doing his best to protect it while speaking to Madison.

"Old Mac."

"I'm here. What is it? I'm a little messed up, fuck."

Madison's voice grew softer and softer. He slid down the bathroom's glass wall until he sat back on the floor in dejection.

Gavin frowned at his wet underwear and gave him a speechless order.

"Bring me my phone. It's on the bed. Hurry!"

"Okay, I know. I... fuck, I left my phone in my room!"

Madison muttered instinctively as he stiffly climbed to his feet like a corpse and headed toward the bed.

Crossing the distance of sixteen or seventeen meters, he picked up the phone from the bed and turned back to bring it to Gavin.

As fellow members of the offense, Madison had long been used to following Gavin's instructions. As the quarterback, Gavin was undoubtedly the brain and core of the team.

But when Madison passed the bathroom, he still turned his head away, not daring to look at Gigi lying there.

"Here."

After handing the phone to Gavin, Madison swallowed and looked at him expectantly, as if asking whether there was anything else he could do.

He was panicked and confused. Instinctively, he wanted something to do to distract himself.

Seeing Madison's blank expression, Gavin leaned against the door and unlocked his phone while pointing toward the bathroom.

"Go wash up, man."

"I'll listen to you. Hell, I really should clean myself up... no, I need to make it quick. We still have to run. Damn it!"

Madison walked toward the bathroom as if relieved, avoiding Gigi as he headed for the shower.

Just then, Gavin's voice came again from behind him.

"Don't fucking use the shower. Use the bathtub. That thing makes a lot less noise.

By the way, is your ringtone loud? Whose ringtone is louder, yours or Leonard's?

I remember our coach's ringtone being especially loud. His hearing isn't that good, right?"

As he spoke, Gavin selected a number and dialed it.