Absolutely Not!

After he finished speaking, Gavin silently met William's gaze.

But when William met Gavin's eyes, he quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at him again.

Nearby, seeing William remain silent, Eugene spat again and irritably slapped the side of the Tyrannosaurus.

"Shit."

He leaned against the Tyrannosaurus and said,

"You think you're in Saving Private Ryan? You want us to go back to Ennis to play some inexplicable hero just to save your brother, who might already be a zombie?"

"Fuck that. Movies are all lies. If you want to go, go by yourself. You can have this old Ford. There's no way in hell I'm going crazy along with you!"

With that, Eugene let go of the Tyrannosaurus and vigorously rubbed his short red hair.

Then he paced around irritably before turning to Gavin.

"Let him go, damn it. Let him drive my piece-of-junk car. Give him whatever he wants. Let him have a couple extra bites at lunch, too. That bastard!"

"Enough, Eugene. Let William think it over himself."

Gavin shook his head, then got up and walked toward the RV.

Halfway there, he turned back to the pickup, dug out a large bottle of juice, and carried it into the RV.

As he passed Old Mac, who was watching the commotion, Gavin casually said,

"Old Mac, you're not asleep yet, are you? Go get some sleep while you can."

"Sure thing. I'll sleep in the driver's seat. Call me if you need anything."

Old Mac agreed, followed Gavin into the RV, and closed the door behind him.

Since Eugene hadn't followed them in, he clearly still had something to say to William. They might as well give them some space.

When Gavin got into the RV, Doris turned to him and asked anxiously,

"Are... are we still going into Ennis Town?"

"Don't worry. Even if we do go explore Ennis Town, I won't take you with us. You can stay in the RV and cook. You've already made breakfast, and you'll have to make lunch too. I can only count on you for that."

Gavin waved a hand at Doris, then sat down on the sofa and watched Madison lie down in the driver's seat.

As he adjusted his position, Madison thought for a moment and said to Gavin,

"Actually, we really should go check out Ennis. A large number of the zombies there have already been lured away. Besides, if we want to survive the apocalypse, sooner or later we'll have to explore the towns."

As he spoke, Madison glanced back at the mother and daughter eavesdropping nearby with perked-up ears, then continued with a smile,

"With the little bit we've scavenged, we wouldn't last a week. And now we've got two women with us. When we searched the convenience stores, we didn't think to grab any women's supplies."

In the distance, hearing this, Doris awkwardly turned to face the oven.

Winnie pressed her lips together in a smile and gave Madison a thumbs-up.

As for Gavin,

Hearing Madison's reasoning, he nodded and said with a smile,

"Yeah. The fact that so many zombies have been lured away from Ennis Town is enough that I wouldn't mind checking it out. It'd help us build experience for the explorations we're bound to undertake in the future."

"As long as we make sure we can get our vehicles out, keep within a reasonable distance of them while exploring, and choose routes with a clear way back, I think our chances are pretty good."

"Besides, even setting women's supplies aside, we really should stock up on medicine. Ennis, with so many zombies lured away, is a pretty good place for us to get some practice."

"But unfortunately, William has a hundred ways to persuade me, and he picked the one I absolutely can't agree to."

"Have a whole group of us risk our lives for his brother, whose fate is unknown?"

"Give me a break. We haven't even found a halfway secure camp yet. How could we do something that stupid? How did he even become a cop? Did Batman write him a letter of recommendation? Fuck!"

When he finished, Gavin shook his head with a cold laugh.

Madison nodded and smiled.

"You're right. We can't risk our lives for something that stupid. Even if we were already planning to explore Ennis, after he made that request, we shouldn't go anywhere near it."

"We've barely known him for a little while, and he's already trying to get us to risk our lives for him. What'll he ask after we've known him a few more days? For us to become his lackeys? That shitty Dallas rookie cop!"

As he spoke, Madison tapped the headrest and smiled.

"I'm going to sleep, boss. Wake me if you need me."

"Yeah. Sleep easy. I'm here."

Gavin patted the back of the seat reassuringly, then reached a hand out toward Winnie.

"And you, kid. Hand me the binoculars."

"I could keep watch for you, too, boss."

Winnie teased as she came closer and placed the binoculars in Gavin's hand. Gavin ran a hand through her blond hair and shook his head.

"If you're bored, go lie down in bed for a while."

"Okay, then."

Winnie nodded and left Gavin's side, obediently heading to the bed.

But as she climbed in, she couldn't help looking at the photograph by the head of the bed.

It showed their family. Her father's smile and her brother's mischievous wink appeared in Winnie's mind.

Winnie's nose scrunched up. She crawled over, took down the photograph, and tucked it face down in the corner by the head of the bed. Then she curled up on the mattress without saying a word.

The RV fell completely silent. Only Doris's footsteps and the sounds of her cooking could be heard.

And, of course, Doris occasionally sniffled.

Gavin sighed. Just because he was strong enough to hold it together didn't mean he could forbid anyone else from breaking down.

After all, the apocalypse had only begun a few hours ago. Every member of this temporary group had their own pain and stress, Madison included.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, the RV door was yanked open. Cursing under his breath, Eugene came over to Gavin and dropped onto the sofa.

Glancing at the driver's seat, Eugene grinned and said,

"Big Black's asleep too. Ha! I thought he was as strong as King Kong."

"Fuck you, Eugene. I'm not asleep yet!"

Madison lay there with his middle finger raised and lazily cursed at him.

Eugene scoffed.

"Fine, go back to sleep. I'll keep watch for you!"

"You? You'll drool all over the place while keeping watch. If you've had too much soda, go take a piss. Don't let it come out of your mouth, buddy!"

Madison retorted as he rolled over into a more comfortable position.

Eugene, meanwhile, fidgeted restlessly, unable to stop moving his legs every few minutes.

Twenty minutes later, Eugene looked out the window at William and couldn't help cursing.

"He's just sitting there? In this cold? What a fucking idiot!"

Another thirty-odd minutes passed.

Eugene rubbed his head and asked Gavin quietly,

"Quarterback, you don't think he's really going back to Ennis by himself, do you? He hasn't really gone crazy, has he?"

Another half hour went by.

Eugene stood up irritably, glanced over at Doris, and grumbled,

"This stew sure takes forever. If it weren't for how good it smells, I wouldn't even want breakfast!"

After that, Eugene continued cursing as he went into the bathroom. He stayed there for a while before coming back out.

Back on the sofa, Eugene glanced at Gavin, who was sitting silently, and seemed about to say something.

After a full five minutes of silence, Eugene slapped his thigh and suddenly said to Gavin,

"Quarterback, you already gave William his USP back. So what about my Ruger 101 and Governor Shotgun? I don't feel safe without them!"

"Oh?"

At last, Gavin replied. He fixed Eugene with a deep gaze and asked,

"You finally decided to go risk your life with him?"

"What?"

Gavin's words made Eugene panic. He frantically shook his head and hurried to explain,

"Don't lump me in with that idiot. Who the hell wants to help him? Do I need a reason to get my guns back?"

"Come on, Quarterback. It's the fucking apocalypse out there. How am I supposed to get by without a gun? At least give me a knife. I can't exactly go bite a fucking zombie, can I?"

As he spoke, Eugene stared into Gavin's eyes, waiting for his answer.

Gavin thought it over for a moment, then nodded.

"Let's wait until after we eat. I'll give you your guns back."

"Deal!"

Eugene was instantly delighted and slapped his thigh excitedly.

But once his excitement had passed, he quickly continued explaining to Gavin,

"Don't get the wrong idea, buddy. I'm not the kind of guy who volunteers to get himself killed. Even if you're dumb enough to agree to William's request, I'll ditch you and go it alone!"

"You think I want my guns so I can risk my life with that kid? Give me a break. You've got me all wrong. I'd never do that!"

"I just don't feel safe without them, that's all. You know what feeling safe means, don't you?"