Nearby, seeing Gavin eat with such gusto, Eugene quickly called out to Doris.
"Oi, beautiful, could you get me a plate? I was scared shitless just now, and I need to replenish my strength!"
"Huh? Sorry, I'll get it right away!"
Doris jumped at Eugene's sudden call and hurriedly handed the remaining plates to everyone.
Eugene reached for a plate, but Madison smacked his hand hard.
Madison rolled his eyes at Eugene.
"Dude, fine, we're skipping the prayer before dinner, but the least you could do is show some manners!"
"Prayer? Fuck prayer!"
Eugene curled his lip in disdain.
"From now on, I'll just thank old God for not turning me into a zombie too. As for prayer, you want me to pray to this shitty apocalypse?"
"What am I supposed to pray for? Thank God Almighty for turning all my family into zombies and flushing my future down the toilet? Don't make me laugh!"
Cursing, Eugene took the plate and spoon, then clinked them together twice.
But when Doris continued handing out plates and reached William, he stared blankly at the ground and didn't reach out.
"Hey... Officer, you... your plate."
Doris nervously pressed her lips together and nudged the plate toward him again.
William finally looked up, as if coming to his senses. He slowly took the plate and spoon, then continued staring blankly at the picnic blanket.
Noticing William's expression, Eugene clicked his tongue dismissively and tossed a few flatbreads onto William's plate.
"Hey, kid, give our little buddy William some stew too, so he'll shut up. Otherwise, he'll start crying and carrying on again!"
Eugene called out to Winnie, who rolled her eyes at him before replying.
"I don't want another little brother unless he can do my homework for me. Too bad I don't have homework anymore!"
Well, even a clever kid like Winnie still hated homework.
Hearing that, Eugene paused, then asked Winnie suspiciously,
"Homework? You're so young and already doing homework? I never did any when I was in middle school!"
"Come on, Eugene. You must've gone to some public school packed with gangbangers-in-training and prostitutes."
Madison teased him, then casually wrapped a flatbread in stew and stuffed it into his mouth.
Hearing Madison's remark, Eugene raised his beer toward him without taking offense.
"Public or private, it's all bullshit now. Here's to the schools that are gone, and here's to never having to worry about my son's grades again!"
"What? You have a son?"
Madison asked in surprise, since Eugene had only mentioned his sister and nephew before.
At Madison's question, Eugene glanced at Doris and shook his head with a laugh.
"I mean a future son. As for now, I haven't met a woman who can give me one. Besides, I'd actually rather have a daughter. Cheers!"
With that, their bottles clinked, and the two began chugging.
Madison drained his whole bottle of beer and casually set it aside.
Eugene handed Madison another beer and asked,
"What about you, big man? You married?"
"Of course. And I have six kids, four boys and two girls."
"Fuck, you started early—and didn't waste any time, either. You've sure put that big frame to good use!"
Eugene was startled and couldn't help exclaiming. Then he suddenly thought of something and fell completely silent.
Beside Eugene, the dispirited William suddenly looked up and asked,
"What about your wife and kids, Madison? Are they..."
"That's enough, William. Don't make me kick you while I'm eating!"
Eugene quickly cut William off.
Madison was taken aback by William's question. Then he took a deep breath and said to Eugene,
"Enough, Redhead. Even if the little cop hadn't said it, it wouldn't change the facts. And the fact is, there's nothing I can do right now."
"My wife and kids are in Chicago. How do you expect me to find them? Should I hold up a cross, sing 'Hallelujah,' and floor it for over a thousand kilometers, trusting God to protect me?"
With that, Madison shrugged helplessly.
Not far away, Doris and Winnie had been in fairly good spirits, but they too were reminded of their families and grew gloomy alongside Madison.
The morale that had just lifted when they learned Eugene and William had survived quickly began to sink again. It was as if a low-pressure cloud hung over the picnic blanket, and even Gavin couldn't help looking up.
Swallowing a mouthful of meat, Gavin raised his beer and said,
"Here's to the road ahead. I hope it'll be an easy one. Once we get back to my place, we'll have something to look forward to!"
"Is that so?"
At Gavin's words, Eugene immediately raised his bottle and clinked it against Gavin's.
"Come to think of it, Quarterback, I don't even know where we're headed. Looks like you've had a destination in mind all along."
"To my farm."
Gavin answered briefly.
At that, Eugene clapped his hands.
"Woo-hoo! I never followed your career, so I had no idea a big-name athlete and millionaire like you owned a ranch on the side."
As he spoke, Eugene looked Gavin up and down.
Even dressed in nothing but a dark blue tracksuit, Gavin's flexed upper arms showed plenty of muscle.
"You and Madison are built like cowboys, all right. You could probably fuck a bull into submission. But is your place really worth all this trouble to get to?"
Eugene pointed at the dry grass and lake around them, then continued,
"Isn't camping here safe enough? There's a lake to the right and woods to the left, and the nearby towns are small. Dallas is more than eighty kilometers away, too."
"If your place is worse than this, don't expect me to risk my life helping you look for your family, buddy!"
After speaking, Eugene gripped his beer bottle and gave Gavin a cold smile.
Beside Gavin, Madison frowned, banged his spoon hard against his plate, and snapped,
"What the fuck are you on about, Redhead? You think the boss is going home just to look for his family?"
"Stew can't shut you up, can it? What a waste of that meat. Just listen to the boss's plans!"
After scolding Eugene, Madison looked at Gavin expectantly.
Gavin saw the look and smiled knowingly.
Madison was worried about what lay ahead too. He was just using Eugene to fish for information.
So Gavin nodded, scooped up a spoonful of meat, and stuffed it into his mouth. Chewing, he said,
"Eugene, didn't you say it yourself? I'm a star athlete—and a millionaire."
"So my farm covers 140,000 acres."
With that, Gavin scooped up another spoonful of broth-soaked rice and ate it.
Across from him, everyone fell silent at Gavin's brief explanation.
What did 140,000 acres even mean?
The largest ranch in the United States, the Waggoner Ranch—the inspiration for the Yellowstone Ranch in the TV show Yellowstone—covered about 520,000 acres.
And the largest ranch in Texas, the 6666 Ranch, covered roughly 240,000 acres.
So when everyone learned that Gavin's farm covered more than half as much land as the 6666 Ranch, they were stunned.
Seeing their astonished expressions, Gavin grinned and continued,
"I have a thing for buying land. I spent most of my income acquiring property. Too bad I never imagined the apocalypse would happen, so I didn't build a fortress or underground bunker on the farm beforehand."
"Still, even without any preparations, my farm is a great place to survive. It has all kinds of terrain: woods, swamps, rivers, reservoirs, farmland, pasture, and two stretches of mountains that aren't too steep."
"Besides that, the most important thing is that my farm is sparsely populated!"
"There are only about three hundred households across the nearly 140,000 acres of my farm, and they're spread pretty far apart."
"More than seventy cowboy families live together in a small town of two or three hundred people. Most of the rest live farther away, scattered across the ranch."
"So, Eugene, what do you think? Is a place like that worth risking your life for?"
Before you continue