This Time It's Not Madison

Eugene had just finished his cigarette inside the RV and hadn't even managed to flick the butt out the window before Madison slammed on the brakes.

He scrambled toward the driver's seat in a panic, staring suspiciously at the Tyrannosaurus before asking, "Why are we stopping again? Is the Quarterback messing with us?"

"Don't overthink it. The Boss doesn't do anything without a reason!" Madison cut Eugene off, pushed the door open, and walked toward Gavin.

At the same time, Gavin stood at the intersection where a small path branched off the right side of the road, staring intently into the distance where the path stretched out.

Madison reached Gavin's side and asked in a low voice, "What's going on, Boss?"

At these words, Gavin pointed to the narrow path, which was only wide enough for two cars to pass side-by-side, and said, "This road isn't on the map."

As he spoke, Gavin looked at Eugene and William, who had just arrived, and asked, "Eugene, William, do you two know where this road leads?"

He didn't ask Madison; after all, Madison wasn't a local.

Even if Madison had tried hard to curry favor with Texas fans, he couldn't possibly have driven down every single road in Texas just to please them, could he?

Faced with Gavin's question, Eugene looked at the path, pondering, and hesitated. "You see this kind of thing all the time on the roads here in Texas. A path that's neither wide nor narrow could lead just about anywhere."

"Maybe it's some factory that went out of business?"

"Maybe it's a private estate prepared by some rich guy like you?"

"It could even be a meeting place for some cult. Those cult leaders have a knack for things; they can swindle a few rich people and get a road built, and the local councilmen will even cover for them. Fuck!"

"Oh."

Hearing Eugene's words, Gavin spread his hands and asked, "So you don't know either, right?"

"Of course, if I knew, I would've said so."

Eugene shrugged, and Gavin turned to look at William.

Meeting Gavin's gaze, William shook his head in silence.

Fine, the guy was overly quiet, but at least he wasn't a chatterbox, right?

Gavin nodded at William, then waved his hand at Madison. "You stay here and wait with them. I'm going to take a look down this road."

"What?"

The moment Gavin finished speaking, before Madison could even respond, Eugene hurriedly interjected with a challenge. "Quarterback, what is there on this road worth looking at? Aren't we supposed to be going to your place? To the Chambers Reservoir!"

"Don't forget our real business, man. There's no reason for us to waste time on some random road, especially one that isn't even on the map!"

"And you're going by yourself? That's insane. Aren't you afraid of dying out there alone? If you die, how am I supposed to go enjoy the good life at the big ranch!"

As he said this, Eugene paced back and forth, cursing, glancing at Gavin's expression every two steps.

Watching the agitated Eugene, Gavin spoke up. "It's precisely because this road isn't on the map that it's worth exploring. It might just be a route that lets us bypass Coskana."

"I can't find a way around that city just by looking at the map. Do you think that once we reach Coskana, we can just floor the gas pedal and drive straight through it?"

"Or should we put Winnie in the driver's seat and let her take us to try our luck?"

With that, Gavin gave a decisive wave of his hand. "That's enough. You all go back to the vehicle and wait for me. I'm going to check this road out. If it's too long, I'll be back in twenty minutes at the latest."

Having said his piece, Gavin left no room for further questioning and walked straight toward the Tyrannosaurus.

Watching Gavin's retreating back, Eugene hurriedly nudged Madison and said urgently, "Are you not going to say anything to talk him out of it? You're just going to watch the Quarterback go crazy? What if he doesn't come back? What if he just runs off on his own? Haven't you thought about that?"

"Bullshit. My Boss never goes crazy, and he'd never abandon us. I just need to listen to him, and you should too, man!"

Madison retorted, looking at Eugene as if he were an idiot.

Eugene was so frustrated he looked ready to jump, but Madison remained unmoved.

Seeing that Gavin had already climbed into the vehicle, Eugene slapped his thigh in frustration and cursed anxiously, "Fine, exploration it is! Wait for me, goddammit, wait for me!!!"

After shouting at the Tyrannosaurus, Eugene ran back to the RV to grab his shotgun, then hurried over to the passenger side of the Tyrannosaurus.

Eugene pulled the car door open, climbed inside, and spoke to Gavin in the driver's seat.

"What are you looking at me for? Drive. Even if you wanted to take the luxury car and the supplies and run, I wouldn't let you get away alone!"

"Ha, alright then, you're an interesting guy."

Gavin patted Eugene on the shoulder and then waved at Madison.

"Old Mac, I'm going with Eugene this time. You take care of the RV."

"If you run into a horde of zombies along the way, head toward Coskana. Stop and wait for three minutes every two kilometers you put between you and them. If I come back and don't see you, I'll time it out and catch up."

With that, Gavin drove onto the side road, leaving Madison in a cloud of exhaust.

Watching the rear of the Tyrannosaurus disappear into the distance, Madison squinted in confusion. Why did he feel like something was wrong?

A moment later, it dawned on him, and he slapped his forehead in frustration.

"Fuck!"

He cursed unhappily.

"I should have been the one going with the boss. That son of a bitch beat me to it. I actually let myself get stuck as the driver. Damn it!"

With those words, a disgruntled Madison took William back to the RV.

Seeing them return, Doris, who had been panicked after witnessing Gavin's departure, hurried over to ask for news about him.

While Madison was busy explaining things to Doris, inside the Tyrannosaurus, Eugene gripped his shotgun and pondered before asking Gavin.

"Gavin, tell me the truth. What are our chances of making it through Coskana?"

"Why do you ask?"

Gavin asked back without turning his head, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

Faced with Gavin's question, Eugene fell silent for a moment before sighing.

"On the road from the Artificial Lake to Ennis, you weren't paying this much attention to every single possibility along the way."

"Not to the guardrails that might block our path, nor to the side roads that might be shortcuts!"

"If it wasn't going to be incredibly difficult to get through Coskana to your place, why would you be wasting time on the road?"

"So, everything you've been doing by stopping the car is just preparing a retreat for us, right?"

As he spoke, Eugene unconsciously raised his hand and wiped his slightly sweaty palm hard against his clothes.

Beside him, Gavin was silent for a moment before nodding with a faint smile.

"You're right."

"Holy shit, how can you still laugh when I'm right? Fuck!"

Eugene was particularly annoyed by Gavin's smile—the fact that Gavin could still laugh when he himself couldn't.

Watching the restless Eugene, Gavin smiled and tossed him a cigarette.

"Don't lose your mind here. Smoke this and calm down. As long as we're alive, anywhere can be my home."

"I do love my farm, but I love my life more. Even if Coskana is as hard to get through as I fear, are we going to drop dead on the spot just because we can't make it?"

"Uh..."

Hearing this, Eugene sheepishly took the cigarette and said, "That's not going to happen."

"Exactly. As long as we don't die on the spot, it's no big deal."

Gavin continued, "Don't forget, Ennis Town has a sparse population now. We can camp on a hill in the nearby forest and live off the supplies around the town for a long time, not to mention we can hunt."

"Besides, even though every road to my house on the map goes through the city of Coskana, isn't this a path right in front of us that isn't on the map?"

"Even if we don't find anything on this road, we might find other ways to bypass Coskana later. Living people never run out of options, Eugene... hm?"

Just as Gavin reached this point, he suddenly cut himself off.

At the same time, inside the Tyrannosaurus, a very familiar sound began to play.

"That... that is..."

Eugene asked in surprise, unconsciously rummaging through his pockets.

Beside him, Gavin quickly picked up his phone.

After glancing at the caller ID, Gavin took a sharp, deep breath and said in a tone of astonishment.

"That's right, it's a ringtone, but the problem is..."

"The person calling me isn't Madison!"