Eugene had just finished smoking when he got back to the RV. He hadn't even had time to flick the cigarette butt out the window before Madison slammed on the brakes.
He hurried to the driver's seat and stared suspiciously at Tyrannosaurus. "Why are we stopping again? Is Quarterback messing with us?"
"Don't overthink it. The boss doesn't do things for no reason!"
Madison cut Eugene off, pushed open the door, and walked over to Gavin.
At the same time, Gavin stood at the junction where a side road branched off the right side of the highway, staring absently in the direction it led.
Madison came up beside Gavin and asked quietly, "What's going on, boss?"
Gavin pointed at the side road, which was wide enough for two cars to drive abreast. "This road isn't on the map."
He turned to Eugene and William, who had just caught up, and asked, "Eugene, William, do either of you know where this road leads?"
He didn't ask Madison. Madison wasn't from around here.
Even if Madison had seriously tried to win over Texas football fans, had he really driven down every road in Texas just to please them?
At Gavin's question, Eugene studied the road, thinking it over. "You see stuff like this all the time on roads in Texas. A road that's not too wide or too narrow could lead just about anywhere."
"Maybe it goes to some struggling factory?"
"Maybe it goes to some rich guy's secret estate—you know, someone like you?"
"Hell, it could even be the meeting place for some cult. Cults have their ways. They can talk a few rich people into building a road, and the local politicians will cover for them. Fuck!"
"Oh."
Gavin spread his hands. "So you don't know either, right?"
"Of course not. If I knew, I'd have said so."
Eugene shrugged, and Gavin turned to William.
Under Gavin's gaze, William silently shook his head.
Fine. The guy was too quiet, but at least he wasn't a chatterbox, right?
Gavin nodded to William, then waved Madison over.
"Stay here with them. I'm going to check out this road."
"What?"
Before Madison could answer, Eugene immediately objected. "Quarterback, what's so interesting about this road? Aren't we supposed to be going to your place, over by Chambers Reservoir?"
"Don't forget why we're here, man. We don't need 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 worried you'll die out there alone? If you die, how am I supposed to go enjoy the good life on that farm?"
As he spoke, Eugene paced back and forth, grumbling. Every couple of steps, he glanced at Gavin.
Watching Eugene's agitation, Gavin said, "The fact that this road isn't on the map is exactly why it's worth exploring. It might be a way around Coskana."
"If I only search the map, I won't find a route around that city. Do you think we'll be able to just floor it and drive straight through once we reach Coskana?"
"Or should we put Winnie behind the wheel and let her take us on a wild-goose chase?"
With that, Gavin waved them off. "That's enough. Get back in the RV and wait for me. I'll check out this road. If it's too long, I'll be back within twenty minutes."
Gavin didn't give them another chance to argue. He headed straight for Tyrannosaurus.
Watching Gavin walk away, Eugene quickly nudged Madison and said urgently, "Why don't you try talking him out of it? You're just going to let Quarterback go nuts? What if he doesn't come back? What if he runs off on his own? You haven't even thought about that?"
"Bullshit. My boss never goes nuts, and he'd never abandon us. I just need to listen to him. Same goes for you, man!"
Madison argued back, looking at Eugene as if he were an idiot.
Eugene was so angry he nearly jumped, but Madison didn't budge.
When Gavin climbed into the vehicle, Eugene slapped his thigh in frustration and shouted, "Fine! We're exploring, right? Wait for me, you asshole! Wait for me!!!"
After yelling at Tyrannosaurus, Eugene ran back to the RV to grab his shotgun. He carried it over and climbed into the passenger seat of Tyrannosaurus.
He opened the door and scrambled in. Then he said to Gavin, who was behind the wheel, "What are you looking at? Drive. Even if you're planning to run off with the fancy car and supplies, I'm not letting you go alone!"
"Ha. Fine. You're not so bad."
Gavin patted Eugene on the shoulder, then waved at Madison. "Old Mac, I'm going with Eugene this time. Keep the RV safe."
"If you run into a horde of zombies on the way, head toward Coskana. Every time you lose the zombies by two kilometers, stop and wait for three minutes. If I get back and you're gone, I'll use the time difference to catch up."
With that, Gavin drove onto the side road, leaving Madison with nothing but a few trails of exhaust.
Watching Tyrannosaurus disappear down the road, Madison narrowed his eyes in confusion. Why did something feel off?
A moment later, it dawned on him. He slapped his forehead in frustration.
"Fuck!"
He cursed irritably. "I should've gone with the boss. That son of a bitch beat me to it. I actually started thinking of myself as the driver. Damn it!"
Grumbling, Madison led William back to the RV.
When they returned, Doris, who had been terrified after watching Gavin drive away, hurried to ask what had happened to him.
While Madison explained things to Doris, Eugene sat in Tyrannosaurus, gripping his shotgun and thinking over what he wanted to ask Gavin.
"Gavin, tell me honestly. What are our chances of getting through Coskana?"
"Why do you ask?"
Gavin kept his eyes on the road and answered without turning around.
Eugene was quiet for a moment, then sighed. "On the way from Artificial Lake to Ennis, you weren't nearly this focused on every possible route we passed."
"Not the guardrails that might keep us from leaving the road, or the side roads that might be shortcuts!"
"If we had an easy time getting through Coskana to your place, why would you be wasting time on the road?"
"So everything you've been doing—stopping along the way—has just been to prepare a fallback plan for us, right?"
As he spoke, Eugene raised a hand without thinking and rubbed his slightly sweaty palm hard against his clothes.
Gavin was silent for a moment. Then he chuckled and nodded. "You're right."
"Fuck, if I'm right, why are you still smiling? Damn it!"
Eugene couldn't stand Gavin's smile just then—the fact that Gavin could smile when Eugene couldn't.
Seeing Eugene's unease, Gavin smiled and tossed him a cigarette. "Don't start freaking out. Have a smoke and calm down. As long as we're alive, anywhere can be home."
"I do love my farm, but I love being alive more. Even if Coskana really is as tough to get through as I'm worried it is, are we going to just drop dead because we can't get past it?"
"Uh..."
Eugene caught the cigarette awkwardly. "I guess not."
"Exactly. As long as we're not going to drop dead on the spot, it's no big deal."
Gavin continued, "Don't forget, Ennis Town is sparsely populated now. We could camp on a hill in the nearby woods and live off the supplies around town for a long time. We could hunt, too."
"Besides, even though every road on the map that leads to my place goes through Coskana's urban area, this road right here isn't on the map."
"Even if we don't find anything on this road, we might find another way around Coskana. People who are alive never run out of options, Eu—hmm?"
Gavin stopped mid-sentence.
At the same time, a familiar tune rang out inside Tyrannosaurus!
"Th-that's..."
Eugene asked in surprise, instinctively searching his pockets.
Gavin quickly picked up his phone.
He glanced at the caller ID, then drew a sharp breath and said in astonishment, "That's right, it's a phone ringing. But the problem is..."
"The person calling me isn't Madison!"
Before you continue