The Backstab

When he finished speaking, Gavin waved everyone back to the vehicle to get ready.

But after hearing him, no one was about to let him go off alone.

Madison was fine with it. He did whatever Gavin said. When it came to taking action, he trusted Gavin almost without limit.

But Eugene...

"You're going by yourself?"

As soon as Gavin finished speaking, Eugene questioned him with a strange look.

"Are you kidding? If something happens to you, who else knows the address of your place? I'm still waiting to eat that beef!"

Eugene patted William on the shoulder.

"Have William take the Tyrannosaurus and wait for us. I'm going with you!"

"No need."

Gavin flatly rejected Eugene's offer and pointed at the Tyrannosaurus, urging him on.

"Go wait in the Tyrannosaurus."

"Why?"

Seeing that Gavin wasn't giving him a chance, Eugene spat to the side in annoyance and muttered,

"Quarterback, are you fucking looking down on me? You think I can't do the job?"

"Fuck off. When I was killing people in the Middle East, you were still at school, hugging a football and fucking cheerleaders!"

"Do you know how many people I've killed? My kill count would scare the shit out of you: thirty-seven. Thirty-seven!"

"Give me an MK22, and I could blow your head off from a thousand meters away. And you still look down on me? You think I grew up on fried chicken and watermelon?"

"Hey!"

Before Gavin could say anything, Madison sprang forward.

He kicked Eugene in the ass and cursed,

"Watch your fucking mouth, or I'll beat the shit out of you, then keep beating you with your own shit!"

"Ah, I forgot about that. We've got a Black guy among us. My bad, haha!"

Eugene laughed and gave Madison's arm a couple of reassuring pats.

Then he let go of Old Mac and continued speaking to Gavin.

"Seriously, Gavin, you don't have to protect us on an exploration like this."

"In this shitty apocalypse, those of us who are getting on in years are all going to have to face those zombies sooner or later!"

"If you go alone this time, maybe you'll go alone next time too. What about us? We just follow behind you and wait to eat the shit you drop?"

"I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm no Scarab Constellation. I can help you, in any way you need!"

With that, Eugene dropped his usual carefree attitude and did his best to show Gavin another side of himself.

Looking at Eugene now, Gavin could indeed see some of the qualities of an old American serviceman: decisiveness, courage, and plenty of gangster swagger.

But whether Eugene had ever killed anyone wasn't why Gavin had decided to go alone.

Gavin wagged a finger at Eugene and said quietly,

"That's not why, Eugene."

Then Gavin tossed him the binoculars and explained,

"Look at the area over there. The zombie by the gas pump has its back to us, and it's about sixteen meters from the convenience store."

"Look closely at the convenience store window. There's another zombie inside."

"If dealing with the zombie by the pump draws the one inside, it could smash the window and make an awful racket."

"The convenience store is only a little over ninety meters from town. If that sets off a chain reaction, we'll have to see who can run the fastest!"

Gavin shrugged and smiled.

"Anyway, after I take out the zombie by the pump, I'll still have to open the convenience store door as quietly as possible and kill the one inside."

"I can't guarantee the whole process will be silent, and I doubt any of you could either."

"So it doesn't matter how many people go. What matters is that whoever goes can run fast enough to get back to the vehicle as quickly as possible if something goes wrong!"

"Put it this way: my best hundred-meter time on the team was 9.64 seconds. What about you? How fast can those little legs of yours run?"

"Eleven seconds? Or, if I'm being generous, ten and a half?"

Gavin pointed at the Tyrannosaurus and warned Eugene,

"Go wait in the vehicle. If something goes wrong and we have to abort, we'll take shelter from the zombies in the big open area near the Feed Mill."

"Of course, I think the plan has a good chance of working. Once I succeed, drive toward the gas station slowly. Don't you dare rev the engine, okay?"

At that, Gavin gave Eugene a particularly stern look. Eugene pursed his lips in annoyance.

"Fine, you win, Texas Bolt. Sorry my little legs aren't good enough for you, fuck!"

Rolling his eyes, Eugene flipped Gavin the bird, then obediently headed for the Tyrannosaurus.

As he started the vehicle, he opened the passenger-side door and pointed to the seat.

"I'm not going to wish you luck. You're obviously someone we can trust, but if this goes wrong, remember I'll be right here waiting for you, buddy!"

"Don't worry. It'll work."

Gavin nodded at Eugene, then waved to Old Mac. Old Mac immediately took William back to the RV, started the engine, and waited.

When Madison and William returned, Winnie pulled Doris over to the sofa and carefully asked them,

"Why is the boss going over there alone? None of you are going with him?"

All right, their conversation had seemed heated, but with zombies in sight, they'd actually been keeping their voices down.

That was why the two women hadn't been able to hear them clearly.

While Madison explained things to the women, Gavin drew his tactical knife and strode toward the gas station.

When he got within about a hundred meters of the gas station, he slowed down a little.

When he was about sixty meters away, he bent slightly at the waist and continued forward in a crouch.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the zombie's back, Gavin relaxed his upper body while gradually tensing his lower-body muscles.

If he saw any sign that the zombie had noticed him and was about to turn around, he'd sprint immediately!

This time, he wanted to make sure the zombie didn't even have a chance to howl.

At the same time, he wanted to conduct a little experiment.

If he kept his footsteps quiet enough, could he sneak up and stab a zombie in the back?

From the way Eugene and the others had avoided the zombies by lying on the GG Billboard, Gavin had more or less determined that zombies had lost their sense of smell.

If their noses were even half as sensitive as a dog's, Eugene and William wouldn't have made it out alive.

As for whether zombies could hear better or worse than the living, that was what this attempt would reveal!

If their hearing was better than a living person's, then no matter how quietly Gavin moved, he'd never manage a successful sneak attack.

Even the lightest footstep was still a footstep, and unlike the living, zombies wouldn't have their attention scattered by all kinds of information and fail to notice faint sounds nearby.

Thinking this, Gavin crouched and licked his lips. His right hand tightened involuntarily around the knife.

He was only about eighteen meters from the zombie, but at that distance, he was also visible through the convenience store window!

He glanced toward the store and confirmed that the zombie inside was still wandering between the shelves, not looking his way.

Then Gavin pressed his lips together and continued sneaking forward.

At fifteen meters, the zombie by the pump swayed slightly.

At ten meters, the zombie by the pump exhaled and let its arms swing a little.

In the distance, Madison took deep breaths and rubbed the RV's steering wheel over and over.

Eugene sat in the Tyrannosaurus, keeping the binoculars trained on Gavin.

"Heh, he's fucking almost got it!"

As Eugene murmured under his breath, Gavin moved extremely slowly until he was within two meters of the zombie.

At that moment, the zombie suddenly shuddered and whipped its head around!

But Gavin was faster!

The instant it turned, Gavin lunged at it and drove the knife down into its skull.

The zombie immediately crumpled. Gavin reached out with his left hand and grabbed its clothes, keeping it from hitting the ground and making a sound.

After carefully lowering the zombie to the ground, Gavin pulled out his knife and turned to look at the convenience store.

But as he looked through its window, he was astonished to realize—

His eyes had met those of the zombie inside!