An Old Tradition

At Gavin's question, Madison took a deep breath, pressed his lips together, and swallowed hard.

"Risking my life?"

Once he'd convinced himself he was ready, the six-foot-nine giant said with a fierce expression,

"There's plenty to tell, my Quarterback. Remember that game two years ago when I played after getting a cortisone shot?"

"The moment I stepped onto the field, I didn't expect to walk back off it!"

"Sure, I was only risking one leg, one knee, but..."

"I'm your goddamn offensive lineman, the best tackle in the league!"

"My legs are my life! I've risked it before!"

As he spoke, Madison clenched the military knife in his hand.

And Gavin...

He lowered his head with amusement and glanced at Madison's slightly trembling calves.

You sure talked tough, but your feet weren't moving. What was the hold-up?

I thought you'd be so full of courage that you'd volunteer to scout ahead of me, buddy!

Seeing Madison all talk and no action, Gavin slowly opened the door.

He cracked it open and listened for sounds in the hallway.

It was quiet, except for the car alarms blaring outside the villa.

Of course the helicopter crash and explosion had set off the car alarms.

Besides, the cars here tonight were all luxury vehicles, and their alarms sounded fantastic.

Gavin listened for three or four seconds, then opened the door wide.

He immediately stepped forward, ready to leave the bedroom.

It didn't matter who took the lead. At least, Gavin didn't mind.

He could run faster than Old Mac, after all~

Seeing Gavin head straight out, Madison's thick lips quivered.

Smack!

He grabbed Gavin's shoulder, his lips trembling as he struggled to speak.

Gavin turned around. Old Mac seemed to have something to say, so Gavin stepped back into the room and waited.

Meeting Gavin's encouraging gaze, Old Mac took a deep breath and solemnly assured Gavin—and himself,

"I'll protect you, Quarterback. I swear I will!"

"Same goes for you, buddy. I'm not the kind of Quarterback who'd abandon his tackle."

Gavin encouragingly patted Old Mac on the shoulder.

"Stick close and watch where you're going."

"I'm right here."

Old Mac nodded, and at last his calves stopped trembling.

Gavin carried the sword and knife and walked along the hallway carpet, heading left.

Madison's room was close to Gavin's, with only one room between them.

The carpet muffled their footsteps, and they reached Old Mac's door without trouble.

Seeing the familiar furnishings in his room, Old Mac breathed a sigh of relief. Those few steps had been harder than he'd expected, but once he'd left the bedroom, the rest had seemed easier.

Gavin peeked inside. Seeing no zombies, he walked in without hesitation.

Old Mac followed and gently shut the door.

Click...

As soon as the bolt slid into place, he let out a breath of relief.

"Damn, that stretch was harder to get through than leg day."

Madison sighed, then handed Gavin back his phone and casually reminded him,

"I'm going to look for my own phone. Oh, I put yours on silent."

"Thanks, good call. I forgot to silence it."

Gavin nodded, slipped the phone into his pocket, then headed straight for the fireplace.

In modern society, melee weapons had long since fallen out of use, but steel quality and forging techniques had continued to improve.

The kind of relatively expensive decorative swords hanging in this villa were made of perfectly good steel. Their blades even had a patterned design.

A little sharpening would make them more than sturdy enough, so they were worth taking along as backup.

While Gavin took down a military knife, Madison went to the bed.

He picked up his phone and searched for his partner's number. As he dialed, he anxiously rambled to Gavin.

"Leonard always carries his Sony game console everywhere. After we sent those leggy snack girls home last night, he and Kendrick played NBA 2K the whole time."

"They were a little noisy, but thank God they were. Otherwise, I might've slept right through it."

"It was almost three in the damn morning. I was exhausted, and I didn't want to yell at them. Then I saw them cuddling together, with Kendrick's head buried in Leonard's stomach."

"Fuck, I nearly died of fright. I thought they were gay. Then there was blood everywhere. Leonard only screamed twice before he went quiet."

"Believe me, I'll never forget that sight. James was traveling on TV, and one layup had Leonard's guts spilling out."

"I didn't even have time to get dressed. I ran like hell and slammed into the doorframe."

"They were faster than when they chased me during practice. I even pissed as I ran... You'd better forget that part, buddy..."

At that, Madison collapsed onto the bed in despair, burying his face in the blanket.

By the fireplace nearby, Gavin stood silently with three military knives in hand and glanced at Madison.

"Ah..."

With a sigh, he went over to the sofa, picked up a cushion, and casually wiped away the blood and chunks of flesh in front of the TV.

Then he picked up the backpack, which had only gotten a little blood on it.

He emptied it out: two controllers, some cables like an HDMI cord, two bottles of lubricant, a PSP, and a pile of condoms.

After dumping everything out, Gavin tossed the bag onto the sofa. He used a knife to rip open another cushion, tore out strips of fabric, tied two knives together, and slung them over his back.

Once he'd adjusted the knives so they wouldn't get in his way,

Gavin went over to Madison and sat on the bed.

Feeling Gavin approach, Madison lifted his head, wiped away his despairing tears, and said,

"I can't get through to my partner's phone, or the house phone either. I have so many kids. How can not a single one of them... one of them pick up... Fuck, sob..."

After a moment of quiet sobbing, Madison raised his trembling phone.

"This is my mom's number. I can't get through to her either. Nobody's answering..."

When he finished speaking, Madison clutched the phone, his brows twitching as he listened to the busy signal.

Seeing Madison utterly lose heart, Gavin sighed and tried to console him.

"Don't think the worst. Maybe they're all busy, just like us. We weren't in a position to answer the phone just now, either."

"Besides, you've only called your wife and your mom. You haven't called your dad yet. Maybe..."

"My deadbeat dad took off twenty years ago. Shit, we were teammates for four years, and I thought you knew about my family!"

Even in his misery, Madison instinctively swore at the mention of his father.

At that, Gavin glanced at Madison's black skin and couldn't help nodding.

"My bad. I should've guessed. It's an old tradition."

With that, Gavin patted Madison on the shoulder.

"Come on, buddy. At least you called home. I still haven't even dared to call."

"Let's make sure we stay alive first, then worry about our families."

"What good would getting through do anyway? Over the phone, even if I watched them get attacked by zombies with my own eyes, what could I do to help? Cheer them on?"

Gavin couldn't help feeling a little down as he said this.

He'd lived in this world for twenty-five years. His parents in this life were white Texans, but they'd treated him really well. Aside from not giving him a little sister, they'd been great in every way.

But now?

All he could do was hope they died peacefully.

If he wished for them to go on living in this world, could that really count as a blessing?

Living in a doomsday world full of zombies?

Beside the bed, Madison slowly got up and swore,

"Damn this party. I shouldn't have come. But you're right. I have to stay alive!"

"Wait here. I'm going to get my car keys. By the way, where are yours?"

As he spoke, Madison searched the bedside for a moment, then found his car keys in the formalwear he'd been wearing earlier.

Gavin shrugged.

"My car keys? Maybe with my assistant, or my agent? I'm not sure."

"Figures, Gavin. You're the God of Football. You bring four assistants to a party."

"What about your Aston Martin? Can't find it? Guess you'll have to ride in my pickup, huh?"

Madison tried to make light of things, his face still tearful as he teased Gavin. Then he came over and said,

"Don't worry. My pickup's been customized. It's worth at least three hundred grand, so it won't drag down your status."

"You know how it is. I've got too many kids to save any money. Good thing I bought this pickup. It'll come in handy now. It can carry a lot of stuff."

"But what do we do next? I'll follow your lead on this. Should we go to the boss's room for guns?"

"Hopefully we didn't use up all his ammo at the shooting range."

Madison's sadness had come on fast, and he seemed to shake it off just as quickly.

Hearing his question, Gavin nodded and said,

"Yeah, let's go to the boss's room. It's not far, and I doubt it's locked."

With that, Gavin stood up with the empty backpack and casually tossed it to Madison.

Madison took the backpack and looked around the room. In the end, he couldn't find anything else worth packing, so he tossed a few apples into the bag.