When he finished speaking, Gavin glanced at Eugene.
Well, the guy was already grinning from ear to ear. Eugene's idea of the apocalypse was probably nothing like the environment Gavin had described.
As for the possibility of zombie cattle that Gavin had mentioned, Eugene didn't seem to take it to heart.
Seeing how carefree Eugene was, Gavin didn't say anything more. After all, he knew his own farm's surroundings.
The farm really was in a great location, with a very high chance of surviving the initial outbreak. But there were countless places like it across America.
Texas alone had at least one survival haven even bigger than Gavin's farm: 6666 Farm.
If Gavin dared to let his guard down as soon as he got home?
Don't be ridiculous. In the movies, people like that were always the first to go.
Still, even if he stayed vigilant, there was a need to balance tension with relaxation.
At least the damp, chilly breeze right now was pretty nice~
With that, Gavin continued to speed along into the cold wind, safely leaving the Lakeside Resort and reaching the 2.6-kilometer-long highway across the lake.
He glanced at his watch. It was now 10:40 a.m.
The group had lost a little time along the way, but it had still been less than two hours since Old Albert had called him.
Gavin pursed his dry lips and murmured softly,
"Old Albert, I hope you can hold on until I get there."
"What did you say? The wind's too loud—I couldn't hear you!"
Beside him, Eugene yelled at Gavin over the cold wind.
Gavin glanced at Eugene and shook his head. "I said you'd better get ready to eat beef, you idiot!"
"Haha, I love beef. God bless Angus cattle!"
Eugene replied excitedly. At the same time, the RV behind them suddenly sped up, drew alongside Tyrannosaurus on the right, and matched its pace.
Then Madison leaned out with his big face and shouted to Gavin,
"Boss, it's past ten. Doris wants to know what you want for lunch. Rice again? She can make tomato and egg stir-fry!"
"No problem. Tomato and egg stir-fry it is. Tell her to set aside a portion just for me without adding extra sugar, and bring me some of the stew left over from this morning!"
After Gavin answered, the RV slowly fell back. Winnie was the only one left, leaning against the window and making a face at Gavin.
Madison and the others still didn't know they had reached Gavin's home, but the people in the RV had clearly already felt the sense of safety and ease that the quiet surroundings brought them.
That was America for you. Most of a state's population was concentrated around its capital and major cities.
And this was Texas—the Lone Star State, ranked second in America for both economy and population, a major state bold enough to threaten independence from the White House!
Even so, once they left the Dallas Metro Area, the scenery became the sort of place where a road-horror movie like Wrong Turn could be filmed at any moment.
Every year, countless people went missing in America. Most disappeared on backroads like these, far from the big cities.
For example, across the vast tract of land actually controlled by Gavin's family, there wasn't even a single police station. The nearest one was in Richard County, 26 kilometers west of the reservoir.
That gave you an idea of how scarce law enforcement was in rural America.
And the owners of the many farms scattered across the Texas countryside were tough and domineering people!
Lost in thought, Gavin drove Tyrannosaurus across the bridge and reached the very top of the Y-shaped road.
As they approached, Gavin turned right and pointed toward the open land at the end of the T-junction.
"That's the airport the State Government gave me. It's a domestic airport, but it doesn't get much traffic."
"So, Quarterback, where the hell are we going? How much farther is it to your farm?"
Eugene rubbed his face in frustration and interrupted Gavin.
"God, I've had enough. This is the first time I've ever prayed to you so sincerely. Hurry up and throw this show-off devil into hell!"
"You've got a highway at home, a river and a lake, and even an airport. I really want to shoot you, Gavin!"
"Haha~"
Gavin played along with Eugene's exaggerated rant and chuckled before raising a hand to point south along the road.
"All right, that's enough joking around. Our trip is almost over. About two kilometers ahead is Albert's Lakeside Cabin."
"I developed the part of the land near Chambers Reservoir that's surrounded by the lake into a resort to get a tax exemption."
"As for the land around the outside of the lake, my father built vacation homes there for long-serving employees and placed them wherever they liked."
The two kilometers passed in just a few sentences.
As he spoke, Gavin slowly decelerated and turned onto a narrow road through the forest.
As they drove farther along it, Eugene spat out the window and grumbled at Gavin,
"Fuck. So the only way I can get a detached little house with a yard is to somehow become one of your family's employees, huh?"
"It's not that simple. Take Albert, for example. His grandfather served my great-grandfather, and the two of them even fought together in the Civil War. That's a lot of history between them."
Gavin cut Eugene off and explained, then parked the vehicle in front of the cabin.
A three-story house stood right beside the lake, with even a third of it built over the water.
There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the yard. Its paths were bordered by lawns that hadn't been trimmed very neatly.
It was clear that Albert really was getting old. When he was younger, Gavin would never have seen a lawn this uneven at his place.
Besides that, the paths through the yard led to the garage, the stables, and a blacksmith's workshop filled with scrap metal and outfitted with a forge.
The moment he saw the workshop, Gavin couldn't help pursing his lips.
My old blacksmith, please don't let anything have happened to you.
After a silent prayer, he said to Madison and William as they got out of the vehicle,
"William, don't get involved with that leg of yours. Go back to the RV."
"Madison, get the masks and gloves. The three of us will gear up and go inside to check on Old Robert."
"Sure."
Madison answered and quickly rummaged through Tyrannosaurus's truck bed for the items, then handed them to Gavin and Eugene.
While the two of them put on their masks, Madison struggled to fit the undersized mask over his large face and asked Gavin,
"Boss, will William be okay on his own in the vehicle? Should we leave Eugene behind too?"
"No need," Gavin replied curtly.
"The nearest house is about 1.5 kilometers from here. Even if the zombies there find us, there'll only be one or two of them."
"In the early days of the apocalypse, the zombies' locations are still pretty predictable. Most stay near where they lived. They won't have spread all over Texas because of the animals and survivors just yet."
When he finished speaking, Gavin put on his gloves, drew his tactical knife, and headed toward the house.
He didn't have a key, and he didn't expect Old Robert to open the door for him, so he went straight to the two-meter-high wall and nimbly climbed over it.
Madison and Eugene followed right behind him. They might have been tall and short, respectively, but they were both athletic, landing neatly on the other side.
As Gavin walked toward the front door, he called out in a moderately loud voice,
"Old Robert, are you there? It's Gavin!"
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Just after Gavin spoke, a faint coughing sound came from inside the house.
Gavin's face lit up. The old blacksmith was still alive. That was wonderful!
Excited, Gavin quickly took a couple of steps forward.
But just as he reached the front of the house, he suddenly stopped!
"Cough... Gavin... you bastard... you must be messing with me!"
Old Robert's voice slowly drifted out from inside, but Gavin stood perfectly still, staring blankly at the lake in the distance.
When Madison and Eugene came up beside him, their faces full of suspicion, he pulled out his binoculars and peered through them, saying with surprise,
"Shit, you two, look! There's a naked woman swimming in the lake!"
Before you continue