Black Brother is Still the Most Reliable

Watching Eugene walk away, Gavin glanced at Old Robert, who seemed perfectly fine, and headed downstairs.

"Wait for me, damn it, I hope she isn't a zombie!"

As the words left his lips, Gavin reached Eugene's side and shouted back to Old Robert.

"Old Robert, is your boat still in working order?"

"Working? Of course it's working, but what's this about a naked woman and a zombie? What do you mean naked, no, wait—what zombie?"

"Ask Old Mac to explain it to you!"

Leaving that final remark behind, Gavin rushed out the back door of the villa with Eugene, crossing the small wooden deck built over the lake to reach the pier where two boats were moored.

One was a small fishing boat meant for rowing, and the other was a speedboat; Gavin naturally jumped into the speedboat.

Inside the villa, watching Gavin and Eugene vanish, Madison swallowed hard and couldn't help but take a couple of steps toward the stairs.

He didn't have any ulterior motives; he just wanted to broaden his horizons.

Noticing Madison's movement, Old Robert's eyes darted around, and he quickly steadied himself on the railing.

"Cough, cough, I never expected it. Gavin and that redhead are both unreliable, but a solid black brother is the real deal!"

"Anyway, you're Madison, right? I'm Albert. I love watching you play ball. Bella and I are both your fans, man!"

"For real?"

Madison cast a suspicious glance at Old Robert; he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

Old Robert emphasized his point to Madison with extra fervor.

"Of course it's real, kid. Look at how affectionate Bella, this good girl, is toward you. Come on, Bella, roll over for your idol~"

At Old Robert's command, Bella rolled over happily, and Madison pursed his thick lips.

"You sure that was affection? Her affection felt like she wanted to eat me, though her fur is really smooth. You want water, right?"

With that, Madison went off with a grin to find some water on the first floor.

Who said Texas and these other southern states weren't welcoming to us black brothers?

Just look at this.

Today was another day where I, Madison, did my brothers proud~

Meanwhile, out on the lake.

After Gavin boarded, Eugene jumped into the stern, pulled the engine cord to start it, and steered the joystick to head toward the woman.

Gavin picked up his binoculars, vigilantly observing the woman's movements.

After traveling about four hundred meters, Gavin lowered the binoculars and confirmed.

"It's a living person, thank heavens. Damn, I was really worried it might be a swimming zombie!"

Hearing this, Eugene gripped the joystick and retorted irritably.

"You have things you're afraid of? You didn't look scared at all when you were speeding through that gale—I was so scared I nearly pissed myself!"

"Haha, that's different. Speed it up, let's get there quickly."

Gavin laughed and told Eugene to accelerate, and the speedboat roared toward the woman.

At the same time, the woman floating on the lake seemed to have noticed the boat.

From a distance, the woman turned in the water, bobbed a couple of times on her side, and began swimming toward the boat with one arm.

About a minute and a half later, Eugene slowed down, letting the boat drift closer to the woman.

By now, the woman was flailing like a madwoman, using every ounce of her strength as she bobbed up and down in the water.

"Help... glug glug... help me... glug glug... save me!"

Accompanied by the woman's hoarse, faint cries for help, Gavin braced his foot against the side of the boat and reached out to grab her struggling forearm.

"Need a hand? People in the water are always heavy."

Eugene stood up to ask, but Gavin just shook his head with a smile.

With a burst of strength from his shoulders, back, and arms, he plucked the woman out of the water as if pulling a radish from the ground.

"Whoa, impressive. I thought she just wasn't wearing a bra, but she isn't wearing panties or socks either~"

Eugene whistled teasingly, and the woman instinctively glared at him before shivering as she spoke to Gavin.

"It's... it's too cold. This resort... has zombies. I'm going to sue them... ch-ch-ch..."

Before she could finish, her teeth began to chatter violently, prompting Gavin to instinctively check his own clothes before turning back to Eugene.

"Eugene, don't just stare. Give her a jacket."

"What? Why me? Don't you think it's cold out here too?"

Eugene retorted grumpily, but he eventually took off his blue denim jacket and leaned over to drape it over the woman.

The woman clutched it tightly as if it were a lifeline, her teeth still chattering as she spoke to Eugene.

"Thanks, but... ch-ch-ch... is that the same look you give your mother, you redheaded bastard!"

"Stop messing around. I wasn't the one who told you to take your clothes off. It's already a massive favor that I'm helping you put half of them back on~"

Eugene gave the woman a brazen retort before turning back to look at Gavin.

Gavin continued speaking to the woman.

"Enough with the jokes. Although this might not be the best time, I need you to tell me about these zombies you mentioned!"

"Okay... ch-ch-ch... okay!"

The woman nodded, and Eugene returned to the boat's engine to start it up.

At the same time, the woman looked at Gavin, shivering as she spoke.

"I came here for a camping trip with my classmates. We even rented... ch-ch-ch... a yacht from this resort!"

"We spent the afternoon playing on the yacht and slept inside it at night. I never expected that after just one night, all my classmates would turn into zombies!"

"Believe me, they really are... ch-ch-ch... the kind of zombies from those Brad Pitt movies."

"After my boyfriend and I woke up, we had just walked out of the bedroom when we saw the zombies lunging at us. We had to call the police... wait, Gavin? F*ck, Gavin? Are you really Gavin!"

As she spoke, the woman suddenly looked at the upper half of Gavin's face in astonishment.

At that moment, a hint of color forced its way into the woman's face, which had been frozen to a shade of blue-purple.

"My God... ch-ch-ch, how could I possibly see Gavin here? You're the King of Cowboys, the crown jewel of Texas!"

"Can I give you a hug? I... ch-ch-ch... oh my God, I'm so excited. My partner and I are both your fans..."

As she said this, the woman instinctively sat there and opened her arms, wanting to press her freezing body into Gavin's embrace.

Seeing this, Gavin held the woman's shoulders with a look of annoyance and rolled his eyes.

"It's truly a pity that you can still recognize me even with my mask on. As for your partner, I'm afraid I've lost another true fan."

"But forget the hug; you're too wet. Just tell me about the situation with the zombies!"

After saying this, Gavin glanced at the woman's face.

She looked like your standard American college student—chestnut-colored hair, a fuzzy coat, a fit build, youthful features, and a healthy aura. She had no belly fat and a few small freckles on her face.

She wasn't exactly a beauty, but she certainly wasn't ugly either; youth, after all, has its own appeal.

Gavin caught a glimpse of the woman trembling and ultimately reached out to pull the garment draped over her shoulders down to her chest, helping her cover her chest and stomach.

The woman held the clothing against her chest and shivered as she spoke to Gavin.

"Right... ch-ch-ch, you're right. I should talk about the zombies first. It was unbelievable!"

"My God, they... they ran so fast. My boyfriend and I had just rushed out of the bedroom when they tackled him."

"You'd never believe how I escaped. While they were swarming over my boyfriend, I grabbed the deck railing along the hallway and literally climbed over them, then jumped into the water while they chased me!"

"I swear, I really wanted to save him, but I was so scared, boo-hoo... ch-ch-ch."

"Is that so?"

Hearing this, Gavin continued to press the woman for details.

"After you jumped into the water, what did the zombies do? Did they chase you into the water?"

"That's right, they all sank, leaving behind nothing but a long trail of bubbles!"

The woman answered without hesitation.

Hearing this, Gavin finally let out a sigh of relief.

The reality was much as he had deduced: zombies shouldn't be able to swim. Since zombies were constantly moving and roaring, they would likely expel all the air in their lungs within moments of hitting the water.

Gavin didn't think zombies would drown, but creatures that didn't know how to hold their breath and only knew how to roar mindlessly would likely only surface once they had bloated and rotted enough to float.

His mood instantly improved. At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about a massive horde of zombies swimming all the way from Dallas along the Trinity River to the Chambers Reservoir!

Of course, perhaps what he would see later would be a massive horde of bloated, rotting zombies drifting on the surface of the lake...