Chapter 18: You Old Ghost! Dad!

Upon hearing Gavin’s words, the little girl paused for a brief moment before abruptly lifting her leg.

As she did so, she stared at the road ahead and shouted at Gavin without even turning her head.

"Lift it where? Above my head?"

"What?"

Gavin was caught between laughter and tears, and he hurriedly continued to instruct her.

"Don't lift it that high, unless you're a cheerleader!"

"Then what? What do I do next? Do I press a button or pull a lever?"

"None of that. Just watch the road and count to thirty!"

As Gavin warned her, the motorhome began to slowly decelerate because the girl had obediently taken her foot off the gas pedal.

Madison matched the speed, slowing down alongside the motorhome. Within ten seconds, the vehicle's speed dropped to about one hundred miles per hour.

Behind the motorhome, the old Ford immediately changed lanes, accelerated, overtook the motorhome, and began to slow down directly in front of it.

As all three vehicles gradually lost speed, William’s upper body leaned out of the Ford’s passenger window, screaming shrilly at the motorhome’s bumper.

"Dad!!!"

"Stop your damn screaming, kid!"

Eugene punched William in the rear, nearly knocking him out of the car. William gripped the roof of the Ford, clamped his mouth shut, and stared fixedly at his father.

The motorhome’s speed continued to drop in this pincer maneuver. After another dozen seconds, it finally fell below ten kilometers per hour.

Since the girl didn't know how to park, the motorhome continued to roll forward slowly despite her foot being off the pedal.

Seeing this, Gavin pushed the door open and jumped off the slow-moving Tyrannosaurus.

At the same time, the old Ford slowed down further, intending to block the rolling motorhome to a complete stop. However, William quickly shouted at Eugene to stop, fearing he might hurt the half-body of his father stuck to the bumper.

Meanwhile, Gavin sprinted forward and grabbed the handle of the Ford E450 motorhome’s cabin door. He could have tried for the driver’s side door, but that would have required running another six or seven steps; Gavin grabbed the closest one, as long as he could get inside.

The cabin door was unlocked. Gavin jumped inside in a single motion.

"Nice!" Madison shouted excitedly, then continued to control the car, slowing the pace from a crawl to a mere creep.

As for Gavin, the moment he got inside, he saw a woman lying motionless in the aisle, with blood leaking from a head wound. Gavin stepped over her and was about to rush to the driver's cabin when he heard a hiss!

His pupils constricted. He immediately changed direction and charged toward the bathroom at the back of the motorhome.

The hissing from behind the bathroom door grew more intense, but after listening carefully, Gavin narrowed his eyes in realization. There was only hissing, no banging; the zombie inside must have been restrained.

Satisfied that the zombie wouldn't break out anytime soon, Gavin turned and dashed toward the driver's seat.

Seeing Gavin arrive, the little girl wanted to say something in excitement, but before she could, Gavin grabbed her by the collar, hoisted her up, and tossed her into the passenger seat.

Gavin reached the driver's seat, brought the motorhome to a complete stop, engaged the handbrake, and finally let out a sigh of relief before pushing the door open and jumping out.

In the passenger seat, the little girl looked at Gavin’s retreating back in astonishment, then wiped the sweat from her face and followed him out.

Simultaneously, the Ford and the Tyrannosaurus came to a halt.

William was the first to scramble out of the car, hopping and running toward the bumper. Seeing William lunging for the half-zombie stuck to the bumper, Eugene rushed over and kicked him away.

"Ah!!!"

William cried out in pain as he fell to the ground, rolling over to look at the zombie, tears streaming down his face.

"Stop your damn crying, kid. You can at least still see your old man, but I can't even find a trace of my sister!"

Eugene cursed irritably, then stepped up to the zombie and looked down at its face.

"Aaargh!!!"

The zombie instinctively snapped at Eugene, but he dodged it easily.

After avoiding the attack, Eugene rubbed the bridge of his nose and cursed viciously.

"Fuck you, Barlin. This is the price you pay for stealing my nail gun. This is the price!"

"You died easily enough, didn't you? You just kicked the bucket and left all the trouble to me!"

"To hell with it. The world has changed. It's the apocalypse now. This is a damn apocalypse!"

"Come on, you still want to hit me? Go back to your hell and let me clean up your mess!"

Mid-rant, Eugene reached for his lower back, intending to draw his gun and finish the zombie off. But when he reached back, he only felt the firm flesh of his own rear...

Eugene paused, glanced at the Tyrannosaurus, and his mouth opened instinctively. He wanted to say something but didn't. Taking a deep breath, he delivered a savage kick to the zombie's neck.

"Fuck you, Barlin, this is all your fault!"

One kick, two kicks, three...

*Crack.*

The zombie was forcibly knocked off the bumper. Seeing his father fall to the ground and drag his broken half-body along, clawing at the dirt, William’s throat began to tremble.

"No!!!"

With a scream, he crawled toward his father using both hands and feet. But before he could reach him, Eugene flipped the zombie over with his foot, forcing it to lie face-up, where it continued to hiss.

"Look closely, you damn brat, look closely. This is your deadbeat dad, deadbeat again! Still a dad!"

Eugene stepped on the zombie’s chest and shouted at Madison.

"Hey, you! Put a bullet in this thing. You guys took all my guns, damn it!"

"Go to hell, you short-stack. If you call me that again, I’ll rip your head off and shove it up your ass so you can get a good look at your own intestines!"

Madison roared back, his words leaving the little girl nearby with her mouth agape.

"Whoa!"

As the little girl exclaimed, Gavin held out a hand to Madison.

"The knife. There’s another zombie on the motorhome."

"What?"

Madison paused, then stared at Eugene as he pulled out a tactical knife and silently handed it to Gavin.

Gavin took the blade and walked onto the motorhome without a word, stepping over the unconscious woman and arriving at the bathroom door.

He pushed the door open just a crack to check the situation inside. The zombie was only seventeen or eighteen, a handsome young man with thick blonde hair.

Likely the little girl's brother.

But so what? Was he supposed to film a movie with the little girl called *My Zombie Brother*? Don't make him laugh.

Confirming the zombie had been restrained, Gavin stepped inside, drove the knife from under the chin into the eye socket, and gave it a heavy twist.

The zombie went limp. Gavin went behind it, untied the rope securing it to the hook, and dragged the body out.

When he returned to the front, Eugene was pinning William to the ground by his waist, while Madison was using a bayonet to mercilessly pierce the back of William’s father's head, churning it repeatedly.

"Ugh!"

Nearby, the little girl lunged toward the front of the car and began to vomit violently.

Gavin tossed the young zombie next to William’s father and crouched down to wipe his tactical knife on the zombie’s clothes.

Noticing this, Eugene grinned and cursed.

"You son-of-a-bitch movie star, how do you like my knife? That’s a blade that’s tasted blood!"

"Fuck you, you red-haired midget, keep your damn mouth clean!"

As soon as Eugene finished speaking, Madison stood up as if triggered, stalking toward Eugene with the bayonet in hand.

Seeing Madison’s towering 6'9" frame looming over him, Eugene hurriedly retreated two steps, raising his hands in a pacifying gesture.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down, calm down, I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Doesn't matter. If I hear you spout any more of that tough-guy bullshit toward Gavin, I promise you won't live to see tomorrow. You'd better show some damn respect!"

Madison rushed to Eugene’s face, pushing him back with his chest.

"Did you hear me? Huh? Did you hear me? Fuck you!"

Cursing and shoving as he went, he backed Eugene all the way against the Ford, until it looked like the man was about to be crushed flat.