Chapter 29: Quite Skilled

Upon hearing this, William immediately complied, pinching his own ears hard.

As he endured the pain, his breathing gradually steadied.

Confirming that William’s breathing was no longer erratic, Eugene grinned and continued to soothe him in a low voice.

"That's it, buddy, stay calm."

"The fact that the zombies arrived exactly after we climbed up—Gavin, that bastard, definitely had bad intentions. I suspect that even if I hadn't asked him for guns, he would have suggested it to me at just the right moment."

"I fucking thought these were our own choices, but now it seems everything was likely chosen for us by him. What a prick, haha~"

With that, Eugene reached out and patted William on the shoulder; they were lying head-to-head, very close to each other.

After further calming William down, Eugene glanced at the distance of the zombies and said in a relaxed tone.

"But none of that matters. Whether we can see our loved ones is what matters most. No matter what you see in a moment, remember my words: dig your nails into your ears, feel the pain, and regulate your breathing!"

"Believe me, after we get through this, Gavin will be begging us to do things for him."

"Even if he builds a massive doomsday camp in the future, we will be his best scouts. So what if that bastard is the boss? He’ll have plenty of times he needs to beg us, haha!"

Laughing, Eugene gave William’s shoulder a hard pinch.

The zombies were getting closer and closer, so Eugene could no longer speak.

Thereupon, the two fell into complete silence, with only the sound of their shallow breathing rising and falling.

Far away, at the makeshift camp.

In Gavin's eyes, the horde of zombies rushed out of the forest-covered area, running rampant along the road, sweeping past Palmer Town like a tidal wave.

Their limbs were twisted, their gait was stumbling, their faces were hideous, and their targets were firm.

Yet, they simply failed to notice William and Eugene...

During this process, eight zombies even bumped into the large pillar of the billboard.

Eugene and William didn't cause any commotion either.

Seeing this, even though only half of the zombie horde had passed the billboard, Gavin stopped watching.

He leaned toward the RV, knocked on the window, and said to Madison with a smile.

"I am certain that the zombies' sense of smell must be terrible."

"As for their eyesight, I can't judge, but at least I know they aren't good at searching for stationary targets, just like frogs."

After saying this, Gavin handed the binoculars to Madison.

After Madison took a look, the binoculars were immediately snatched by Winnie, and even Doris leaned over to take a couple of looks.

When the binoculars returned to Gavin’s hands, he smiled at the three excited people in the vehicle and said.

"How about it? It feels great, doesn't it? After all, zombies aren't invincible; at least they won't find each of us with precision~"

"Yeah, Boss! We can play hide-and-seek with them!"

Winnie was the first to respond excitedly to Gavin's words.

Although Madison and Doris didn't say anything, Gavin could feel the boost in morale that the successful escape of Eugene and William had brought to the team.

As for whether team morale would have dropped if Eugene and William had died?

So what if it dropped? Letting everyone be further enveloped by the threat of zombies would also help them realize reality and increase their vigilance, which would make it easier for Gavin to manage them.

Of course, there was no need to realize reality now, so Gavin tapped on the RV window to remind them.

"Doris, how much longer for breakfast? I've been waiting until my flowers have withered!"

"Ah? Sorry... five more minutes, just five more minutes!"

Doris clenched her fists against her chest and promised Gavin with rare firmness.

While Doris was busy, Winnie pushed open the RV door and trotted toward Gavin.

She hugged Gavin’s leg and whispered to him.

"I thought they were really going to die. You guessed all along that they were safe, right? You wouldn't let them die in front of us, would you, Boss?"

As she spoke, Winnie slowly let go of Gavin’s pants.

She lifted her small face to look at Gavin; her blonde hair looked even more dazzling under the morning sun, just as dazzling as the Gavin who filled her gaze.

Meeting Winnie’s expectant eyes, Gavin gave a wicked smile and reached out to tap her forehead.

"It was a mistake to call you a kid; you're already trying to emotionally blackmail me at your age. You must have done pretty well in school, little brat?"

"What are you talking about, Boss? I don't understand anything. I’m going to go do my homework~"

Winnie immediately turned to run toward the RV, but just as she was about to board, her footsteps stopped abruptly!

"Wait!"

She widened her eyes, turned her head, and looked at Gavin in disbelief, asking.

"Boss, if everyone turns into a zombie, does that mean my teacher is also..."

At this point, without needing Gavin to answer, Winnie let out a joyful "Oh!" and then waved her arms as she jumped into the RV, shouting impatiently to Doris.

"Mom! Woohoo! I never have to do homework again!!!"

"Fuck..."

Outside the RV, Gavin couldn't help but laugh and curse, then turned back to look at the billboard.

After the zombie horde had washed over them like a river, Eugene and William waited until the zombies were at least a kilometer away before climbing down from the billboard, getting into their car, and driving off.

Parking the old Ford not far from the Tyrannosaurus, Eugene pushed open the car door in silence and walked to Gavin’s side, shaking his head.

Gavin tossed him a cigarette and asked.

"What are you shaking your head for? Was the person you were looking for not in the horde?"

"No, it's that the person we were looking for is already beyond saving."

Eugene took a deep drag of the cigarette and smiled bitterly.

"Gavin, your advice was great. I never want to go home again, and I’m afraid William feels the same."

"You guess what we saw? His little brother was only a dozen meters away from my sister, and my sister had even lost her shoes running. Fuck the zombie apocalypse!"

Having said that, Eugene blew a lonely smoke ring.

Upon hearing this, Gavin was silent for a moment, then pointed at William, who hadn't gotten out of the car, and asked.

"So, is he going to stay there and be quiet by himself?"

"Let him bite his nails and cry alone. He’s just a brat who hasn't been weaned yet; I wasn't wrong."

Eugene curled his lip as he looked at William.

Gavin nodded thoughtfully and said.

"Alright then, let him stay for a while. Let’s go eat."

"What? The stew is ready? It's fucking slow! Damn, that smells good!"

After taking a deep sniff, Eugene strode toward the old Ford, kicked the car door hard, and cursed.

"Stop being so melodramatic, you think you’re Shakespeare? Come eat, you idiot!"

With that, regardless of whether William agreed, Eugene dragged him toward the RV.

Having dealt with William, Eugene went to the old Ford and pulled a case of beer out of the trunk.

Waving the beer at Gavin from afar, Eugene grinned and laughed.

"Look at this, Quarterback. You jocks never get a chance to drink this good stuff!"

"Fuck you, Eugene. You think we're ascetics? We don't just drink the strongest liquor, we only hang out with the hottest girls!"

As soon as Eugene finished speaking, Madison pushed open the car door, instinctively snatched the conversation, and cursed back at Eugene.

Hearing this, Eugene shook his head in disdain and retorted.

"Screw you, nigger, would you die if you didn't brag?"

While cursing, he handed a bottle of beer to Madison.

Madison used his teeth to pry off the cap and downed more than half the bottle in one gulp, letting out a satisfied burp.

Not far away, Winnie carried a picnic blanket off the RV and slowly laid it out.

Seeing Doris place the most important pot of stew on the blanket, Eugene quickly tossed a beer to Gavin and then grabbed a spot on the blanket.

While Gavin was opening his beer, Doris brought over a plate of rice and asked Gavin nervously.

"I... I haven't cooked rice much. Do you think this is okay?"

"Believe me, there's nothing more energizing than this, Doris!"

While providing emotional support, Gavin walked over to the picnic blanket with his plate.

As soon as he sat down, Winnie scooped a large ladle of stew into his bowl—eight parts meat, two parts broth.

Gavin took a taste with his spoon, and it was unexpectedly good. Although it was a different style from his own chef's stew, the broth was rich and mellow, and the beef was tender, soft, and fragrant.

The little brat Winnie wasn't kidding; her mom really had some skills in the kitchen!