Chapter 59 Continuing the Operation

Outside the cattle pen.

Madison noticed that Gavin's expression had darkened noticeably without him realizing it.

So, biting his lip with a hint of worry, he rubbed the grip of his shotgun and spoke up.

"Boss, any new discoveries?"

"Not bad. Found something. It's good news," Gavin replied, waving his hand and forcing as calm a tone as he could manage.

This time, however, Madison found it hard to believe him, because Gavin's expression hadn't improved by even a fraction.

He looked at Gavin with continued concern and asked, "Are you sure it's good news? You don't look so hot."

"Ha, it is good news indeed. But every piece of good news comes with a catch, doesn't it?"

Reminded by Madison, Gavin finally became aware of his own grim expression. He gave his head a gentle shake, forcibly dragging his thoughts away from the endless web of dark possibilities.

Whether this zombie virus, which seemed exclusively targeted at humans, was man-made, alien-made, or the result of something even more bizarre—

In the end, immediate survival was far more important than probing the origin of the virus or investigating whether everything stemmed from some grand conspiracy.

Time would reveal many secrets, and all he had to do was seize time itself.

He put away his HK416, pulled off his gloves to rub his face, and turned to Madison with a smile.

"Come on, let's carry this damn thing outside."

With that, Gavin put his gloves back on and, together with Madison, lifted the combined remains of the calf and the zombie.

Madison gagged in disgust a couple of times. Just as they were about to exit the pen, the bodies of the calf and the zombie separated.

Each of them taking one, they dragged the two corpses outside the barn and conveniently shut the heavy doors behind them.

Afterwards, Gavin gave Eugene a distant wave.

Seeing this, Eugene let out a long breath and drove the vehicle over to where they stood.

Stepping out of the car, he glanced at the calf and the zombie lying on the ground and asked casually, "Well, Boss? Did you figure out what's going on with the zombie cow?"

"Pretty much. I've got a piece of good news and a piece of bad news to share with you guys."

Gavin rubbed his gloved hands together on the grass as he explained to Eugene and Madison.

"The good news is that zombies aren't interested in herds of cattle or things like that. I saw more than one set of zombie footprints in the barn, but only one zombie cow appeared, and this was left at the scene—"

As he spoke, Gavin placed the calf back onto the zombie to recreate the scene as it had been found.

Looking at the eerie, intertwined sight of the two, Eugene frowned in thought for a moment and asked, "So a cow giving birth attracted the zombie, and it rushed into the pen, but they didn't attack the other dairy cows?"

"Yes. As for the zombie cow that showed up, my guess is that because she was in labor, the cow panicked when the zombie approached and attacked it, which turned out to be the reason she became the only zombie cow."

Gavin added, following up on Eugene's thought. He pointed to the licked marks on the upper body of the calf and continued, "Or perhaps it was because the calf was stained with zombie flesh and blood, and in a moment of maternal instinct, the cow that trampled the zombie licked some critical substance that triggered the mutation.

"As for that part, once we're basically secure, I'll take the time to verify it one by one.

"But regardless, the simple fact that zombies won't actively attack every animal to create more terrifying zombie creatures is already incredible news—"

At this, Gavin tossed his gloves aside, pulled out a cigarette, and took a drag.

Hearing this, Eugene let out a relieved breath and nodded with a relaxed expression.

"Well, fuck!" he cursed with a laugh.

"That really is good news. I sure as hell didn't want to see zombies chasing down tens of thousands of cattle and creating hordes of zombie cows charging straight at us!

"So what's the bad news, Boss? In the face of news like that, what could possibly still count as bad news?"

With that, Eugene cast a deep, searching gaze toward the barn.

Simple though Gavin's explanation sounded, his instincts told him something felt off.

Noticing Eugene's gaze, Gavin shrugged and continued, "Do I even need to say it? The zombie cow has already appeared; no matter what, this phenomenon will never remain an isolated case.

"As the zombies gradually spread out, predatory animals all over the place—like pumas and wild wolves—sooner or later, they're going to attack zombies and suffer a counterattack.

"And scavengers aren't going to be able to resist taking an appetite for zombie corpses, rushing over to get a taste."

Throwing his cigarette butt onto the ground, Gavin clapped his hands together. He looked at the two men with a half-smile and said, "Lads, we need to prepare ourselves for attacks from even more varieties of zombie animals. The future is going to be far more dangerous than we imagined. We're certainly not going to run out of challenges."

"Isn't that just perfect? Those few dozen shots earlier didn't quite satisfy my craving. Besides, back in the military, I used to dream about hunting werewolves—killing a zombie wolf can just check off a bucket list item!"

Eugene laughed heartily and bumped fists with Gavin.

Madison chuckled along in agreement.

Listening to their laughter, Gavin nodded and pulled his gloves back on.

No matter where this zombie crisis originated, as long as he led his team to take deep root in this godforsaken apocalypse, then sooner or later, all secrets would come to light with the passage of time!

Besides, in the face of survival, did secrets really matter more than staying alive?

At that thought, Gavin exhaled and pointed into the distance.

"Let's go. We'll take a look at that zombie cow first; I want to see if it has any zombie bite marks on it.

"Once we've confirmed the situation, we'll head further ahead to the ranch. Once we clear out the zombies there, the manor will be right within reach."

With that, Gavin climbed into the vehicle, watching as Eugene and Madison piled in after him.

The Ford Raptor sped forward, arriving beside the carcass of the dairy cow in the blink of an eye.

Gavin stepped out, crouched beside the dead cow, and silently inspected its wounds.

Aside from the injuries on top of its head, neck, and sides caused by the tearing of the iron gate, there were indeed multiple blood-stained bite marks on the cow's hind legs and rump.

A human's bite force was already fairly decent, and once inherited by a zombie, it seemed to have become even more astonishing.

It had even managed to tear through a cow's backside.

Nearby, Madison also noticed the bite marks on the cow's rump. He pointed at Eugene and laughed, "See that, Ginger? Talking big always ends up like this."

"Fuck you!"

Eugene flashed him his middle finger, unhappily hoisted his rifle, and pumped another bullet into the zombie cow's head.

Watching the splatter of blood and tissue, Gavin shook his head, turned back toward the Raptor, and said, "All right, stop wasting bullets on a corpse here. Check the back of the truck for some rope, drag this cow back to the pen, and pile it together with the other zombies."

"Wait, Boss, why aren't we burning it right here?" Eugene couldn't help asking as he turned back.

Hearing this, Gavin rested his arm on the window frame and spoke softly, "Partner, it's February, not the rainy season! If we start a fire here, there's a good chance it could spread across the entire prairie!

"If we want to burn zombie corpses, we have to clear out a proper burn site and firebreaks, and incinerate the zombies collectively to be safe!

"That's a labor-intensive project. Even with all of us working together, and factoring in limping William and old Bert with his bad back, we might not finish it in a full day!

"Anyway, let's wipe out the active zombies first, and then we can figure out how to deal with the dead ones."

With that, Gavin tapped the car window again.

At last, Eugene nodded and obediently began rummaging through the trunk.

Texas pickup trucks usually carried things like towing ropes to rescue neighbors and passersby who occasionally got into accidents.

Finding a rope, Eugene dragged it over to the cow, used his hunting knife to punch a few holes through the tough hide on the cow's leg, and threaded the rope securely through the fresh wounds.

"All done."

Eugene slapped the side of the truck and climbed back into the rear seat.

With that, Gavin dragged the corpse of the zombie cow behind the truck and sped all the way back toward the cattle pen.