Chapter 61: Dead Horse, Forest, Ravens

Hearing the neighing of the fine horses, Gavin pursed his lips and continuously observed the surroundings through his binoculars.

While looking, he spoke in a low voice.

"Originally, I was even more worried about the stables than the dairy farm."

"After all, racehorses have much bigger tempers than dairy cows, and their frequent neighing makes them much more likely to attract zombies. In other words, I was already prepared to face a lot more zombie horses."

"But the current state of the stables... is too clean. Not to mention zombie horses, I can't even see a single ordinary zombie."

With that, Gavin handed the binoculars to Old Mike, started the engine, and said.

"Let's drive around the perimeter of the stables a few more times and check from a few different angles."

"If we still can't observe any problems, we'll go straight in and inspect the scene."

"I refuse to believe that the zombies and zombie horses at this stage are already capable of playing so-called hunting tactics and schemes with us."

"Maybe someone really came here before us and lured the zombies away from the stables. It might even be that person!"

As his voice trailed off, Gavin slowly drove the vehicle around the stables.

Eugene and Madison nervously observed every little detail of the ranch.

As he looked around, Madison swallowed hard and said.

"This is a good thing, isn't it? Being able to see living people is always good. Besides, I've been thinking—since this is your farm, whoever survived should be an acquaintance of yours~"

Saying this, Madison patted Gavin on the shoulder. Gavin shook his head noncommittally and replied.

"Maybe. I wish them well."

With that, the three men in the car fell silent, continuing to look around as they circled the stables.

After driving around the large circle for a distance of nearly seven kilometers, taking in countless racetracks across the entire stable area, Gavin patted the steering wheel and said.

"Still nothing, right?"

"That's right, absolutely nothing. This damn stable is as quiet as a horror movie!" Eugene replied with a string of curses.

Hearing this, Gavin nodded and pressed down on the accelerator.

"We need to head over there now. Make sure to stay alert later, and don't use melee weapons. If you encounter any emergencies, use the most powerful firearms to shoot them directly!"

"Got it!" Madison gripped his shotgun tightly.

"Copy that!" Eugene gave a comical military salute.

The Raptor abandoned its circular route and drove straight toward the core area of the stables.

As the vehicle drew closer, fine horses in the paddocks near the path began to gallop alongside the car.

Accompanied by the sound of hooves, Gavin parked the vehicle in an open area, drew his Colt Python, and extended it out the car window.

Looking back, he instructed Eugene and Madison.

"Watch the surroundings closely."

Then...

Bang!

The deafening gunshot of the Colt Python instantly resounded through the entire stable, causing the nearby horses to begin neighing in alarm.

The moment the gunshot rang out, the hairs on Eugene and Madison's arms stood on end.

They had to admit that an environment where not a single zombie could be seen was somehow even more terrifying than one infested with them!

After firing the shot, Gavin sat quietly, silently waiting for any possible changes.

Yet a full minute passed, and the stables remained utterly motionless!

Confirming this, Gavin took a deep breath, pushed open the car door, and stepped out.

"Eugene, take the driver's seat. Old Mike, come down with me and take a look."

"Got it, Boss."

Madison hugged his shotgun and trotted behind Gavin, while Eugene slid into the driver's seat, started the engine, and prepared for action.

Listening to the faint hum of the car engine, Gavin approached the cowboys' bunkhouse and immediately spotted chaotic footprints on the ground.

"Someone was here indeed. Let me see... the zombies chased in an... easterly direction. That's not toward the manor, but toward the small town."

Gavin explored forward along the footprints while activating his walkie-talkie.

"This is Gavin. Is anyone still alive? Has anyone been to the racetrack?"

He didn't expect an answer; it was merely to confirm.

After speaking, Gavin intended to duck into the bunkhouse and thoroughly inspect the interior.

At that exact moment, over at the Ford Raptor in the distance, Eugene suddenly shouted to them.

"Boss, you'd better take a look at the grass over there first. There seems to be some blood on it!"

"Blood?"

Hearing this, Gavin turned back, led Madison toward the Raptor, and asked, "Where?"

"There!"

Eugene fired a shot toward the bloodstain, which landed on the grass about two hundred and forty meters to the east.

Gavin jogged over to the vicinity of the bullet mark and sure enough, found two clumps of grass stained with blood.

Aside from those two clumps bearing heavier amounts of blood, only a few droplets were scattered on the nearly withered blades of grass elsewhere.

Gavin and Madison searched continuously along the direction of the blood trail. Not only did they find more and lighter blood traces leading eastward, but they also recovered two spent cartridge cases.

Holding the revolver casings, Gavin searched the area once more, then pressed the walkie-talkie.

"Eugene, drive over here."

"Copy that."

Eugene drove the Raptor to a stop beside the two men, got out to man the gun in the back seat, while Gavin took over the driver's seat.

As he started the engine, Gavin remarked.

"No tire tracks, only the horseshoe prints commonly seen around the stables. Whoever came here likely arrived on horseback."

"He didn't even reach the stables—meaning he was attacked by the stable's zombies while still further away, right around where the blood begins."

"I'm no damn coroner, so I can't be sure if the blood on the ground is human or equine. But the bloodstains are over three hundred meters away from the stable bunkhouse, and the spot where the intruder fired..."

Pausing there, Gavin parked the car near where the cartridge cases had been found, pointed at the grass crushed by horse hooves, and continued.

"He fired his gun right here. This place is even further from the bunkhouse—nearly three hundred and eighty meters. At that distance, there's no reason zombies would have rushed out hundreds of meters ahead of time to meet and engage him there."

"So, zombie horses must have already appeared. The zombie horses spotted him first, and when the person who rode to the farm crossed paths with them, he opened fire. I suspect all that blood belongs to horses!"

"Perhaps the gunshots attracted the zombies in the bunkhouse, causing the entire pack to pursue him. But I think the zombie horses were his biggest problem."

"He was clearly chased by the zombie horses and forced to flee the stables. We must check along the direction they escaped."

Without waiting for a response, Gavin drove slowly along the estimated trajectory.

The vehicle silently covered two kilometers across the grass, discovering two or three more patches of blood along the way, along with more marks of horses violently trampling the turf.

Beyond the two-kilometer mark, the tracks seemed to shift from the eastward direction toward the highway.

Gavin continued tracking by car. After driving onto the highway, the scattered drops of blood on the asphalt became much clearer.

Following the direction of the blood trail, Eugene aimed his rifle for a moment and whispered.

"Boss, I suspect they crossed the river. What do you think?"

As he spoke, he pointed toward a river some six or seven hundred meters to the west of the highway.

That river was one of the tributaries extending from Lake Richard. There were multiple waterways on the farm, and further west of the river lay the flood-relief area downstream from the reservoir—an area dominated by forest.

Looking at the river and the forest, Gavin nodded and said.

"Let's go check it out."

"Wait, I see it! There are dead horses over there!"

Suddenly, Madison shouted through his binoculars, pointing toward the edge of the forest about seven hundred meters west of the river.

Right there, a flock of crows was circling in the sky, and beneath them lay a piebald racehorse that had been dead for quite some time.

Noticing the crows, Gavin was severely startled and hurriedly yelled at Madison.

"Crows! Look closely at those crows! Check their state!"

Hearing this, Madison and Eugene immediately looked over. Eugene then shook his head uncertainly and said.

"There are already crows eating the dead horse's flesh, but... the crows don't look very aggressive. At least they didn't fly straight over to peck out our eyes."

"Just looking harmless is far from enough!"

Gavin immediately cut off Eugene, raising the Colt Python straight out of the car window.

Preparing to fire, Gavin continued.

"I should have pulled back here. After all, once crows turn into zombie birds, the trouble they bring us will far exceed zombie cows and horses."

"But I want you to understand that as zombies gradually flood the world, no matter how terrifying they are, we will eventually have to face them one by one."

"Therefore, I must fire a shot to test them—to test both the crows and our own future."

"If the crows aren't scared away by the gunshot and instead attack us..."

"Then if we manage to escape, we'll have to prepare to dig underground to survive from now on!"