Doomsday America.

Chapter 280 The Nest

North of New Orleans, right next to downtown New Orleans, lies... the enormous Lake Pontchartrain.

Inside the return capsule, drifting with the current.

Charlie vaguely woke up, and the reason he woke up... seemed to be some strange sound ringing in his ears? "Devour!"

Thinking of this, Charlie Duke suddenly sat up and took a long breath.

This breath caused him to cough involuntarily, as the air he was breathing was overwhelmingly filled with the smell of alcohol. However, he wasn't deterred by the hangover or the smell of alcohol; instead, he quickly moved closer to the porthole and nervously looked out of the return capsule.

In his mind, the rustling sound that had woken him from his sleep had been automatically identified by his brain as the sound of zombies scratching at a door frame! He really didn't want to see the return capsule surrounded by countless zombies when he looked out the porthole!

With this in mind, Charlie's gaze darted nervously around the small window he could see.

But... the lake outside the window was calm and still, only slightly illuminated by the red glow of the rising sun. It didn't look scary at all; in fact, it was quite beautiful. But what about the faint sounds I was hearing?

Surely it can't be the sun knocking on the space station's door, right?

Just as Chali arrived at this point, a sound came from a seat not far away.

"Hey hey jiang... hey throat jiang... eat... Charlie... hey jiang jiang..."

"What?"

The faint sounds made Charlie turn around in even greater fear and look towards Richard's location.

At the same time, Charlie quickly raised both hands, assuming a defensive posture towards Richard.

He shouted at Richard with extreme caution.

"Richard, is that you? How are you? Do you feel like biting something?"

"Rush...hey bang bang...impulsive?"

Hearing Charlie's words, Richard shuddered twice in frustration, then twisted his tightly bound wrists and laboriously raised his middle finger at Charlie. "What... tsk tsk... do you think I could possibly have any impulse left? I feel like I've shrunk a size from the cold!"

"Huh?!?!"

Charlie finally understood Richard's situation. Richard showed absolutely no signs of becoming a zombie; he was simply shivering from the cold. The strange noises that had woken him were most likely Richard's trembling cries for help!

As for the current temperature…

Well, while February in Texas should be blanketed in snow, a month for Christmas and Santa Claus, the weather in Texas in mid-to-late March is actually quite warm, considering that most universities are blocked by the mountains to the left of Texas, and Texas's location in the southern United States, which brings it closer to the equator.

Those who are resistant to the cold have already started wearing shorts and going out, after all, many people in Texas wear only denim shorts in winter. But...

Richard's situation was different. He was unclothed, with only bandages to keep his upper body warm, and he had also lost blood, resulting in hypothermia. Furthermore, the painkillers had long since worn off, making Richard's condition even more unbearable.

So, after confirming the situation, Charlie swallowed hard and then hurriedly looked around.

But after looking for a long time, he still couldn't find anything to cover Richard up.

There wasn't even a blanket in their return capsule. After all, barring any unforeseen circumstances, their spacesuits would keep them warm even in the extreme cold of space. The space station didn't want too many cumbersome items floating around, so there wasn't a single blanket to be found. They slept in fixed sleeping bags, or simply by being tethered to ropes and floating in the air.

So where was Charlie going to find anything to keep Richard warm? Even Richard's last set of clothes was now covered in the blood Richard had shed yesterday. That stuff couldn't be used to cover Richard at all; what if he got infected?

Charlie shook his head helplessly, then patted Richard on the shoulder and said...

"Richard, my brother, just bear with it a little longer. The temperature will rise after the sun comes up!"

"I know... damn it... I just... oh oh oh... I haven't felt this bad since I first entered MASA for space training... oh oh oh... I've never felt this bad before!" Richard replied with difficulty, then rotated his wrist.

He first tapped the chair with his fingers to draw Charlie's attention to his hands, then pointed to the medical kit not far away and continued, "Charlie, after one night... well, after some observation, I've confirmed there are no more symptoms of internal bleeding, so don't worry about me dying in a coma or unconsciousness. I... need painkillers!" "This..."

Seeing Richard's trembling finger pointing at the medical kit, Charlie narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment before finally nodding. "You're right, Richard, and I really can't bear to see you continue to be sad."

"However, please remain as conscious as possible. You're my experimental subject. After all, if you really do turn into a zombie, I'd like you to tell me your last feelings before you become one, so we can record them and conduct research and investigation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Charlie strode over to the first-aid kit, bent down, and picked up the painkillers.

Glancing at the first-aid kit, and adding the painkillers in their hands, they had a total of five vials of lidocaine, enough for Richard to laugh happily for a day and a half. But even if the lidocaine ran out, there were still a few vials of morphine in the first-aid kit, which could keep Richard laughing for a few more days.

Seeing this, Charlie decided not to be too careful with the painkillers. He grabbed a disposable emergency syringe filled with lidocaine and returned to Richard's side. "Bear with the pain, buddy. The painkillers we're using are a slightly lower, absolutely safe dose than usual, so they'll take a little longer to take effect." As he finished speaking, Charlie reached out and rubbed Richard's back, intending to find a good spot to gently inject the painkiller.

Logically, Richard shouldn't have been injected with lidocaine after yesterday's emergency suturing surgery.

But Charlie felt that the environment in the return capsule was too harsh. If Richard continued to endure the pain, it would not only help him stay conscious, but it would also be a huge torment to Richard's mind and body.

Charlie, on the other hand, and Richard were the only two Americans on the space station, and he couldn't bear to see Richard suffer so much.

But just as Charlie was about to insert the needle...

"Buzz...buzz...This is Gavin, we have departed, please respond!"

"What?!"

puff!

"Aaaaaaah!"

The instant the radio crackled to life, Charlie's right hand jerked violently, then with a sharp "thud," plunged heavily into Richard's muscle. Fortunately, this wasn't an ordinary needle, but a specialized painkiller injection, so even though Richard was incredibly thin, there was no chance of the needle piercing his internal organs or bone! Of course, it was still incredibly painful…

Just as Richard screamed in agony, and as the others in the return capsule were awakened one by one by the screams,

Charlie hurried to the radio, grabbed the intercom, and responded.

"Gavin, this is Charlie. We're doing well; Richard, the only injured one, is still alive!"

"That's great, guys! We've left the Livingston Lakes area and are now heading towards New Orleans along the coast. I'm sure we'll find you soon. You can look forward to it, my friends!"

Gavin responded loudly to Charlie, then put down the communicator and frowned as he looked down at the ground below the helicopter.

Beside him, Eugene, who was in the same helicopter, gripped a stable object with one hand and propped his sniper rifle on the ground with the other, saying to Gavin, "Boss, things aren't looking good. The coastline near Houston looks too quiet!"

"Yes, it's definitely too quiet; that's not a good sign!"

At this point, Gavin picked up the binoculars and peered out of the cabin.

In his eyes, there wasn't a single zombie in sight in this small town southeast of Houston!

That's right, not a single zombie can be seen. This situation is simply unbelievable!

Unless this town has been specially cleaned up by someone, how could it be impossible to find even half a zombie?

With that in mind, Gavin turned his gaze to the buildings in the town.

As he was observing, Charlie's cheerful voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"That's great, Gavin. The route from Houston to New Orleans is that simple. Just fly east along the coastline, and you'll reach New Orleans. After all, New Orleans is right at the mouth of the Mississippi River!"

"Let me guess, oh my god, I'm so excited! I want to guess where you are!"

"Is it Winnie the Pooh, Port Arthur, or perhaps even Lake Charles?"

At this point, Charlie waited silently.

After hearing these words, Gavin silently recalled the map he had seen before.

As for why not take out a map and look at it?

Stop joking, they're wearing radiation protection suits!

So before setting off this morning, Gavin studied the nearby map many times, memorizing the route from Houston to New Orleans. Soon after, based on the map in his mind, he responded to Charlie.

"Charlie, we flew directly southeast from Lake Livingston, without passing through Houston. So we flew through Beaumont and skipped Port Arthur, heading straight for the coastline." "As for the town below us, it should be called Cameron. It's a tourist town built near the mouth of Lake Calxau." "Anyway, we'll only need two hours at most to reach New Orleans. Maybe we'll find you before lunch!" Gavin's tone became slightly more serious as he said this.

His gaze as he looked at the buildings below deepened.

He put down the communicator and whispered to Eugene.

"Eugene, fire a shot towards the third floor of the hotel at 11 o'clock. I think I saw that window... something's strange!"

"Is that so?"

Upon hearing Gavin's instructions, Eugene immediately lay prone on the helicopter, leaned out of the cockpit, and fired a shot at the location Gavin indicated. The helicopter was now only about 1.2 kilometers above the ground, a distance from which Eugene could easily shoot at large stationary targets, even while he was in motion. Even if he missed the window, Eugene was confident that the bullet would hit the wall next to the window.

And indeed, just seconds after the gunshot, the glass of the hotel below shattered.

Gavin, meanwhile, picked up his binoculars and stared intently at the third floor of the hotel!

Once the glass shattered and Gavin could no longer see the sunlight reflecting off the window, he immediately noticed that even without the curtains drawn, the window was shrouded in darkness! After this darkness lasted for three or four seconds, a figure suddenly leaped out of the dim window, crashing to the ground from the third floor. But as he landed, a yellow, clawed creature resembling a spider web and slime mold was still attached to his body and the third-floor window! "Shit!"

At that moment, Gavin, who had seen everything, cursed.

At the same time, Edward's voice came through the walkie-talkie hanging on his waist of his protective suit.

"Boss, if I heard correctly, someone fired a shot on your plane. Did Eugene have a mental breakdown, or did you discover something?" "Yeah, boss, I vaguely heard it too. Is there something down below us?"

Old Feng followed up with a question from Edward.

Faced with the two men's questions, Gavin patted Eugene on the shoulder, telling him to continue using the sniper rifle's scope to observe one zombie after another rushing out of the windows that were almost filled with slime mold-like creatures, while picking up the walkie-talkie and speaking.

"Look at the hotel in our 10 o'clock direction! Hurry up, or we'll be flying over there!"

"receive!"

"OK!"

Responses came through the walkie-talkie, and Gavin sighed thoughtfully as his men responded.

Meanwhile, on the ground beside him.

Eugene, who was constantly aiming his sniper rifle, clenched his fist and slammed it on the ground, saying...

"Boss, that hotel... it's practically covered in fucking fungus. Is that fungus or some kind of snotty monster? It's fucking disgusting!" Eugene said, turning his gaze to the zombie lying on the ground.

He quickly realized that none of the zombies, whose bodies appeared to be excessively rotten and as if they would fall apart at the slightest movement, had lost their normal running posture after falling from the third floor! In other words, none of them had broken their limbs from the fall. Although broken limbs do not affect a zombie's movement, the loss of limbs would still change its running posture!

In other words, these zombies, hiding inside the house alongside the sludge-covered environment, not only didn't rot and weaken due to the excessive moisture, but they seemed even more resilient than when they were normal people! After all, this was the third floor, the third floor of a hotel. Considering that hotels generally have higher ground floors, the distance from this third-floor window to the ground was probably over seven meters! At that height, even if ordinary people fell to the ground like dumplings in a pot without any protection or cushioning, not many would be able to immediately get up and continue their charge. But the zombies were no exception! And the most terrifying thing was that after these zombies landed, a chain reaction occurred throughout the town. Zombies from house after house jumped out of the windows, all covered in those disgusting slime-covered fungi!

Gavin saw this clearly, so he swallowed hard, picked up the walkie-talkie, and spoke softly.

"Did you all see that? Damn it, we need to check the radiation levels around here!"

"If the zombie outbreak in this town isn't due to nuclear radiation, then... I guess those slime-like growths, resembling the pale green snot that comes out of a runny nose, might be a product of the near-shore environment. Of course, it shouldn't have anything to do with air humidity, since we live right next to a lake and nearby rivers; the air around us isn't exactly dry." "But we don't see anything like this zombie outbreak around us!"

"They are completely different from the inhabitants and ambushers we've faced before. Although they also hide in houses and various buildings, they don't seem to be hiding and waiting to ambush us. Instead, they seem to be resting comfortably in their lair!"

"That's right, a lair! I think that's a very accurate description, don't you think?"

Gavin told his buddies a lame joke, then couldn't help licking his lips.

As he licked, he deduced from the posture of the zombies in the town below through his binoculars that the zombies were actually more vigorous than those he had encountered recently! It wasn't that they were faster, nor that they could scale walls.

However, these zombies, who had just rushed out of their lair and were still covered in disgusting slime, moved with the fluidity of machines lubricated with oil! Indeed, the word "fluid" was more fitting to describe the zombies below.