Doomsday America.

Chapter 308 Eugene's Clever Idea

Two days later, at around 7:20 in the morning.

Gavin was awakened by the commotion beside him and looked nervously at Nikita, who was lifting the covers and turning over to lie face down on the bed.

Nikita curled up, covering her mouth, and only managed to find her slippers with her left foot before running barefoot to the bathroom. But before she could even hug the toilet, she couldn't stop vomiting, spitting everything out onto the floor…

Hearing the splashing sound, Gavin couldn't help but swallow.

Damn it, that image made him think of some bad things.

I remember that was right after the apocalypse...

For a moment, Gavin shook his head to try and clear his mind of the images, then quickly got up and went to the bathroom.

First, he comforted the upset Nikita, then helped the little girl clean the floor.

While Gavin was tidying up, Nikita stood pitifully under the showerhead, catching the warm water with her body while looking at Gavin with pursed lips. Nikita's morning sickness was more severe than most pregnant women, and since she wasn't yet at the stage of being a picky eater, and because she was young and growing, she ate a lot. Therefore, her vomiting was quite intense.

Gavin was worried about Nikita's health, so after breakfast and when the fieldwork began, he left the hall and went to his parents' old manor, where he found old Bert, who was forging iron with his apprentice. Old Bert was in really good health, even though his lumbar spine had been almost broken during the early days of the apocalypse.

But that might have been due to a severe fever during the early stages of the apocalypse.

After the fever subsided, old Bert's back recovered relatively quickly, a remarkable pace for an elderly man like him. Now, he was not only free from his wheelchair and able to instruct his new apprentices, but he could even wield a hammer and personally teach them how to control metal tension. When Gavin arrived, old Bert was there, hammering away with his forging mallet, the hammer clanging and banging.

However, when Gavin arrived, old Bert casually tossed the unfinished horseshoe to his apprentice.

As he watched his apprentice continue forging horseshoes, he waved to Gavin from afar.

"Gavin, coming over for a walk, or do you need something from this old man?"

"It's nothing, just came to take a look. Why are you still shoeing the horses? Didn't you already change the horseshoes at home?"

Gavin casually asked old Bert a question.

Hearing this, old Bert grinned, patted his apprentice on the shoulder to let him continue his work, and clapped his hands twice before coming over to Gavin's side and laughing. "Horseshoes are perfect for blacksmith apprentices to practice on. Besides, even though we've replaced the horses' hoops at home, we still need to prepare some for the wild horses." "After all, the wild horses on the ranch now were all domesticated. If we threw them into the wild, none of them would be good at taking care of themselves." "Moreover, if wild horses hadn't been domesticated back then, they would have been extinct long ago, just like sheep."

"Although we don't have the manpower to feed all the wild horses, we can occasionally catch a few with injured or overgrown hooves, repair their hooves and replace their shod shoes. This will help the wild horse herd last longer and develop better."

At this point, old Bert wiped his clean palms on his jeans, then casually checked the two pistols at his waist. After confirming the weapons were in good condition, he and Gavin crossed the old manor on foot, trekking across the highway towards the river west of the farm. The area around the camp was generally safe; after all, even if there were many zombies in Texas, they wouldn't outnumber the population of Texas.

With a population of around 30 million, once dispersed across the vast territory of Texas, their numbers might not even be more concentrated than most animals. Moreover, there are sentry posts several kilometers around the camp, and the camp itself has binoculars for constant surveillance.

Given this situation, you'd be lucky to encounter two lone zombies wandering around.

As for the approaching large wave of zombies?

If a large wave of zombies really came, Gavin and Bert could run back immediately; Gavin could outrun the zombies even carrying the old man. So, as they walked towards the river, Gavin told old Bert about Nikita's severe morning sickness.

Upon hearing Gavin's words, old Bert burst into laughter.

He had already heard a similar question yesterday!

So old Bert put his arm around Gavin's shoulder and laughed.

"You talked to me and Kobayashi Naoya about this yesterday. Damn, so you get nervous sometimes, haha." "That's quite good, just like your dad. When you were close to being born, your dad would nervously talk about your situation every time we drank together." "But Kobayashi already told you, those things you're thinking about are basically impossible."

"That bullshit idea of ​​the baby turning into a zombie inside Nikki's belly and then bursting out of her stomach—Kobayashi has made it very clear that this kind of thing is basically impossible. You don't need to worry about it!"

At this point, old Bert patted Gavin heavily on the shoulder.

Gavin sighed helplessly.

In the past few days, Gavin did talk to Xiaolin and Old Bert about his terrifying dream, but what relieved him was that Xiaolin and Old Bert explicitly denied it. Old Bert's denial was simply out of concern between relatives and had no scientific basis.

But what Kobayashi said was very clear.

He clearly stated that, on the one hand, the uterus and amniotic fluid environment can be considered the cleanest place in the world for a developing child, and it is virtually impossible for the child to be affected by too much zombie fungus in the mother's womb.

On the other hand, even in the worst-case scenario, if the amniotic fluid is filled with zombie fungus and further infects the child, the child's fragile constitution would make it impossible for them to calmly wait for delivery before mutating into a zombie and harming the mother.

Most likely, the child was stillborn due to the influence of the zombie fungus at the beginning of its development.

Therefore, even if the zombie fungus really does have a huge impact on a child's development, this impact is more likely to cause stillbirth or miscarriage, and it's impossible for it to last until the moment of delivery! In short, Xiaolin's explanation did give Gavin a lot of confidence.

As for Nikita's morning sickness, which Gavin and Old Bert were discussing, it was purely the stress of becoming a father for the first time. Old Bert didn't say much; after all, every woman has her own hurdle to overcome, and that's what makes every mother worthy of respect, because every child is destined to be born alongside the mother's pain. Well… surrogacy is an exception.

In short, old Bert comforted Gavin and chatted with him about his parents' stories from back then.

After sitting by the river skipping stones for over half an hour, Gavin was interrupted from his conversation with old Bert by a voice on the walkie-talkie. "Sir, this is Thomas. Please come to the hall immediately. Mr. Astronaut Ivan is acting impulsively and needs your intervention!" "Oh? I understand. I'll be right back!"

Gavin didn't ask what Ivan had impulsively done, but instead left the river with old Bert and jogged back to the manor gate.

So, when Gavin returned, he found Big Ivan acting drunk and disorderly in the hall, with four or five of his men desperately trying to restrain him... and Big Ivan's drunken ramblings...

"Ha, don't fucking grab my hand! It's just a power plant, let me out, I can take care of it right away, damn it!" "Trust me, I'm a fucking dynamics expert, an expert, you know? Bullshit, I'm not one of those guys on TV who just spouts nonsense. My theories reach the heavens! I've been to a space station, have you guys?" "Let go of me, let go! I can take care of the power plant by myself, by myself!"

"Life on the ground is too boring, shit! I'm so bored I'm practically hibernating, I'm about to hibernate, you know that?!"

"I'll soon be hibernating like those little bears!"

At this point, Big Ivan struggled to break free.

Fortunately, although he was a burly Russian, as an astronaut, he wasn't short, but he wasn't particularly tall either, so the guys easily pinned him down on the sofa. Gavin sighed helplessly as he watched Big Ivan acting crazy while drunk, then waved to the guys holding Big Ivan down.

The men scattered immediately, while Gavin dragged Big Ivan to sit in the lobby. They drank again, enjoying the snacks Doris had brought, until the old Russian was completely drunk. Big Ivan was an astronaut, and their resistance to motion sickness was incredibly strong, no less than that of pilots, and perhaps even stronger.

So, if you wanted to get them drunk, even Gavin was a little dizzy.

But what else could he do but let the drunken astronauts leave the estate to do their work?

Stop kidding. While the astronauts represent the camp's promising future, until they're certain they've survived the mutation, they're actually a source of danger. Who knows if they might suddenly mutate into zombies at some unexpected moment...

Li Qing has already conducted tests on the zombie fungus for the astronauts these past few days.

Without exception, their bodies, like everyone else's, contained zombie fungus in their blood and other bodily fluids.

Therefore, astronauts will inevitably have to go through the mutation process; it's just unknown how long it will take.

Therefore, Gavin not only had to assign office staff to keep an eye on each astronaut individually, but also had to keep them in a state of intoxication at all times.

After all, the camp had only tested two ways to avoid infection and turning into zombies: a high fever and being drunk. So, Gavin couldn't let all the astronauts become seriously ill and have high fevers all the time; that would not only be unbearable but also harmful to their health. In short, after dealing with the most hot-tempered and impatient astronaut, Ivan...

Gavin lay on the sofa waiting for lunch.

Today, Dolly and the chefs made hamburgers and fried chicken for everyone. Everyone said these things were unhealthy, but everyone found them delicious, and the guys ate with great pleasure. After the meal, Eugene, who had returned from a nearby city with his squad, approached Gavin with a smirk.

"Boss~ Hehehe~"

From a distance, Gavin, who was flipping through a craft book, saw Eugene's smug, self-satisfied expression. He pointed irritably at the sofa beside him and said, "Buddy, you're fucking malicious. Come here and tell me, do I need to give you a good beating for the stupid thing you said?" "Ha, boss, what stupid thing could I do? I just have an idea!"

Eugene smiled ingratiatingly and then sat down next to Gavin.

Just as Eugene arrived, Steve also came along.

Gavin was quite surprised to see the two of them together, since they didn't usually hang out together.

At that moment, Steve gave Gavin a fawning smile, then sat down on the sofa next to him, lit a cigarette, and said, "Boss, Eugene and I just had an idea, and we'd like to see if you'd approve, hehe~"

"Huh? Don't chuckle at me! It's making me a little nervous. Tell me your ideas."

Gavin waved his hand dismissively and lit a cigarette for himself.

Steve and Eugene exchanged a glance, and then Eugene spoke to Gavin.

"Boss, it's like this, well... hehe, it's such a waste to have all those luxury cars sitting around at home, so Steve and I decided to put them to good use!" "Oh? Put them to good use?"

Hearing this, Gavin was somewhat relieved. Eugene and Steve hadn't done anything foolish; instead, they planned to make use of those largely useless luxury cars. The cars did take up some space, but Wells's industrial team was reluctant to simply dismantle them. After all, usable parts could be salvaged from other luxury cars in nearby cities, and the camp had plenty of those. But Gavin's cars were all rare, practically brand new!

So Gavin really wanted to hear what Eugene and Steve had to say, to see how they planned to use those luxury cars.

And Eugene...

He forced a smile and awkwardly spoke to Gavin.

"Boss, here's the thing, Steve and I are planning to take some time to clear out that main highway outside Richard Lake with the guys."

"The road is wide enough, the surface quality is excellent, and there aren't many cars on it. Even if a few cars are still parked there, we can drive them off the road or take them home as spare parts." "In short, we want to maintain a highway main road of at least fifty kilometers and then build an unrestricted speed highway, like the one in Germany!" Just hearing this, Gavin felt the veins on his forehead throbbing.

What kind of bullshit idea is this? Unlimited speed highways, huh?

So, these damned bastards are planning to take some free time to go on a few high-speed car races!

There was no way Eugene and Steve could be the only ones involved in something like this, so Gavin looked around for a moment and sure enough, he saw more than a dozen figures standing in the second-floor corridor, with Edward and Sean among them. Seeing this, Gavin rubbed his forehead and chuckled as he cursed.

"Mazefak, you beach rascal, Eugene, all you want to do is race cars, what are you talking about, making use of waste? I thought you were really planning to do something serious!" "Hehe, boss, it's a real waste to have those nice cars parked around here. This morning I even saw a bison sharpening its horns on a Lamborghini Aventador. I couldn't bear to watch it!" Eugene quickly got up and came to Gavin's side, sitting down next to him like a rogue, and started massaging Gavin's shoulders with a sheepish grin.

Gavin then shook off Eugene's hand in an annoyed manner.

About three years ago, Gavin took his Bugatti Chiron on Germany's unrestricted highways in his private jet for a thrill ride. Not only Gavin, but racing enthusiasts from many European countries also occasionally enjoy driving on those roads.

The most infamous thing about that unrestricted speed highway is that even if you drive one car at 320 kilometers per hour, another car will still outpace you until its taillights are completely out of sight. The Bugatti Chiron, in particular, is a speed beast that can easily reach wild speeds exceeding 420 kilometers per hour on Germany's unrestricted highways. Gavin had already experienced that firsthand.

And his own men...

Okay, look at the guys waiting in the lobby and on the second floor. Before the apocalypse, not many of them had the money or energy to drive luxury cars and push their speedometers to the limit. So, is it really necessary for me to stop them from having this kind of fun?

Gavin sat there pondering for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"Alright, since you're all planning to race, then... let's do as you say."

"However, before we begin, I need to personally inspect the road conditions of the highway you have chosen."

"As for time, damn it, you can only use your lunch break to maintain the roads you need. Don't waste your exploration time on such stupid things!" "After you've fixed the roads, I'll play with you properly. Your idea is unreliable and a little dangerous, but... I still like it! Haha!" Amidst the laughter, Gavin patted Eugene's shoulder heavily.

He had no intention of stopping his group of American scoundrels from their little hobby of racing.

Although street racing is stupid and a waste of time, these American rascals do need some intense exercise to boost dopamine levels and curb their foolish thoughts about skating and smoking! Besides, racing requires sufficient physical fitness and willpower, and it can also significantly improve the guys' courage and driving skills. As long as safety is ensured, it's a worthwhile endeavor, at least taking up the guys' rest time and preventing them from doing anything even more foolish to deplete their energy. Gavin's permission caused a burst of cheers in the hall, and then Eugene, Steve, Edward, Sean, and others, along with more than twenty men in military uniforms, dashed out of the hall. They drove pickup trucks, carrying various tools, and quickly sped out of the manor area, using their rest time to clear the roads they wanted. Gavin wasn't worried about their safety, given their sheer number.

With the firepower of over twenty people, plus the participation of Edward and his team of skilled fighters, even if they encountered the kind of biker gang Rudy faced head-on, they could easily suppress and annihilate them simply through sheer numbers and gunpower. As for the zombies…

As long as the guys avoided the city and only operated on highways, even if the zombies worked themselves to death, they wouldn't be able to cause any trouble for a four-wheeled vehicle. After all, no matter how dangerous the zombies were, their actions and dangers still had to adhere to basic principles. So, Gavin just watched with a smile as his guys disappeared in a noisy commotion. Only after they had completely vanished did he chuckle, shake his head, and mutter "bastard."