Doomsday America.

Chapter 309 Bull and Wolf

"Hahahaha!"

The moment Eugene left the hall, his burst of laughter pierced the open meadow, echoing in the ears of all the field agents who had left. Looking at Eugene's arrogant laughter, Diana scoffed and turned to Steve beside her.

"Tsk tsk, look at him, I suddenly don't want to go racing with him anymore~"

"No way, Diana, luxury cars and beautiful women are inseparable. Without a few pretty women waving the flags, we'd be much less able to press the accelerator!" Steve chuckled as he advised Diana, after all, he genuinely wanted to organize a large-scale car race.

Playing sports at home? Don't be ridiculous. No matter what kind of ball game it is, as long as Gavin participates, he's guaranteed to win. It's just not fun.

If Gavin doesn't participate, it would be embarrassing for his group to have fun while leaving their leader out.

But racing is different. No matter how good the boss's physique is, does pressing the accelerator harder make the car under his butt generate more power? Don't be ridiculous. God gives everyone different physical attributes, but God gives every engine the same amount of power.

Once you find cars with identical configurations, the winner will be determined by driving skills.

On this point, Steve doesn't think he's bound to lose; he wants to beat Gavin at least once!

Which field agent in the camp doesn't want to beat the boss decisively?

And so, the men rushed onto various vehicles, grabbing their weapons and equipment, along with a set of tools to clear the roads later. This time, they not only had to inspect the parked cars on the target section of the highway, but also clear away any conspicuous stones and branches. A while back, tornadoes had ravaged central Texas for quite some time. Although Gavin's estate had only experienced one tornado, the surrounding areas had been hit by far more than one. Just cleaning up the traces left by those tornadoes would take the men a considerable amount of time.

So, for the time being, the guys won't be able to do anything else during their lunch break.

This is also why Gavin allowed these energetic guys to go street racing.

The intensity of field training at the camp increased, and with the field crew eating well and sleeping soundly, their physical fitness improved, and their energy levels also increased significantly. Just now, while the field crew members were excitedly heading out, Thomas, carrying various data sheets, came to Gavin's side and began reporting. Gavin, having seen the field crew off, saw Thomas approaching with the reports in Thomas's hands, and his mood immediately improved. After all, if the camp were truly facing a serious shortage of essential supplies that couldn't be replenished quickly, Thomas wouldn't be reporting to him in such a public place as the lobby. His choice to report in the lobby meant that what he was about to report would at least invigorate some of the men listening. Thomas sat down on the sofa to Gavin's left and spoke softly.

"Boss, you asked me to check the vacancy situation in the manor. After a brief inspection, I've determined that about a third of the rooms are still vacant." "Of course, this number will continue to grow, because as life goes on, many of the guys who were originally living alone are starting to move in together, like Susan and Manus." "Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Gavin took the report with interest and began to look at the section about the room survey.

Sure enough, in the area Thomas had specifically marked, many people who used to live in single rooms had started living together or in groups, mostly men and women. Gavin recognized familiar faces like Susan and Manus, Edward and Jennifer, Adele and Barn, Aunt Tara and Nancy with asthma, and so on. Not everyone living together was necessarily a couple.

But as the men became more familiar with each other, whether friends or relatives, they were increasingly willing to sleep together in pairs. While Gavin watched silently, Thomas continued to narrate quietly.

"Besides couples, sir, the camp staff have also felt the problems brought about by the increase in numbers. At the same time, some of them are consciously making room for us." "Here are a few couples who have been resting together in the past week. I can tell that they deliberately made room for the newlyweds. I think it is necessary to make a record of them so that you can give them appropriate recognition when the time is right."

At this point, Thomas gave Gavin a friendly smile.

While Gavin was pondering, he asked Thomas in a low voice.

"If we're talking about a reward, Thomas, what do you think would be the most appropriate?"

"No material reward is needed, sir. Your verbal praise is enough, at least for now."

Thomas responded, then continued speaking to Gavin,

"Aside from the room issue, sir, the camp's supplies are not particularly lacking for the time being. On the contrary, the storage space issue is facing some challenges." "At this stage, the field agents have brought back a wide variety of items. At least until the farmland is fully operational, the field agents can meet our various needs for at least one to two years just by searching."

"But I conducted air humidity tests at several locations in central Texas last week and found that this year's air humidity is almost twice as high as last year's, which means that wild animals left outdoors will decompose at a faster rate."

"Therefore, we may need to appropriately expand our storage space, that is, to excavate and create new storage spaces in the wild in addition to our existing storage spaces." "This will not only increase our storage capacity of various supplies so that we can quickly transport various wild resources, but also create secret storage points to cope with the perilous future." "As for necessities such as meat, eggs, and dairy, sir, at least for now, the camp's supplies of meat, eggs, and dairy are overflowing." "After all, before the apocalypse, our farm was a large farm used to support more than a thousand people, and the current population of a hundred or so in the camp is far too small to meet the farm's capacity." "There's also fuel oil and aviation fuel; these supplies are clearly overflowing. You seemed to have noticed this when you inspected the camp, sir, although the field crews didn't park their tanker trucks near the manor to avoid causing fires and explosions."

"But near the airport used for storing fuel and seizing tankers, hundreds of tankers have almost completely surrounded our manor's airport area..." "In short, we should set search standards for our field crews to avoid them wasting their limited resources on already redundant supplies." "That's a happy problem, sir. I often sincerely hope that even when we're old, our supplies will still be at the current level." "But—in any case, the waste caused by excessive redundancy has already begun to appear in the camp, and some of the children Hela is educating have become picky eaters..." Thomas shrugged at Gavin as he finished speaking.

A proud and happy smile appeared on his face.

After the pain of losing loved ones was gradually pushed into a corner of his heart by life, all that remained in Thomas's heart was pride and joy in Gavin, who had created the life he had now, and in himself. Seeing Thomas's smiling face, Gavin's already relaxed brows also broke into a bright smile.

The news Thomas brought undoubtedly lessened the shadow cast by the mass sex incident that Margaret and others had just orchestrated.

However, Gavin always liked to be prepared for the worst, so after a brief laugh, he tapped his right leg again and asked Thomas, "Thomas, stop laughing. More than good news, I'd like to know what kind of pressure we're facing."

"Instead of enjoying the happiness brought by good news, I would rather focus my energy on solving the difficulties facing the camp."

"As for us not having any difficulties? That's impossible, my friend."

At this point, Gavin continued flipping through the reports in his hand, but in the reports about camp supplies, he clearly couldn't find the problems and hidden dangers he was looking for. Thomas nodded slightly and continued speaking to Gavin.

"Sir, the risks certainly exist. Leaving aside Lake Richard, which is still under investigation, and the potential damage from the biker gangs ravaging Oklahoma, "just look at the grasslands near us—they're already showing signs of a rabbit infestation!"

Thomas frowned at this point.

Who would have thought that the first real challenge they would face in the apocalypse wouldn't be the nuclear radiation zone far away by the sea, nor the massive mega-macropolis nearby Dallas? Instead, it would be the ubiquitous rabbits and groundhogs on the grasslands surrounding the manor!

And of course, there are rats!

Thinking of this, Thomas frowned and continued.

"As the temperature rises, the rabbit population in the surrounding area has begun to gradually increase, sir."

"You can find this summary on page 42 of the report, which details the various reports from the internal affairs officers led by Feng and William." "During the internal affairs patrols of the past two weeks, the officers have repeatedly reported a slight increase in rabbit burrows on the grasslands." "Of course, it's only a slight increase at present, but the rabbit population is destined to grow exponentially. Therefore, faced with the ever-expanding rabbit population, I sincerely suggest that we reduce the construction of many defensive fortifications and instead allocate more manpower to rabbit control!"

"We also need to remove Martin from his current field operations and have him lead the team to train more professional hunters to participate in the capture and relocation of animals like foxes and wolves!" "Besides, despite our repeated requests, the field team members clearly lack sufficient motivation for collecting cats and dogs!" "On one hand, searching for wild dogs carries considerable risk, as they can easily form zombie packs, putting pressure on the field team." "On the other hand, compared to live animals that are difficult to capture and care for, the field team members prefer to bring back cold food and drinks, and countless cigarettes and alcohol..." "In short, boss, the direction of our field exploration must be adjusted quickly. I suggest you convene the field team tonight and announce the adjusted search plan. We need more cats and dogs, as well as animals that can control rabbits and rats, even snakes!"

"If our grasslands are no longer open spaces where we can move freely, and our many granaries are also facing attacks from rats, then our farmland will be difficult to preserve, and our crops will be even more difficult to harvest!" "By the way, boss, you should release your crows more often. Compared to using cats and dogs to control rats, the flocks of crows that are always active near the manor are the real main force in controlling rats!" "In short, we need to actively expand the carnivore population to suppress the number of seemingly gentle and harmless herbivores. We..." "Boss! Boss, are you home? A huge pack of wolves is coming from the south of the camp, and the cattle are getting restless. They are charging towards the camp!!!" Just as Thomas was saying this, an alarm suddenly came from the southern chicken farm sentry on their walkie-talkie.

When the outpost locations were initially established, the northern outpost was built near the northern farmland, while the southern outer outpost was built further south of the chicken farm. As the number of people in the camp increased, Gavin and his men had moved all the remaining 30,000-plus chickens back to the chicken farm. Tornadoes and heavy rains had killed many chickens in the wild, but tens of thousands remained, and their eggs provided a significant supplement to the camp's food supply. The surplus eggs served as food for the camp's livestock, greatly improving their diet.

Whether the cattle or horses eat the eggs is not important. What is important is that the hens are all free-range during the day. It's okay if the cattle just pass by; the hens are relatively safe. But if the cattle get agitated, the hens are doomed! In an instant, Gavin grabbed the walkie-talkie, stood up, and walked out of the hall while giving orders into the walkie-talkie.

"All personnel still at the camp, both inside and outside, assemble. Take your loudest weapons and ride towards the chicken farm to intercept the cattle herd. Make sure the bison change direction!" "As for the wolf pack... try to avoid conflict with them for now, and focus on driving them away."

"Although I don't know where all these wolves came from, their appearance is a good thing!"

"Anyway, get the hell out of here, Lao Feng, William, get your men moving, and quick about it!"

By the time the growl reached this point, Gavin had already rushed out of the hall and arrived at the stable gate.

Behind him, Thomas, holding a shotgun from the weapons rack at the entrance of the hall, followed Gavin as they mounted their horses.

Inside the manor, besides the internal staff Gavin had requested, many support personnel also voluntarily took up arms and rushed out of the hall with the crowd. In this camp, where exploitation was largely absent, the staff were willing to contribute their extra strength to the camp as much as they could. In no time, over thirty horses trotted and neighed, following Gavin at the forefront, charging all the way to the vicinity of the chicken farm. As they charged, the staff fired wildly into the air, creating a formidable display of force from a great distance.

By now, almost everyone in the camp knew how to ride a horse. The thirty-odd riders quickly spread out, gradually forming a long line of gunfire that stretched into the distant, hazy dust. The sentry post, meant to report the situation, was now completely surrounded by the vast herd of cattle, like an isolated island in a tsunami, fraught with danger.

After observing the situation, Gavin confirmed he couldn't see any trace of the wolves, so he picked up the walkie-talkie, gripped the reins, and yelled. He had to yell; the buffalo's footsteps were so heavy that even from a distance, all you could hear was the thunderous roar of a herd of bulls.

He just yelled at his men.

"Hunt down, guys! We won't stop these charging animals until we've left enough bison carcasses!" "But be careful, we only have about thirty of us, so each person should try not to kill more than five bison. Use a few dead bison, a lot of gunfire, and the smell of gunpowder to make the herd change direction!"

"receive!"

"Alright, boss!"

"You can fire now!"

"The hunt has begun!"

As the men responded with shouts, gunshots rang out from afar, growing louder as they drew closer.

In an instant, more than sixty cows collapsed to the ground along the narrow barrier line that stretched for more than two kilometers.

Compared to herds of tens or even hundreds of thousands of cattle, this number is pitifully small.

But the sheer force of the massive bull collapsing and then knocking over a series of bison was indeed quite a shock to the herd!

Cattle like these, which have had constant contact with humans since childhood, are extremely sensitive to gunshots and death. It didn't take long for the herd to turn around, galloping in the opposite direction led by several lead cattle. And with this turn of the herd…

In a direction Gavin couldn't see, a hundred or two hundred wolves were running rampant...

The wolves, who had just been so arrogant, suddenly looked like wild dogs, their tails between their legs as they were chased by the cattle...