Doomsday America.

Chapter 325 The El Paso Dilemma

"Haha, you always say I'm a braggart, but whether I'm bragging or not, you should know the answer in your heart, buddy!"

Eugene chuckled and patted Martin's backside before taking a step forward.

But just as he took a step...

Whoosh!

A sudden sound of wreckage breaking came from above them, causing the entire exploration team to panic for a moment.

"Shit!"

Eugene was startled and instinctively scrambled to find a space to the side.

Fortunately, the sound of the wreckage breaking stopped instantly, and Eugene stood still and looked up, then looked up and down at the plane's nose, which had been tilted up for a long time, about eight meters to the left.

After a quick glance, Eugene grinned and shrugged.

"Look, this damn Boeing 787 gave us a pleasant surprise of reunion. It must have been a long time since we soldiers have visited it." "Yeah, yeah, after it crashed, it must have been hoping we would find its body and retrieve the black box inside."

Martin pursed his lips and agreed.

"Unfortunately, we don't care what's inside its black box. After all, whatever caused it to crash, it's definitely related to zombies." With that, Martin picked up the walkie-talkie and spoke to his team members.

"You all heard what I just heard, right? Watch your head while you explore. I don't want to dig your broken limbs out of the ruins."

"Understood, Vice Captain."

"Hmm, Martin, thanks for reminding me."

"Okay, I got it."

"no problem."

With the guys responding, Eugene and Martin continued their exploration.

They had only taken two steps when a woman's voice suddenly came through the walkie-talkie, and the voice exclaimed in surprise.

"Wow, come quick, there's a survivor over there at the tail of the plane!"

"What?"

"Walter?"

"How could that be?"

"Oh shit!"

For a moment, the men were all shocked, and even Gavin, who was far away, couldn't help but pick up his walkie-talkie and quickly ask.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'alive'? Living people?"

"No, no, no, boss, I mean living zombies, the kind that weren't completely burned!"

Adriana responded awkwardly, admitting that her words had indeed caused a misunderstanding.

After Gavin asked, the guys were relieved and exchanged amused glances.

"Mazefak, Adriana, speak clearly next time!"

Eugene cursed into the walkie-talkie, then strode toward the tail fin where Adriana was.

Seeing Eugene approach, Adriana waved to him, then pointed to the zombie with half its body still standing at her feet.

The remaining half of the zombie's body was particularly interesting; it wasn't the upper or lower half, but rather a slanted half, with only one hand and one foot remaining. Eugene leaned closer for a look, then muttered something tediously.

"Tch, I thought it was something good, but it's just a zombie with half its body missing."

"However, the tail section wasn't affected too deeply by the fire, so perhaps the only cargo hold nearby still has a few suitcases and supplies left." "But we're not exactly short of supplies. I'm a bit too lazy to open those boxes. Most of the time, Boeing 787 flights around the world carry those damn Indians or South Americans. What good stuff could they possibly have in their suitcases? Pshaw!"

After scoffing, Eugene crouched down and thrust the dagger into the zombie's skull.

After the zombie stopped moving completely, Eugene grabbed the zombie's arm and tried to move its joints.

While moving around, he took out a walkie-talkie and spoke to Gavin.

"Boss, I swear Eugene, you better come and see the zombie Adriana just found. This zombie is a typical dehydrated zombie. His joints are very stiff. I bet he can't run as fast as a normal hunter."

As soon as he finished speaking, Eugene moved the zombie's arm a couple more times. The stiffness from the zombie's joints was very strong, like a machine that hadn't been oiled in a long time.

Upon hearing Eugene's words, Gavin and Mike, who were outside the plane examining the damaged railing, also walked towards Eugene. A moment later, Gavin squatted down beside Eugene, looking at the half-zombie that Eugene was fiddling with.

Gavin's first observation was not of the zombie, but of the damaged tail fin next to it. On the steel tail fin, which showed no signs of burning, there were traces of completely dried mycelium.

Gavin continued to look along the dried-out trail, and soon saw that the trail ended at an area about thirteen or fourteen meters away from the zombie.

However, there were many burn marks where the dried mycelium had stopped, and Gavin was unsure whether the mycelium had reached its growth limit or was stopped by the flames.

However, it is highly likely that the growth distance has reached its limit, since the plane fire should have ended not long after the crash, and the growth rate of the mycelium should not be related to the flames.

Gavin then looked at the dried traces of the mycelium and said...

"The zombie fungus seemed to be trying very hard to save the zombie's physical activity. It crawled on the sticky wall for a long time, almost covering the entire tail fin, but unfortunately it did not touch the ground."

"Even though the zombie fungus has dried up such a large area, the zombies still have a little ability to move. I thought they should have dried up completely."

"After all, the environment around here is almost no different from a desert. I really want to know how long a zombie can survive in such an environment." As he said this, Gavin pulled out his dagger and made a cut on the zombie's withered thigh.

With one slice, Gavin actually found the feeling he had when cutting puff pastry bread!

This zombie was completely different from other zombies. The flesh and blood of other active zombies were still flesh and blood. Although their mobility was lower than that of central Texas, there was still a considerable amount of tissue fluid under their skin.

But when Gavin cut open the puff pastry bread, which was actually the zombie's leg, he saw a withered muscle where even thick blood was hard to find. "Wow."

Gavin shook his head and said, looking at the withered muscles that seemed to break at the slightest pressure.

"At least you can still see the muscle texture and the mucous membrane of a little fungal growth. Just looking at these, I feel that it's already a miracle that this zombie can still move."

"So, is it that the zombie fungus can also help zombies find even a trace of water or other substances from the air?"

"If that weren't the case, this zombie stuck near the tail fin, with nowhere to go, would have turned into a dried-up corpse long ago." As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin took the arm that Eugene had been fiddling with.

He also imitated Eugene's movements and started moving his arm.

After a brief period of activity, Gavin confirmed that the zombie's joints were indeed inactive.

So Gavin continued carefully.

"You're right, Eugene, this zombie's joints haven't been lubricated with engine oil in a long time."

"Let me think. It's only May, and the drought in West Texas won't fully arrive until after summer." "That means by summer, most of the zombies in the West will be in this situation: they'll become dry, emaciated, unable to move easily, and stagger!"

"From this perspective, perhaps The Walking Dead wasn't just made up. Even though the zombies are incredibly mobile now, sooner or later their bodies might become unsteady due to lack of maintenance."

"This phenomenon will also be accelerated under extreme climates, such as arid western regions, areas surrounding deserts, and... extremely cold regions where zombie bodies can be directly frozen!"

"In that case, if I were a conglomerate, I would eventually lead a large-scale migration of zombies to a more suitable place to live." "In the words of Kobayashi, that guy who always wants to do human experiments, the zombie fungus is not a simple symbiosis between us and the zombies, but a more thorough cooperation."

"The zombie fungus knows how to protect itself, and our former brethren and we will always be brethren."

"However, I and my former brethren were all human, while we and our current zombie brethren are all zombie fungal symbionts." "Besides, haha, we and all the animals in the world that have been successfully controlled by zombies are probably already of the same kind."

"After all, we're all zombie fungus symbiotes~"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin chuckled and shook his head, then released the nearly dried-up zombie and patted Eugene on the shoulder.

"You guys continue exploring. I'll go find a way to break down the fence. We need to take down at least five or six meters of the fence before we can get our vehicle onto the Gobi Desert."

"Of course, after that, we'll have to take down the same length of fence to make sure we get back on the highway."

"Edward's suggestion is good, but it's a bit time-consuming. Eugene, what do you think about explosives? Would that be a good idea?"

"That's a good idea, but did we bring C4? I think we did. You'd better ask Edward."

Eugene squatted down and responded to Gavin, who nodded and left the plane wreckage, returning to Edward and his group.

Seeing Gavin approach, Edward waved his hand, then smiled while holding his gun.

"Boss, did you see that zombie?"

"I see it, it's as dry and withered as a dead tree. I really hope all our future zombie adversaries look like that." "Haha, yeah, that would save us so much effort."

Edward smiled and agreed, then pointed to his car and continued to ask Gavin.

"So what should we do? I just checked the nearby fence, and this damn plane appeared in just the right spot. It didn't break through the fence enough for us to get through. We have to make a path ourselves."

"I know, I saw it too."

Gavin nodded, then casually pointed to the fence a few dozen meters away and continued to ask.

"However, Edward, do we really need to find a cutting machine? Did we bring any C4 or anything? It would save more time to just blow up the fence."

"That's true, you're right, boss. As for C4, I did bring a few boxes, about fifty kilograms."

Edward agreed, then turned and glanced at the truck.

After recalling the location of C4, he continued to ask Gavin questions.

"Fortunately, our vicinity is relatively safe. Even if there is an explosion, it is unlikely to attract too many zombies. Otherwise, I really wouldn't dare to use explosives. After all, the sound of explosives travels much farther than the sound of gunfire."

"Let me see the surrounding fence. It's all ordinary corrugated beams. To blast a five-meter passage, we wouldn't even need half a kilogram of explosives. I'll go prepare it now!"

"Okay, go ahead."

Gavin patted Edward on the shoulder, then returned to his shield.

As soon as he sat down, he couldn't help but take off his hat and rub his head, which was already covered in a thin layer of sweat.

The temperature around here is really high; Gavin even felt that the perceived temperature was close to 34 to 36 degrees Celsius.

There wasn't a breath of wind in the air, and the complete lack of airflow made the surrounding air feel even heavier.

Even the great crows don't like the air here. The two crows have escaped Gavin's shoulder and avoided the sun's rays. They are now lazily resting on the steering wheel of the War Shield.

Gavin opened the refrigerator, pulled out a half-empty bottle of beverage, and took a vicious gulp.

After taking a sip, he casually grabbed a pet water bowl, poured the remaining drink into it, and delivered it to the pilot of the War Shield.

The two crows immediately gathered around and started slurping. Wuni even gentlemanly let Fokin drink his fill first before picking up the rest of Fokin's drink and slurping it up himself. After about seven or eight minutes,

Edward walked up to the shield and showed Gavin his box of C4 explosives, which was missing a small piece.

"Boss, it's all set. I chose to blow up the guardrail 60 meters away. At this distance, it won't hurt us no matter what." "I placed a total of sixteen explosive points, not only on the corrugated beams, but also at the base of the guardrail posts. I've also placed explosives there."

"Even if there are remnants after the explosion, our armored vehicles have winches, so we can just pull them out."

As soon as he finished speaking, Edward put away the explosives that looked like a large lump of cheese.

Gavin nodded, glanced back at the exploration team, and said softly.

"Once everything's ready, let's blow it up. Then drive the vehicle into the Gobi Desert. Next, we need to blow up the road fence further ahead. Hurry up." "Yes, boss."

Edward nodded, then left to prepare.

About half a minute later, Edward's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Get ready for an explosion, guys."

"Roger that, Edward. Well done."

"Huh? An explosion? Won't it blow us up?"

"Of course not, trust Instructor Edward!"

"Come on, come on, it's so hot around here, I miss the cool air in the car!"

After about twenty seconds of various sounds from the guys polluting the communication channels, the explosion finally broke out.

In reality, the sound wasn't particularly loud; from a distance, it sounded like a string of firecrackers going off.

After the explosions ended, Edward inspected the blast points from a distance. Only after every blast point on the roof had been detonated did he approach to check the damage to the fence.

"The C4 is still reliable," Edward shouted into the intercom after a quick check.

"Keep the channel clean, you jerks!"

"Boss, all done. I'll use the winch to clean up the rest. If everything's fine, we should be at the Gobi Desert in five minutes." "Okay, Eugene's team, come back. Unless there's a huge horde of zombies hiding in the plane, it's not worth exploring. We should get ready to go."

Gavin gave the instructions over the intercom.

In fact, a damaged airplane is a treasure trove. Even if no complete parts can be found inside, the remaining metal alone is enough for the camp's blacksmith workshop to use for a long time.

But...

There are countless large airports in central Texas where Camp Gavin is located. Whether they are good planes or bad planes, there are so many planes near their homes that they could explore them all. Why would they waste time on the planes in front of them?

And so, with the winch starting up and the sound of the men getting back into the car, the game began.

Soon, the convoy left the area of ​​the plane wreckage and even left the road into the Gobi Desert.

Edward repeated the same tactic, creating another explosion in the area far from the wreckage before the group returned to the highway and continued speeding toward the Brotherhood.

They had already passed through the cities of Odessa and Midland along Highway 20.

These two cities are also among the larger cities in western Texas, with a combined population of 350,000 to 400,000.

However, even these two cities are far inferior to the city we are about to pass through.

Because at this moment, there was only one large city left in front of the convoy!

The name of that city is El Paso!

At this moment, sitting in the passenger seat, Gavin looked at El Paso on the map and couldn't help but lick his lips.

In the back seat, Wang Ling, who had been watching Gavin's movements, couldn't help but whisper to Gavin.

"Boss, are you worried about the journey ahead? We're almost at the Brotherhood, what's there to worry about?" As she spoke, Wang Ling leaned forward and gently ruffled Gavin's large raven's head, glancing at the stubble on his cheek. After a moment of silence, Gavin slightly raised the map and pointed towards El Paso, speaking to Wang Ling.

"Xiao Wang, the only thing blocking our way now is El Paso City."

"It's the seventh largest city in Texas, with at least 700,000 people. And most importantly, those 700,000 people are just the damn city being modest; they're just people with American tax certificates!"

"Besides the tens of thousands of homeless people that every city has, El Paso also has countless illegal immigrants!" "Damn it, just from what I heard at the pre-apocalyptic party, I know more than three groups of people doing business smuggling between the US and Mexico near El Paso, and the most profitable of these businesses is even the trade of sending East Asians and Southeast Asians across the border wall."

"In other words, this city may appear to have only seven or eight hundred thousand people, but in reality, I wouldn't be surprised if it housed over a million!"

"The most important thing is not the population of El Paso, Wang Ling. The most important thing is that as one of the largest cities on the US-Mexico border, El Paso is a transit and convergence point for major roads in Texas, which means that we simply cannot pass through the edge of this city."

Even though Highway 20 is a major highway, it doesn't ring around the city to enter El Paso; instead, it runs straight through the very center of the city!

"If we can't get through the massive horde of zombies in El Paso, then we only have one route left, and that route has to cross an entire desert to reach Mexican territory!"