Doomsday America

Chapter 164 The Changes of the Howlers and Bloodseekers
At 2 a.m., the sentry duty was basically over.

Gavin waited for Old Feng to take over his shift while staring blankly at Mrs. Daniel's room.

Honestly, their house is so well soundproofed that even with his hearing, he can't hear anything.

But when he looked at that door, he couldn't help but feel like his eyes were about to rot, and even his ears couldn't stop playing those exaggerated videos of old men and women...

"His!"

Just as he was gasping for breath at his own imagination, Old Feng happened to walk out of his room.

Carrying his rifle, he walked towards the sentry post. When he was still seven or eight meters away from Gavin, Old Feng couldn't help but take out his camera and say to Gavin from afar, holding the camera up.

"Boss, come quick, look at the photos I took last night!"

"You took photos? Well done!"

Old Feng's words surprised Gavin. He didn't expect that Old Feng had actually taken photos last night, so he quickly moved closer to Old Feng, took the camera, and started looking through the photos.

As he flipped through the pages, Old Feng explained things to Gavin.

“Boss, this photo was taken during your logging competition. Old Bert and the other old men couldn’t participate in the logging competition, so they got together to play finger-insertion.”

"Old Bert is really something else. He played more than thirty games in a row and never lost once. On the contrary, his opponents repeatedly stabbed their own fingers with knives!"

"This is a picture of the Baron's injury. The old guy stuck the knife right between his fingers. Luckily, old Bert is a doctor, and he bandaged it up on the spot. You could say he disinfected it while he was fighting, haha~"

Amidst Lao Feng's laughter, Gavin looked at the next photo, which excited Lao Feng even more.

He pointed intently at the shadowy figure in the photo and spoke.

"I took this picture on the spur of the moment. It happened so suddenly and the lighting wasn't great, so I didn't get a clear shot. Anyway, the figure far from the big campfire is ZT. I don't know what kind of bet this black guy made with Thomas, but after losing, he ran naked into the river and stayed there for more than three minutes before coming out!"

"I captured the moment he ran naked and jumped into the river, but unfortunately, the lighting was so bad that I couldn't see anything at all!"

"Uh... wait a minute!"

When Lao Feng got to this point, Gavin couldn't help but roll his eyes.

He pointed to the clear image of Thomas in the photo and continued speaking to Lao Feng.

"Are you sure that's not ZT's racial talent at work? After all, Thomas filmed it so clearly..."

"Uh... haha, okay boss, I thought you'd be more concerned about racial discrimination, so I deliberately didn't mention it!"

Old Feng grinned and responded to Gavin.

Upon hearing this, Gavin shook his head slightly and spoke to Old Feng.

"Racism? That's outdated. Nowadays, people only care whether their companions will cause them trouble or provide them with help and protection!"

"For example, Lao Feng, have you encountered any racial discrimination these past few days? Of course not! Because everyone knows you can help them, and the logistics department knows you have the ability to protect them!"

"As for Madison, although there are indeed some people in the camp who don't like the skin color of the black guys, has anyone disobeyed Madison's orders, or has anyone expressed any dissatisfaction with Madison's presence?"

"Even Martin, who was the most at odds with Madison, didn't actually have any conflict with Madison. The so-called discrimination was just a verbal sparring match."

"Before the end of the world, there will be countless people who claim to be non-racist and smile at Black and Asian people, but behind their backs, they will cause trouble for Black and Asian people."

"To determine whether someone is being discriminated against, you can't just rely on what you hear; you have to look at what they do."

At this point, Gavin smiled and shook his head; this was the current state of the camp.

racism?

What a joke!
There are fewer than forty people in total. If racial discrimination is still prevalent, how can the camp continue to function?
Moreover, the members of the camp are not fools; most of them are quite aware of the situation.

This can be seen from the fact that Horst is currently the most discriminated-against person in the camp...

As he pondered this, Gavin continued flipping through the photos, eventually getting a pretty good idea of ​​all the details of the party.

Old Feng is a thoughtful person. He took photos throughout the entire party, and the angles were always consistent and relatively high.

This guy isn't just sharing photos with me; he's subtly reminding me of his efforts.

The reason he kept taking photos of the entire party from a high angle was because I told him not to drink too much at the party...

How much work you do isn't important, what's most important is that the boss sees it, right?

Thinking this, Gavin continued flipping through the photos, eventually finding himself on an even earlier one.

Old Feng even filmed a scene with a large group of zombies.

Looking at the photos of large numbers of zombies lying dead, and several close-up shots of himself wearing the king's armor.

Gavin pondered for a moment, then patted Old Feng on the shoulder.

"Thanks for your hard work, buddy. You actually managed to record everything."

"How about this, take some time to print out the photos, or just go to the photo studio at the resort and figure out how to develop them. It would be a good way to keep a souvenir."

“These are not just simple photos; they are clearly fragments of our entire team’s lives.”

At this point, Gavin pointed to the paintings that could be seen everywhere in the corridor, and shook his head with a light laugh.

"Old Feng, take some time to put those paintings away in the warehouse. What's on our walls should be a record of our camp's history. I hope that our photos can gradually replace the paintings and appear in everyone's eyes!"

"Okay, boss!"

Old Feng nodded emphatically, then took the camera that Gavin handed back to him.

As he turned off the camera, Lao Feng urged Jia Wen to add a sentence.

"Boss, you should rest. It's almost 2:10 now."

"Okay, I'll go back now."

Gavin patted Lao Feng on the shoulder, said goodbye, and then returned to his room.

Gavin took off his clothes, changed into his pajamas, sat on the bed, and lifted the blanket to crawl under it.

Gavin reached out and helped Nikita, whose breath reeked of alcohol, to sit up. By the light, he looked at Nikita's upper body.

He certainly didn't want to do anything indecent to a drunkard; he wasn't that sexually repressed.

At that moment, he was looking at Nikita's right shoulder.

Nikita's bruises from being hit by the butt of a gun hadn't healed yet, and now they'd gotten worse; the wound was not only a little swollen, but the bruises had also become layered.

The swelling was bluish-green on the outside and deep purple in the center; each color made Gavin feel Nikita's pain.

So he sighed, raised his hand and gently massaged Nikita's skin. After warming the red and swollen area, Gavin found the medicine that old Bert had given Nikita earlier and gently wiped it on her skin.

Nikita seemed to sense Gavin's movement; her nostrils twitched, and she hummed softly.

Trying to open her eyes, Nikita squinted at Gavin, her breath reeking of alcohol, before closing them again.

Seeing this, Gavin leaned over and kissed Nikita's lips, then pulled her into his arms and, feeling a little uncomfortable, fell asleep.

Over the past decade or so, Gavin has had many women, but a small portion of them were platonic relationships, while the majority were transactions for fame and fortune.

Gavin was ruthless towards women like that, and this was the first time he had seriously cuddled a girl and slept with her.

This feeling made him very uncomfortable, and the presence of another person around made his cautious instincts quite uneasy.

Gavin was only in light sleep until 7 a.m.

Feeling that it was about time, he got up and shook his slightly sore arms.

Even for him, smashing wood with a sledgehammer last night was a difficult game.

In less than an hour and a half, he played more than twenty rounds of the game, and it took him an average of seventy-five hits to break a wooden stake. He swung the sledgehammer more than a thousand times. Only he could handle that. If it were anyone else, they would probably have trouble even eating today.

After washing away my fatigue in the bathroom, I looked at myself in the full-length mirror.

Gavin was about to say something to himself as usual when, through the reflection in the mirror, he happened to see Nikita wobbling as she got out of bed.

Seeing this, Gavin looked at himself in the mirror one last time, and saw that his reflection smiled at him.

Gavin then smiled and left the bathroom, walked across the dressing room to the bedside, put his arm around Nikita's shoulder, and kissed her.

"Nikki, don't rush to get up. There's no operation this morning, so just get some rest."

"Mmm...uh...darling?"

Nikita nodded, then tentatively called out to Gavin.

After she finished speaking, she couldn't help but shyly shrink into Gavin's arms and lie back on the bed with his help.

Nikita is a typical first love girl. For her, calling her lover "darling" brings her more shyness than taking off her clothes.

Seeing Nikita's face turn noticeably redder, Gavin rubbed her swollen shoulder one last time and said...

"We still have a long way to go, so let's not rush things. We need to rest well, and this applies to both of us."

“I’m going to the lobby. I forgot to tell everyone that we were taking a break this morning before the party yesterday. I need to be in the lobby to let them know.”

After saying that, Gavin reached out and rubbed Nikita's cheek, then tidied her messy hair, gave her a farewell kiss, and left the room.

I went to the kitchen first and saw Winnie standing there, frying eggs like a pro.

When Winnie saw Gavin rushing over, she was slightly taken aback and quickly picked up a fried egg and gave it to Gavin.

"Gavin, Gavin, come and try my breakfast! I heated up milk for everyone, toasted some bread, and fried lots of eggs. Aren't I awesome?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Winnie looked at Gavin with a smile.

But Gavin saw a deep unease in Winnie's eyes.

Gavin paused for a moment, then responded softly.

"Don't worry, Doris should have rested for a morning anyway. Today is perfect, why don't I help you make breakfast?"

“Gavin…”

Upon hearing Gavin's words, Winnie paused slightly, then unconsciously bit her lip.

After a brief moment of emotion, she blinked her big eyes, smiled at Gavin, and then nodded.

"That's wonderful! We can make breakfast together. This is something I've only ever fantasized about in my private diary. I've even imagined us doing it together..."

"Wait a minute, kid, shut your mouth!"

Before Winnie could finish speaking, Gavin quickly interrupted her.

"Since it's a private diary, let's keep it private. Let's get cooking!"

As they were talking, Gavin took the frying pan and promptly added five more to the stove, expertly preparing breakfast.

Seeing Gavin busy at work, Winnie was a little unhappy that Gavin was avoiding the topic, but she still helped out until around 7:40 when the construction boss, Jon, hurriedly pushed open the kitchen door and came in.

Hearing the sound from the door, Winnie quickly put away her little leather shoes that had been kicking Gavin's shin and began to seriously divide the plates.

And Jon...

When he saw Gavin standing in front of the stove, he was completely dumbfounded! Because he was late, and he was late in front of the boss, and his lateness even made the boss do the work that should have been done by him!

In that instant, Jon, who had once been a big boss, instinctively put himself in Gavin's shoes and viewed himself in the same light.

He immediately felt furious, and at the same time realized he was probably in deep trouble...

So he quickly moved closer to Gavin and apologized sincerely before Gavin could even speak.

"I'm sorry, Boss, I'm late!"

Jon didn't say much, because when he was a boss, what he disliked most was subordinates who always made excuses when they made mistakes!

Whether it's because you had too much fun at the party or drank too much and couldn't get up, it doesn't change the fact that you missed work.

So after apologizing, he quickly took the plate and started serving the food, all the while waiting for Gavin's reprimand.

Seeing Jon take action in the blink of an eye, Gavin remained silent for a few seconds before lowering his voice and speaking to Jon.

"Jon, whatever you do, don't let me see it happen again!"

"Yes, boss, I understand, I will remember it!"

Hearing Gavin's reprimand, Jon nodded emphatically and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

And Gavin...

Seeing Jon's relieved expression, he shook his head with amusement, because he hadn't originally intended to scold Jon at all.

After all, he was the one who led the party yesterday. It was his decision to make everyone have fun to alleviate the oppressive feeling of the apocalypse and to help everyone get used to the existence of corpses.

So even if Jon woke up late, or Doris couldn't get up, he had no reason to reprimand them.

But look at Jon's expression, like he's about to get scolded. Just looking at that expression, Gavin has to give him a piece of his mind!

This is not a joke, because this is one person's perception!
Jon's worldview clearly values ​​the expression of power by those in positions of authority. Therefore, if Gavin doesn't reprimand him when Jon believes he should express his dissatisfaction, then Gavin will be looked down upon by Jon.

This is the core logic of interpersonal communication, isn't it? So when Jon puts on a look of waiting to be scolded, Gavin will definitely give him an appropriate response.

With Jon's help, breakfast was prepared much faster, and by around 8:10, Gavin was all ready to serve everyone.

However, not many people were able to get up for breakfast today. When Gavin came to the table, besides Steve, Madison, the Feng family, Jon, Winnie, and others, there were others present.

Most of the others haven't gotten up yet...

Gavin didn't pay any attention to such things. After finishing his breakfast, he gave Madison a few instructions, asking Madison to remind everyone who got up to rest in the morning.

Afterwards, Old Feng, along with Jon who wanted to do something to make up for it, drove towards the edge of the farm.

The farm's outer perimeter is so large that problems can easily arise if it's not checked for even a day.

As for Gavin, he rode off with Steve toward the stables.

Upon arriving at the stables, without Gavin needing to speak, the two men simultaneously put on their gas masks.

After confirming that all the protection was in place, Steve pushed open the stable door, while Gavin looked up at the zombies and cultists who were looking up at the two of them.

The cultist José's eyes were bloodshot, and his trousers were damp, indicating that water had leaked out from both his upper and lower body.

However, at least he hadn't turned into a zombie, a discovery that relieved Gavin and his companion.

Upon seeing the two arrive, José swallowed hard and then pleaded with Gavin for mercy.

"Gavin, God, I'm done with religion, please let me eat, God!"

"Even if you don't give me food, can't you at least give me some time to poop?!"

"God, I've already peed twice, I really can't hold it anymore! Why don't you just kill me? I really don't want to poop on myself, please!"

"No matter what you want to do with me, just give me a quick death. I'll be truly grateful to you, please!"

At this point, José raised his head and looked at Gavin with a pleading expression.

Gavin couldn't help but look at Steve.

Steve's reaction was good; he showed no sympathy for the cultists whatsoever.

If Steve even sympathizes with cultists, then Gavin is going to have to give Steve a good talking-to.

Meeting Gavin's gaze, Steve shrugged noncommittally, then squatted down in front of the cultist and spoke.

"Hey buddy, stop yelling. The boss and I just came to see you and have some good news for you."

"The boss has already been to your base. Every single one of you remaining members of the Holy Fire Cult, including your pope and saintess, and even the owner of the Ogan Cemetery, has been sent to Satan by the boss, or rather, to Hela!"

"quack!"

As soon as Steve finished speaking, Foggin made two grating sounds, which made Jose tremble in fright.

José was genuinely afraid because he had actually been a believer in cults before...

So he quickly continued to pray to Gavin.

"Good riddance! It was a perfect death! Gavin was always right!"

"Yes, so it's right for me to starve you, it's right for me to torture you, I know that very well."

Gavin patted Jose on the shoulder, then waved to Steve, and the two turned and left the stable.

Knowing that the spores from the mushrooms grown by the mushroom zombies wouldn't turn a living person into a zombie in a day, both of them felt much more at ease.

Only José, while the two were away, desperately kept shouting at them.

He really had poop stuck in his stomach; if he wasn't desperate, who would be?

Gavin and Steve closed the stable door, mounted their horses, and continued on to the next stable.

As they walked, Steve couldn't help but ask Gavin.

"Boss, how long do you plan to starve it, or rather, how long do you plan to lock it up?"

"We'll see. No one will starve in two or three days. We'll bring him food and water again in a few days."

Gavin responded, holding the reins.

“One or two days is not enough to prove anything. I think I should lock him up for at least a month. If he doesn’t commit suicide, doesn’t die of illness, doesn’t turn into a zombie, and isn’t driven crazy by torture, then maybe I can spare his life.”

“After all, normal people like us don’t understand the thinking of cults. If we can recruit a slightly more normal cult, it might be surprisingly effective when we encounter other cults in the future.”

"Besides that, Horst has changed a lot since Adriana slept with him. I've seen him training seriously a few times."

“With someone like him, it probably won’t be long before he’s no longer qualified to be the one being bullied, which wouldn’t be good for the team. So I need someone like Jose to continue to share the team’s disdain and bear the team’s negative emotions.”

"But that's at least a month from now. Hopefully, the cult kid can make it to that day, haha."

Gavin chuckled coldly at the end.

Steve nodded understandingly and smiled along with Gavin.

“That’s true, boss. If the team members don’t have a common goal, it’s too difficult to manage them. Back in our ranch, I always made the cowboys treat the cowboys from the other ranches around us as enemies.”

"Yes, Steve, the farms around us all see us as enemies, which is good for both of us."

Gavin chuckled and muttered something to Steve, then jumped off his horse and went to the stable where the howlers were imprisoned.

Steve followed Gavin off his horse, put on his earmuffs, and together they pushed open the stable door.

But this time, when Steve and Gavin approached, the Howler, who was tied up there, did not make a sound!
Seeing that the howler was only struggling frantically at the two of them and only making normal zombie howls, Gavin's expression immediately turned disappointed.

"What the hell!"

Gavin then said.

"I was counting on this guy to help us deal with the inhabitants in the other towns, why has it stopped barking? This is really damn annoying!"

While cursing, Gavin used his gloved hand to pinch the howler's face.

Gavin forcefully pried open the howler's mouth and grabbed the howler's upper and lower teeth.

Steve then turned on the flashlight on his phone and shone it on Gavin's throat.

Noticing the flashlight Steve was holding, Gavin asked with amusement while struggling against the howler's clenched teeth.

"You still have your phone with you?"

"At least I can take pictures and check the time. I also have a few games on my phone that don't require an internet connection. Oh, and I downloaded a few movies. Want me to share them with you, buddy?"

Steve made a joke.

Gavin shook his head and stared at the howler's throat.

"No need. I'm happy with the post-apocalyptic America right now. Isn't this damn reality enough for us to enjoy? Our hell party yesterday was something even Netflix rarely sees. Our campfire had over seven hundred corpses, tsk tsk~"

After responding, Gavin looked at the howler's throat, shook his head, and continued.

"The howler's throat looks exactly the same as before, so how did it make that sound in the first place?"

"Damn it, Li Qing suggested to me before that he wanted to dissect the Howler, but I didn't agree, and as a result I missed the opportunity to observe her changes."

"If we encounter howlers in other towns in the future, and haven't been killed by the horde of zombies they've triggered, and happen to catch the howlers, I'll definitely dissect them on the spot to see what kind of mutations have occurred in their vocal organs."

"Don't say that, boss. You couldn't have predicted what would happen today either."

Steve offered Gavin a word of comfort, then put his phone away.

Gavin released the howler, took Steve away from the stable, and continued toward the next stable.

The next one is closer; they'll reach it in about fifty steps.

This time, even Steve's expression turned serious.

Gavin pushed open the stable door heavily, took a deep breath, and looked at Joanna, who was bound tightly in front of him.

Looking at Joanna screaming at the two of them, and then at how Joanna was tightly bound, they were shocked.

Steve took a deep breath and said to Gavin with a regretful expression.

"Boss, I've really fantasized about this kind of scene before, but I never expected it to turn out like this. You know what I mean?"

"Of course I understand!"

Gavin nodded in response to Steve's words, and replied with a sigh.

“Joanna is the dream girl of so many teenagers on the farm, how could I not understand?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin sighed, grabbed Joanna's ropes, carried her outside the stable, and untied the ropes binding her.

However, he did not completely remove the rope; he only untied the knots, leaving the rope still wrapped around her body.

Gavin then threw Joanna to the ground, while he and Steve mounted their horses and rode at least 600 meters away from Joanna, using binoculars to observe her condition.

This way, once Joanna breaks free of the knots, the two of them can see what the Bloodseekers will do after losing the horde of zombies.

(End of this chapter)