Doomsday America

Chapter 83: How many cows died?
"Ah."

Gavin nodded and took the tactical dagger Eugene tossed to him.

With the claw hammer slung across his waist, Gavin leaped into the cattle pen, stabbing the zombie in the heart.

The zombie's blood gushed out, completely staining the tactical knife red.

After obtaining enough blood, Gavin approached the cow with his knife.

This time, the cow finally understood. It gave a pleading look, kept backing away, and made pleading grunts.

But before it could finish whimpering, Gavin slashed the cow's neck hard with a knife stained with zombie blood.

Chi!

The hide tore, blood spurted out, and the cow let out a terrified bellow, its hooves pacing back and forth restlessly.

Gavin felt that wasn't enough, so he went closer and rubbed all the blood from the knife onto the cow's wound.

After finishing, Gavin turned and ran, leaping out of the cattle pen.

While observing the cows, Gavin also kept an eye on the zombies, wanting to see if the cows' fresh blood had any particular attraction for them.

In Gavin's eyes, the cow paced back and forth restlessly, then shifted its neck uncomfortably.

The zombies, however, were oblivious to the bleeding cow and continued to stare at the three humans, howling repeatedly.

"Moo!"

After letting out a heavy sigh, the cow next to him began to shake its head repeatedly!

"coming!"

Eugene spoke, holding his gun.

At the same time, Gavin also noticed a certain change in the cows.

The cow's condition deteriorated rapidly, as if... as if it had caught a cold!
The cow was shaking its head in a daze, then it sneezed loudly.

After a large amount of snot flowed from its nostrils, the cow looked at Gavin with a wronged expression and took two steps back.

Gavin raised his hand to look at his watch.

Damn it, almost two minutes have already passed.

After the zombie blood entered the cow's body, the cow's condition changed visibly, but why hasn't the cow turned into a zombie cow after so long?
"What the hell is going on?"

Madison, standing nearby, narrowed his eyes suspiciously and leaned closer to Gavin to ask.

"Boss, why do you look like you've just chopped a cow and given it a cold?"

"cold?"

When Madison got to this point, Gavin felt a jolt, as if he had suddenly grasped a key point!
He has always been in excellent health; he has almost never been sick since childhood.

But just recently, during the Super Bowl, before that final game began...

Gavin remembers suddenly getting sick!

It was an acute cold that forced him to endure a headache and runny nose until he finally won his fifth championship!
It's as if God wanted to create some obstacles and challenges for his five consecutive championships.

At the time, Gavin didn't think much of it; it was just a cold, and everyone gets a cold sometimes.

Although he rarely gets sick, it doesn't mean he will never get sick. He wouldn't go to the hospital for a thorough checkup just because of a minor cold that lasts less than two days, would he?
But compared to this cow that has quickly developed a cold...

A sense of dread suddenly rose in Gavin's heart, and at the same time, another guess emerged!
With a gloomy expression, he raised his HK416 and decisively aimed it at the cow.

He wanted to verify his guess!

He quickly pulled the trigger.

Chu Chu Chu!
Several bullets pierced the cow's heart, knocking it to the ground.

Around them, Madison and Eugene were slightly taken aback when they saw Gavin suddenly fire his gun. Then, they immediately showed expressions of sudden realization mixed with shock.

"Boss!"

Eugene quickly asked Gavin.

"You mean, that cow is already like us... and could turn into a zombie cow if it dies?"

"I'm not sure, but let's give it a try."

As Gavin responded to Eugene, he aimed his gun at the zombie bull's head.

One second, ten seconds, thirty-two seconds...

brush!
The cow, which had been lying on its side, suddenly opened its eyes, then bellowed and reared up, quickly getting to its feet.

"Fake!"

Madison cursed and pulled the trigger of his shotgun, sending several buckshot rounds slamming into the zombie bull's head and neck.

And so, the zombie cow, which had been dying and coming back to life, no longer had to worry about its body being toyed with.

"call!"

Seeing the zombie cow lie down again, Madison sighed and looked sadly at the dead cow's corpse.

Gavin, standing nearby, glanced at the cows that had been frightened away by the gunshots and spoke up.

"Madison, bring two more live cows over!"

"receive."

Madison swallowed hard and chased after the cows, driving the two back.

The two cows looked uneasily at the zombies and the corpses of their companions in the pen, hesitating to enter.

Seeing this, Gavin sighed and pushed one of the cows by the neck, herding it into the pen.

He then raised his gun and fired again, shooting several bullets through the cow's neck and heart, bringing it down to the ground once more.

Then came a new period of waiting.

Thirty seconds.

One minute.

This time, Gavin waited for a full five minutes, but the dead cow still couldn't get up!
By this point, Gavin had already reached a conclusion. He exhaled and spoke.

"A virus that can silently turn all of us humans into asymptomatic carriers can certainly infect all animals as well."

"After all, the degree of decentralization in human society is not much higher than that of animals. If it could wipe out the entire human population, animals should have already been exposed to this virus long ago."

At this point, Gavin sadly took out a cigarette and tossed one to Eugene.

Then, exhaling smoke, he suppressed his frustration and continued speaking.

"It turns out that whether the virus spreads through the air or water, it is not enough to turn animals other than humans into zombie-like creatures."

"However, animals that have had additional contact with zombie blood have been confirmed to have viral loads in their bodies after cows exchanged blood with live zombies, reaching levels comparable to those of asymptomatic carriers!"

"But this is not enough to explain the exact reason for the appearance of the first zombie cow. We still need to continue to verify it."

At this point, Gavin pushed open the cow pen door and sent another cow inside.

After the third cow entered the pen, it was trembling uncontrollably. The deaths of its two companions had made it understand its own future.

Gavin frowned as he looked at the terrified cows and the zombies that ignored them, and spoke.

“Scare the cow and make it try to attack the zombie. I suspect that zombies only react to the aggressive behavior of animals.”

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Eugene and Madison exchanged glances, and then tentatively began to call out to the cows.

"Roar!"

"Fuck you, you damn cow, go fuck that zombie!"

"Go on!"

"Brave Niu Niu is not afraid of difficulties!"

"Fuck it!"

"Hey, hurry up!"

"Let it taste your bullshit!"

"Fake..."

Gavin rolled his eyes as he watched the two men "threatening" the cows with all sorts of strange words.

He didn't think this kind of "intimidation" would have any effect.

And that was indeed the case. Although the cow was startled by the two men's strange shouts, it simply retreated in fear.

Seeing this, Gavin kicked the two men in annoyance, then rushed into the cow pen, tightened part of the rope binding the zombies, and tied it to the legs of the panicked cows.

After doing all this, Gavin left the cow pen, found a whip, and lashed it hard at the cow.

Caught on the whip, the cow immediately began to flee, and the force of its escape dragged the zombies across the ground.

Only then, after the zombies had been repeatedly affected by the force emanating from the cows, did they finally become interested in them.

After being kicked away by the cow once again, the zombie almost forgot about the three humans and crawled towards the cow like a pupa.

After discovering that the cows had become targets of the zombies, Gavin put down his whip, allowing the cows to gradually calm down.

At the same time, the zombie pushed off the ground and slid to the cow's hind leg, biting down on it!

"Moo!!!"

The already frightened cow immediately kicked the zombie, but the zombie didn't care at all and instead began to bite the cow's thigh even more intently.

It didn't take more than a few bites before the cow's leg was bitten and bled.

Beside him, Gavin stared at his watch, silently counting down the seconds.

One second, ten seconds, twenty-one seconds.

"Moo!!!"

Suddenly, the cow's eyes rolled violently, revealing huge blood vessels in the whites of its eyes, and it let out a fierce roar!
It immediately charged towards Gavin.

Seeing this, Madison fired again, unleashing eight shotgun shells in just over a second, instantly killing the cow on the ground.

Gavin exhaled as he looked at the third cow carcass and said.

“Cows mutate in a shorter time after being bitten by a zombie. By extension, I suspect that humans infected by a zombie will also become infected faster than we turn into zombies after death.”

"Thanks to the sacrifice of the drug-addicted God of War, humans turn into zombies about seven seconds after death. So if a human is bitten by a zombie, the transformation time will probably be even shorter than seven seconds."

"Maybe it will only take five seconds, or even... less!"

At this point, Gavin turned to Madison and said.

"Old Mai, bring another cow!"

"Okay, I'll get right away..."

"Wow!"

Before Madison could finish agreeing, Steve's exclamation came from outside the cattle pen.

He rode his horse through the herd of cattle, dismounted, and came to the gate. He looked at the dead cattle in the pen and said...

"Thank God that all the small animal rights groups were taken away, otherwise we would probably have lost a lot of money today."

When Steve returned with the horse, Gavin simply waved to him.

"Wait, Steve, bring a cow over here!"

"Hmm, I hope they died a worthy death, and I hope you haven't become a madman who enjoys torturing animals."

Steve shrugged and then drove a cow into the pen.

As Steve drove the cows into the pen, he glanced at the dead cow on the ground, his gaze lingering on its heart and head.

Then, he pulled out his knife, stepped on the zombie rushing towards him, and asked without turning his head.

"What should I do, brother?"

"Kill that zombie. I want to see if the blood of a dead zombie can cause an infection with the blood of a live cow, and if that will have any additional consequences."

"No problem, that's exactly what I want to do!"

Steve grinned menacingly, then grabbed the zombie by the hair and turned its face around.

After glancing at it, Steve paused for a moment, then spoke.

"This is Weimar, a rider recruited eight months ago. He has a lover who works as a dealer in a small casino in Oklahoma."

At this point, Steve held the knife in his left hand and pressed it against the back of the zombie's head.

"May you rest in peace, my brother."

puff!

The hunting knife plunged heavily into the back of the zombie's head, embedding itself into the brain through the bone creases, bringing the zombie to a complete halt.

After confirming that the zombie in his hand was no longer moving, Steve pulled out his knife and rubbed some extra blood onto the zombie's wound.

"What should I do? Should I use this knife to cut the cow as well?"

"No, the blood on your knife might be from a living zombie. I need the blood of a dead zombie."

Gavin responded with a sound of agreement, then raised his cigarette.

"Come on out, brother, let's wait for the time it takes to smoke a cigarette."

"no problem."

Steve, swaying his bear-like body, jumped out of the cattle pen, one hand on the silver spear at his waist, and looked towards the pen.

Eugene, standing nearby, exhaled a puff of smoke and asked a question.

"Boss, should I prepare a cow in advance?"

"Go ahead, I do have some things I want to verify."

Gavin waved to Eugene, who then strolled out and, like the Grim Reaper, chose yet another cow.

After leading the cow back to the pen and waiting for a while, until he threw down and stubbed out his cigarette, Gavin extended his left hand to Madison.

"Your axe hasn't been stained with any other zombie blood today, let me use it."

"Okay, boss."

Madison handed him a Viking battle axe, and Gavin picked it up and headed towards the cattle pen.

Seeing this, Steve instinctively stepped in front of Gavin and said.

"Let me do it, you know I like doing this kind of work~"

“I also know I don’t need your overprotection, man, I know what I’m doing.”

Gavin shook his head, pushed Steve aside, walked into the cattle pen, and swung his battle axe, smashing it hard into the zombie's chest.

puff!

Wow...

The zombie's sternum was instantly ripped open, and its internal organs and blood gushed out.

After smearing enough blood on the axe, Gavin approached the cow, who was cowering in the corner.

Without saying anything more, Gavin swung his axe and chopped the cow in the neck.

Of course, he used a lot of force, so that he only made a small cut.

But that was enough. After smearing the dead zombie's blood on the cow's wounds, Gavin quickly left the cow pen to wait.

This time, Niu Niu did not show any cold-like symptoms as before.

Gavin waited patiently for several minutes, then raised his gun and killed the cow on the ground, before continuing to wait.

Very well, even after three or four minutes, the cow still hadn't gotten up and turned into a zombie.

Gavin finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this virus, which could replace the brain and nerves and control the dead to perform living actions, did indeed possess the essential elements of a living being.

That means... both the zombies and the virus inside them will die!

With that thought in mind, Gavin pushed open the cowshed door and waved to Eugene.

Looking at Gavin, who was covered in blood, Eugene took a breath and muttered curses as he herded the cattle.

"That's fucking terrifying! The way you waved at me was like you were urging me to go into the cowshed to die. I think I saw my dead great-grandmother waving at me!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Eugene hurriedly ran out of the cow pen, letting the cows tremble as they walked past Gavin.

Gavin walked up to the zombie bull's corpse, swung his axe at the bull's head, and smashed the zombie bull's head in two with a few blows in the blink of an eye.

After the axe was completely soaked in the zombie cow's blood, Gavin carried the axe toward the cow, saying to Eugene and the other two.

"Next, we'll see the flesh and blood of the dead zombie cow. Will it have an even more powerful effect on its living counterparts?"

"If that's the case, then I'm worried that even if the flesh and blood of dead zombies don't cause animals to mutate, too much contact with their flesh and blood could cause problems for us living people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin swung his axe with his other hand.

Just then, the cow suddenly raised its hind leg and kicked Gavin in the stomach.

"brother!"

Steve yelled in fright, but Gavin just frowned and dodged the bull's hoof, then chopped the bull's rump with his axe!

After the cow let out a mournful cry, it hurriedly jumped around, while Gavin dodged the cow's attacks from left and right, finding an opportunity to escape from the cow and leave the pen.

Looking at Gavin's unchanging face, Eugene swallowed hard, then let out a sinister laugh.

"Hehe, haha, I knew I wasn't wrong to call you 'boss'!"

"You're no ordinary sports star, you'd be a ruthless guy like Spartacus even if you were thrown back a thousand years ago, boss!"

(End of this chapter)