Doomsday America

Chapter 94 Traces of Survivors
"I understand. The quarterback is a big shot. They might just want to run away when they see me, but when they see you, they'll probably be willing to come over!"

Eugene responded to Gavin's words with a hearty laugh.

Gavin raised his fist and bumped it with him, then turned and left the manor.

Madison and Steve followed behind him; all three were fully armed, two on horseback and one in a car.

As the three figures disappeared into the dust, Eugene licked his lips, then laughed loudly, raised his right hand, and shouted to the people in the manor.

"Haha, all the big shots are gone, I'm in charge of this manor now!"

"Stop talking nonsense, Redhead. Do you want your ass to get shot too?!"

Bella called out to Eugene from afar, then pulled Winnie along to work with her.

As for William...

He came over to Eugene, patted him on the shoulder, and smiled.

"Don't worry, cousin, I'll keep watch for you while you milk the cows."

"Shet!"

Eugene, feeling frustrated, gave William a piece of his mind.

This is quite different from the post-apocalyptic life he imagined.

"Mixing cows? Damn it, should I find an old man a wheelchair first?"

Eugene asked Albert, sounding frustrated.

Upon hearing this, old Bert nodded, pointed to the old manor ahead, and said.

“That’s right, redhead, Gavin’s dad’s medical center is on the third floor of Stone Manor, in the room next to the master bedroom.”

"If nothing unexpected happens, there will be not only wheelchairs inside, but also a small emergency operating table."

"That thing is the greatest treasure of our manor in my eyes. As long as I recover from my back injury, even if you little brats break your legs or need to have circumcisions or appendectomies, I, the veterinarian, can take care of it for you!"

"Fuck, I don't want to hear the word 'veterinarian' anymore. I hope God blesses me so I stay healthy and free from illness!"

Eugene laughed and shouted to old Bert, then slung his rifle over his shoulder, grabbed his walkie-talkie, and left the manor.

Seeing William staggering after him, Eugene called out to William.

"My dear little cousin, you stay outside the old house and keep watch for me. I'll go in by myself."

"If zombies attack, call me on the walkie-talkie. Your logistics channel is channel two, right?"

As they spoke, Eugene switched the walkie-talkie to the logistics channel.

At the same time, William nodded slightly and muttered something to himself.

"It's only for now. Before long, I'll be a field agent too."

"Ha, what are you expecting? Becoming an explorer is risky, buddy."

Eugene chuckled, then pulled out his pistol and cautiously entered the old manor.

Although the old manor had already been searched, there was nothing he could do; in the current environment, the sight of the house made him feel that danger lurked everywhere.

Being overly cautious is never a bad thing; only being overly relaxed is a mistake.

Following old Bert's directions, Eugene soon emerged from the manor in his wheelchair.

He called William back, and the two of them came to old Bert and helped him into his wheelchair.

The three dogs circled the wheelchair, and the two German Shepherds whimpered sadly after smelling the familiar scent.

Old Bert was about to pat the dogs on the head to comfort them when Eugene pushed him away.

Eugene said as he pushed the person.

"Stop teasing the dog, old buddy. There's too much work to do. After milking the cows, I still have to set up the shooting range. I don't want those three laughing at me for lounging around at home all day!"

"Haha, okay, but while we're milking the cows, let's walk the dogs too. These good kids can help us keep the zombies away."

Old Bert responded, then whistled, calling the dogs over.

William tried to follow Eugene, but after taking only two steps, Eugene gave him a cold look and a cursing rebuke.

"What the hell are you doing following me here?!"

Eugene continued to hurl insults at William, clearly annoyed.

"It's already a hassle for me to take care of this old man in a wheelchair. If a zombie attack comes, guess how I'm going to get both of you half-paralyzed guys home!"

At this point, Eugene pursed his lips, bracing himself for a verbal battle with his younger cousin.

They've been like this for the past few years. He knows he's very close to his younger cousin, but he also knows that his younger cousin looks down on him for always staying at home and wasting his time.

But at this moment...

Faced with Eugene's scolding, William did not refute it, but nodded quickly after thinking for a moment.

"you're right!"

William agreed.

“We really shouldn’t have acted together. If the boss were here, he wouldn’t have put us together.”

“Here’s what we’ll do: you and old Bert, be careful. I’ll keep an eye on the surrounding area for you. Also, after Bella and Winnie finish washing the dishes, they might be able to clean up the remaining bloodstains in the old manor’s garden area.”

"By then, I will have to be prepared to protect them."

At this point, William decisively returned to the manor and went to the second-floor corridor with the best view to pick up his binoculars.

Looking at his younger cousin's retreating figure, Eugene was slightly taken aback, opened his mouth in surprise, but didn't know what to say.

His little cousin's sudden change made him a little uneasy. Where had his cousin gone? Had the quarterback molded him into his shape?

"Shit!"

Eugene shoved old Bert away, saying this as he walked toward the cattle pen.

"My cousin has been playing with him for years, and he always ignored what I said. But in just two or three days, he's started spouting Gavin's words all over his mouth. It's fucking disgusting!"

"Alright, buddy, everyone's like that, my two sons too."

Old Bert patted Eugene's hand as he pushed the wheelchair, offering him words of comfort.

"My two sons won't listen to a word I say, but if Gavin's dad just farts, those two kids will analyze it for ages. It's disgusting!"

"Yeah, even the farts of big shots smell good. What can we do when one of us is an unemployed soldier and the other is a half-paralyzed old blacksmith?"

Eugene patted old Bert on the shoulder and pushed him toward the cattle pen.

Following old Bert's instructions, Eugene clumsily herded the cow out, found a milk bucket and a rag, and awkwardly began to wipe the cow clean.

After wiping the jujube clean, Eugene began to milk the cow even more clumsily.

"Hey, Redhead, don't hit her so hard, she's going to kick you!"

"What the hell! I almost got my head smashed by a cow!"

"You're using too much force, Eugene. Be gentler and more rhythmic. Make sure the cow is producing milk comfortably!"

"I've never been this particular about how I handle women!"

"Then let's start learning now, buddy. Lighten up your grip on the gun, imagine you're grabbing your own little brother, don't pull too hard!"

"How am I supposed to imagine this? Can't I just find a bull? Cows are such a pain to deal with!"

"Hey, are you craving milk? Don't squeeze it on your face!"

"Damn it, I'm not that greedy, it's just that this thing won't obey me!"

……

On the other hand, there's Gavin's three-man team.

The three crossed the highway and pasture, driving the cattle eastward as they went, before returning to the crossroads.

Following the direction indicated by the sign, Madison rolled down the car window, leaned out, and asked.

"Boss, do you think there might be more zombie dogs in town?" "If you keep jinxing me, I'll shove your mouth against the car window and make you give the raptor a wet kiss, buddy!"

Gavin gave Madison the middle finger, then pointed to the road leading to town and said.

"let's go."

The three of them then slowly walked toward the town, taking turns using binoculars to observe the distance as they went.

As they walked and observed, the three of them somehow got to within 400 meters of the edge of the town.

As the town drew ever closer, Steve drew his pistol and tentatively asked Gavin a question.

"Bro, this looks much safer now. Want to give it a shot and see?"

"Let's fire a shot. If there are any remaining zombies in the town, we can lure them out and make the town a little safer."

After receiving confirmation, Steve raised his pistol and fired two shots at a high angle.

After the gunshot, everyone waited in place for a moment. The town was as quiet as a dead town, without any disturbance.

Gavin waited for the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, but didn't see any more zombies rush out of the town.

At this point, he shook his head with a sigh and smiled.

"It seems that the dogs' ability to rally their friends is even better than our gunfire. When they chased us yesterday, they actually lured away almost all the zombies in the town."

At this point, Gavin picked up his binoculars and took one last look at the town.

Just as Steve said, there were large areas of charred remains to the northwest of the town, extending all the way to the location where the water tower had collapsed.

The collapsed water tower crushed six or seven houses and left the neighborhood in ruins. Gavin could even vaguely see Steve's car.

The car was pinned down by one of the water tower's support pillars, which tightly trapped the engine and caused the car to tilt upside down.

Looking at that scene, Gavin couldn't help but give Steve a thumbs up.

"The situation was definitely more dangerous than you described, Steve, you're a true warrior!"

"Bro, I'm the top student!"

Steve responded with a smile, then spurred his horse forward two steps.

"I'll be at the front because I'm more familiar with the town. If we encounter any accidents, you guys follow me!"

“No problem, let’s go to the town’s hospital first and pack up all the medicines.”

The town hospital was located near the town center and was not affected by the fire.

Upon hearing Gavin's words, Steve understood and cautiously walked along the road toward the hospital.

The town was truly desolate. The group walked for several hundred meters until they reached the hospital entrance, but no zombies appeared.

Gavin stopped his horse at the hospital entrance, dismounted, and spoke to Madison, who was about to get off the carriage.

“Old Mike, you stay in the car. Steve and I will handle the moving. The town hospital was built by my family, and the variety of medicines is no worse than those in hospitals in big cities. We can’t move it all in one trip; we might have to make many trips.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin and Steve walked into the hospital.

As Steve crossed the hall and arrived at the medicine storage area, he was about to make his move when he suddenly stopped and spoke to Gavin.

"Wait, bro, it looks like someone's been here before!"

"Is it?"

Upon hearing this, Gavin quickly took two steps and looked in the direction Steve was pointing.

Sure enough, the medicine cabinet was wide open, with many medicines scattered on the ground and many others missing.

If it's just spilled medicine, it could also be caused by zombies.

But in the direction Steve was pointing, there was a medicine cabinet that was almost empty!
It's possible for a zombie to break open a medicine cabinet, but it's impossible for a zombie to empty half of the cabinet, right?

Gavin walked up to the half-empty medicine cabinet and looked at the types of medicines that were left inside.

Gavin then switched the walkie-talkie to band two and asked a question.

"Old Bert, what diseases do doxycycline hydrochloride and aztreonam/avibactam treat?"

"What? Aren't those all antibiotics? Aztreonam is more effective for infections of the abdominal environment."

Old Bert immediately responded on the intercom, then asked Gavin.

"You've arrived in town? That's less than seven kilometers from my veterinary station. If you have the chance, please bring back all my veterinary medicine."

"I don't really know much about human medicine, but I know more about veterinary medicine, and most of them can treat humans."

"We don't lack food and clothing for now, but medicine is always a scarce commodity. We need to stock up on as much as possible, whether it's human or veterinary medicine!"

At this point, Old Bert's walkie-talkie went silent.

Gavin then turned on the intercom and responded.

"I understand. I will bring all the medicine back with me later."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin switched back to the intercom frequency and said...

"Judging from what Old Bert said, this medicine cabinet should be storing antibiotics, so it seems that there are survivors who were injured."

“Wait, brother, there’s no blood around here. There’s probably more than one survivor, because people whose need for antibiotics is more important than the zombie threat are unlikely to be able to act on their own.”

"If the person who came wasn't in dire need of antibiotics, they wouldn't have only taken the antibiotics from the hospital. This survivor is lucky; he caught the right moment after we lured the zombies away from the town!"

Steve said to Gavin, then picked up his pistol and began searching the medicine cabinet for any signs of survivors.

He walked along the medicine cabinet to the hall, found a good angle to look at the floor in the sunlight.

After a moment, Steve stood up and said.

There were some fresh footprints on the floor, they looked to be only about size six or five and a half!

"Six yards? Five and a half yards?"

Upon hearing this, Gavin frowned. Size 6 is a 37, and size 5.5 is a 36.

So Gavin asked.

"Could it be shoe prints left by Joanna, the town doctor?"

"Impossible, Joanna is seven and a half yards!"

Steve shook his head very clearly.

Gavin couldn't help but look at Steve, asking suspiciously.

"How do you know so clearly?"

"When I hurt my leg last year, Joanna kicked me. I know her shoe size very well!"

Steve responded as he followed the barely visible, faint footprints toward the outside of the hospital lobby.

Once they reached the paving stones, the footprints disappeared completely, but Steve still found a few relatively recent hoof prints around the hospital.

Looking in the direction the hoofprints had gone, Steve returned to Gavin's side and said softly.

"The survivor must have been a woman, a very brave and capable woman."

"She rode a horse from the east to the town, with a clear goal. After getting the medicine, she went back. The hoofprints are quite clear."

“If I need to determine whether she searched other places, I’m afraid I’ll have to follow the hoofprints for a while.”

"So, boss, should I go after them and check it out?"

"Of course, but not just by yourself, but all of us together."

Gavin patted Steve on the shoulder and laughed.

"Living people are more important than anything else, buddy, we're desperately short-handed."

"The medicine is right here. If we don't take it now, we'll have countless opportunities to get it later. But if we miss a single living person, we might miss them forever!"

(End of this chapter)