Doomsday America.

Chapter 400 The First Snow

They were both looking at the sun on the horizon.

One second ago, the sun seemed to be extremely hot, making people feel hot all over and sweat pouring down their faces.

Even when wearing only a vest, there are still wet sweat stains on the chest and back.

But at this very moment—

It's another morning.

Gavin had just gotten out of bed, taken a shower, and left his room when Winnie grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the living room.

"Boss!"

Winnie said excitedly.

"It's snowing!"

"What?"

Gavin was genuinely taken aback by Winnie's words.

He quickly strode forward and walked with Winnie along the second-floor corridor toward the nearest rooftop.

After turning just two corners, Gavin could already see the sentry by the window.

The sentry was standing on the second-floor rooftop, wearing slightly loose clothing, holding a rifle, his back to Gavin, staring blankly out the window.

Gavin couldn't help but let his imagination run wild just from Gavin's absent-minded posture. Gavin strode over to the sentry's side and gently patted him on the shoulder.

"This is Dallas's first snow, right? That's really early for the first snow this year!"

Gavin said this to the sentry.

Upon hearing Gavin's words, the sentry immediately turned around and saluted Gavin.

Upon seeing the sentry's face, Gavin couldn't help but purse his lips.

This is already the third batch of additional office staff members; they should be called ————

Omar?

Gavin vaguely remembered his name, but that was about it. Gavin was never a genius; he didn't have a photographic memory.

As for now.

Gavin raised his hand and waved to Omar, then smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not correcting your post duties; I just want to share my joy in this moment!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin went to the floor-to-ceiling window on the rooftop, forcefully pushed open the extremely thick glass, and completely exposed the rooftop to the outside.

He walked onto the rooftop, stood at the edge of the glass railing, placed his left hand on the railing, and raised his right hand high to catch the small snowflakes that were constantly falling from the sky.

Winnie was absolutely right, it snowed, it really snowed.

However, the snow in front of us wasn't very heavy; it appeared after a light rain.

It rained in the manor area last night. The rain started heavy and gradually decreased, eventually turning into a drizzle. Who would have thought that this drizzle would actually turn into tiny ice crystals by morning?

As Gavin reached out to catch the snowflakes falling from the sky, Winnie, standing beside him, first wiped away the snowflakes that had accumulated on the railing with both hands.

Then, Winnie took the thin layer of snowflakes that had accumulated on her hands and stuffed it all into Gavin's clothes.

"Haha, boss, are we getting cold? Are we getting cold?"

"Tch, it's nothing special. Take your hand out; the snow on the railing is dirty!"

Gavin gave Winnie a stern scolding and then tapped her on the head.

At the same time, I kept thinking about the meaning that this snow was destined to bring.

This snow came a little too early.

After all, it's only November 26th!

In the Dallas area of ​​Texas, it usually doesn't get snow until mid-December!

Thinking about this, Gavin couldn't help but want to have a talk with Thomas.

But beside him, Winnie was still catching snowflakes, hoping Gavin would play with her a little longer.

Looking at the energetic Winnie, Gavin smiled helplessly and reached out to take out a cigarette.

Let me spend just one more cigarette's worth of time with her, just one cigarette.

Having made his decision silently, Gavin Teng reached out and patted Winnie's head.

Kid, I really hope you can always be as relaxed as you are now, so carefree that you don't have to think about anything.

But just as Gavin was rubbing his head, Winnie seemed to sense something.

She raised her head and silently looked into Gavin's eyes.

Meeting Winnie's gaze, Gavin skillfully forced a smile; he didn't want to disappoint the little brat who was so devoted to him.

Even though I've been so busy lately that I hardly ever get to sleep, I still have to make sure I leave at least a few minutes for this kid.

What's more, this is the first snowfall in Texas in 2013!

How special must this snow mean to a child like Winnie?

Thinking this, Gavin's smile became even more enthusiastic.

But----

After a brief observation, Winnie regretfully confirmed her judgment, then gently shook her head, shook off Gavin's hand that was rubbing her head, and said.

"Boss, you seem really distracted, it's infuriating."

"Is this how every leader is: they gain power and status, but at the same time, they have to give up time for romance or simply having fun?"

"Forget it, forget it. You're standing right here, but your soul seems to have drifted off to the lobby and conference room for a meeting."

"I've already shown you the first snow of the year, that's enough. Go find those reliable adults around you and discuss how we should get through this winter!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Winnie smiled, raised her hand, and pushed Gavin's lower back, forcefully pushing him off the terrace and into the manor.

Seeing that Winnie had seen through him so easily, Gavin smiled helplessly and said softly.

"You're always so perceptive, kid. Well then, thank you for making time for me. Once I'm done with what I'm doing, I'll take you fishing in the lake."

"Oh right, fishing, fishing! You promised me that two months ago, and I even got my fishing rod ready, but I still haven't been able to do it!"

Winnie pouted in annoyance and began to complain to Gavin.

"Fishing? I bet once you have time, we'll be ice skating on the frozen lake!"

'

"By then, will you still take me to put on ice skates and glide across the lake, while you casually slash the heads of those zombies frozen to the surface with your sharp blades!"

"Ice blades are our weapons, figure skating is our fighting technique. Every frozen zombie will die by our hand. We are the most terrifying killers in this apocalyptic winter, the figure skating duo!"

"is that so!"

After all the teasing, Winnie finally felt a little more satisfied with her complaints.

So Winnie nudged Gavin's shoulder again and gestured with her chin towards the lobby on the first floor not far away.

Seeing this, Gavin sighed helplessly through his nose, then nodded and waved to Winnie.

"Whether it's ice skating or fishing, I promised you we'd make time, kid. I'm off to get busy."

After saying this, Gavin turned and left Winnie, striding towards the hall.

As he walked, he took out his walkie-talkie and spoke.

"All management personnel in the logistics team and all personnel in the research team, assemble in the lobby."

After saying that, Gavin put down the walkie-talkie, strode to his sofa, and sat down heavily.

It's snowing.

Time really flies.

The summer, which was expected to bring a lot of trouble to himself and the league, has passed by completely in silence.

There was neither the anticipated severe drought nor the predicted major floods.

There was no planned locust plague, nor was there a planned mass migration.

In summer, zombies do not experience any problems with mobility. Their symbiotic relationship with fungi allows them to connect with the ground through mycelium and burrow deep underground to draw water, continuously nourishing their survival, even in relatively arid areas.

Gavin had made ample preparations for this summer.

In reality, none of the unexpected events they were prepared to deal with occurred during the summer.

So, with summer so quiet, does Gavin and the league have the right to underestimate the arrival of winter?

Stop joking!

This first winter after the apocalypse is destined to be completely different from any winter in the past!

Gavin needs to have a good talk with his guys and make sure he's fully prepared!

Shortly after Gavin arrived in the hall, Thomas and the others began to gather from all directions.

It's only 6:40 a.m., which is a bit early for some people, and breakfast hasn't even started yet.

Of course, what hasn't started yet is just breakfast at the manor.

After all, the current alliance consists of people who still live in the manor.

Many of the other workers who lived outside the manor and had prepared their own simple houses no longer ate in the canteen.

Compared to eating in a communal kitchen, many people prefer to have a simple meal at home, then have more time to rest until work fully begins, at which point they leisurely head to their workstations to put in the effort.

At this moment, more than two months have passed since the Speaker of the New York House proposed the Gold Plan.

Even 2013 is almost completely over.

There are only a few days left.

With the formal commencement of the plan to militarily merge Texas and other surrounding camps, the pressure on field operations has increased significantly, armed conflicts have become frequent, and the casualties have been considerable.

Two and a half months ago, over a period of more than six months, the alliance's field operations team lost fewer than fifteen people.

But now, two and a half months later...

In the League's graveyard, there are already more than eighty good buddies lying there!

Gavin could even remember the names on each of those tombstones.

But the heavy losses led to the rapid expansion of the alliance. The alliance, which had only more than 800 people at the time, expanded to a total of 1,700 people in just two months!

That's a full 1,700 people!

Because the Alliance absorbed a total of eleven survival bases, five of which were in Texas, three in Oklahoma, and the rest in Florida.

The largest of these camps was the fraternity camp in Florida.

Well, the name "fraternity" is so common in America that almost every college has its own fraternity.

Therefore, if a post-apocalyptic survival camp is centered around young people, with them holding the main power and influence, it will very likely be named something like "Brotherhood."

That camp had more than two hundred people, and the number of those capable of fighting was more than one hundred and eighty!

This number is not an exaggeration, after all, they are all people who struggled to survive the apocalypse.

Of course, this does not mean that their camp of just over two hundred people housed more than one hundred and eighty gunmen.

They actually only have sixty or seventy of their own field agents and explorers.

However, when faced with the Alliance's attack, everyone who could carry a gun armed themselves and fought a head-on battle against the Alliance.

These tough Florida teams are also the toughest ones the league has suffered since its inception.

Even with Edward and Eugene personally leading the operation, and four entire companies launching a surprise attack in the early morning, the Alliance still suffered over forty casualties in this battle.

Regardless, Gavin's goals continue to be pursued. And the league is indeed growing stronger.

Most importantly, with the Eugene Company's continued exploration, the golden trade route to New York has now been extended to a full 1,700 kilometers!

This is not simply about traveling 1,700 kilometers.

Along this 1,700-kilometer stretch, there is a four-person outpost every fifty kilometers, patrolling and monitoring the safety of the area's roads at all times, and reporting the situation to the Alliance headquarters at any time.

In other words, Gavin not only invested a lot of resources and logistical manpower in this road alone, but also put forward a total of 132 fixed personnel just to guard it.

As of now, the 35th outpost is still under construction.

According to field reports, the situation of zombies near the thirty-fifth outpost is not very stable, and it seems that the surrounding zombie horde is becoming restless.

Of course, those are the difficulties that field staff need to deal with.

What Gavin needs to understand and pay attention to right now is whether this snowfall, which arrived early at the end of November, and the inevitable drop in odor that will follow, will bring considerable trouble to the league.

At this moment, all the men who had come to the hall, except for Thomas, gathered at the entrance, standing on the edge of the door, looking at the gradually falling snowflakes with curiosity, excitement, happiness, or worry.

While they were observing, Thomas walked up behind Gavin with a smile, stood straight ahead, and said to Gavin.

"Sir, this is great news! Dallas got snow a full 28 days earlier than last year!"

"It seems that while the apocalypse is causing us significant losses, the instantaneous reduction in industrial output and carbon emissions may also make the global cold wave come more rapidly and fiercely."

"However, at least for this year, the early drop in temperature may freeze and kill more insect eggs in the soil, thus reducing the risk of locust plagues and other pests next year."

"For agriculture, especially for next year's agriculture, this early snowfall seems to be good news."

"But—I have a vague worry that the heavy snow will come earlier each year than the previous year."

"After all, with the reduction of human carbon emissions, the coverage of forests and other vegetation will increase dramatically. However, fungi may help us solve this problem. After all, in the past, when trees were unruly, it was fungi that mastered the method of rotting trees, which brought the forest era to an end."

At this point, Thomas bent down and glanced at the coffee table in front of Gavin.

There was only one cup of milk tea on it, and it seemed to be cold.

Thomas then turned around and beckoned to a nearby waiter, who immediately came in. Thomas gave the waiter only two simple instructions.

Meanwhile, the men who had gathered in front of the gate also left the gate direction, walked over to Gavin with sighs, and found their own sofas to sit down.

As everyone took their seats, Kobayashi Shinya strode up to Gavin!

Even now, Shinya Kobayashi remains the most respectful of all the astronauts to Gavin, because he even knelt down before Gavin after standing still!

Seeing this, Gavin's expression also became somewhat strained.

He always felt that Kobayashi was projecting his image onto the emperor or shogun from Kobayashi's hometown.

However, he was too lazy to correct Kobayashi's behavior, because Kobayashi's intelligence and his stubbornness were equal; Gavin could only give orders, not correct them!

As for now.

After performing a solemn Japanese kneeling ceremony.

Kobayashi straightened up, looked up at Gavin, and said solemnly.

"Your Majesty, with the arrival of the first snow, winter has officially begun!"

"I think you should seriously consider what I told you before about the possibility of a massive zombie migration influenced by cold air currents!"