Doomsday America.

Chapter 301 Dallas Metropolitan Area

The farewell to Anne was peaceful and natural.

The day-long mortuary period had made everyone accustomed to Anne's death, and quite a few even envied it. So much so that during the funeral, the people's attention was drawn not to Father Hogan praying for Anne, but to the four makeshift graves newly added to the camp cemetery. Yesterday, Gavin and Eugene's group hadn't properly prepared graves for the four deceased.

So they were buried today as well. After Annie was buried, Gavin and his men dug a grave for the four men and gave them a simple burial. Although their cause of death was not sacred, and their manner of dying was not peaceful.

But Father Hogan still prayed for them and, on behalf of their friends, held a farewell ceremony for them.

By the time everything was over, it was almost 10 o'clock.

At this time, apart from those with more important tasks, such as the kitchen and the farm watchtowers, the others didn't continue working. After all, no matter what the work was, an hour before lunch wouldn't make a difference. And Kobayashi Naoya…

Well, after another hangover, still tipsy, Kobayashi Naoya watched as Thomas approached him carrying three round objects. Earlier, at Annie's and the others' funeral, Kobayashi Naoya had almost vomited from feeling so sick; if it weren't for his samurai spirit preventing him from doing anything so shameful that he'd want to commit seppuku, he might have actually vomited at Annie's funeral.

But it's not too late to vomit now, because after confirming that the three heads Thomas was carrying towards him were actually three living heads, Kobayashi Naoya's stomach acid and the remaining alcohol in his body finally overcame his manners and reason.

"Ugh! Right! Ugh..."

After a painful bout of vomiting, the gurgling sound, accompanied by the sour smell of alcohol, quickly filled the hall.

Gavin, who was leading a group of field agents in planning future work priorities, and all the other field agents present involuntarily looked over. And then… after one glance…

Straightening up, Kobayashi Naoya looked at the countless eyes staring at him and covered his face in grief.

But he only covered his face for a moment before taking his hand off his face and covering his mouth with it.

As we all know, when a person vomits, they cover their mouth with their hand.

That hand would be the most useless thing in a person's life, as useless as an incompetent husband.

As expected, Kobayashi Naoya unleashed a second fountain, the filth gushing from between his fingers and splashing heavily onto the ground.

"Ugh... Private Marseille, please... please move them away from me, I... their heads smell a bit bad, and I... I'm a bit hungover, I'm so sorry!" Kobayashi said, shaking his right hand awkwardly.

Amaterasu above, why am I facing this awkward situation? Who on earth would deliver three moving heads to someone like me, someone who's never been so close to zombies before?! And I'm drunk...

Kobayashi sighed in despair, casually placing his right hand, which had nowhere to go, behind his back.

Even so, Kobayashi still displayed considerable professionalism. He spat twice, spitting the filth in his mouth onto the floor, before continuing calmly and professionally, "Wait, let me handle these three heads first. I'll take them back to the bedroom and deal with them quickly."

"Before this, I had never encountered a real zombie, especially one like this... one that just turned from a human into a zombie yesterday, especially one that only has a head left but can still keep moving—excellent material." "From them, perhaps I can see a little bit about the principles of how zombie fungi penetrate and control the human brain. Of course, due to the limitations of equipment, I may not be able to grasp too much, but I will eventually make some discoveries." As he said this, Kobayashi Naoya straightened his back and took the three heads with his clean left hand.

Feeling a bit heavy on his head, Kobayashi slumped his shoulders, then turned and walked towards his room as if fleeing.

However, after taking two steps, he suddenly turned around, dizzy, and said to the sofa—that is, to Gavin and the field team members—"I will personally come back to deal with that filth. Please wait a moment. My apologies!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kobayashi suddenly did a full-on kowtow and bowed deeply to Gavin.

As he bowed, the three heads in his hands fell to the ground with a thud, with Margaret's head rolling right to Kobayashi Naoya's feet.

Margaret had long lost her former shrewd and capable demeanor. Now, with her face becoming increasingly ferocious, she discovered that there was an ankle near her mouth? Without waiting any longer, Margaret immediately opened her mouth.

Awooo...

"bite?!!"

Kobayashi gasped sharply halfway through his bow, while Gavin quickly stood up!

Before Gavin could speak, Thomas, standing next to Kobayashi, suddenly kicked Margaret's head, sending it flying. He then rushed to Kobayashi's side to check on her. In the distance, Gavin watched Kobayashi and Thomas with a serious expression.

After quickly confirming the information, Thomas stood up and shook his head at Gavin.

"Boss, it's alright. Mr. Kobayashi is wearing ankle braces, and he's in military uniform. Margaret's teeth obviously aren't strong enough to pierce those things." "That's good, but we still need to be careful. Thomas, take Kobayashi back to his room, and then arrange for someone to work with him!"

Gavin picked up where Thomas left off and growled.

"By the way, where's Li Qing? Let Li Qing take Xiao Lin along for the research, and also keep an eye on Xiao Lin's situation."

"There are other astronauts. Although the astronauts these days are actively drinking to prepare for the future, their lives should still be supported by a few more capable assistants!" With that, Gavin turned to look at the field crew in front of him and then pointed to Alto and two other people.

Alto himself is a firefighter, so he's quite skilled at rescuing people. With him leading the team to protect the astronauts, this kind of foolish thing probably won't happen again. If Kobayashi really died in front of him because of this stupidity, Gavin would never be able to forgive himself for the rest of his life.

As the apocalypse continued and the guys became more familiar with the zombies, they inevitably lowered their guard against them.

Even Thomas was no exception!

And so, a moment later.

Li Qing took Xiao Lin back to the room and cleaned up the three zombie heads.

Alto ended his future fieldwork and took on the job of being a nanny and bodyguard for a group of clever drunkards.

As for Adriana...

After Xiaolin and the others left, the woman came over with a pained expression to clean up the vomit.

Fortunately, Adriana was a worldly woman, and she was no stranger to vomit, which she frequented in bars. She wasn't disgusted by it either, and cleaned it up fairly well. The disturbance was brief, but quickly disappeared.

Gavin continued to discuss with his colleagues the focus of their future exploration.

He was not a greedy person, so his field operation planning was as cautious and thorough as his personality.

Resources were not scarce in the early stages of the apocalypse, and Camp Gavin had already accomplished the most basic task of growing vegetables and potatoes.

This reduced the pressure on food supplies, allowing the crew to adjust their exploration strategy accordingly.

Gavin had his men open the front door, letting the pets rush out to play, while the spring breeze dispersed the sour smell from the living room. Meanwhile, he placed a map of Texas on the coffee table in front of him, sat imposingly on the sofa, and tapped Dallas on the map with his finger, saying gravely, "Alright, the little incident is over. Guys, let's get back to business."

"Where were we? Wasn't it Eugene who suggested starting to explore Dallas?"

At this point, Gavin's gaze fell on Eugene, who sat casually on the sofa beside him, legs crossed, swinging his ankles and boots as he replied, "Yeah, boss, we should go check out Dallas too. And that kid Li Qing really needs the research equipment at the University of Texas at Dallas, doesn't he?" "Besides, you said it yourself, boss, we need to restore some level of light industry, don't we?"

"Although we can easily find a lot of salt to take home and eat for several lifetimes, we still have to leave something for the future. We should try to preserve as much of the light industry as possible so that we can cope with the shortage of supplies in the future."

"Dallas is one of the largest cities in Texas, and its metropolitan area has almost everything we need in terms of equipment and corresponding factories." "We don't need to get close to downtown Dallas and face that terrifyingly large complex in person, but I think we should at least expand our exploration area to the satellite towns surrounding the Dallas metropolitan area." "Only then can we find enough manufacturing equipment to train the corresponding workers in different categories."

"Besides, boss, your precious astronauts also need enough scientific research equipment to be able to perform their proper functions, but that kind of scientific research equipment doesn't just grow in rural towns; only large institutions can find those things!"

"If we want to grow, we have to take risks. Sustained stability and rapid development can never coexist, can they?"

At this point, Eugene grinned, revealing an instinctive, mischievous smile.

Gavin simply frowned and looked at Eugene.

He stared at Eugene for a long time before finally unable to hold back and said something to him.

"Bullshit, who taught you all this rubbish? This doesn't sound like something a jerk like you would say!"

"Haha, boss, you guessed it! I taught him those lines. We chatted for a while before today's meeting!" As soon as Gavin finished speaking, Edward raised his hand to greet him.

Indeed, these were the words he taught Eugene, and getting close to Dallas was also his future course of action.

Edward is a pure opportunist and a passionate adventurer with a strong drive to take action.

Ever since he learned that Li Qing and the astronauts had a passion for specialized equipment, and that Gavin also wanted to preserve the light industrial base as much as possible, he had the idea of ​​leading a team into the Dallas metropolitan area.

As for what the Dallas metropolitan area is?

To put it simply, Gavin's location is about 140 kilometers from Dallas. If we reduce that distance by about a third, the area closer to Dallas becomes the Dallas metropolitan area. This area comprises numerous towns that exist because of Dallas's population and economic center, each categorized by its urban positioning, serving Dallas and relying on it for profit and survival. These towns are mostly specialized, each with its own pillar industry, and these industries vary considerably.

Texas is indeed a major farming state, but farms are not the core of Texas; the core of Texas is ultimately industry and technology.

Prior to this, Camp Gavin's explorations had consistently avoided Dallas, instead expanding southwards. While this approach yielded some valuable items, most were consumer goods, not the advanced equipment Gavin and his team of PhDs needed. Therefore, to acquire truly valuable resources, the fieldwork needed to reach urban areas. The dangers posed by these interconnected medium-sized and large cities far surpassed those of the sparsely populated, farming regions of central Texas that Camp Gavin had been facing.

Within those urban clusters, there are very few small cities with populations below 50,000. Furthermore, the distances between cities are much shorter, with some as close as two or three kilometers. As these cities continue to expand, they gradually merge.

This is somewhat similar to the urban layout of Dallas, which is composed of three large urban districts. Most people's impression of Dallas is of the Dallas Buyers Club.

In reality, Dallas is actually the crown jewel of Texas, a product of the continuous development of three giant towns that eventually merged into a large metropolitan area. Dallas, Arlington, and Fort Worth have long been integrated and accepted each other's existence. For example, Gavin's Cowboys are located in the Arlington metropolitan area, but are actually classified as part of Dallas. Before merging into the final Dallas, these three cities also had a similar satellite city status.

Dallas, on the far right, focuses on developing culture and the arts, and connects with high-end commerce, boasting Texas's largest shopping district and upscale shopping streets. Fort Worth, on the far left, upholds tradition. As the birthplace of the Texas cowboy, it is also the center of Texas's livestock industry, known as the place where cowboys began, and also the most concentrated area of ​​modern livestock farming and cowboys.

Arlington, nestled between Dallas and Fort Worth, is a hub for sports and entertainment, and also a connecting point between the two metropolitan areas. This makes the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth metropolitan area the largest urban area in the Southern United States, which is also why the Southern Baptist Convention headquarters is located in Dallas. This is the heart of the American South!

It's easy to imagine how much cooperation exists among the towns in the Dallas metropolitan area, which inherits the traditions of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington. And how similar and complementary their roles are within the metropolitan area.

Given this situation, even if Gavin had an entire reinforced regiment, he couldn't easily make up his mind to explore!

Moreover, he didn't have a reinforced regiment; all he had were a few dozen increasingly fearless field agents.

Therefore, after Edward expressed his opinion, Gavin only pondered for a moment before firmly shaking his head.

"Edward!"

Gavin stated this clearly.

"I do hope that before most of our supplies completely rot, our camp can be self-sufficient in making seasonings, clothing, and especially soap and other toiletries, as well as toilet paper!" "These things may seem insignificant, but they are our necessities. We must be self-sufficient as much as possible before they completely decay!" "But—even the need for these necessities cannot supersede our lives, because compared to those so-called necessities, our population is our true, and only, necessity!" "The Dallas metropolitan area is far too dangerous for us. At least for the next three months, until our first vegetable harvest is successful, I will not extend our reach into the Dallas metropolitan area." "As for the equipment we need, let me think. We'll try to gather as much information as possible about towns in central Texas, hoping that smaller, more dispersed towns might have a few light industrial manufacturing plants." "Besides, even if we had everything, we wouldn't have enough manpower to implement it all, would we?"

"So, we'll start making whatever we can find, and if we don't know how, we'll learn. As long as we're alive, we'll eventually master it." "But if we die, then everything will be gone, guys!"