Doomsday America.

Chapter 216 How could someone who raises groundhogs be a bad person?

Chapter 216 How could someone who raises groundhogs be a bad person?

Gavin looked up at the man whose Adam's apple was moving up and down, staring intently into his eyes.

The man took a deep breath and, meeting Gavin's gaze, spoke in a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry, I—we didn't mean to, we just didn't expect them to keep following us."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man raised his hands in frustration and rubbed his hair vigorously, making a mess of his black hair.

Gavin frowned slightly, then took out a map and looked at the area around the farm before asking the man a question.

"Tell me about your activities before you arrived here."

"Okay—okay!"

The man nodded hurriedly, then paused for a few seconds as if recalling something, before speaking.

"Gavin, I am Emil, Emil Summers. Before the end of the world, I lived in Fourni and was the headmaster of Fourni High School."

"Really, Fourni? It's only about 30 kilometers from Dallas. You're in luck, buddy."

Gavin interrupted Emil's narration and casually pointed to Fourni on the map.

He wouldn't let Emil continue his narration without his consent, as he needed to determine the veracity of the man's words.

If this fellow has made up a story, he will have to interrupt at least several times to make the storytelling less smooth in order to determine whether Emil will give anything away.

Upon hearing Gavin's words, Emil let out a long sigh of relief and then nodded heavily.

"You're right, Gavin, I'm really lucky. Sometimes I feel like God is looking out for me."

"When the zombie outbreak first started, my partner and my two-year-old child were sleeping in the same room, and the noise they made woke me up. I managed to grab my car keys and escape."

"But I actually ran towards the police station. My house is very close to the Fourni police station, and I almost got surrounded by zombies."

"Oh?"

Gavin interrupted Emil, then casually tossed up the map and spoke to Emil.

"The location of the Fourni Police Station isn't on the map. Could you mark it for me?"

"what?"

Emil paused for a moment, then swallowed hard. Gavin's probing hadn't been done in secret, so he nervously moved closer to Gavin, took the pen, and tapped the map.

"Here—here."

"Okay, thank you for your guidance, Principal. You don't need to be nervous. I was just asking."

Gavin gently patted Emil's hand and then waved to him.

"Go on."

"OK."

Emil nodded and continued.

"My mind went completely blank at that moment. The sound of the car attracted a lot of zombies from the direction of the police station, and I—"

"What kind of car do you drive?" Gavin suddenly asked.

"what?"

Emil was taken aback again, then swallowed hard and replied.

"I drive a Mercedes GLS, I—"

"Wow, Principal, you're really rich! You rarely see town principals driving cars like that!"

Gavin chuckled jokingly and flicked his cigarette ash, while Emil gave Gavin a dry laugh in return.

After confirming that Gavin did not interrupt further, the principal nervously continued speaking.

"Anyway, I barely escaped from Fourni, but I was really stupid at first. I didn't know what was going on, so I actually ran towards Dallas."

"It wasn't until I ran towards Mesquite and saw dozens of zombies blocking the road to Mesquite Airport that I snapped out of my daze and started fleeing in the opposite direction."

"I didn't dare go back to Fourni, so after much wandering, I escaped to Rother with the help of Lady Luck. That's where I met Judan. We—"

"Her name is Judy?"

Gavin turned to look at the woman, then smiled and nodded at her.

The woman responded hastily, while the man, after a slight pause, continued speaking.

"Yes—yes, Judan Russell, my savior more than once. She's a good girl. She's saved me a lot and helped me a lot. We—"

"Don't say that, Emil. You've helped me a lot too. We're just helping each other out."

Judan interrupted Emil's praise, and the two exchanged a glance while praising each other.

And Gavin.

Seeing the genuine interaction between the two, he took off his hat, already having made his judgment.

However, he didn't say much, but gave the two some time to exchange a few more polite words before Emil continued speaking.

"In short, the two of us hid in Rother for about five days, and then left Rother for a caravan camp near Tours. It was near Lake Camp, which had abundant freshwater resources, and it was also near Gunbar and Starport, which had plenty of supplies. We thought it was a good place to live."

"Oh? I remember Rosser and Tours were tiny towns, but Tours actually has a campervan campground?"

Gavin interrupted with a question, and Emil nodded hastily.

"That's right, Gavin. There's a resort area and a nature reserve nearby, so there are a lot of RVs gathered there. I took my family camping there before the apocalypse."

"Anyway, after we hid in Tull for a few days, suddenly, a large number of zombies left the city. When those zombies passed through Tull, they terrified Judan and me."

"Fortunately, the zombies didn't notice us, but once they passed through, we couldn't hide anymore."

"There were already some zombies left at the RV campground in Tours, and then some more zombies from Cannonball City ended up there. We didn't dare stay there, so we ran from Tours to Trinidad."

Just as Emil finished speaking, Gavin narrowed his eyes knowingly and said, "Trinidad."

This place, though called an island, is actually a tiny town with fewer than eighty households.

Moreover, it is located directly north of Lake Richard, less than 25 kilometers away.

This distance is very close, which explains why Emil and his companion were able to bring the zombies to the farm.

Logically speaking, unless there is malicious intent, as long as the survivor drives more than tens of kilometers, virtually no zombie can accurately follow the direction of the car to the camp.

After all, the road has curves, and once the vehicles arriving at the camp create a sound source to attract the zombies, they can easily make a slightly larger turn, making it difficult for the zombies to continue tracking them.

But Trinidad —

Damn it, there really is an almost straight road between this town and Gavin's farm, and it's a country dirt road!

Once Gavin has led his men to inspect Trinidad and the residential areas near Tours and Rother, he can confirm whether Emil was lying.

If Emil wasn't lying, and there really were only traces of two people living on Rother, Tours, and Trinidad.

Then Gavin can be pretty sure that these two people are a big gift from another camp with helicopters!

Indeed, what Gavin was most worried about and most afraid of was another camp with helicopters.

After all, Gavin's recent investigations have confirmed that the camp's activity area is very large and its desire to explore is very strong; their helicopters have even been to Dallas more than once.

In short, Gavin nodded on Trinidad as well, then spoke to Emil without looking up.

"That's quite interesting, Emil. You actually live on Trinidad, which is quite close to us."

"And then what? You only thought to come looking for me today, and you even brought a whole bunch of zombies with you?"

"Tsk tsk, this is even more surprising. I was just worried that I didn't have any new photos that could inspire us and boost morale, and you've brought me such a great result."

"Thousands of dead zombies—isn't that an absurd sight? Aren't we reassuringly powerful enough to wipe them out? Shouldn't I thank you for your selfless sacrifice?"

At this point, Gavin, his right hand resting on the map, raised his head expressionlessly and looked coldly at Emil and Judy.

Meanwhile, around the hall, the logistics personnel who were too weak to participate in the zombie-clearing operation, such as Xiao Cao, Susan the Green Tea Girl, and the singing and dancing old lady Daniel, were all present.

The way they looked at Emil and Gavin at that moment became even more ferocious, mirroring Gavin's attitude.

In an instant, a sense of danger permeated the hall, and even the nearby animals sensed the tension.

The dogs immediately stood at attention, while the cats, after a brief moment of surprise, circled around with their tails raised.

Just then, not far away, a large meatball that Bruce the Golden Retriever was holding in his mouth suddenly caught Gavin's attention.

Despite the tense atmosphere, Gavin couldn't help but look into Bruce's mouth. After a slight pause, he pointed to the large meatball in the dog's mouth and said...

"Wait, what the hell is that?!"

"What?"

Gavin's words startled the extremely tense Emil and Judy, who immediately turned to look at the golden retriever along with the other logistics staff.

The next second, Judy's eyes widened suddenly, and she let out a desperate scream.

"No! Oh my God, my darling!"

"Oh my god, what the hell is that?! What the hell?! Is that a groundhog?!"

Gavin asked in surprise, then waved to the golden retriever.

Bruce, seeing Judy's despairing expression, immediately shoved the large woolly dumpling in his mouth into Gavin's face.

Gavin took the large woolen ball and glanced at it. Mazefak was indeed a plump groundhog, but it didn't seem very energetic.

Whether it was being carried by a dog before or being held by Gavin by the skin of its neck now, it didn't struggle much, and even looked a little sleepy.

Seeing Gavin mention the groundhog, Judy quickly took two steps closer to him.

Before she could speak, Xiao Cao suddenly pointed his gun at Judy behind Gavin and warned her.

"Hey!"

"Don't shoot! I didn't mean any harm! I just— Waaah, that's my groundhog! Her name is Jedi, she's an obedient girl, she just doesn't like to sleep much. Please don't hurt her!"

With Xiao Cao's gun pointed at her, Judan immediately stopped in her tracks, raised her hands, and cried as she spoke to Gavin and Xiao Cao.

Upon hearing this, Gavin raised his hand and waved to Xiao Cao. As Xiao Cao lowered his gun, Gavin chuckled and waved the groundhog toward Judy.

In many parts of Texas, people keep marmots as pets, and marmots are a type of animal that Texans particularly love.

Just like the famous town of Weatherford, Texas, which is known for its Groundhog Day, this festival was even made into a movie, and is the origin of the famous Groundhog Day.

but----

Looking at the listless groundhog in front of him, Gavin chuckled and scratched her chubby belly before looking up at Judy and speaking seriously.

"Don't worry, Judan, I'm not so bad as to have any ill intentions towards a groundhog."

"But—you said your groundhog doesn't like to sleep much?"

"Good heavens, you didn't just keep one groundhog, did you?"

"what?"

When Gavin asked her that question, Judan was stunned for a moment, then nodded hurriedly.

"Yes—yes, I only have one pet groundhog, but what's wrong with that?"

"Ha, you're really cruel. Don't you know that groundhogs need at least one groundhog on guard while they sleep?"

Gavin immediately chuckled and continued speaking to Judy.

"You only have one prairie dog. So let me ask you, does your prairie dog stand guard all the time, and even when it's so sleepy it can't stand up anymore, it only lies down for a little while before going back to its post?"

"And before it goes on duty each time, it might nuzzle you a couple of times and act all cute, at least in your eyes it looks like it's being cute?"

"Huh?!"

Hearing Gavin's question, Judy suddenly felt an itch on her scalp; she felt like she was starting to get a brain.

Gavin stroked the groundhog's fur and continued speaking with a smile.

"You're really unreliable. You should at least raise two groundhogs together so they can stand guard and rest for each other."

"You only have one prairie dog, and you don't even go on guard duty. How can your prairie dog possibly get a good night's sleep? It probably only sleeps for ten minutes or so when it can't hold on any longer, and then gets up and continues to stand guard for at least a few hours after realizing no one is on duty. I really feel sorry for it!"

At this point, Gavin casually placed the groundhog beside him, then turned to Doris, who was nervously clutching her pistol.

"Doris, is dinner ready?"

"Almost there, boss, but we'll definitely finish in twenty minutes!"

Doris replied crisply, a response that made Gavin nod in satisfaction.

Clearly, Doris is much stronger than she was when they first met.

Gavin then waved to Doris.

"Go cook, and then remind the guys on the walkie-talkie to take turns eating. We have to work through the night until we've completely dealt with thousands of corpses before we can rest."

"And everyone, go and help us out so we can have dinner as soon as possible and then prepare to dispose of the bodies."

"As for the two of you—"

Gavin turned back and looked at Emil and Judy, who waited anxiously for Gavin's decision.

After a moment of contemplation, Gavin finally asked Emil and the other man a question.

"You two must pay the price for your recklessness. Do you agree with this decision?"

"I agree, God, I really didn't want this to happen. I came here to survive, and I really didn't want to create this accident. I really didn't expect them to follow us all the way here!"

Emil hurriedly assured Gavin, and Gavin nodded slightly at his words.

Gavin simply nodded and said to him.

"In that case, Horst!"

Gavin called out to Horst, who quickly stepped out from the crowd heading towards the kitchen and stood on the sofa next to Gavin.

Gavin then pointed to Judan and Erwin and said to Horst.

"Horst, there are more and more men in the camp, and even hanging out the laundry has become a tedious task. You are responsible for cleaning and sweeping the manor all by yourself, and the pressure will probably increase."

"So, these two are in your hands now!"

"What? You'll leave it to me? Me—?"

Horst was immediately shocked; he truly never imagined that he would ever lead a team!

Although he was still doing cleaning work, he had at least been promoted to a manager, a feeling he had never experienced even when he was working!

In an instant, Horst had no more reservations about Gavin. He stared at Gavin with wide, excited eyes, unable to believe his eyes.

Gavin smiled and patted Horst's arm, offering words of encouragement.

"What, you don't want to?"

"No, no, no, I just... I don't know if I can. I've never cared about anyone else!"

Horst answered hastily.

Upon hearing this, Gavin shook his head and continued to laugh.

"What's the big deal? You can't control it for long anyway. Don't forget, you promised Adriana you'd become a field agent."

"Once you finish your punishment and become a field agent, someone will have to clean our manor."

At this point, Gavin waved to Horst, who immediately retreated excitedly.

After Horst left, Gavin continued to look at Judy and Emil and spoke.

"You two figured it out too, right? In my camp, cleaning is a kind of disciplinary work."

"But I want you to understand your position and realize how much extra work and losses your recklessness has caused the camp!"

"Fortunately, there were no casualties this time, and my manor can withstand ordinary zombie attacks. Otherwise, I guarantee that neither of you will have a single piece of skin left on your bodies when you are buried."

"Even if no one was injured, your reckless actions cost the camp at least tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition and dozens, if not hundreds, of rockets and grenades!"

At this point, Gavin took a deep breath and rubbed his chin in annoyance.

His deliberately grown short beard brushed against his fingers, and the faint rubbing sound made Emil nod quickly as if waking from a dream.

"I know, I'm sorry, we—we should have told you sooner that we were being followed by zombies!"

"I'm so sorry, we were so relieved when we got to the camp that we completely forgot we had been chased by zombies."

"We're willing to clean the camp; it's our duty, even if the punishment were much harsher, we'd still be willing to do it, really!"

As he made the promise, Emil let out a long sigh of relief.

He thought Gavin wanted to kill them.

After receiving Emil's reply, Gavin continued rubbing his beard and spoke to the two men.

"Very good, thank you for your cooperation, and I hope you understand my original intention in making this arrangement."

"You should know that I am not the only one who is dissatisfied with you right now. Even if you did not intentionally cause trouble, you can guess how many people in the camp have a bad first impression of you because of the trouble you have caused."

"So, accept my arrangement and downplay the impact you've created through the cleaning work."

"Don't let me down!"

At this point, Gavin waved to the two of them before Emil could say anything more.

"Old Bert, take them to their rooms and explain the camp rules to them while you're at it."

"Well, this old man can still contribute something in his remaining years."

Old Bert immediately turned his wheelchair and led the two away from Gavin's sofa.

But just as Judy was about to leave, she couldn't help but stop and say to Gavin with a troubled expression.

"Wait—Gavin, my groundhog, can you—can you give it back to me?"

"Huh? Of course, how could someone who keeps a groundhog be a bad person? But I sincerely suggest you find your groundhog a companion if possible, otherwise it will definitely die young from lack of sleep, God!"