Doomsday America

Chapter 105 The Great Blackout

For Gavin, the apocalypse in his mind was especially a zombie apocalypse.

It was probably a group of people dressed in dirty clothes, with sharp eyes like male and female wolves, carrying various weapons as they wandered through the jungle-like city, struggling to find even a little bit of food and medicine.

But that impression usually only comes about years or even decades after the apocalypse.

And now, in the very early stages of this apocalypse.

After Gavin broke out of the dangerous urban area and arrived in the sparsely populated farmland,

Gathering supplies turned into a physically demanding task, much like being a porter.

For them at this time, searching through each house that had ever been inhabited was no less work than moving house.

Of course, they won't need to move large household appliances. Even if there is a shortage of metal materials or wood panels in the future, that's something they'll need in the future.

But even if we only pick the necessities that seem essential right now, honestly, there are just too many of these things. Everyone has a lot of things at home that can be considered necessities for survival in the apocalypse!

Unused batteries of various models, toolboxes containing nails and hammers, various types of clothing that are difficult to make, various medicines for daily life, various vitamin supplements, and so on.

But thinking about it, it does make sense.

After all, every city has at least enough resources to sustain all its inhabitants for at least one to two weeks.

The same applies to the farm. Gavin's entire farm has at least a thousand people living on it, so his farm area has enough supplies to support more than a thousand people for a week.

Given the nature of the farm, the people there often travel long distances to shop, so they mostly drive pickup trucks to buy things and stock up on large quantities at home.

Therefore, the supplies on the farm are probably enough to support more than a thousand people for more than a month!
Then what……

How long can something enough to feed a thousand people for a month last when used by ten people?
Haha, the farm might have enough food to feed ten of them for a hundred months!

Of course, most things will rot over time, and supplies simply won't last that long.

But looking at the pickup truck full of supplies in front of him, Gavin completely gave up the idea of ​​collecting supplies.

He should hurry up and try to gather as many survivors as possible.

After all, for Gavin right now, human resources are the most scarce resource!

With that thought in mind, Gavin got into the car and then spoke as he drove.

"From now on, when we explore, we should only take weapons, ammunition, and medicine; we shouldn't take anything else."

"what?"

Madison was a little stunned, so he quickly said to Gavin.

"Why don't we bring drinks too? Life without drinks is tough!"

"If we run out of drinks, we'll go out and find some more. We still have plenty of drinks at home. Right now, we're just storing up ammunition."

"Alright then, I wonder if the people on your farm like Mexican Coca-Cola. I didn't see any glass bottles of Coca-Cola at the other farms."

As Madison spoke, he pulled out three bottles of Coke.

After handing Nikita a bottle, he opened the cap for Gavin and handed him the Coke.

Sipping cola and listening to music, the three of them fought their way from the farmland to the edge of the farmland, which is to say, to the edge of the farm.

Along the way, they killed a total of seventy-four zombies. The largest group consisted of five houses together, which produced thirteen zombies, while the smallest group consisted of three or four empty houses.

Of course, they also took down four zombie dogs and two zombie horses along the way.

However, this was not their biggest gain. Their biggest gain on this trip was a huge Maine Coon cat!
In the area where the five houses were connected, after Gavin and his group dealt with the zombie dogs and zombies, they suddenly saw this huge guy, more than a meter long, lying next to the stables and bristling at them.

However, being a Maine Coon, it was relatively docile and affectionate. Gavin and the other two took turns calming it down for five or six minutes. After Old Mike went into the house and fed it some cat food, the Maine Coon became well-behaved.

The Maine Coon cat hasn't eaten cat food for three whole days, and it can also sense the changes in its owner.

So, after building a bond with the cat food, Old Mai carried the nearly 36-pound Maine Coon to the car.

At this point, after the car stopped at the edge of the farm, the Maine Coon sat in the back seat, tilting its head and staring intently at Nikita.

Gavin got out of the car and, together with Madison, pushed open the farm gate.

The farm is surrounded by iron fences, and the roads connecting the farm to the outside world are also equipped with large iron gates that can be opened and closed, similar to those at an airport in the East.

After opening the iron gate, Gavin shook his head.

"From now on, this door doesn't need to be closed."

After saying that, the three of them followed the raptor and explored the other small farms in the vicinity along the way.

There are nearly 2,800 farms of varying sizes in the vicinity of the Lake Richards region.

This number may seem a bit high at first glance, but considering the total number of farms in Texas, no one would think it's excessive.

Because there are nearly 250,000 farms in Texas!

The 2,800 farm areas are just a drop in the ocean compared to the countless farm areas in Texas.

but……

Although the Richards Lake region is only a small fraction of the area, the sheer number of farms—thousands in total—presents a significant challenge to Gavin and his companions in their exploration.

It's absolutely hellish!
Gavin and his two companions worked until 5:10 p.m. and had only explored sixteen farms!
As the sun began to set, Gavin walked out of the sixteenth farm and came to the back door of the raptor. He tapped the Maine Coon's nose through the glass as the cat approached.

Hearing the glass rattle, Big Maine shyly moved away, then leaned on the seat and looked at Gavin curiously.

Gavin stared at the big cat while lighting a cigarette.

Behind him, Nikita put the lever-operated shotgun he had just found—the same model used by the Terminator and also by Eugene—into the pickup truck's cargo bed, excitedly telling Gavin.

"Boss, we haven't harvested anything from this farm either, so let's continue!"

"continue?"

Upon hearing this, Gavin glanced at Nikita's slightly trembling hands and gently shook his head.

"That's enough for today. Unless it's an emergency, I don't want to operate at night."

After saying that, Gavin looked at Nikita with amusement.

No wonder this girl couldn't wait to take on field work as soon as she joined the camp, and followed me in a killing spree.

It turns out this girl wasn't lying; she's a ruthless killer at heart. As she racked up more and more headshots, she couldn't hide her excitement!

Her adrenaline had probably been pumping for a while, making her feel no fatigue at all.

Madison haphazardly piled two ammunition boxes in the middle of the cargo container before rushing into the truck.

"Hmph, off work, off work. Boss, should we ask Doris what she did tonight?"

"Forget it."

Gavin walked to the driver's seat with a cigarette in his mouth, leaned against the car door, took a big drag, and said.

"If I ask Doris what she's done, no matter what I say about her dishes, given her personality, she'll inevitably order more."

"Of course, it's not that I don't want us to eat better, but there's no need. I trust her cooking completely; neither the taste nor the quantity has ever been lacking."

"It's true! I tried her cooking at noon, and it was really delicious!"

Nikita continued Gavin's words, praising Doris before opening the car door and beckoning to the Maine Coon cat, which was backing away and remaining on guard.

"Sorry, I've squeezed into your seat."

Nikita chuckled and rubbed the cat's head, only to be slapped by the Maine Coon as she closed the car door and leaned against the window.

Looking at the sixteenth ranch that they had just slaughtered, she recalled the last zombie that died in front of her.

Nikita took a deep breath, then released the gun and looked at his slightly trembling hand.

This afternoon, the trio walked through more than fifty houses and killed more than 170 zombies!

Whenever Nikita recalls that scene, the smell of gunpowder unconsciously gathers in front of her nose.

Wait, one hundred and seventy? Suddenly, Nikita pulled out the magazine from his vest and began to check them one by one.

After checking, Nikita looked at the last magazine in a daze.

She only had one shotgun magazine left!

After confirming this fact, Nikita took a deep breath and then rubbed his face vigorously.

In the passenger seat, noticing Nikita's expression, Madison turned to her and asked.

"Girl, are you alright? You don't look well!"

"fine."

Nikita gave Madison a brief response.

Just then, Gavin had already thrown away and stubbed out his cigarette and returned to the driver's seat.

While Gavin lit the fire, Nikita loosened her flushed face and whispered to Gavin.

"I'm sorry, sir, did I... get carried away earlier?"

"I just realized that I'm really... a little excited, just like when I first beat my mom in a debate game!"

"That time, my mother scolded me severely, which brought me out of my excited state. But just now, I actually ignored the issue of the remaining bullets and wanted to continue exploring. I..."

"Haha~"

When Nikita got to this point, Gavin suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

His laughter abruptly interrupted Nikita's words, causing Nikita to blink in confusion.

In the passenger seat, Madison looked at Gavin, who was chuckling, and turned to Nikita with a teasing tone.

"Girl, do you even know what you're saying? The things you said to the boss are like begging him to teach you your mother to wake you up!"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Nikita's originally flushed face immediately lost some of its color.

She rolled her eyes awkwardly, swallowed hard, and said...

"Is that so?"

"Otherwise, little girl, your brain was working pretty well this morning, but it's all gone this afternoon~"

Gavin said to Nikita jokingly as he drove.

"You've even forgotten how many bullets we found this afternoon, haha~"

"Ah this?"

Nikita suddenly realized what was happening and quickly rubbed her face.

It's worth noting that in a farm setting, the 12-gauge shotgun shell is the most common type of ammunition, and it's also the most frequently used bullet type by ranchers and cowboys.

This afternoon alone, they found at least six boxes of No. 12 shotgun shells, which is several thousand rounds in total.

This wasn't even the result of them emptying all the bullets, because even if they just carried them to the back, their vehicle wouldn't have enough room to hold them all.

Therefore, the problem of lacking ammunition is absolutely non-existent for them.

Nikita's brain is completely controlled by adrenaline right now.

Thinking of this, Gavin couldn't help but chuckle twice more, and incidentally increased the car's speed a little.

But just as he stepped on the gas, William's voice suddenly came through the walkie-talkie.

"Boss, it's William. Can you hear me?"

"Gavin's team received," Gavin replied, raising his intercom.

"Eugene Group, sir. We're speeding down the highway, hahaha. The Dodge Mammoth is so cool, it's a thousand horsepower, it's a limited edition worldwide!"

Eugene yelled into the walkie-talkie, which made Gavin chuckle helplessly.

Eugene is such a bastard, he's perfect for this damn post-apocalyptic world!

Meanwhile, after receiving responses from both teams of field agents, William swallowed hard, looked at the overhead light, and continued speaking into the intercom.

"Boss, the manor hasn't encountered any enemies, but just now, the lights in the manor went out briefly. I suspect Richard Town has lost power!"

“The power is out!”

Eugene shouted into the walkie-talkie.

"So, is everything alright at home? Will I still be able to take a shower tonight, Mazefak!"

"Taking a bath is no problem. There is a backup power supply underground in the manor, and the fuel pipelines are connected to three large fuel storage tanks within the farm area. The water source comes from the Ogarara aquifer."

"As long as we guarantee the supply of fuel and have a stable backup power source, we won't run out of groundwater even in a hundred years!"

Gavin quickly turned on the intercom to reassure everyone, and then continued speaking before the team members had fully recovered from their shock.

“William, go find old Bert and push him to the main control platform on the third floor of the manor. After the power outage and restoration, some electrical facilities in the manor will definitely not be able to restart automatically. You and old Bert should check them as much as possible. I will take care of the rest when I get back.”

“I am currently outside the planting area, about 45 kilometers from the estate, and I can return within half an hour.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin accelerated again, and the raptor roared as it charged toward the camp.

On the other hand, on the airport area highway, Eugene, sitting in the passenger seat, picked up the walkie-talkie and spoke.

"You, as the boss, will be busier. Steve and I will continue working. There are still two signs to finish. I think we'll be home around 6:30!"

"be careful."

Gavin said to Eugene, then focused on driving home.

After the raptors swept past the fork in the road, Madison vaguely saw several zombies swaying near the river in the distance. Gavin paid no attention and just rushed towards the manor.

As Madison passed the herd of cattle, he glanced in their direction.

Fortunately, the cattle herd headed towards the town this time.

and many more!

Madison's expression hardened.

When they come to town again next time, will they see cow dung everywhere?

Gavin had no idea what Old Man Mack was thinking. About twenty-two minutes later, he rushed back to the manor and strode toward the control panel on the third floor.

Upon seeing Gavin arrive, old Bert, standing at the control panel, patted the handle of his wheelchair and chuckled.

"Don't worry, child. I've stayed here more than once, so I know a bit about your problems. They've been mostly resolved."

"That's good, thanks to you."

Gavin patted old Bert on the shoulder and continued to personally inspect the operation of each facility.

After looking around, Gavin breathed a sigh of relief. Old Bert was indeed reliable, and the manor was generally stable.

The various control lights on the main control panel showed almost no change, except that the power supply had been transferred from the regional power grid to the manor's own power source.

Seeing Gavin breathe a sigh of relief, old Bert grabbed Gavin's wrist and whispered.

“Gavin, the estate is certainly important, but the power outage will have the biggest impact not on our estate, but on the two dams at different elevations on Lake Chambers!”

"The Chambers Hydroelectric Power Station, which provides power to the Chambers Dam Maintenance Centre!"

At this point, old Bert took a deep breath, then raised his hand, letting his palm move in the air like a fish.

As he simulated the flow of water, old Bert continued speaking.

“Although I’m not exactly a water conservancy expert, I know that if the Chambers Reservoir has a problem, well… whoosh, most of our farm will probably be wiped out!”

(End of this chapter)