Doomsday America

Chapter 76 I can't drive a bulldozer!

"Gavin!"

Just as Gavin was leaning against the door in deep thought, his name suddenly came from afar.

Gavin followed the sound, his gaze passing over the gardens, fountains, and rivers between the old and new houses, and landing on William, who was staggering out of the manor.

William, limping and clutching his gun, called out to Gavin as he passed the pile of corpses.

The smell of the corpse made him squint uncomfortably, and he swallowed nervously, but he managed to suppress his panic and walked onto the small bridge spanning the river.

Seeing this, Gavin turned around, holding his gun, and led the two dogs to William.

Gavin glanced at William's feet and laughed.

"Eugene probably lost his gamble, but you've stood up now, haven't you?"

"Ah this..."

William was surprised that Gavin was the first to ask about his injury, so he nodded somewhat embarrassedly and explained.

“Yesterday afternoon, old Bert helped me find some medicine. Although he said it was for cows, it worked very well for me.”

"Haha, that's right, old Bert just likes to use veterinary drugs on people~"

Gavin smiled and patted William on the shoulder, then looked into William's confused and tired eyes and continued to ask.

"Why are you up so early? Is my bed not up to standard?"

"No, this is the first time I've ever slept on such a comfortable mattress. Your place is really amazing, better than I imagined. It's just that... it's all my own fault."

William hurriedly explained to Gavin, then pointed to the old house and asked.

"You woke up early too, and you went for a walk all by yourself. That's not safe, boss!"

"maybe."

Gavin shrugged noncommittally, then leaned against the veranda of the small bridge, looked at the flowing water below, and laughed.

“This is my home, surrounded by open fields. In this open area with a view of more than several kilometers, I know better than you what danger is.”

"And even if zombies come knocking, I can at least outrun them. But you, with that leg of yours out here, are the real safety hazard, buddy."

As he spoke, Gavin pulled a toy from his pocket and threw it far toward the grass.

Immediately, Barry and Camorra dashed out, tangling together as they ran towards the toy.

Gavin smiled as he watched the two dogs playfully fighting, and then said to William.

"Let's go home and let them enjoy the fresh air. There's no breakfast this morning, but there are plenty of snacks in the kitchen. You can try your luck."

"That's alright. I just woke up a little early, and I'm more concerned about what to do next than breakfast."

William followed Gavin slowly back to the manor, sat down with Gavin on the sofa in the hall, and asked.

Upon hearing this, Gavin leaned over the table, stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, and replied.

"Don't rush, buddy. Let's talk about that when we're all together. I don't want to explain what to do to each of you individually."

“Look at yourselves. Everyone’s confusion is written on their faces, and everyone’s sadness is evident in their eyes. You don’t crave work; you crave things to distract you. That’s not a good thing.”

At this point, Gavin crossed his legs and watched the two dogs running and rolling around outside the window.

Following Gavin's gaze, William looked out the window, pursed his lips, and nodded.

"Maybe you're right, I was too rushed, I was so busy that I couldn't even lift my head, so I wouldn't have to think about things that were making my mind anxious."

At this point, William couldn't help but rub his head.

Seeing that William looked extremely confused, Gavin remained silent for a moment before finally tapping the sofa and speaking to him.

"Alright, it's just the two of us now anyway, so there's no harm in chatting with you."

"Ok!"

William immediately perked up and looked at Gavin with a brightened expression.

Gavin then spoke to him softly.

“You know our current situation very well. There are only eight people in total, which is pitifully few, but there is too much work to do.”

"As for you, your legs can't do any work outside, so after lunch, you and old Bert will take turns keeping watch in the manor, and take some time to teach Bella and Winnie how to shoot."

“I, Madison, and Eugene, we must go out, explore, scout, and hunt every moving thing on the farm that isn’t within our reach. That’s what you’ll be doing in the future.”

"But now, all you need to do is get your foot healed as soon as possible and, incidentally, teach women not to point guns at their own people!"

"I understand, I will do it!"

Although the task Gavin assigned was not difficult, William nodded excitedly.

The feeling of having nothing to do is completely different from having something to do. Even if it's just a small thing, William is as happy as if he has found a meaning to his existence.

Seeing that William had recovered a bit, Gavin nodded and waved to him.

"If you know what you need to do, then don't waste time in the living room. Go take another nap. I need to take another nap too."

"Let me check, it's 6:04 now. I'll wake everyone up by 9:00 at the latest."

At this point, Gavin sent William back to his room, while he himself took the dog and drove around the manor a few more times.

He originally planned to wake everyone up at nine o'clock.

In reality, by around 7:20, everyone had already gotten out of bed and were staring blankly at each other in the hall.

Perhaps people's sleep will return to normal after the apocalypse lasts a long time, but at least today, few people can close their eyes for long.

Things changed much faster than planned. Now that everyone was there, Gavin simply had Doris prepare a simple breakfast of bread and milk to tide them over.

And so, not long after, everyone gathered around the table, staring at each other, glancing at Gavin every now and then.

Gavin chewed on a warm loaf of bread with the hard edges cut off, raised his hand and tapped the table, addressing the bewildered group of men.

"You guys, I told you to get some rest, but you're all useless!"

"I was planning to wake you guys up at nine, but it's only seven-thirty now, good heavens."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin forked half an egg, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it.

At the dinner table, everyone looked at each other, and then Madison, with a sheepish grin, said to Gavin.

"Boss, we've got nothing to do, and we can't sleep when we're idle. Why don't you find us something to do?"

"cut……"

Gavin chuckled to himself as he listened to Madison's words.

Feeling bored?
Feeling bored?
Stop joking. If he really did fill everyone's schedules with work last night, and made demands on everyone, such as having them stand guard or stand watch, then what would have happened?

But his reputation was quite different this morning!
While mentally complaining, Gavin took a sip of milk.

Don't exaggerate your feelings of emptiness and confusion. Are you willing to find a way to survive in the apocalypse?

Thinking of this, Gavin raised his hand and tapped the table, speaking frankly to everyone.

"You guys think you're just bored, buddy. When things get busier, you better not let me hear you complaining!"

"No, no, how could that be? Being alive is already a blessing; no one feels bitter."

Madison, with a shameless grin, repeatedly assured Gavin. The others couldn't help but glance at the pile of corpses outside the window, then nodded in agreement.

At this point, Gavin placed his hand on the table and quietly gave instructions to everyone.

"For now, we'll divide into two groups: field staff and support staff. Support staff will mainly be women, while field staff will consist of me, Eugene, and Madison for the time being."

In fact, with a team of eight, Gavin doesn't need to distinguish between field and support staff; he can simply divide the work according to the number of people.

But Gavin ultimately wanted to instill a sense of formalism in every member's mind from the very beginning of the team's formation.

He continued speaking to the crowd.

“All wounded will be considered as support personnel. Old Bert and William, you two will take turns on guard duty. There is a telescope in the astronomical room on the third floor. You can use it to observe the surrounding environment. If you see zombies or living people, tell everyone on the walkie-talkie.”

"Doris's job goes without saying. Besides preparing three meals a day, you can help Bella and Winnie tidy up the house and sort out all the supplies in each room as much as possible."

"By the way, has any of you studied tailoring?"

At this point, Gavin turned to look at Doris and Bella.

Upon hearing this, the two women looked at each other in astonishment, then hurriedly shook their heads.

"I'm sorry... I... I've never learned sewing."

Doris still looked so sad.

Bella shrugged helplessly and smiled wryly.

"I'm still in college, and I'm studying financial management..."

"Alright, college student~"

Gavin nodded, then continued speaking in a nonchalant manner.

"For now, we have enough clothes and such, but we'll run into trouble in that area sooner or later."

"Forget it, we can deal with it when we encounter it. Maybe in a few days we'll meet a survivor who knows this kind of thing."

"In short, Bella and Doris did odd jobs at home, sorted out the various supplies brought back by the field agents, and sorted and organized the supplies in the manor itself."

"Believe me, this is a huge job. This alone will keep you busy for weeks."

"And your work doesn't stop there, because it's already February."

At this point, Gavin turned to old Bert and asked.

"Old Bert, what kinds of things can we plant in February?"

"You can plant potatoes in February, as well as spinach and other things. The seeds are in a warehouse near the farmland area. You'll have to go and look for them."

Old Bert began to explain, and Gavin nodded and continued speaking to the group.

“Great, potatoes, spinach, and other seasonal vegetables. We need to plant these as soon as possible.”

“Eugene, Madison, the farmland is about 20 kilometers from where we are, and it borders the cattle grazing area. We need to find time to go there and retrieve the seeds.”

“Our farm covers a total area of ​​140,000 acres, of which about 60,000 acres are arable land and 60,000 acres are pasture, so the distribution is quite even.”

"Later, we'll start collecting the bodies, clearing the land near the manor, and letting the cattle and horses out!"

"Wait, let them out?"

Upon hearing this, Eugene couldn't help but press his hand on the table and ask Gavin a question.

"You said you were going to release all your cows, that's thousands of cows, the milk alone could feed at least tens of thousands of people, and you're actually going to release them!"

"Yes, it can feed tens of thousands of people!"

Faced with Eugene's questioning, Gavin nodded seriously and emphasized.

"But we don't have tens of thousands of people at all!"

"A dairy cow produces five to twenty kilograms of milk per day during the dry period and twenty-five to forty kilograms of milk per day during the engorgement period!"

"There are only eight of us. Guess how many cows we need to drink milk every day until we vomit, without eating anything else!"

"What will we do with the leftover milk? Pour it into the river? And what about the cattle that we can't finish eating? Are we supposed to keep them alive until they die of old age? Are you kidding me!"

"Don't talk to me about values ​​in the apocalypse, because I'm more concerned with our needs!"

"Given the huge gap between supply and demand, let alone the fact that our small population simply cannot raise them, even if we could, we cannot waste our most valuable human resources on work that far exceeds our needs!"

At this point, Gavin emphasized banging on the table, the sound like it was hitting Eugene's heart.

Hearing Gavin's words, not only Eugene felt uncomfortable, but even old Bert felt a little uncomfortable.

He clutched his chest and asked Gavin with difficulty.

"Child, if the dairy cows are to be released, what about the beef cattle in the pastures..."

"We have to let them go, because we don't have the capacity to graze tens of thousands of cattle, let alone transport nearly 500 tons of feed to feed them every day. Besides, we don't need to raise tens of thousands of cattle to eat; we simply can't finish them all!"

Gavin answered decisively and then asked old Bert a question.

"By the way, old Bert, how many beef cattle do we have on our farm now, and what breeds are they?"

"Uh, let me think, it's probably around 67,000 head. Angus cattle are the most numerous, with over 37,000, and the rest are Charolais and Simmental cattle, about 15,000 of each."

As old Bert spoke, he felt increasingly heartbroken.

Upon hearing the number mentioned by old Bert, Gavin had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

That's how cattle are raised in the United States. There's roughly one beef cattle per acre of pasture, which makes grazing easier.

So he continued speaking.

"How about this, we'll keep thirty Angus cattle and five dairy cows for now. As for the horses, we'll keep them according to the number of people. Those who don't know how to take care of the horses for now can teach them when they have time!"

“Although we have to let the dairy cows, horses and beef cattle go, don’t forget that there are basic fences around the edges of my pasture.”

"Moreover, my ranch occupies the best ranching areas in the Dallas-Houston-San Antonio triangle."

"Even if we release cattle and horses back into the wild, they will still be roaming around the pastures. Although some cattle and horses will inevitably die at the hands of animals, it is still better than keeping them in enclosures and being unable to take care of them, resulting in tens of thousands of cattle and horses starving to death in turn!"

"If there is a large-scale death of cattle and horses, our manpower will simply not be enough to handle the carcasses!"

“And once cattle and horses that have been domesticated are released back into the wild, they cannot directly turn into wild cattle and horses. Besides, the best pastures are all around, and it is impossible for all the cattle and horses to be migrated to the western plateau.”

"Therefore, we must release them out of the enclosure and let the cattle and horses feed themselves. If our population increases in the future, I will bring field staff to capture cattle and horses again to replenish the ranch."

At this point, Gavin felt he had done enough work for the day.

So he rubbed his forehead and concluded to everyone.

"The work will be assigned like this for now: William and Albert will keep watch, while the logistics staff will take care of the household chores, search the house for supplies, and sort and organize them."

"As for the field crew, Eugene, Madison, the three of us need to deal with more than a hundred zombie corpses."

“There are bulldozers for pushing cow dung near the dairy farm. Eugene will drive the bulldozer over in a bit and drive it to the edge of the forest behind the estate to clear a large enough open space.”

"and many more!"

Just as Gavin finished speaking, Eugene looked up, completely bewildered, and said to Gavin.

"Boss, I don't know how to drive a bulldozer!"

(End of this chapter)