Doomsday America

Chapter 98 Not a Good Dog
Nikita stopped beside the Arabian horse and gently stroked its neck.

Gavin smiled, got up, and led the frolicking golden retriever out of the manor, asking a question.

Is there anything from your home that's worth bringing?

What qualifies as something worth bringing?

Nikita responded, then pointed to the Raptor pickup truck and continued.

"We have guns, bullets, food, and medicine at home; your pickup truck definitely can't hold them all."

"There's nothing left in this house that I care about. Take whatever you want, but could I have some time to myself?"

At this point, Nikita released her horse and turned to walk toward a pile of corpses a few dozen meters away, where six bodies were piled up—four men and two women.

Nikita walked up to the pile of corpses and silently looked at the faces of the six people.

Looking at Nikita's appearance, Steve walked out of the manor and asked her softly.

"What do you want to do, girl? Take them back to camp and bury them nearby, closer to you? Or bury them in your house?"

"Is it really okay?"

Upon hearing Steve's words, Nikita turned to Gavin and tentatively asked.

"Gavin, can I bury them in my house? Do we have enough time?"

"Whether we have enough time or not is up to the zombies. At least there aren't any zombies chasing us right now, are there?"

As Gavin responded, he waved to Old Man and the other man.

"Guys, looks like we'll have to help her dig a few holes before heading home. But judging by the time, we shouldn't miss lunch."

"Let's do it then! As long as it doesn't interfere with our meals, it doesn't matter what we do!"

Madison responded with a smile, and then the three of them went to find shovels. Following Nikita's directions, they went to the orchard behind the estate and dug six small holes.

Nikita carried all six corpses over herself, and as she buried each one, she would mutter to herself about the person's identity.

They are her father, her father's new wife, her second brother, her second sister-in-law, the farm manager, and the manager's son.

Gavin noticed that Nikita's second brother's body had severe lacerations.

When Nikita buried everyone, she lingered the longest at her second brother's grave.

Some things don't need to be asked; Gavin has already guessed the general idea.

It's likely that Nikita and her second brother survived the zombie apocalypse at the moment it broke out.

But her second brother... it was probably something that happened between her second brother and her other family members who had turned into zombies that made Nikita determined to kill all her zombified family members.

As for why it was determined that Nikita was responsible?
Because these zombies all appeared to have died from the No. 12 buckshot.

Gavin didn't know how well Nikita handled his other guns, but he knew that Nikita was absolutely proficient with double-barreled shotguns!

After burying Nikita's family, Gavin glanced at his watch; it was exactly ten o'clock.

Seeing that there was still some time, Gavin gave Nikita some time to mourn, while he led Steve and the other man to search Nikita's house and load the supplies into the car.

However, judging from how Gavin and his two companions began emptying their house after being warmly welcomed by the golden retriever.

Nikita rolled her eyes, then left the six new graves and, with Gavin in to plunder their home.

Just as she said, thirteen guns were found, five shotguns, seven revolvers, and several thousand rounds of ammunition.

In terms of medicines, besides ibuprofen, which is a staple in American households, they also packed up all the medications Nikita had taken from the hospital.

As for food...

Looking at the more than forty bottles of milk stored in Nikita's refrigerator, Gavin and his two companions almost vomited.

"I don't want the milk!"

"Hmm, no milk!"

"I don't even want the eggs!"

The three were remarkably in agreement, and the helpless looks they gave the milk and eggs made Nikita even more convinced of the information that the camp was well-supplied.

They moved it until exactly 10:30, and the pickup truck was completely full, with even the back seats filled with canned goods and flour.

With a kukri tucked under her left leg, a revolver at her right hip, and the double-barreled shotgun Madison had given her on her back, Nikita mounted her horse.

"Bruce!"

She called out to the golden retriever from afar.

The big golden retriever, who was a little tired from running around and was panting with its tongue lolling out, excitedly jumped into Old Mike's passenger seat at her call.

As Old Mai drove, he glanced at the golden retriever sitting there and suddenly couldn't help but grin.

"Bruce, buckle up!"

He called out to Bruce, then started the car and followed Gavin and the other two.

After he drove out of the yard, he glanced at Bruce again, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

After a glance, Madison laughed and cursed.

"This damn Ford Raptor, the seatbelt style is totally unsuitable for you, isn't it, Bruce?"

Bruce is not wrong; it's all the manufacturer's fault.

The four of them returned to the airport as quietly as possible, and then passed through the loosely populated residential area again.

After traveling about four kilometers, Steve rode his horse forward a little and came to Gavin's side, saying...

“Boss, Angelo’s house is just ahead. I think we can find a few Alden horses there.”

"Really? Then let's go take a look."

Gavin nodded, then turned and walked toward the house Steve had mentioned.

Seeing the group change direction, Nikita rushed to Gavin's side and asked.

"What use would we have for the Aldenhorse? Are we going to use it for work?"

"In order to find a suitable horse for Madison's large physique, in a farm setting, a horse is sometimes a little more convenient than a car, especially when we have to go into the forest."

Gavin responded, then picked up his binoculars and looked at the house they were about to explore.

The house wasn't on either side of the road; it was about 600 meters away, built alone on a small hill, next to farmland.

After determining the distance, Gavin gripped the rope on the saddle and said.

“That house is quite far from the road, so the owner might not be lured away by Nikita. However, the house isn’t big, so it probably can’t house many people. Let’s try not to fire.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin spurred his horse toward the house.

Just as he was eighty meters away from the house, the zombies inside broke through the glass and rushed towards Gavin from a distance.

Upon seeing the zombies, Gavin gave Steve a word of advice.

“Cover me, brother.”

"Don't worry, unless the girl can't resist giving you a shave too, I guarantee you won't end up in a hospital bed!"

Steve drew his pistol and said to Gavin with a grin.

Nikita looked embarrassed by Steve's words, then lowered his head, picked up his kukri, and said.

"I can use this!"

Upon hearing Nikita's words, Steve couldn't help but glance at Nikita's arm.

With thin arms and legs, he showed no sign of being strong.

Think of the dozen or so corpses that Nikita shot dead on the road.

Then think of Nikita's frail appearance holding the knife.

Steve felt insecure, so he waved to Nikita.

"No, you should use the gun. I feel much safer with a gun on you, as long as you don't point it at your own people." "I won't shoot my own people! It was all... a misunderstanding!"

Nikita retorted, then hesitated for a moment before finally picking up the troll.

She also felt that trolls gave her a greater sense of security.

At the same time, Gavin swung the rope, securing the zombie tightly as he had done before.

However, there was more than one zombie this time. Gavin secured the rope around the saddle, then drew his gun with his right hand and fired, swiftly taking down the two zombies that were chasing after him.

After confirming that no more zombies were chasing him, he gestured to Steve, then dismounted and kicked the zombie to the ground.

They wrapped the rope around and around, even stepping on the zombie's head to tighten its mouth.

Gavin stepped on the zombies that were struggling like caterpillars and called out to Steve.

“Steve, go find the Aldenhorns, I’ve already seen them.”

As he spoke, Gavin pointed to the stable, where five horses lay listlessly inside, occasionally struggling.

Steve immediately dismounted and went to the stables, releasing all the horses.

Madison got out of the car, picked up his Viking tomahawk, and went inside the house to search.

Seeing the two working together in an orderly manner, Nikita couldn't help but nod, then dismounted and came to Gavin's side.

Noticing Nikita's approach, Gavin put his left hand on his hip, stepped on a zombie on the ground with his right foot, and turned to Nikita, saying...

You'd better get back on horseback.

"Don't worry about me, I'm a good shot, a few stray zombies are no problem. But what are you planning to do with these zombies? Do you want to study them?"

Nikita moved closer to the zombie, bent down, and pressed the muzzle of his gun against the zombie's forehead.

Seeing Nikita approach, Gavin took his left hand off his waist, naturally adjusted the angle of his cowboy hat, and smiled.

"Pretty much. If we want to live longer, we need to know more about zombies."

“Wow, the way you talk sounds a lot like my mom. My mom always makes a lot of sense. She’s one of the best lawyers in New York.”

Nikita responded, then left the zombie and stood in front of Gavin, watching Steve and the other man busily working.

Madison carried several guns and bullets to the vehicle, while Steve kept comforting the starving horses and bringing them chopped hay.

While the horses were eating, Nikita turned around, looked at the pistol at Gavin's waist, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

“Joseph… is the guy you killed. I put away his gun as soon as I saved him. It’s more likely that he found his gun again and went back to bed when I opened the door for you.”

“Nikita, don’t worry about when he got the gun. The key is that he was prepared to fire and did it. Neither of us wanted the bullet to fall on us. That’s what caused his death.”

Gavin gave a brief response, glancing at Nikita in the process.

The fact that she dared to ask her such a sensitive question suggests that she had deemed them basically safe.

Thinking of this, Gavin kicked the zombie, which had been shoving its head toward his leg and drooling all over his shoes.

Hearing Gavin's words, Nikita hesitated for a moment before continuing to speak to Gavin.

"Even if you didn't talk to me on the phone with the kids in the camp, I would still go with you. I had no choice."

"Whether you have a choice or not is your business. I just need to make sure that what I've done hasn't been in vain."

Gavin said his last words, then picked up the zombie and walked toward the two Alden horses that Madison had brought.

After hanging the gagged zombie on the horse's back, Gavin patted the horse's rump, mounted Octavian, and continued home.

On the way, watching Gavin's retreating figure, Nikita rode closer to Steve and whispered a question.

"Has he always been so...calm?"

"Just calm? Girl, I think besides being calm, he's actually quite handsome, haha~"

Steve teased Nikita, then continued chatting with Madison, who had opened the car window.

During this casual conversation, the four of them crossed the town again, passing by a herd of cattle heading back towards the manor.

Gavin sighed in frustration as he watched the direction the cattle were moving. What was going on with these cattle?

I just herded them back early this morning, how come they've started moving back to the manor again in just this morning?
After observing for a moment, Steve said helplessly to Gavin.

"Boss, those dairy cows seem to be quite popular in the herd. In this situation, it's likely that the cows want to go back to their original home and are taking the whole herd with them."

"Shit..."

Gavin shook his head in frustration after hearing Steve's explanation.

Steve then drew his gun and smiled at Gavin.

"It's okay. As long as we herd them a few more times, maybe a few dozen times at most, the cows won't be so attached to their homes anymore."

"Alright, let's hurry up. Just make them turn around easily."

It took Gavin another twenty minutes to turn the massive herd of cattle around before he could finally continue his journey home.

After the group arrived home...

From a distance, they could see Eugene standing next to the cows, kicking and punching the wooden posts of the cow pen like a madman.

"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!!!"

Eugene's curses reached Nikita's ears, causing her to open her mouth in shock and shout at Gavin.

"Are all the people in your camp this irritable?!"

"He's the only one who's rather irritable, and also, this is 'our' camp now."

Gavin responded and then tied the horse to the stake.

As Gavin and his group returned, Eugene leaned against the cattle pen, looking dejected, his back always turned to them.

Gavin glanced curiously at Eugene's back and asked with a smile to old Bert, who was moving his wheelchair closer.

"What's wrong with him? Not only is he not saying anything, but he also doesn't want us to see him?"

"Ha, he's been milking all morning and still hasn't finished. He's also been washing his face with milk all morning; his skin must be practically washed away by the milk!"

After making a joke, old Bert waved to Nikita from a distance.

"Ha, newbie, whose child are you? You look familiar, like a woman I've met before. Maybe I have a little history with that woman~"

“Interesting old man, my mom is Wendy, Wendy David or Wendy Starbucks, are you sure you know her?”

Nikita gave a casual reply, but after hearing her answer, old Bert suddenly fell silent.

Gavin initially thought Old Bert was just being sarcastic.

But after old Porter suddenly fell silent, Gavin immediately looked at him in disbelief.

"Wait, old buddy, why aren't you saying anything? You're not really going to talk to Nikita's mother..."

"No, no, absolutely not. I have no idea who a woman named Wendy is, and her parents' divorce has absolutely nothing to do with me. I..."

"You even knew about her parents' divorce!"

"Bullshit! There are hardly any people around Lake Richard who don't know about David's embarrassing divorce. After his ex-wife dumped him, he went through more than a dozen women in a row, and all he did was cry in bars every day saying he missed his wife and daughter!"

Old Bert responded and then waved to Nikita from a distance.

"Relax, child, no one here will hurt you."

As soon as he finished speaking, old Bert pointed in the direction of the manor.

Following old Bert's directions, Nikita vaguely saw two women with three dogs running towards the group in the manor hall.

Nikita quickly looked at the Raptor. In her eyes, Bruce, who had just jumped out of the car, was tilting his head in a daze, looking at the three dogs with a sullen face.

Bruce wasn't in the mood for having fun at that moment.

After all, to a golden retriever, there's no human being in the world who could be a bad person.

But every single one of them was definitely not a good dog!
(End of this chapter)