Chapter 33: This Time, It Is Not Madison

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Eugene had just finished smoking when he returned to the RV. He had not even had time to throw the cigarette butt out the window when Madison suddenly slammed on the brakes.

Startled, he hurried to the front of the driver’s seat and stared suspiciously at the Tyrannosaurus.

“Why are we stopping again? The Quarterback isn’t messing with us, is he?”

“Don’t overthink it. The boss never does anything pointless!”

Madison cut Eugene off, pushed open the door, and walked toward Gavin.

At the same time, Gavin stood at the junction where a narrow road branched off from the right side of the highway, staring absently in the direction it led.

Madison came to his side and asked quietly, “What is it, boss?”

Gavin pointed at the narrow road ahead, which was just wide enough for two vehicles to drive side by side.

“This road isn’t on the map.”

As he spoke, Gavin looked toward Eugene and William, who had just arrived.

“Eugene, William, do either of you know where this road leads?”

He did not ask Madison. After all, Madison was not a local.

Even if Madison had made a serious effort to win over Texas football fans, did that mean he had driven along every road in Texas just to please them?

Faced with Gavin’s question, Eugene studied the road thoughtfully before answering hesitantly.

“You can run into things like this all over Texas. A road that’s neither especially wide nor narrow might lead just about anywhere.”

“Maybe to some factory that’s doing poorly?”

“Maybe to some secret estate prepared by a wealthy man like you?”

“Or even the meeting place of some cult. Those cult people are pretty capable, after all. They can trick a few rich people into building them a road, and the local politicians will even cover for them. Fuck!”

“Oh.”

Gavin spread his hands.

“So you don’t know either, right?”

“Of course not. If I knew, I would have said so.”

Eugene shrugged, and Gavin turned to William.

Under Gavin’s gaze, William silently shook his head.

All right. The man might be too quiet, but at least he wasn’t a chatterbox, right?

Gavin nodded at William, then waved to Madison.

“Wait here with them. I’m going to take a look down this road.”

“What?”

Before Madison could respond, Eugene immediately objected.

“Quarterback, what’s so interesting about this road? Aren’t we going to your place—to Chambers Reservoir?”

“Don’t forget what we’re supposed to be doing, man. There’s no reason to waste time on one lousy road, especially one that isn’t even on the map!”

“And you’re planning to go alone? For God’s sake, aren’t you afraid of dying out there by yourself? If you die, how the hell am I supposed to go enjoy life on the big ranch?”

Eugene paced back and forth, grumbling curses, glancing at Gavin every couple of steps.

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Looking at the agitated Eugene, Gavin said, “The fact that this road isn’t on the map is precisely why it’s worth exploring. It might be a route that lets us bypass Corsicana.”

“If we only search the map, we’ll never find a road around that city. Do you really think that once we reach Corsicana, we’ll be able to get through by simply flooring it?”

“Or should we put Winnie in the driver’s seat and let her take us through on a wing and a prayer?”

With that, Gavin waved his hand decisively.

“That’s enough. Go back to the vehicles and wait for me. I’ll take a look down this road. If it turns out to be too long, I’ll be back within twenty minutes at the latest.”

He gave them no further chance to argue and walked straight toward the Tyrannosaurus.

Watching Gavin’s back, Eugene hurriedly elbowed Madison and said anxiously, “Can’t you say something and try to talk him out of this? You’re really going to let the Quarterback run off and play explorer? What if he doesn’t come back? What if he takes off on his own? Don’t you have any plan at all?”

“Bullshit. My boss never loses his mind, and he’d never abandon us. All I have to do is follow his orders. You should do the same, man!”

Madison argued back while looking at Eugene as though he were an idiot.

Eugene was so furious he nearly jumped into the air, but Madison remained completely unmoved.

Seeing that Gavin had already climbed into the vehicle, Eugene slapped his thigh in frustration and cursed anxiously.

“Fine, exploration, is it? Wait for me, you bastard! Wait for me!”

After shouting toward the Tyrannosaurus, Eugene ran back to the RV, retrieved a shotgun, and hurried to the passenger side of the Tyrannosaurus with the weapon in his arms.

He opened the door, climbed in, and said to Gavin in the driver’s seat, “What are you looking at? Drive. Even if you plan to run off with the luxury vehicle and all the supplies, I’m not letting you go alone!”

“Ha. All right. You’re an interesting one.”

Gavin patted Eugene on the shoulder, then waved to Madison.

“Madison, Eugene and I are going ahead this time. Take care of the RV.”

“If you run into a horde of zombies, head toward Corsicana. Every time you lose the zombies by two miles, stop and wait for three minutes. If I don’t see you when I get back, I’ll make up the difference and catch up.”

With that, Gavin drove into the narrow road, leaving Madison with nothing but a few trails of exhaust.

Watching the rear of the Tyrannosaurus disappear into the distance, Madison narrowed his eyes in confusion. Something felt wrong.

A moment later, realization dawned on him. He slapped his forehead in frustration.

“Fuck!”

He cursed unhappily.

“I should have gone with the boss. That son of a bitch beat me to it. I actually started thinking of myself as nothing but the driver. Damn it!”

Afterward, Madison gloomily led William back to the RV.

When they returned, Doris, who had been thrown into a panic after witnessing Gavin leave, hurriedly asked about him.

While Madison explained the situation to Doris, inside the Tyrannosaurus, Eugene gripped his shotgun and asked Gavin thoughtfully, “Gavin, tell me honestly. Do we have much of a chance of getting through Corsicana?”

“Why are you asking that?”

Gavin kept his eyes on the surroundings and countered without looking back.

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Eugene fell silent for a moment before sighing.

“On the road from the artificial lake to Ennis, you weren’t paying such close attention to every possible obstacle.”

“Whether it was a guardrail that might keep us from leaving the road, or a narrow path that might provide a shortcut.”

“If getting through Corsicana to your place weren’t going to be so difficult, why would you waste time stopping along the way?”

“So everything you’ve done by stopping on the road is just preparation for a retreat, isn’t it?”

As he spoke, Eugene unconsciously raised his hand and rubbed his slightly sweaty palm hard against his clothes.

Beside him, Gavin was silent for a moment before chuckling and nodding.

“You’re right.”

“Fuck! If I’m right, how can you still laugh? Damn it!”

Eugene was especially irritated by Gavin’s smile—the kind of smile Gavin could still wear when Eugene himself could not smile at all.

Seeing Eugene’s unease, Gavin smiled and tossed him a cigarette.

“Don’t lose your head. Have a smoke and calm down. As long as we’re still alive, anywhere can be my home.”

“I do love my ranch, but I love my life more. Even if Corsicana really is as difficult to get through as I fear, are we going to drop dead on the spot just because we can’t make it through the city?”

“Uh…”

Eugene awkwardly caught the cigarette.

“Probably not.”

“Exactly. As long as we aren’t going to die on the spot, it’s not a big deal.”

Gavin continued speaking to Eugene.

“Don’t forget, Ennis has very few people left now. We can find a hill in the nearby woods and make camp. We could live off the supplies around the town for quite a while, and we could hunt as well.”

“Besides, although every road on the map leading to my place passes through Corsicana’s urban district, isn’t this an unmapped road right in front of us?”

“Even if we find nothing on this road, we may still find another way around Corsicana. Living people never run out of options, Eu—huh?”

Gavin suddenly stopped speaking.

At the same time, inside the Tyrannosaurus, a faint vibration that felt strangely familiar began to sound.

“Th-that’s…”

Eugene asked in surprise while instinctively searching through his pockets.

Beside him, Gavin quickly picked up his phone.

After glancing at the caller ID, Gavin drew a deep breath and said in astonishment, “That’s right. I’m getting a call. But the problem is…”

“The person calling me isn’t Madison!”

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