Chapter 39: Where Is That Tractor Noise Coming From?

As the last words fell, Gavin smiled at the group, doing his best to suppress the unease gnawing at them.

He then turned back, raised his binoculars, and began a more meticulous observation of Corsicana.

The city of Corsicana features highways leading in six different directions. First is the highway Gavin is currently on, which leads to Dallas in one direction and Houston in the other. Next is his intended destination, Highway 283, which leads toward the Chambers Reservoir and the Richard Natural Area, passing through Gavin’s family farm before extending to the city of Palestine. Two other roads lead to the cities of Tyler and Waco—both larger than Corsicana. The final road lies to the west of Corsicana, running in a straight line to Hillsboro, where one can turn toward Dallas or the state capital, Austin.

Because Corsicana serves as a logistics hub, a vast expanse of land on the eastern side where the highways connect is dedicated to logistics and warehousing centers. This warehouse district also connects to the Corsicana train station, which is the very area currently engulfed in a raging inferno.

Gavin focused his gaze on the explosion site. By now, the zombies had completely surrounded the area. What sent a chill down Gavin’s spine, however, was that while the zombies on the outer perimeter were still being drawn by the faint sounds of explosions, pressing forward one after another, the closer they got to the center, the less enthusiastic they became. In fact, the zombies closest to the explosion—some within a mere thirty meters—were not only failing to advance, but were actively recoiling, trying to shield themselves from the vibrations and flames, and starting to retreat!

The explosion site had become a besieged fortress: the zombies on the outskirts wanted in, while those at the center desperately wanted out.

This realization made Gavin swallow hard. He could conclude with near certainty that the zombies possessed some form of biological instinct. Furthermore, they were clearly not relying solely on their auditory systems to hunt. If they lacked sight, they would have mindlessly rushed into the heart of the explosion, perishing alongside the burning oil train and the various vehicles caught in the blast.

The scene before him proved that zombies prioritize auditory stimuli to locate targets, but once they close the distance, they rely on their remaining visual senses to achieve a dual-sensory lock on their prey. In that light, Eugene and William had been incredibly lucky back then—the zombies had vision, they just hadn't noticed the two men. Now, however, once the zombies determined that the train explosion was not the target they craved, their biological instinct to avoid harm forced them to pull away.

Biological instincts and self-preservation... Dammit, that was not good news at all.

Gavin exhaled heavily. The zombies he was facing were unlike anything he had seen in the fiction he’d consumed. Based on his observations, he had to admit that these creatures were a hybrid of the zombies from *World War Z* and *I Am Legend*. Though they looked like the dead, they acted more like animals—agile, tireless, impervious to injury, and while their intelligence was near zero, they were still driven by primal instinct.

His hand tightened around the binoculars. He reminded himself to stop thinking about things too far off and focus on his immediate core needs. After a dozen seconds of mental adjustment, he pulled himself out of the nightmare-like conjecture and resumed observing the road ahead.

After scanning the highway a few times, Gavin lowered the binoculars and turned his back to the group to compose his expression. Confident that he wasn't showing anything, he smiled and turned around, holding the binoculars as he spoke.

"I have some good news for everyone. Although there was an unexpected series of train collisions and explosions in Corsicana, they didn't damage the elevated highway."

He pointed toward the viaduct stretching into the distance and continued, "We will stick to the beltway as much as possible and avoid entering the city center at all costs. While our route takes us through the rail explosion zone, as you can see, it’s an elevated bridge—the explosions are happening below us. We just need to cross the viaduct quickly, bypass the city from the east to the west, and we’ll reach our next key location."

Gavin spread the map out on the road and squatted down to point things out. Winnie tried to squat down for a look, but Madison occupied a large space, and with Eugene and the silent William crowding in, there was no room left for her. She made a face at the backs of the group and pulled her mother’s hand, waiting to the side.

Gavin pointed to the west of Corsicana on the map. "The rest of the way requires us to skirt halfway around the city. You can't see it from here with binoculars, so I'll show you on the map. After we cross the explosion zone via the viaduct, we’ll drive about four and a half kilometers before exiting at the western roundabout. That’s the edge of the commercial district—the so-called 'wealthy area'—filled with movie theaters, hotels, clothing stores, and restaurants. The key is that there isn't a high density of housing there. That’s the thing about rich neighborhoods: they are spacious, have beautiful environments, and are very expensive. I can't rely entirely on the map, so we'll decide on the specifics once we reach the roundabout."

He turned back to point at the explosion zone. "Guys," he said with a smile, "it’s 3:00 AM, not the time of day when commuters clog half the city. You can see for yourselves—the road ahead only has a few overturned or stalled cars, and not a single zombie in sight. Clearly, the zombies on the overpass were drawn to the bridge below by the explosions. We’re really quite lucky, haha!"

Amidst his laughter, Gavin packed away the map and walked over to the Tyrannosaurus. He waved at the group. "If there’s nothing else, let’s move out."

"No problem!" Madison nodded, taking it for granted. Eugene cast a suspicious look at the binoculars but nodded along. "Whatever you say, let’s get to that big farm and enjoy the good life!"

Everyone climbed into their vehicles and followed the Tyrannosaurus along the viaduct. Gavin kept the speed at around seventy kilometers per hour. They encountered no obstacles as they crossed over the explosion zone.

When they reached the center of the blast area, Gavin hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't stop to observe. The Corsicana viaduct was only nine to ten meters above the ground. As they drove past, the zombies below were inevitably drawn to the noise, roaring and trying to pursue them, but the density of the undead in the explosion zone made it impossible for them to overcome the obstacles of their own kind. Furthermore, the constant sounds of burning and the occasional secondary explosion kept the zombies' attention scattered, preventing them from focusing on Gavin’s two vehicles.

With that, Gavin cleared the explosion zone and headed toward the western roundabout. As he approached, he slowed down and stopped to look ahead.

The roundabout required them to circle twice, spiraling down nearly nine meters in height to merge back onto the road. The merge point was a full 180 meters away from the roundabout itself. The only problem was that the merge point happened to be right in front of a movie theater and a hotel, where a dozen or so zombies were wandering. Beyond that, the road led straight through the wealthy district, which meant they would have to pass through it.

After assessing the situation, Gavin stepped out of the Tyrannosaurus and leaned against the guardrail to observe. Looking forward, the wealthy district was less than 240 meters away. Looking down, there was a nine-meter drop to the ground, with only three support pillars nearby. He glanced back at the explosion zone where the zombies were gathered; it was at least two kilometers away, far enough that the sound of gunfire wouldn't reach them.

A plan formed in his mind. When Madison stepped out to join him, she was surprised to see Gavin calmly pull out his Colt Python and raise the barrel high.

*Bang!*

After the shot, the zombies in the wealthy district immediately grew agitated and began charging toward Gavin’s position. Sure enough, because they were far from the explosions, there were plenty of zombies that hadn't been drawn away. Gavin estimated that at least four or five hundred were rushing out.

Madison quickly moved behind him. "Gavin, are you trying to lure all the zombies from the wealthy district to the area under the viaduct, and then we take the roundabout down and drive straight through?"

"What else? The number of zombies in the wealthy district isn't large enough to climb up the roundabout to the viaduct. Once we lure them out, the zombies gathered under the bridge won't be a threat to us," Gavin replied, firing two more shots.

*Bang! Bang!*

*RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!*

"Huh?" Gavin froze. He had only fired two shots. Where was the sound of a tractor coming from?

Wait.

"What the hell? Who's firing? Get behind the vehicles!" Gavin didn't have time to locate the source of the gunfire; he just roared at the group and dove for cover behind the front wheel hub of the Tyrannosaurus.

Not far away, Eugene ran toward Gavin, eyes wide, cursing loudly. "Oh, shit! There are survivors in that wealthy district, and they’re using a modified SCAR-PDW! Those rich sons of bitches!"