Doomsday America.

Chapter 285 Finally Home

From the helicopter, I watched the ground below gradually shrink until the wolf pack finally disappeared from sight.

Eugene, sitting in his seat, loosened his leg braces and said something without looking up.

"This is the first time I've ever seen such friendly wolves, boss. I wish these wolves were near our farm."

"Or rather, if there were a pack of friendly wolves like this near our farm, the rat and rabbit infestations this summer would probably be much better, and our people wouldn't be in too much danger!" With that, Eugene adjusted the tightness of his leg guards, then sat up and fiddled with his gun.

Gavin, as usual, sat at the cabin door with one foot dangling down and bracing it against the rope ladder frame, and responded.

"Stop joking. The wolves in the forest near our farm are all purely wild, while the wolves in this national park are semi-domesticated and semi-wild." "Without much experience interacting with humans, a wolf pack wouldn't be as docile as the one we encountered today."

"Instead of hoping the wolves around our house will turn out like this, we should try to get more dogs."

As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin leaned against something and closed his eyes; he needed to rest for a little while.

Although the interaction with the wolf pack was interesting, he was still surrounded by hundreds of wolves, so he remained vigilant. Seeing that Gavin wanted to rest, Eugene said nothing and fell completely silent.

As for the other astronauts...

Well, by now they were all fast asleep.

The astronauts slept quite a bit last night, but... they hadn't eaten anything since putting on their fully enclosed spacesuits. Having been hungry for at least two days, they'd also drunk a lot of vodka last night, and that stuff doesn't wear off easily, leaving all the astronauts rather listless. Of course, there was one astronaut who was relatively energetic.

Richard hadn't slept at all; instead, he lay in the cabin, constantly groaning and moaning...

He was in real pain. The morphine had worn off, and the slightly small radiation suit was still putting slight pressure on his wounds, making them almost numb with pain. However, despite the pain, he knew he hadn't turned into a zombie yet, and his willpower was still pretty good.

After nearly two hours and forty minutes of this, the helicopter finally slowed down, and Sean's voice rang out. "Hey guys, this is your captain, Sean. This trip is over. We've arrived at Gavin Farm's Eastern Border Airport!" "Boss, are you awake? You're sitting in my blind spot; I can't see you!"

Sean called out to Gavin, who slowly woke up and gently rubbed his mask.

This feeling of scratching an itch through a boot was unpleasant, but Gavin forced himself to stay alert and looked down at the airport on the eastern border below.

The airport was located near the eastern edge of the farm. The spot where Nikita had cut through the farm fence to collect medicine in the farm town was also not far from the airport. Although Gavin hadn't used the airport much, Old Feng had passed through the farm town and come here more than once when he and his staff patrolled the farm. Therefore, Old Feng had dealt with vehicles near the airport quite a few times.

Although a third of the farm town was burned down, thanks to Steve's rescue efforts, most of it was preserved. The various vehicles parked there were also cleaned up by Lao Feng and other office staff and parked in different locations.

Old Feng found some fuel and filled the car up, then found a tarpaulin to cover it properly. This way, even if the car was parked in the wilderness, it could be driven out and used at any time for a long period. As for now...

Looking down at the small airport that was getting closer and closer, Gavin was fully awake, and then clapped his hands heavily.

"Alright, guys, we're almost home!"

"Especially the astronauts, wake up, guys! You should drink your last bit of liquor and get ready to take off your spacesuits!" Gavin said, looking at the gradually waking astronauts, his expression turning slightly serious, and the astronauts themselves tensed up uncontrollably. Yes, while spacesuits could protect the astronauts, ultimately, they would have to be taken off.

Although astronauts could survive for a long time even by replenishing only fluids—for example, by adding milk to the fluid storage area—it's essentially meaningless. Everything on Earth is already destined to be infected with zombie fungus spores. As long as the astronauts replenish anything from the ground itself, their bodies are destined to face the challenge of the zombie fungus.

Moreover, the astronauts' spacesuits also picked up radioactive dust from the New Orleans area during their return journey. If we were to measure the radiation levels in the vicinity using a radiation meter, the values ​​wouldn't be particularly high, but there would definitely be some radiation impact.

Therefore, the astronauts might as well simply take off their spacesuits here, confront the challenge of the zombie fungus head-on, and decide their own future fate. That way, at least they would be more relaxed and wouldn't be hindered in their movements.

In short, although the astronauts became nervous upon hearing Gavin's words, no one rejected the proposal.

Charlie took a deep breath and then spoke to Gavin as the helicopter descended.

"I understand, Gavin. We... we'll finish off the last of the vodka in our spacesuits, and then... we'll take these suits off!" "Damn it, the unseen danger makes us a little nervous, but... trust us, we've made countless choices about life and death and made the final decision!" "We may be afraid, but... we seem to be fearless."

"But you have to help us. It'll be much harder for us to take off these clothes on our own!"

Just as Charlie finished speaking, the helicopter landed on the ground.

Gavin then jumped to the ground and looked at the small terminal building not far away.

The airport itself is not large, and the terminal building is also not large, with only two floors.

However, though small, it has all the essentials; there are still places to shower in the terminal.

Gavin then pointed to the terminal building and began to speak.

"We'll leave the helicopter here, then take off our radiation suits and spacesuits, and then go to the terminal to take a good shower. I also need to give my crows a good bath." "Damn it, I don't know if these two can survive the radiation. They're inseparable from me. Even if I want to leave them at Livingston Lake or at home, they'll refuse by making a lot of noise, flapping their wings, and even pooping everywhere."

At this point, Gavin slapped the raven on his body in an annoyed manner. The raven was startled by Gavin's slap and looked at Gavin in confusion.

And after Gavin finished speaking...

Richard, who was lying on the plane, raised his head and tried to shout to Gavin.

"Gavin, don't worry about your crows. After all, birds are more than ten times more resistant to radiation than humans."

"Because birds are only slightly less sensitive to radiation than humans, they are acutely aware of the effects of radiation on themselves and thus actively secrete antioxidants to resist its effects." "Especially crows, these birds with entirely black feathers, whose black feathers contain a large amount of eumelanin, rather than melatonin found in common birds and in our bodies." "Melatonin has a huge demand for its own antioxidants, and because crows have virtually no melatonin, they can secrete antioxidants much better, thus making them several times more resistant to radiation than ordinary birds."

"This can also be seen in Fukushima and Chernobyl. In those areas, crows have almost become the dominant species in the sky's food chain. The crows around Chernobyl are particularly concentrated, numerous, and robust."

"So, Gavin, as long as we wash the crows with regular detergent, they'll be basically out of danger. The only ones in danger are ourselves, especially me." Richard shook his head regretfully as he said this.

Although he was still living in agony, in his heart, he had already sentenced himself to death, and his own body and will had long become important experimental subjects in his mind. After all, he couldn't drink alcohol, because it would worsen the bleeding and swelling, dilate blood vessels leading to secondary bleeding, and also affect blood clotting, exacerbating the inflammatory response. Most importantly, alcohol could react with antibiotics like cephalosporins and metronidazole in a diltiazem-like reaction, and with painkillers like ibuprofen, it could cause gastrointestinal bleeding. What Richard feared most was that while alcohol could temporarily numb the nerves, after intoxication, the body would increase its metabolic rate to eliminate residual alcohol, making the wounds even more painful after a hangover!

Therefore, Richard didn't dare to rely on drinking to test the odds of not turning himself into a zombie.

Besides, the radioactive dust near the plane is nothing compared to the zombie fungus.

This place was already outside the radiation zone, and even if there were still traces of radioactive dust on the helicopter and the radiation suit, their impact on the human body would likely not exceed that of an MRI scan. In short, his severe injuries had rendered him almost defenseless against fungus and radiation, which was the core reason he had marked himself as dead. Listening to Richard's words, Gavin vaguely sensed the despair in Richard's tone, but he simply couldn't respond.

So Gavin could only nod slightly, and then, putting aside his situation for the time being, he continued talking to Richard.

"Richard is right. Damn it, smart people really do know more than us. So we should take a good bath, just like the crows." "Astronauts, this is the Farm District, our current home, our territory, and the place we will live and protect in the future. Compared to the ubiquitous danger zones of the apocalypse, this place is undoubtedly much safer!"

"So, let's drink, guys, get drunk, then take off our clothes and go take a shower!"

"Hurry up, do I have to urge you to drink? Let me see you guys acting crazy when you're drunk. Also, don't worry about your butts, I promise I'll keep an eye on them for you!" Gavin said this as the other helicopters landed and the pilots all gathered around.

Upon receiving Gavin's order, the crowd immediately moved away from the helicopter and began to take off their clothes near the terminal.

After helping all the astronauts remove their spacesuits, Gavin personally pulled out the screaming Richard.

The astronauts had all drunk at least two kilograms of vodka. Except for Ivan, who had an exceptionally high alcohol tolerance, even Sergei was quite tipsy. Gavin left Richard alone in the terminal's shower room, while the others stripped naked and began showering. Importantly, even Adriana didn't hesitate to strip completely naked and shower with a large group of men. This wasn't unusual in the American military, especially in special forces, where women and men showering together was commonplace. For Gavin and his fellow soldiers struggling in the apocalypse, Adriana's body, while pleasing to the eye, wasn't more important than life itself. And Adriana's status as an excellent comrade was enough to protect her from the lewd teasing of her comrades.

However, instead of the men teasing Adriana, Adriana teased the men.

She had just walked naked into the bathroom when she unceremoniously picked up the soap and walked towards Gavin.

"Boss, you definitely need someone to scrub your back. I don't think I can do it any worse than Mrs. Nikita, in fact... I believe she's not as good as me!" As soon as she finished speaking, Adriana went to Gavin, who was showering, and started scrubbing his back.

Seeing this, Gavin chuckled and patted Adriana's butt, then gestured towards Eugene, who was bragging to the dazed astronauts, and said, "Shouldn't you have helped Eugene, you bastard? I thought you two would have gotten closer."

"Huh? Eugene? We're unrelated!"

Adriana immediately scoffed.

There's a saying that goes something like this: When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

When Adriana completely ignores the gazes of others as flirting, her gaze is flirting with everyone else.

Under this scrutinizing gaze, more than one man cursed, turning away to wash himself, turning his backside towards Adriana. Adriana scoffed further, then raised an eyebrow disdainfully and whispered a mocking remark.

"Look, boss, not everyone is as confident as you, and I don't like insecure guys, haha~"

"By the way, boss, the back is almost washed, now I should help you wash the front. You have to help me too."

"Don't distance yourself from me just because I'm a bitch, boss. Compared to a pure and innocent beauty who hates, despises, and deceives you, most men would rather have a bitch who is completely devoted to them." "I don't expect to be pinned down on the bed and ravaged by you, but for my willing devotion, you only need to give me a little bit of response, and I'll be soaking wet and willing to die for you, boss~" As she said this, Adriana unceremoniously put her hand around Gavin's back and carefully cleaned him.

In the distance, Edward couldn't help but whistle and call out to Gavin.

"Haha, boss, should we give you some time? We're already home, a little longer won't make a difference."

"What a joke, no need. A real man can control himself, just like now."

Gavin responded with a laugh, while Adriana lathered his entire body with soap.

In return, Gavin rubbed Adriana's back.

After the two finished bathing, while they were washing the crow together, Eugene swaggered over, wiping a towel around his mouth, and squatted down in front of the crow, saying to Adriana, "Hey, Anna, I've been waiting for you to finish washing the boss so you could come over and scrub my butt too, but you'd rather scrub the crow's feathers than take care of me even a little bit!" "Haha, Eugene, I don't like your butt. We're friends, and I don't like messing around with too many of my friends; it makes our interactions awkward~" Adriana replied with a laugh, continuing to scrub the crow clean.

The bath was now complete. The group changed clothes, jokingly gathered tools, and made a makeshift stretcher to carry Richard. After leaving the terminal and finding several cars, Gavin and his crew sang as they sped home.

Meanwhile, at home.

Nikita, her right hand casually tapping the wooden handle of her revolver, walked into the kitchen and looked at the busy kitchen staff. Jon Fletcher, holding a form, stood beside Doris, who was busy cooking, and spoke softly to her. "Doris, we've prepared eight hundred eggs. Now it's time to allocate them—how many to fry, and how many to use for dessert." "Uh, you decide, Jon. You know I'm not good at planning. I prefer cooking quietly!"

Doris waved to Jon, who continued talking to her while looking at the form.

"Alright, I'll decide the number of eggs too, so I should get busy now. I need to further assign the serving order to everyone." "Yeah, go ahead and get busy, Jon. Thanks to you."

Doris nodded gratefully to Jon; she had to admit that Jon's presence had been a great help to her.

Although she was an excellent cook, she was truly terrible at management; several of her restaurants had gone bankrupt due to mismanagement. Fortunately, Jon was a skilled manager. A former construction boss, Jon owned a company with over ten thousand employees and managed more than a dozen construction teams and several transportation companies. Managing the dozen or so people in the kitchen was a piece of cake for Jon, but that wasn't an excuse for him to ignore Doris. He still tried his best to report everything to her. As a former boss, he knew best how an employee should behave to gain the boss's satisfaction.

His boss wasn't Doris, but Gavin!

Therefore, he wouldn't allow any flaws in his gradual expansion of influence, nor would he allow himself to incur Gavin's displeasure! Just then, Nikita happened to enter the kitchen. Upon seeing Nikita, Jon quickly nudged Doris's arm, signaling her that Nikita had arrived. He wouldn't fawn over her by greeting Nikita before Doris did; that would only give any superior the impression of being ambitious and scheming.

Seeing Doris greet her, Nikita smiled and responded, then turned to check on the meal preparations. But before she could take a step, a sentry's shout suddenly came through her walkie-talkie.

"Good heavens, the boss is back! He's finally back! I can see their car, and Captain Eugene is waving at us!"