novelsite Chapter 337 The Zhang Family's Preparations
Chapter 337 The Zhang Family's Preparations
Chapter 337 Preparations for Going Home
As Gavin finished speaking, he turned and glanced at the crowd watching not far away.
Whether it was his own men or the fraternity members who had just showered, they were all looking at him with trepidation and confusion.
As for why they were uneasy and confused?
After all, their leaders were arguing together, and the distance made it impossible for them to hear the reason for their argument.
How could they not be uneasy?
So, after a quick glance, Gavin shook his head slightly, then smiled and pointed at Edward and Steve.
"Stop arguing in such an inappropriate setting, guys. We're the backbone of this team, and everyone's watching us."
"We do have reason to argue, after all, what we are arguing about relates to our future direction and the biggest hidden danger we face right now, namely the motorcycle gangs that are not lacking in power and have extremely bad behavior."
"But such discussions should not be conducted in a way that makes the team atmosphere more tense, especially when we are in an unfamiliar place and have a large number of new people who need to be appeased."
"Therefore, we need to think more about our future direction on our way back."
"We'll have a more in-depth discussion once we get back!"
"Moreover, the future of the camp should not be decided solely by us field staff. After all, we don't know if our logistics can support our work, nor do we know if our office staff will face more pressure when dealing with more newcomers."
"Anyway, let's figure out how to get home first, and then talk more after we get home. Is that alright?"
.
"That's settled then, guys. Now give me a fucking smile, relax, be natural, and put the guys watching around at ease."
"OK?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin clapped his hands lightly, while Edward and Steve both gave awkward smiles and then reached out their right hands to shake each other's hands in the air.
After they let go of each other's hands, the small group of six remained silent for a moment, until Martin shook a bottle of drink and then said with a smile.
"The boss is right. We're overthinking it. We're just nervous because of the number of bikers."
"After all, before today, we had never encountered any other doomsday group that outnumbered us."
"However, even disregarding the systemic problems of biker gangs that resemble nomadic tribes robbing survivors, I think their numbers should be greater than ours."
"After all, they're in Los Angeles, one of the top three cities in the US, and California, where Los Angeles is located, is also the most populous state in the US, far exceeding Texas where we are!"
"Besides, let's look at the map, guys. California is huge, but because the Rocky Mountains are to its east, most of California's population lives near the West Coast!"
"Their population far exceeds ours, but their living space is far, far smaller than ours, resulting in a much higher population density. They live closer together and are more concentrated, which may actually be the real reason why they outnumber us!"
"Therefore, when we arbitrarily discuss whether or not to imitate their model to increase our base number of people, we must also consider whether their numerical advantage comes from their system or their geographical environment!"
"Just as there are no pandas in the Americas and no cougars in the East, whatever decision we ultimately make, we must first ensure that their advantages truly stem from their systems!"
At this point, Martin raised his beverage bottle high, gesturing for everyone to have a drink.
Beside Martin, Eugene, who also had red hair, looked at Martin in shock and spoke in disbelief.
"Oh shit, is that something you could say, Hunter? You're acting like a philosopher right now, I'm almost getting excited listening to you!"
"Mazefak, don't fucking insult me with such nasty words, you bastard!"
Martin punched Eugene in annoyance, then turned to look at Gavin.
Gavin looked at Martin with a proud gaze.
Look, as he has been in leadership for longer, his former group of brutes have evolved to be much better at thinking!
Whether it's the argument between Edward and Steve or Martin's summary, these topics have gone far beyond what a simple field team leader should be discussing.
They have really made so much progress. They think more deeply, further, and more comprehensively now!
Unlike in the East, Americans are not particularly adept at navigating the complexities of interpersonal relationships.
Of course, they also have social skills, but their social skills are more direct, and their alignment is more intense and pure.
Just like the opposition between the Donkey Party and the Elephant Party, they enjoy this kind of head-to-head confrontation. On the one hand, it's either you or me; there's no back-and-forth probing or compromise between us.
This is also one of the biggest differences between the East and the West. Even if the two sides in the East are at odds and wish the other dead, they will still maintain a facade of politeness. It is rare for officials with differing political views in the East to have fierce conflicts in public. Their meetings are always turbulent and unpredictable under the guise of stability.
Then, after the meeting ended, their struggle truly began, with them vying for control of one project after another, fighting tooth and nail for survival.
Western parliaments, on the other hand, are prone to heated debates during meetings, with arguments and even physical altercations being commonplace. These arguments often escalate into fierce fights, including, but not limited to, throwing things like folders, pens, and even shoes.
They prefer to decide the outcome in meetings, determining the winner during the discussion, and then letting the victor focus on reaping the rewards.
Edward and Steve's argument just now was undoubtedly a continuation of this habit; after offering their respective suggestions, they instinctively wanted to determine a winner on the spot.
So their voices grew louder and their emotions more intense, and they kept seeking Gavin's approval, which caused widespread panic.
However, Gavin wasn't angry; on the contrary, he quite liked their behavior.
After all, Gavin really didn't want them to trip each other up behind their backs, rather than have a direct, face-to-face argument.
In short, after the argument between the two ended.
Gavin and his men started discussing the way home.
The six of them continued to study the map for about an hour before they finally managed to come up with a preliminary route home.
The first half of the return journey will basically be the same route back, since roads in New Mexico are not very developed and there are few routes. They will still have to rely on Highway 20, this legendary American road, to get home.
This brings us to the legendary Highway 20.
It was a legendary road that took more than seventy years to build and was more than five thousand kilometers long, running directly through the entire United States.
If an American who loves road trips fails to conquer this legendary highway in his lifetime, then his road trip career can be considered a self-aggrandizing achievement, and he certainly doesn't love road trips.
In the East, countless self-driving enthusiasts consider traveling to Tibet to be the soul of their self-driving journey.
For Americans, a drive along Highway 20, enjoying the scenery from west to east, can be considered a soul-searching journey.
With such a spiritual path existing, the first half of the journey will be relatively smooth, barring any unforeseen circumstances, even with the addition of numerous vehicles to the convoy.
However, once they left Highway 20, trouble ensued, and the key point was that Gavin couldn't imagine how the trouble would arise.
After all, anyone who participates in a school field trip knows that as long as a group of more than fifty people travel together, there will always be a few people in the group who will intentionally or unintentionally drag the team down in various ways.
There are countless cases of things being lost, items being left behind, people going missing, or people running away.
Therefore, Gavin and his colleagues only outlined the route and did not go further to budget for any further unexpected discoveries.
Gavin understands his field work, but he doesn't understand the fraternity. He also wants to use this trip to deepen his understanding of the newcomers. How can he guess what kind of questions a group of strangers will ask him to cause trouble?
There's nothing we can do but deal with it as it comes.
And so, once all the women in the lake had come ashore, they began to dry their wet hair in the scorching air and, in the gradually relaxing atmosphere, discussed their future.
The men, meanwhile, gathered in small groups, watching Gavin and his management team sit together and discuss the situation.
Gavin ended the discussion and then spoke to his group of friends.
"Alright, that's enough for now. We just need a general route for our return trip; we don't need to prepare anything more."
"Next, Edward, take your squad and get on high alert. Not only be vigilant against potential external crises, but also keep a close eye on ourselves, especially the new members of the Brotherhood!"
"I don't know if you've noticed, but while the Brotherhood's supplies aren't so scarce that they need to fight over them, their female resources must have been unevenly distributed in the past."
"Their main members all had more than two relatively beautiful women. The dead Connor even had three wives, but only two of them were willing to cry for him."
"So, after Connor and a bunch of other more powerful guys died, I'm worried that the remaining men in the Brotherhood will have an emotional backlash regarding female resources."
"Edward, you must keep a close eye on them and use force to suppress them if necessary."
"Next, Eugene, go to the Brotherhood and find some older workers in their forties and fifties, some skilled mechanics, and have them inspect all the vehicles in our convoy."
"I don't want us to break down and waste time on the road because of vehicle problems!"
"Next up is Martin. Take your squad and clear out all of the Brotherhood's supplies. Calculate how long our combined supplies, especially water, can feed us."
"We have too many people. If possible, I don't want to take everyone to resupply halfway. Who knows what kind of interesting trouble those newbies might cause us while we're searching for supplies? It's too much like the kind of crisis scenes that might occur in movies."
"As for my team, Mike, go find someone in the Brotherhood who can cook. We need to prepare dinner!"
""
"The number of people we need to feed has jumped from thirty to eighty or ninety. That's a big difference, so we'll have to work a bit harder!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin waved to his men.
The men immediately nodded and left, following Gavin's instructions.
While the men were on their way, Gavin called over Brody and the others from the Brotherhood and talked to them about the future of the Brotherhood.
On the one hand, this is a form of appeasement and reassurance.
On the other hand, this also dismantles the Brotherhood's last remaining armed force, making it easier for their own men to operate.
The Brotherhood wasn't just these five men; they were just bolder than the others in attacking the biker gang. After Gavin transferred them away, the remaining members of the Brotherhood found it difficult to cause trouble for Eugene and his group.
Without Brody and others backing them up, and faced with Gavin's large group of neatly dressed men, even though the Brotherhood members still had concerns, none of them dared to voice their opposition.
Even those two troublemakers who were digging graves in the Brotherhood camp that morning were now being dragged away by Eugene to check vehicle safety.
The two groups of guys kept coming into contact and gradually merged.
It wasn't until after dinner, and until Jonathan brought out his guitar again, and the fraternity, with three or four members, brought out the violins and accordions they had brought for us.
Suddenly, the campsite was filled with an even stronger artistic atmosphere, and even without drinking, the singing continued until around nine o'clock in the evening.
After the simple music party ended, the guys rushed back to their tents or to rest in the blood-stained rooms in the terminal.
Gavin, meanwhile, was holding a radio and chatting with the guys in his house.
At this very moment, in the broadcasting studio of Gavin Estate, far away in central Texas.
Thomas, Old Feng, and Nikita were sitting in the broadcasting studio, with Thomas holding the intercom and continuously reporting to Gavin.
Thomas reported to Gavin methodically, crossing out the questions he had written down on the paper one by one.
"Sir, in the last three days, the camp has seen six new recruits. They're from Florida, and on their way here, they were attacked by those behemoth zombies you found on the East Coast!"
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, Gavin frowned. He was extremely wary of zombies with such tough fungal skin growths.
"Thomas, where did they run into those troublesome guys!"
"They're in every area, boss. Perhaps Mr. Kobayashi and Mr. Li Qing's judgment is correct; those zombies will appear wherever there's water!"
Thomas responded, looking rather grim.
"So, sir, sooner or later we'll encounter those damned things near our home. Even if we try our best to manage the lakes near us, we can't prevent other zombies from coming into contact with the water source."
"Especially as time goes on, I worry that the proportion of those behemoths among the zombie horde will continue to increase!"
"After all, once a giant zombie is born, there is no possibility of it degenerating, while an ordinary zombie will be transformed into a basic giant form by the proliferating fungi after being soaked in water for a period of time."
"I'm worried that all zombies will eventually look like that, and then dealing with them won't be as easy as it is now!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Thomas took a deep breath, unable to hide his worry.
After a brief silence, Gavin talked with Thomas about their speculations about these zombies and how to deal with them, which was essentially a plan to further strengthen the camp's defensive firepower.
After talking to Thomas and Old Feng, Gavin finally had a proper half-hour chat with Nikita.
After comforting her beloved partner.
Gavin put down the radio and sat quietly by the window, closer to the moonlight.
He happened to see two or three figures moving in the darkness.