The phone was undeniably busy, and Gavin couldn't hear the ringtone resonating in the room.
The two zombies outside the door showed no signs of being distracted by the ringing phone.
In the bathroom, Madison slowly filled the bathtub with water and sat on the edge, staring blankly at Gigi's body and the pool of vomit beside it.
Even without a body, Gigi's head continued to move, her eyes fixed on Madison with her mouth agape.
Madison and Gigi locked eyes for more than ten seconds before she abruptly stood up, went to the bed, and retrieved a quilt to cover Gigi's head and body.
As the quilt soaked up the blood, Madison exhaled in relief, then stripped off her clothes and moved to the bathtub, dipping her body into the water to wash.
While she scrubbed, a sudden memory hit her, and she retched twice. Leaning over the edge of the bathtub, she vomited continuously.
Hearing Madison's heaving, Gavin felt a wave of nausea wash over him as well.
Fighting back the urge to vomit, Gavin dialed a few more teammates' numbers.
No one answered.
Instead, a faint sound of shattering glass echoed from outside the window.
Gavin suspected that the zombies in adjacent rooms had broken through the glass and fallen into the yard.
Startled by the noise, Madison leaped from the bathtub, panicking as she crawled to the window for a better view.
After a quick glance outside, she turned back to Gavin and shouted helplessly.
"Outside…"
"Keep your voice down!" Gavin snapped.
Bang!
After being interrupted by Gavin's admonition, Madison instinctively clamped her mouth shut and then quickly returned to peering out the window.
After confirming no zombies were drawn to her, Madison squatted down in front of Gavin and said, "There looked to be about 17 or 18 people outside, all running really fast. They looked like the zombies in Brad Pitt's new movie!"
"I know, damn it! Hurry up and get dressed so you can change me. I haven't even put on my clothes yet!" Gavin kicked her lightly, prompting Madison to dash back to the bathroom, where she scooped up warm water from the faucet to rinse herself off.
Then she hurried to the closet, rummaging through Gavin's clothes.
This estate belonged to the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Gavin and the team had celebrated in this villa more than once, and it even served as a party venue for the Dallas Mavericks.
Thus, a plethora of large-sized clothing was stocked in every room of the villa to accommodate the Cowboys and Mavericks players.
Madison slipped on a large sports outfit, layered several pairs of socks, and even found knee and elbow pads, putting them on one after another.
Once she was almost dressed, she approached the door, holding it steady against the incessant banging from her teammates outside, and spoke in a rush.
"Are we just going to stand here holding the door? Stop it, we're dead, damn it!"
"There were over 300 people last night. Even the basketball players came out to join the chaos. This is absolutely ridiculous!"
"Did you hear that? It sounds like even more people are outside the door. We're doomed!"
"I have six kids. What the hell am I supposed to do? Oh, what about my kids? What about my family? I…"
"Just be quiet, Madison, or I swear I'll put a knife in your mouth. Samoff will feast on it."
Gavin cursed as he dressed, causing Madison to turn away in despair.
Leaning his head against the door, tears began to fall onto the carpet in rhythm with the vibrations from the banging.
As Gavin put on his socks, he noticed Madison crying softly, so he threw the phone down at his feet and said, "Call home, but honestly, it might be better not to. There's still hope, man."
"What about you, Gavin? Have you called your family? Your mom or dad? You're not married!" Madison responded, squatting to pick up the phone.
Unexpectedly, just as she crouched down, the sound of a propeller grew louder.
Ta-da! Ta-da! Ta-da!
The moment the noise reached the room, Madison gripped her phone tightly.
"Gavin!" she urged.
Gavin nodded.
"It's a helicopter."
"A helicopter! Great! We're saved!" Madison exclaimed excitedly, her eyes wide as she jerked her head toward the window, signaling Gavin to look.
Gavin agreed and walked to the window in his socks.
But before he could approach the glass, the helicopter's sound, which had lasted only six or seven seconds, abruptly ceased, followed by a deafening crash and a violent explosion.
Sizzle!
Boom!
Bang!
"Damn it!"
Madison nearly collapsed, her large body dropping to her knees before the door like a landslide as she muttered dejectedly, "Don't look anymore; it's all over. Even the helicopter has fallen. No one can save us. We are completely finished..."
"We were lucky," Gavin's sudden words interrupted Madison's despair, making her glance over in surprise.
Following her gaze, Gavin squatted by the window and pulled back part of the curtain, revealing the flickering light of a fire coming from a blind spot to the left.
Even from a distance, Madison could see dozens of figures sprinting across the courtyard toward the fire and explosion.
Except for three or four unfortunate zombies who had fallen into the swimming pool and couldn't climb out, all the zombies in the manor were drawn by the commotion.
Gavin pulled the curtains aside further and pointed behind Madison with relief.
Realizing what he meant, Madison finally understood that the banging had ceased!
She quickly pressed her ear to the quiet door to confirm.
Gavin glanced at Old Mac, then looked out the window. After a few tense seconds, Madison turned around and signaled a safe gesture.
"They ran away. Damn it! We're lucky! We're really lucky!"
Madison felt a wave of relief wash over her. The absence of zombies banging on the door felt like a weight lifted. Even Gavin appeared more relaxed.
He casually closed the curtains and returned to the closet to finish dressing while speaking to Madison. "Those things really looked like the zombies in Brad Pitt's new movie. They mutate quickly and run incredibly fast."
"I saw Gigi mutate after just two spitting sounds, and you mentioned Leonard mutated within seconds of being bitten."
Brad Pitt's World War Z was originally set to be released this year, in 2013, and had been quite popular recently.
At any other time, Madison would have enjoyed continuing the conversation and chatting with Gavin about Pitt's ex-wife.
But now, Madison just wanted to find Pete and beat him to a pulp.
Or have Pitt's ex-wife deliver a swift end to him.
Noticing Madison's low spirits, Gavin jumped a few times on the carpet, trying to get used to the feeling of being encumbered by multiple layers of protection, before moving to the fireplace.
Removing the saber from its sheath, Gavin handed the unsharpened blade to Madison and said softly, "Don't just stand there. Take it— you'll know what to do later."
"Got it, damn, touchdown!" Madison gripped the saber tightly, nodding earnestly as she continued, "I'll watch your back like I did in the game, man. No one's getting past me to touch my quarterback!"
"Exactly! Just like in the game—stay calm, focus, and give it your all!" Gavin patted Madison's shoulder.
"When the door opens, head straight to your room to grab your phone, then go to the boss's room to find a gun. That guy's an old cowboy; we played with his shotgun and even tossed a Frisbee yesterday afternoon."
As he spoke, Gavin resolutely grasped the door handle, preparing to open it.
He was not the type to stand idle in the face of a zombie crisis.
Rather than sit in a bedroom with no food or water, he preferred to face whatever fate awaited him outside.
But...
As Gavin tightened his grip on the door handle, Madison seized his wrist.
"Wait!"
Madison said, shaking slightly. "Should we really go out? It's actually quite safe here. Maybe if we wait until morning, the police and militia will come to rescue us."
As the words left her mouth, Madison noticed Gavin's displeasure and quickly added, swallowing hard, "This is a wealthy area within a wealthy area, right? The mayor of Dallas was at the party last night too. Help might come!"
"Really?"
Hearing this, Gavin regarded Madison, who was full of hope, with an expressionless face.
"It's been over six minutes since Jiji mutated. How many cries for help have been heard?"
"Fewer than three!"
"How many people attended the party? At least two or three hundred! And yet there was only one scream! One gunshot and a fleeting sound of a helicopter starting up! What kind of mutation ratio is this?"
"If we translate this ratio into police officers and soldiers, especially considering it's still around three in the morning, how many do you think will survive?"
At this, Gavin shook his head and sneered under Madison's desperate gaze.
"Rescue? Spare me!"
"Instead of hoping for rescue, you and I should be thankful that the exploding helicopter attracted a swarm of zombies."
"We should be even more grateful that we will mutate after being bitten by that thing for a few seconds."
"Once we are surrounded by zombies, at least the pain before death won't linger long."
"The most important thing is, if you don't try to find food, drink, and weapons while the zombies are distracted by the explosion, do you really want to wait until they are ready?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gavin broke away from Madison and turned the doorknob slowly and carefully.
Click.
As the bolt unlocked, Gavin turned his head and sneered at Madison.
"Madison, have you ever fought for yourself?"