How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Arian and Aiden, who had defeated the Wielder, immediately returned to the office where Sadie and Victor were.

The office, which had been filled with gunshots moments ago, was now quiet.

Upon arrival, Arian immediately checked Sadie’s condition.

Sadie, still holding a pistol, was quietly hiding behind a makeshift barricade.

“Sadie, are you okay?”

At Arian’s voice, Sadie, who was crouched down, raised her head abruptly.

Was she anxious?

Upon seeing Arian and Aiden return safely, a sense of relief finally appeared on the stern face of the girl who had been stiffened.

Then Sadie’s gaze fell on Arian’s injured left arm.

“Arian, your arm…”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

That way, Arian and Sadie expressed concern for each other.

Aiden watched the two for a while and then approached Victor.

He was still staring at the door he had tried to block.

The small door that separated the mart area from the office was almost torn apart. Two of the three latches were broken, and the door was now hanging loosely. The barricade they had piled up behind it was completely destroyed.

However, despite that, there wasn’t a single zombie that crossed that door.

It was evidence of how hard Victor had struggled to keep this place secure.

“…”

On the other hand, as Aiden was about to speak to Victor, a hesitation flickered across his face.

After some deliberation, Aiden spoke up again.

It was from a distance away from Victor.

“Are you okay?”

“Oh, you’re back?”

Victor’s tired voice echoed.

His head turned slowly, and soon he looked at Aiden.

Then, his eyes, which seemed to widen to an extraordinary extent, met Aiden’s gaze.

“No way…!”

What Victor saw in Aiden’s eyes was a face and pupils that were almost indistinguishable from the zombies he had been shooting just a while ago.

In response, Victor involuntarily twitched the hand holding the rifle.

However, he didn’t immediately aim it at Aiden.

“Did you get bitten? But how could the mutation progress this quickly… What the hell happened?”

As if demanding an explanation, Victor asked Aiden, confusion evident in his voice.

In Victor’s surprised voice, Arian and Sadie also felt an uneasy atmosphere and looked at him.

In response, Aiden briefly conveyed his situation to Victor.

He had been infected with the zombie virus a long time ago, but he still maintained his sanity. And to prevent further decay, he needed human blood.

“Huh…”

Victor sighed with confusion in his eyes.

Whether he should believe Aiden’s words or not, he couldn’t make a judgment at all.

But time didn’t wait for his confusion. The distant sound of zombie cries echoed. The noise generated here had reached zombies quite a distance away.

“…We should start moving.”

Aiden mumbled and turned around.

Then, facing Sadie and Arian, he opened his mouth.

“I’ll explore the warehouse area.”

Victor absentmindedly stared at Aiden’s retreating back.

As he disappeared outside the door, Victor opened his mouth to Arian and Sadie.

“That thing he said…”

“It’s true.”

Before his question could finish, Arian answered.

And Sadie also agreed with Arian’s words.

“Yes. He’s a zombie, but he’s not bad.”

Victor raised an eyebrow at the confirmation from the two girls.

A talking zombie.

He thought the girl was strange, but this was beyond his imagination.

Well, some kind of mutant or something?

“I don’t know what this is…”

“It’s complicated, but for now, let’s finish what we have to do. Are you going to let the people waiting for us starve?”

Victor received Arian’s pragmatic advice in a cold voice.

Upon hearing this, Victor blinked his eyes.

Her words were correct.

Whether Aiden was a zombie or not, he had one thing to do. He fought for it a while ago, risking his life.

“Understood. First… let’s look for supplies.”

That way, the remaining three also entered the warehouse area.

And after a while.

“…Here it is.”

Aiden’s group found a storage facility in a corner of the warehouse area that had been created by previous survivors.

It was a separate space with barriers, isolated from the warehouse area.

Click!

The lock on the door was easily cut by Arian.

“What’s inside?”

“No one’s here.”

Confirmed by Arian that there were no zombies inside, Aiden placed his hand on the doorknob.

Victor, watching from behind, swallowed hard.

A strange tension passed over his face.

Although they had come here at his suggestion, thinking calmly, the warehouse had been left untouched for over half a year.

Even if it was the only one, there was a possibility that it might not be completely empty.

“I’ll go in first.”

So, Victor, almost forgetting that Aiden was a zombie, followed closely behind.

Creak-

The storage room door opened.

And the light of the lamps poured in.

The first thing that caught their eyes was… cans of various colors.

“Phew… thankfully. Really fortunate.”

Victor muttered those words like a sigh.

There was plenty of food in there.

There were also several wooden boxes storing weapons next to it.

“The condition seems quite good.”

Examining the supplies, Aiden said so.

Some of the food had rotted, and there was no drinking water, but most of the preserved food was intact. And the weapons needed by Aiden’s group… were reasonably satisfactory.

Although there were almost no bombs, including grenades, there was enough ammunition.

They didn’t have to worry about bullets for a while.

The amount of remaining supplies here wasn’t extremely large. However, it was enough for the four people here, and even more than enough to carry.

It was a reward that wasn’t wasted for the time and effort invested in this place.

“Then, let’s take what we need.”

The other three nodded quietly.

* * *

A few hours later.

“Phew… now let’s go back.”

Victor, who loaded the acquired supplies into the vehicle, sighed and climbed into the seat.

The return journey was relatively smooth.

Since they had almost swept away the area with the most zombies, breaking through the door in the mart area, it was expected.

Aiden’s 6-seater van was packed with the supplies.

The trunk, as well as the back seat and the surroundings where Arian and Sadie sat, were piled with goods.

Victor himself was also sitting with a large bag.

“Are you okay?”

Aiden, sitting in the driver’s seat, asked Victor.

It was a question about the bag he was holding and also about sitting next to a zombie.

Victor nodded calmly with a peaceful expression.

“It’s fine. Now, come on.”

Although it had only been a few hours since he realized Aiden was a zombie, Victor had already become accustomed to that fact.

Aiden’s actions hadn’t changed at all before and after that revelation.

After returning to the vehicle and changing his visor, even his appearance was the same as before.

Of course, there was still a lingering unease. This was evident in the slight turn of the direction of the large bag, blocking Aiden.

However, Aiden didn’t mind and spoke.

“Then, let’s depart.”

Time had passed, and it was already well into the afternoon.

Ultimately, everyone here had skipped lunch, but no one complained. In this world, meals weren’t at fixed times but had to be done when there was an opportunity.

The vehicle carrying Aiden’s group thus retraced the road they had taken in the morning.

About ten minutes passed.

At that moment, Victor, who had maintained silence until then, subtly opened his mouth.

“Now, what are you all going to do?”

“If we drop you off, we’ll leave immediately.”

It was the schedule they had originally agreed upon.

Aiden’s words were decisive.

“Leaving, huh? Where to?”

“To the southwest, heading to Columbus.”

“Hmm…”

Victor furrowed his brow at those words.

After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously spoke.

“Can I offer a few words of advice?”

Aiden nodded.

At that, Victor, without further ado, began to express his thoughts carefully.

“First, stay at our base for the night. It seems a bit late to set off now. You might end up having to sleep outdoors.”

“…”

The suggestion itself was something to be grateful for.

As Victor pointed out, it was already quite late.

Even if they left immediately, considering road conditions and unforeseen variables, they wouldn’t be able to reach Columbus by the end of the day.

So, spending an extra night at a secure base was preferable.

However, Aiden was uneasy about Victor’s intentions in making such a kind offer.

He must be aware that Aiden is a zombie, so why would he insist on being so considerate?

“Of course, I’ll take care of tonight’s watch. That way, I can keep an eye on you.”

But Victor had no ulterior motives.

He was genuinely concerned about the well-being of everyone, including Aiden.

So, Aiden decided to accept his kindness as it was.

“Thank you.”

“At this point, it’s nothing. Oh, about Columbus. It’s not certain, but I’ve heard something about it.”

“Is it bad news?”

“Sort of. So, about a fortnight ago.”

That was the incident that Victor had used as a basis to be wary of Aiden’s vehicle.

“At that time, there were people like you, driving cars, around our base. Emily happened to encounter them. They were extremely hostile, attacking Emily without any provocation.”

Fortunately, Emily was conducting exploration inside a building at the time and managed to dodge the bullets flying from outside.

But immediately after that, an intense firefight occurred between those mysterious humans and Victor’s group.

With a bit of luck, Victor’s group managed to drive them away unharmed.

“Next, we searched their vehicle. There was a young man who was held captive by them. He was in quite a severe condition. By the time we found him, he was already dying. I wanted to save that young man, but… he ended up suffering for a week and died.”

With that, Victor released a heavy sigh.

Having been somber for a moment, he continued.

“That young man told us a story.”

The young man Victor tried to rescue was one of the survivors living in Columbus.

According to his story, about a month ago, there was a major battle in the city.

It was a battle between the gang that originally dominated the city and the fanatics who opposed them.

“Unfortunately, those lunatics won. In the end, the fanatics took over the entire city. So, the defeated gang members scattered outside the city, and the ones who were holding the young man captive were some of them. The street thugs Antonio encountered earlier might also be of the same group.”

While Victor was telling the story, Aiden nodded and couldn’t help but feel amazed internally.

It was a fact he had been completely unaware of.

If he and Sadie had gone to that city as originally planned, it could have been dangerously unpredictable.

“…Columbus seems to be dangerous.”

“That’s right. So, it might be better to head west and go through Mansfield and Lima, reaching Fort Wayne.”

Aiden seriously considered Victor’s advice.

His original plan was to pass through Columbus, then head west to Cincinnati, and from there, proceed to the major city, Indianapolis.

Originally, all three of these cities had somewhat sizable survivor groups, so the plan was to travel around those cities to find a group of survivors where Sadie could stay.

But if Columbus was as dangerous as Victor mentioned, Aiden had to reconsider his plans.

In this case, after passing through a small town like Mansfield, it would be better to make a stop in Fort Wayne before heading towards Indianapolis.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Aiden nodded.

Seeing Aiden accept his advice, Victor nodded approvingly.

* * *

And the next day.

Aiden’s group spent the night safely at Victor’s base and was preparing to leave.

They were heading to Mansfield, a small town about 100 km west of Canton.

Although it wasn’t too far to travel in a day by vehicle, no one could guarantee they would arrive today.

So, Aiden’s group hurriedly prepared for departure in the early morning.

At that moment, two men approached them.

It was Antonio and Victor.