How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“That is strange indeed.”

Aiden muttered those words.

From the start, he hadn’t entered LA himself.

And the requests he had handled over these past few days were nothing remarkable enough to draw LA’s interest.

So why was LA aware of Aiden’s existence?

The answer soon came from Arian.

“It’s all because of Fear.”

“Fear?”

“Yes. It seems LA has been closely monitoring Fear’s movements.”

The LA territorial defense force that Aiden’s group had encountered in Blythe wasn’t there by mere coincidence.

They had detected Fear leading a massive horde of zombies towards Phoenix.

Arian explained that they were a LA scout unit dispatched to investigate the situation.

“Come to think of it… for an army stationed in an abandoned city, their numbers were unusually high.”

Recalling their troop size at the time, Aiden muttered those words.

Arizona, which had been Fear’s area of activity, wasn’t located too far from LA.

So it was only natural for LA to be on high alert over that creature’s movements, and to have directly mobilized their military in response to its changes.

“And so?”

“And so… from their perspective, Fear suddenly went missing, right? They started questioning us about what had happened.”

Upon hearing that much, Aiden gave a small nod accompanied by a soft hum of realization.

The over 30 survivors who had journeyed from Phoenix to LA alongside Aiden only knew that Fear had suffered injuries from Aiden’s sniping.

Having noticed Fear’s disappearance, LA’s administration had demanded testimony from those who had been rescued around Phoenix at the time.

Judging they had no reason to hide anything, the survivors simply relayed what they had witnessed and heard.

“…I see.”

Aiden understood the general situation now.

While an unexpected development, it fortunately wasn’t a major issue.

Especially since Aiden himself wasn’t present in LA at the moment.

And even if information about him reached the Huntington Docks, it wouldn’t pose a problem.

At most, his abilities as a junk dealer might be somewhat overestimated, but that was hardly a significant concern.

Arian’s account continued.

“But LA seemed rather suspicious about it. They kept asking me if it was really just a sniper rifle that took down Fear.”

“Well, I suppose that’s understandable. Anyone who truly knows Fear would realize how difficult it is to bring that creature down through sniping alone.”

Even in hindsight, without Arian’s involvement, defeating Fear would have been impossible.

So their suspicion was valid.

Meanwhile, Arian snapped her fingers as if recalling something.

“Oh, and there’s some good news too.”

At Aiden’s prompting gaze, she continued.

“Zaid and Ricardo, remember them? Those people we met in the desert before. They arrived in LA yesterday.”

Of course, they would remember Aiden as well.

The ones with whom a conflict had nearly erupted at the desert shack, only for them to have to flee together from the zombie horde.

They were the very people Sadie had personally shared her food rations with upon parting ways.

Back then, Zaid had mentioned his intention to head to Las Vegas and take a train to LA.

Now it seemed that attempt had ultimately succeeded.

“There are quite a few people in LA from what I know, but they managed to find each other nonetheless.”

“The workplace I’m assigned to isn’t too far from where citizen registration happens. Just got lucky, I guess.”

Arian mentioned that she had even reunited with them briefly.

According to her, Zaid and his companion Linda had been assigned jobs related to their skills in operating trains.

As for Ricardo’s group, they seemed to have been assigned to the military, similar to Arian herself.

“By the way, Aiden.”

After finishing her account of Zaid and Ricardo’s group, Arian’s expression turned somewhat serious as she opened her mouth again.

“What is it?”

“If this place truly is suitable… what will you do next?”

If LA proved to be a city lacking nothing for Sadie’s future life, then the request from Rebecca would be complete, finally bringing their long journey to an end.

Arian was inquiring about what would happen after that.

“…Hard to say.”

Aiden avoided giving a direct answer to that question.

In response, Arian tilted her head slightly.

“Surely you don’t intend to leave?”

“I don’t have anywhere else to go. But I also don’t have a reason to stay here.”

“Then…”

“Of course, that’s just for now. Circumstances can change at any time. You know the reason without me having to spell it out, don’t you?”

At Aiden’s words, Arian let out a sigh and fell silent.

If his true nature as a zombie were to be exposed, even for a single moment, he would undoubtedly have to leave this place.

But Aiden wouldn’t be the only one.

“In that case, what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Having experienced living in that city firsthand, do you really think you could continue residing there?”

Arian couldn’t easily answer that.

Of course, the routine of going to work, doing her job, and returning home was manageable enough.

She could handle that much without issue.

But that daily life was only possible because a certain crucial requirement of hers wasn’t being met.

“Can you procure blood in that place?”

“…No.”

Arian shook her head slightly.

Over the past three days, she had tried various methods to obtain it.

But through ordinary means, there was no way to acquire blood anywhere within LA.

After all, even if their work was tiring, the citizens of LA didn’t lack for sustenance to the point of desperately needing to sell their own blood.

So the only option left for Arian would be to steal the blood reserves stored at one of the city’s hospitals.

But even that held no meaning for her.

She was already well aware of the clear limits to subsisting through thievery.

“I had a feeling that would be the case.”

Upon hearing Arian’s response, Aiden retrieved a few plastic bottles filled with blood from his belongings.

Seeing them, Arian’s eyes widened.

“You…!”

“For the time being, I’ll procure the blood for you. That much shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Compared to Arian, it was far easier for Aiden to obtain blood.

From a gang that freely dealt even in drugs, they had no qualms about simply handing over human blood to Aiden.

“But if there’s no way for you to acquire blood in LA… then you won’t be able to remain in this city for long either. You should be prepared for that possibility.”

As Arian gulped down the contents of one of the bottles, Aiden advised her in a cautionary tone.

Ultimately, it meant that Arian too might have to part ways with Sadie.

But it was such an obvious fact that Arian couldn’t refute it.

“…Thank you. I’ll give it some thought.”

Aiden nodded at Arian’s response.

After exchanging a few more minor pieces of information, they both sensed that their conversation was largely concluded.

It was Aiden who first moved to take his leave.

“I think that covers everything we needed to discuss. How about we meet again in a week’s time? We’ll likely need that long to gather further information. What do you think?”

“Works for me. So next Wednesday evening, right?”

Wednesday.

An innocuous word, and yet one that stirred a sense of nostalgia within Aiden.

After all, it had been nearly 4 years since he had last kept track of specific days of the week.

“So today is Wednesday.”

“Apparently so. I didn’t even realize it until a couple of days ago myself.”

Arian let out a chuckle, as if finding such a conversation amusing.

Then, clutching the blood-filled bottle to her chest, she rose from her seat and waved at Aiden.

“I’ll see you next week, then.”

Aiden nodded in response.

Immediately after, Arian’s figure vanished, obscured by the moonlight as if by magic.

Or perhaps it truly was magic itself.

Without dwelling too deeply on that wondrous sight, Aiden also stood up from his seat.

It was time for him to return to that noisy pub controlled by the Huntington Docks gang.

* * *

A few days later, in the morning.

Aiden visited the Huntington Docks’ office.

It was, as expected, to complete their request.

Upon his arrival, Dirk welcomed Aiden’s appearance.

“Our exemplary employee has graced us with his presence.”

He spoke with a sly grin.

In the span of just a few days, Dirk’s perception of Aiden had shifted considerably.

All thanks to Aiden swiftly resolving even the gang’s more challenging requests.

Of course, this was precisely Aiden’s intention.

To extract decent information from the Huntington Docks, he first needed to prove his capabilities.

So he had strategically chosen requests that allowed him to effectively utilize his zombie nature, completing them promptly.

The trust Dirk had built up towards Aiden in this short period was the result of those efforts.

“Do you have another request for me?”

“Of course. But… today, I’ve got a separate proposal.”

“If it’s about joining your gang, I’ve already declined that offer.”

As Dirk had mentioned, he had previously suggested that Aiden join the Huntington Docks.

While Aiden had refused at the time, it seemed Dirk hadn’t given up on the idea entirely.

Meanwhile, at Aiden’s response, Dirk let out an amused chuckle.

“Honestly, if it were anyone else, I’d call them crazy. Turning down a gang’s recruitment offer, over and over. But you, you’ve earned that right. So I’ll be generous and let it slide.”

“…”

“Of course, that offer still stands. Feel free to change your mind anytime. But today’s proposal isn’t about that.”

Dirk pointed one thick finger at Aiden’s ID tag.

“You said you were a doctor, right?”

Aiden nodded.

Dirk’s questioning continued.

“Then have you ever seen something like this before?”

From under the table, Dirk retrieved a yellowed piece of paper.

It was… an old pamphlet.

It likely had been published by some company, depicting a photograph of some kind of machine on it.

“…”

Aiden studied it intently for a moment.

In size, it was roughly equivalent to an ordinary desktop computer’s tower case.

With a boxy, rectangular shape that allowed an oven-like door to be opened.

The name of the device was illegible, having been erased from the text.

But below that, its functions and usage were described in writing.

Upon seeing that, Aiden quickly deduced the item’s identity.

“A cell analysis unit.”

“Correct. A doctor would recognize it, I suppose.”

Dirk spoke with seeming satisfaction.

“We need to acquire one of these cell analysis units. We even have a general idea of its location – a pharmaceutical company’s research lab in Riverside. There should be one of these somewhere in there.”

Riverside was a city about 80km away from LA.

While separated by a mountain range, it was still effectively part of the greater metropolitan area.

The distance itself wouldn’t be an issue for Aiden, who possessed a motorcycle. But being that far removed from LA made it a risky area.

“But here’s the problem – none of our junk dealers can identify this thing.”

“Don’t you have a photo of it?”

“This scrap of paper only shows one model from countless manufacturers. It might not even match the actual unit at that research lab. That’s why we’ve been having such a headache over this. Hell, one guy brought back a printer thinking it was a cell analysis unit. Idiot.”

“…”

“So we’ve got no choice but to ask for your help on this one. It’s a rather important request, you see. What do you say? The compensation will be more than fair.”

Dirk spoke those words while observing Aiden intently.

Based solely on the request details, there was nothing objectionable about it.

Aiden was quite familiar with cell analysis units, so he could easily identify one.

And there was no particular evidence suggesting the research lab in Riverside would be more dangerous than other requests.

The only aspect that gave Aiden pause was the gang’s reasons for wanting this item.

While cell analysis units were occasionally used by doctors, they were more commonly utilized by pharmaceutical companies.

For good reason – one of their primary purposes was in developing vaccines.

“Is this… a request from LA?”

“You’re certainly a curious one. I like that about our exemplary employee, but it’s also a problem. Too inquisitive, you see.”

Dirk spoke those words as if probing Aiden’s intentions.

Perhaps he had already caught on that Aiden was gathering information, despite his caution.

But when Aiden remained silent, Dirk let out a snort of laughter before continuing.

“Alright, everyone has their flaws, I suppose. I’ll let you in on it this time, just for you. You’re right, it is a request from inside those walls. They’re researching a vaccine for the zombie virus over there.”

“A vaccine?”

Aiden repeated those unexpected words in a questioning tone.

But Dirk simply nodded, as if it were no big deal.

“You’re new here, so you might not know, but it’s common knowledge. Not really a secret or anything. The real secret begins here, actually. There was a recent accident at that research lab.”

Dirk lowered his voice, as if divulging a confidential story.

“Because of it, everything got torched – people, equipment, the whole building. This is one of the items that got scattered in the chaos. The LA government wants to recover this piece of equipment as quickly as possible. They want to keep the incident under wraps, you see. Don’t want word getting out about their research failure.”

This was information Aiden hadn’t even heard from Arian.

Did those words imply that information was truly being controlled within LA itself?

He couldn’t be certain yet.

But Aiden had the intuition that he might uncover something about LA through this request.

“That’s all I’ve got to say on the matter. So, are you interested in taking on this request now?”

“Very well. I’ll accept this one.”

So Aiden readily agreed to Dirk’s proposal.

In response, the corner of Dirk’s mouth curved upwards.

“Good. Then I’ll be expecting another exemplary performance from you this time around, our star employee.”

Leaving behind Dirk’s parting words, Aiden exited the office.

Right outside was his black motorcycle, waiting for him.

Whether by chance or inevitability, it was the same model he had used back in Pittsburgh.

Aiden mounted the motorcycle and started the engine.

The low rumble of the exhaust reverberated in his ears.

Soon, with Aiden astride it, the motorcycle took off, speeding eastward towards Riverside in LA.