How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“…”

Aiden stared quietly at the ring.

Was this ring the same as the woman’s? Did it belong to the husband of that skeleton?

It was a remarkable coincidence.

This person, who was just a character in a diary, meeting him like this was beyond imagination.

“Hmm…”

Aiden examined the man closely.

The man was dead, clutching his stomach with one hand.

However, upon closer inspection, something vaguely shiny in silver could be seen inside the torn coat.

Aiden cautiously moved the corpse’s arm.

Inside the torn coat, which had become rags, there was… roughly a can of medicine and a can of food.

The label on the plastic bottle was erased, making it impossible for Aiden to know what kind of medicine was inside.

Perhaps it was for the woman who was in the temporary shelter.

Moreover, looking closely at the canned food, it wasn’t meant for human consumption.

It was cat food.

Although it was still well-sealed and could be eaten if necessary, it wasn’t so scarce that they had to resort to eating it.

In the end, neither side had the materials Aiden needed.

So, about to turn away, Aiden found himself once again gazing at the corpse.

After a moment of hesitation, Aiden reluctantly took the small medicine bottle and the can of food that the husband was clutching.

“…”

That way, he left the grocery store with the man’s belongings.

The street outside was still quiet.

The twilight glow that nestled among the weeds growing in the cracked asphalt was the only indicator of the passage of time.

However, he had already covered about half the distance to the temporary base.

There was no need to worry about being late.

Thinking so, Aiden moved forward with a peaceful mind.

However.

“Hmm…?”

After walking about a block, something caught his eye across the road.

It was… a black cat.

It was undoubtedly the same one he had seen at the temporary shelter.

As if it had been waiting for him here, the cat was sitting in the middle of the road.

Aiden walked towards the cat, stepping steadily.

That direction seemed to be where he should go. There was no need to avoid the cat.

He thought the cat would run away on its own.

However, even as he approached, the cat didn’t avoid him.

It just looked at Aiden as if it found him fascinating.

Staring into those yellow eyes, Aiden suddenly remembered something.

“…Are you asking for your share?”

Originally, he intended to leave it at the temporary shelter, but this turned out to be a fortunate event.

The cat food was undoubtedly for that cat named Kety.

Putting on gloves, Aiden opened the can. Placing it in front of the cat, he stepped back, and the cat, without hesitation, started eating.

After finishing the canned food, the cat made a purring sound, seemingly in a good mood, and vanished like it did when he first saw it.

“What a peculiar little guy.”

Aiden mumbled to himself and continued on his way.

But not long after, he could see the cat again.

The sparsely populated street with scattered buildings ended, and an area with the beginning of the city.

The cat, sitting on the roof of a shopping complex on the first floor, was yawning leisurely.

“…”

Aiden had no reason to look at the cat any longer.

So, he ignored the cat and silently continued his walk.

However, before he could pass by, the cat came down from the roof on its own.

And then, at a slow pace, it began to walk in front of Aiden, leading the way.

Was it guiding him?

But Aiden paid little attention to the cat’s actions.

Whether it was leading or not, he only focused on the surrounding buildings.

In the shopping district, there were once shops selling shoes, flowers, souvenirs, etc.

Although some of the products from that time were still there, none of them were necessary resources.

He entered a broken restaurant but found only zombies inside.

Aiden continued exploring, moving forward slowly.

However, for some reason, whenever he ventured out onto the streets, the cat was always there, never leaving from the front.

Perplexed by this, in a timely manner, at the intersection that appeared, the cat turned to the left.

It was north.

“Hmm…”

Originally, the direction Aiden was heading wasn’t this way, but the path chosen by the cat didn’t hinder reaching the temporary shelter either.

From here, the temporary shelter was in the northwest direction.

It was just a matter of whether to walk the road leading north first or the one leading west. Under normal circumstances, he might not have cared about such things, but for some reason, today’s exploration didn’t yield much.

So, Aiden decided to indulge a whim.

He followed the cat.

As a result, what unfolded was a quiet street.

On one side, there was a wide open space that seemed to have been used as a parking lot, and construction sites were visible here and there.

On the opposite side, there was a 4-story building that still bore traces of a cafe.

Neither side seemed to have anything worthwhile.

However, as Aiden silently walked that path, he soon noticed something conspicuous.

“That’s…”

What Aiden noticed was a clearly smaller and more worn-out 2-story building compared to the others.

Above all, a large phoenix painting covered the entire big window, making a strong impression.

What was there was not just a pub… No, upon closer inspection, it was a small brewery.

A brewery.

Alcohol had a considerably high value as a barter item.

Even in the Merchant Cooperative, a bottle of decent alcohol was valued enough to exchange for several grenades or bombs.

So, Aiden, pulling out his shotgun, opened the slightly ajar green wooden door and entered.

Inside the first floor, there were a few tables and a rectangular bar, and one zombie stood inside like a bartender, staring blankly.

“Kik…!”

Aiden pierced the head of that zombie with a dagger.

If there were several, he might not have bothered, but if there was only one, it was a judgment to deal with it for safety’s sake.

Having thus taken down the zombie, Aiden checked the bottles and cans lined up on the bar.

Fortunately, this small brewery seemed to have not been looted by anyone yet, and the items were still quite intact.

However, as Aiden inspected the inside, he felt a slight sense of disappointment.

Most of the remaining alcohol was beer.

Beer had a shelf life of between six months to a year, relatively short compared to other alcohol.

As it started to change in taste once the expiration date passed, by now, after three years since the world fell apart, most of it was likely undrinkable.

However, Aiden didn’t give up and decided to examine the brewery more.

Maybe there would be something other than beer left, as is often the case with pubs.

Having finished searching the first floor, he naturally ascended the stairs to the second floor.

He opened the small door at the end.

What he saw was pitch darkness, where nothing could be seen even a step ahead.

Unlike the first floor, where the walls were dotted with windows, the second floor was completely blocked from all sides without a single window.

To gain visibility, Aiden was about to turn on the light attached to the shotgun when he released his hand from the shotgun’s trigger.

“—–!”

An unpleasant sound, like a crying child, echoed.

It was the fierce wailing sound of a cat.

Scratching at his nerves, Aiden unconsciously tensed up, and suddenly, from the darkness, he sensed something sharp reaching out.

Quack!

Aiden, who barely managed to fend it off with the shotgun, retreated back down to the first floor at a speed akin to rolling.

Then, the one waiting for him in the darkness finally thrust its face out.

A pitch-black, emaciated face with a long torn mouth.

And there was nothing but a large eye with no nose or ears, and it was all black.

“…!”

Staring at that grotesque face, Aiden furrowed his brow.

It was none other than a mutant zombie.

A Stalker.

Mainly active in dark caves, buildings, or only at night, this mutant had an entirely black, dry, twig-like body.

The dangerous aspect of such a Stalker was that it was extremely difficult to observe with the naked eye in the dark.

Utilizing this characteristic, they approached people like assassins, inconspicuously, and bit their necks without anyone noticing – a specialty of theirs.

“Kiik…!”

However, the Stalker couldn’t chase Aiden back down to the first floor.

Because sunlight was still too bright for the mutant that primarily operated only at night.

Perhaps, to its eyes, the twilight glow that pierced through the windows might have appeared like a constant barrage of illumination flares.

Taking advantage of the wave of light, while the Stalker flinched in the darkness.

In that brief moment, Aiden didn’t miss the opportunity.

Bang!

Immediately, the shotgun’s muzzle spewed fire.

Due to the Stalker’s thin body, adapted to avoid detection, its resilience was even lower than that of ordinary zombies.

As if to prove this, the Stalker was swept away by the storm of buckshot.

Just like an assassin who failed an assassination attempt and fell futilely to the blow of a guard.

“…”

Aiden remained vigilant, not letting his guard down, but there were no further movements.

Therefore, Aiden completely withdrew from the stairs, turned on the light, and ascended the stairs again to check the Stalker’s condition.

The Stalker, hit directly by the buckshot, was miserably dead.

Having confirmed the Stalker’s death, Aiden carefully searched the second floor.

Fortunately, there were no other mutants.

Moreover, there was only one bottle in the brewery on the second floor, but it was a harvest.

It was wine.

Aiden, who had little knowledge about wine, couldn’t estimate its value even by looking at the writing on the label.

Nevertheless, the fact that the bottle was securely sealed made it likely that it hadn’t gone bad.

Having taken it, Aiden went outside.

The street was now completely darkened.

There, Aiden tried to find the cat’s figure, but as if to signal that its job was done, the cat was nowhere to be seen.

“…”

After wandering around for a moment, he turned his gaze forward again.

It was time to go back.

Aiden hurried his steps towards the temporary shelter.

* * *

“You’re back?”

Returning to the temporary shelter, Arian was the first to react.

And shortly after, Sadie appeared as well.

They were relieved to see Aiden return safely.

“Was there anything unusual?”

“Yeah. The surroundings were quiet. But… what’s this, did you bring alcohol?”

Looking at the wine bottle Aiden brought, Arian spoke.

Aiden nodded.

“Do you happen to know anything about wine? It would be nice if it had some value.”

“I don’t know much about wine either. Still… it doesn’t seem to be rotten.”

Sniffing the wine bottle’s mouth, Arian said so.

Could her senses even detect the smell of wine corked with a cork? In any case, it hadn’t spoiled, which was a fortunate turn of events.

“So, are we going to rest for the night?”

“Of course. It’s almost nighttime.”

The sky was gradually darkening.

It was a time to hide indoors rather than going outside.

“I’ll stay on the first floor. You need to rest well since we have to leave early tomorrow.”

The group nodded and went upstairs.

Aiden, after briefly watching their backs, moved towards the room where the house owner was.

She was still sitting in the room, gazing only at the blocked window.

Aiden approached her.

And in her bony, remaining hand, which was once her husband’s belonging, he placed a small medicine bottle.

“The debt has been repaid,” Aiden muttered.

He knew this was a meaningless act.

However, Aiden had intruded into this woman’s house, even peeking at her diary. So, he felt he should at least repay something for it.

That’s what the meaningless action was for.

“…”

In silence, Aiden left the room after leaving the skeleton behind.

Thus, the sun set, and the night deepened.

In the distance, the wailing sound of a cat could be heard.

Aiden spent the night sitting quietly in the kitchen on the first floor.

* * *

The next day.

Aiden’s group spent a safe night at the temporary shelter, and made preparations to leave again.

They reorganized the luggage that had been somewhat loosened for their stay and refueled the car.

“Preparations are done.”

“M-me too.”

Arian and Sadie said so, climbing into the vehicle first.

Aiden neatly organized the fuel canister and also got into the driver’s seat.

Vroom!

The vehicle carrying Aiden’s group left the small residential area in the forest where the temporary shelter was located.

In the rearview mirror of the vehicle, a black cat on a red roof looked down at Aiden’s group for a moment, then quickly disappeared.