How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“Where to next?”

“I’m planning to go to Lima today,” Aiden replied to Arian’s question after leaving Mansfield.

Lima was a city about 160 km away from Mansfield. It was the last checkpoint they had to pass before reaching the major city of Fort Wayne.

“What’s there?”

“Well, I only know it’s one of the ordinary small towns.”

“Hmm…”

Arian gazed out of the window absentmindedly, her chin resting on her hand.

All that could be seen along the straight road was a monotonous field of weeds.

After a brief moment of silence, Aiden, who had suddenly remembered something, spoke up.

“By the way, I forgot to ask yesterday.”

“Ask what?”

“Did you take care of Sadie’s clothes?”

The question arose because Sadie and Arian’s clothes had somehow switched after yesterday.

Arian nodded, as if it were obvious.

“Of course. Who else would take care of it if not me? I can’t leave this to you.”

“That’s a valid point. Thanks. It’s less of a burden.”

Aiden responded calmly to Arian’s words, accompanied by a sigh.

To him, it was preferable this way. Clothing, just like food, was something that should not fall into the dirty hands of a zombie.

“But finding clean clothes won’t be easy, right?”

“I’ll have to compromise. Can’t help it.”

“Then where did you get the clothes you’re wearing now?”

“At that large store in Canton.”

Arian mentioned that she had personally picked out a few relatively well-preserved pieces among the abandoned clothing at the store.

From Aiden’s recollection, it wasn’t exactly a clean place. So, he said in a low voice:

“Then you might need something like soap.”

“Hmm? Can we find such a thing? Where would we get water to wash?”

“Well… that’s a point.”

In a world where even getting drinking water was difficult, using water for washing every time you used soap would be wasteful. No matter how important cleanliness was, it was an unreasonable waste.

So, after contemplating for a while, Aiden came up with a solution.

“In that case… let’s at least try to find some hand sanitizer for now.”

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, due to the global impact of the coronavirus that spread worldwide before the zombie outbreak, hand sanitizers were still commonly found items.

Moreover, due to the nature of their ingredients, they had a relatively long shelf life. As long as they were sealed, they could still be used.

While it might not clean the entire body, being able to sanitize hands alone could prevent many infectious diseases.

After listening to Aiden’s explanation, Arian nodded.

“That should be fine. But what is this ‘corona’?”

Arian spoke as if she had never heard of the coronavirus.

In their conversation, it turned out that in her original world, this virus didn’t exist.

As Aiden realized once again that she was a being from a different world, Sadie, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.

“Sister… Are you really from a different world?”

Sadie showed interest in Arian’s words.

It wasn’t strange at all. The idea of a different world would be unbelievable even to an adult like Aiden. So, it must have sounded fascinating to a young child.

Arian smiled faintly and nodded.

“Well, do you have any questions?”

As if she had been waiting, Sadie threw a few questions at Arian.

And Arian earnestly answered, leading to a casual conversation.

Meanwhile, Aiden focused on driving, and the vehicle smoothly continued along the road.

Fortunately, the road conditions were quite decent. Thanks to that, they were making noticeably better progress than when heading to Worcester or Mansfield.

At this rate, they should be able to reach their destination early in the afternoon.

While thinking about it, unexpected gunshots echoed from somewhere.

Bang! Bang!

In response to the sudden noise, Aiden immediately reacted.

He turned the steering wheel sharply to the left and shouted.

“Sadie, lower your head!”

At his command, Sadie immediately hid her body under the seat.

Simultaneously, the vehicle rushed fiercely towards the forest.

The road they had been running on had a vast field on the right and a small forest on the left.

The neglected field, left untouched for three years, now had weeds growing up to the waist, yet the flat terrain remained the same. In this shallow plain, there was no place to take cover from bullets.

So, Aiden’s alternative choice was the forest on the opposite side.

Kugugugu!

The vehicle, accelerating on the unpaved ground, crushed the small trees of the forest, causing the car to sway violently.

“Ouch…!”

Amidst the noisy shaking, Sadie let out a small scream, and Arian, even in the midst of it all, glared sharply in the direction of the gunfire.

Squeak!

The vehicle plunged into the interior, covered by trees and bushes, before finally coming to a stop.

However, Aiden, without easing his tension, asked Arian.

“Can you tell who or where they are?”

“No, it’s too far. I don’t see anyone nearby.”

Arian spoke with frustration, but Aiden, on the contrary, felt a slight relief.

Knowing that there were no enemies in this forest, at least, opened up many options.

Meanwhile, the gunshots from somewhere continued even after Aiden’s group entered the forest.

However, the gunshots didn’t reach anywhere near their vicinity or the vehicle.

This meant… whoever fired the shots did not do so with the intention of sniping Aiden’s vehicle.

But they couldn’t immediately move the vehicle either.

Even though they knew the opponent had guns, driving again on a road with no cover was too risky.

So, Aiden decided to take matters into his own hands.

“I’ll go check the situation. You two wait here.”

“Are you sure?”

Arian asked with concern.

The opponents were not zombies. If it was a person with a gun, even though Aiden was a zombie, he could still be killed.

But Aiden nonchalantly nodded.

Whether it was a wanderer or a gangster, it was naturally Aiden’s job to find out the true intentions of these dangerous people and examine their intentions.

He first put on a helmet and gloves to cover his bare skin.

Then he took his weapons, including a rifle, got out of the vehicle, and carefully exited the forest.

The sound of gunshots coming from afar was still continuing.

Also, the gunshots he heard… there were just two types.

And in the direction from which the gunfire came, there was a small rest area surrounded by a forest.

“…”

Aiden’s head hurted as he realized it.

Considering the frequency and type of gunfire, there were at most two or three combatants.

With that number of people, it doesn’t seem like a battle between gangs. That means… 

Could it be a battle between no more than five wanderers at most?

Having made this observation, Aiden approached the rest area. With his rifle ready, he carefully advanced, and the first thing that caught his eye was a zombie.

“Woaaah!”

This rest area on Route 30 consisted of two buildings smaller than regular houses. One was a restroom, and the other was an old convenience store building with an open front door and scattered vending machines.

So, even though the rest area was small, dozens of zombies had already surrounded it.

Aiden quickly grasped the situation at the sight.

The cause of the gunfire was indeed the wanderers. However, they were not fighting against people but rather engaged in combat with zombies.

Probably while looting the rest area, they ran into a zombie horde wandering nearby by chance.

“…”

A conflict arose in Aiden’s mind for a moment.

If the wanderers were the cause of the gunshots, Aiden could have left without further involvement.

Even if they drove the vehicle across the road.

Zombies and those wanderers wouldn’t pay any attention to Aiden’s group.

However, what made Aiden hesitate was a different reason.

The wanderers were individuals who constantly roamed, searching for supplies here and there, even though they had a small amount.

Although they didn’t have many resources, they were frequent travelers, and occasionally, they carried useful information.

Already, Aiden had no information about Lima, where Aiden’s group should visit next, and Fort Wayne.

So, helping them now and gaining valuable information in return could be a significant benefit for Aiden’s group.

Was it worth sacrificing a few rounds of his own ammunition for this?

After considering this for a moment, Aiden soon judged that it was.

Bang!

Aiden’s bullets poured continuously onto the zombies surrounding the rest area.

The number of zombies there was approximately thirty.

As soon as their comrades in the adjacent building started dying in droves, those who had been focused on the building finally turned their heads.

“Kiiii!”

About ten zombies rushed towards Aiden with unsettling groans.

Unpleasant screams emerged from their decaying teeth.

There were no mutants among them. Realizing they were all ordinary zombies, Aiden calmly began shooting, starting with those who were running towards him.

“Aaaargh!”

Every second, Aiden skillfully shot off the heads of the approaching zombies, their movements resembling those of machines.

Nevertheless, two zombies managed to close in on Aiden’s close range.

Aiden, while holstering his gun behind his back, smoothly pulled out a bat.

Thud! Thwack!

The steel bat shattered the rotten skulls consecutively.

In the blink of an eye, two zombies fell.

At that moment, someone’s curse burst out like a scream.

“Shit!”

It came from the direction of the rest area.

Looking over there, Aiden saw a woman outside the building wielding a lead pipe, engaging in a hand-to-hand fight with zombies.

“Emma! Go back!”

A male voice came from inside.

However, despite the man’s warning, the woman called Emma didn’t retreat.

No, to be precise, she couldn’t retreat.

“I can’t! I’m out of bullets!”

Shouting like that, Emma swung the pipe at the approaching zombie.

She was a white woman in her thirties with a slender physique, not ideal for a melee battle.

Whether she had some skill or not, a dull sound accompanied as one of the zombies was knocked down by the pipe.

However, within moments, several times more zombies swarmed towards her.

Emma desperately confronted the zombies. Her comrade also used up ammunition to protect Emma, but it was insufficient.

There were too many zombies closing in.

In the end-

“Kiiie!”

One zombie gruesomely grabbed Emma’s right hand, which was holding the pipe.

It held onto her hand, exposing its teeth, while another zombie simultaneously opened its mouth wide, attempting to bite into her neck.

Embarrassed, Emma’s gaze shook.

There was no way to avoid either side.

Just at the moment when Emma sensed her impending doom-

Bang!

A zombie, which was grabbing Emma’s right hand, had its head blown off by a gunshot.

“-!”

There, Emma first became aware of Aiden’s presence.

Although she seemed to have received help, Emma had no time to pay attention to Aiden amidst the imminent threat before her.

Thud!

Emma immediately swung the pipe in her freed right hand, smashing the head of the zombie directly in front of her.

“Keu-“

The zombie’s jaw, which was wide open, was hit by the pipe and turned back.

She barely managed to push the jawless zombie away and took a step back.

“Woaaahh!”

“Aaargh!”

However, three more zombies immediately closed in from all sides.

But in the next moment-

The head of the zombie on the right flew off again with an unidentified bullet.

Emma knocked away one of the two approaching zombies.

Then, shortly after, the head of the remaining zombie flew off with a gunshot.

It wasn’t the skill of her colleague, Michael.

He didn’t have that skill, and he was too busy dealing with the zombies rushing towards him to focus. In other words, this flawless marksmanship belonged to the unknown wanderer who had helped her.

Emma felt a mix of astonishment and, at the same time, a creepy feeling.

Even if a single shot deviated slightly from its trajectory amidst the continuous gunfire, it would pierce not the zombie but her head.

Yet, whoever this unknown person was, he poured bullets in seconds, as if firing in bursts.

Thus, in the continuous gunfire, Emma experienced a nerve-racking battle for a brief moment.

When the last remaining zombie finally fell due to gunshots, Emma dropped the pipe to the ground with a hot sigh.

“Emma! Are you okay?”

A male voice was heard.

However, instead of responding to the man who came out of the building with her head held high, Emma extended her hand towards him and signaled to stop.

Her gaze then slowly turned towards Aiden.

Aiden’s gun was still pointing in her direction.

While raising both hands towards Aiden, she opened her mouth.

“What do you want?”

Even though Aiden had saved her life, Emma was still cautious.

That was only natural.

In this world, there were no places that simply saved people out of goodwill.

Aiden slowly spoke.

“I want information from you.”

“Information…?”

“Yeah. And the price for that is what you’ve just been through.”

At Aiden’s words, a fleeting sense of relief crossed Emma’s face.

It wasn’t a loss to speak about what she knew, considering it wasn’t goods or life.

Of course, she couldn’t believe it blindly, so while maintaining her guard, Emma accepted Aiden’s proposal.

“…Alright. What do you want to know?”