How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“Hmm…”

Entering a residential area of Kokomo, Aiden looked around the neglected streets with a sigh.

Broken asphalt, overgrown gardens with weeds, and shabby houses.

At first glance, it didn’t look much different from the residential areas of any other small town.

“I don’t see many cars around.”

In such a residential area, Arian remarked.

She was well aware of the fact that they needed replacement parts for the damaged tire.

However, there were hardly any abandoned vehicles in the vacant residential area.

The few discarded vehicles that could be seen were so old and rusty that they seemed almost useless.

But Aiden wasn’t particularly worried.

If it was abandoned vehicles they were looking for, there should be plenty in the city.

“You’ll find vehicles further in. But… there’s another issue.”

“Problem?”

“There are traces of someone passing by.”

What Aiden discovered were marks on the road indicating the passage of a vehicle.

Imprints on some of the garbage strewn across the road.

And beneath them were very faint tire tracks.

But Arian chuckled at Aiden’s words.

“You always manage to find such things. I wouldn’t have noticed even if I looked.”

“More importantly, is there anything around here?”

Arian gazed silently at the residential area.

Within her perception range, there were neither humans nor zombies.

“There’s nothing visible right away. Are there survivor groups in this city, perhaps?”

“I doubt it. It doesn’t seem likely. Probably just people who stayed here temporarily, like us.”

“Really? Anyway, if there’s anything around, I’ll let you know right away.”

Aiden nodded in response to Arian’s words, and the vehicle continued towards the center of Kokomo.

“That’s…”

Aiden spotted something and squinted his eyes.

Where his gaze went, there was a large open space, and several vehicles were neatly lined up on it.

It was a parking lot.

Behind it, visible in the distance, was a three-story apartment.

Although not very large in terms of the number of floors, the building’s structure, shaped and connected like a school.

“Let’s check there first.”

The parking lot seemed to have a considerable number of abandoned vehicles at first glance.

Aiden, who wouldn’t miss this, carefully towed a vehicle with a damaged tire into the parking lot.

Just as he was about to enter the parking lot, Arian pointed to the front.

“Aiden, look over there.”

What Arian pointed to was the entrance of the apartment.

A single entrance, located right in the center of the apartment.

Around it, makeshift barricades, such as steel plates, were densely arranged, protecting the entrance.

This place wasn’t just an abandoned apartment.

“Could it be…”

As Aiden felt a sense of crisis and was about to stop, Arian continued speaking.

“Don’t worry. There’s no one inside.”

“Is it empty?”

“Yeah. Judging by the traces of people you mentioned earlier, maybe those who used this place as a hideout have left.”

It was a story that could very well be true.

It was common for wanderers or gangs exploring to create temporary shelters and operate from there.

“…”

Aiden calmly surveyed the surroundings.

Entering someone else’s hideout without permission was, to put it bluntly, a risky move.

The owner of the hideout might return at any time.

And if they happened to encounter each other, a fight would inevitably break out.

However, in a situation like now, where they were looking for supplies, it was a different story.

Those who used this place as a hideout might have left and abandoned what they were looking for.

“Wanna go in?”

“Seems like we should.”

“It won’t be for long, right?”

Arian asked with a sharp gaze.

But Aiden had no intention of staying here for long.

“I’ll just check for the tire and leave. Any problem?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Although Arian seemed to be hiding something, Aiden pretended not to notice and nodded.

There must be a reason for her sudden concern.

Soon, Aiden parked the car in one corner of the parking lot.

He then took tools like a wrench from the car and began to look around the parking lot.

“…”

There were quite a variety of vehicles in the parking lot.

Among them, Aiden found a tire that matched his vehicle’s specifications sooner than expected.

The fact that there was an identical model to the vehicle he was driving was the reason.

“Hmm…”

Aiden approached the vehicle.

Finding the same make of the vehicle abandoned was considered fortunate, but it couldn’t be purely attributed to luck.

The reason Aiden had prepared this black van in the first place was that it was one of the most common vehicle models nationwide in the United States. In other words, the selection of the vehicle was made with the supply of parts in mind.

Unfortunately, all four tires on the found vehicle were not in great condition. They could be used immediately, but upon reaching their next destination, the tires would need to be replaced right away.

“…Can’t be helped.”

Still, it was better than driving with a completely damaged tire, so Aiden skillfully began dismantling the vehicle’s tires.

Arian approached Aiden.

She, with a subtle stiff expression, seemed to have something to say.

“Why is that?”

“That apartment over there.”

Arian pointed directly at the large apartment in front.

“I smell blood from there. It’s intense.”

“Blood smell…?”

“And the smell of zombies. Of course, it doesn’t mean there are living ones. It just smells like that.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow.

The combined scent of a significant amount of blood and zombies inside a hiding place. The immediate conclusion was that those staying there had been attacked by zombies.

However, even so, the exterior of the apartment looked too intact. There were only signs of the passage of time, neglect, and not much damage, even if a fierce battle had taken place.

Aiden observed the apartment for a moment and then turned his head to Arian.

“Did you come to tell me that?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to unnecessarily worry Sadie today.”

So, she didn’t speak when they entered here, and now she was telling him. Aiden nodded. It was a wise decision.

“How’s Sadie doing?”

“She’s sleeping.”

“Hmm…”

Aiden fell into thought for a moment.

If that place had really been attacked by zombies, there was time to explore the inside. Even if the owner of the hiding place was alive, they probably wouldn’t come back.

Moreover, if it was a hiding place where a battle with zombies had occurred, Aiden might find the ammunition he needed.

As Aiden was contemplating whether he should be a bit more ambitious here.

“Do you want to check inside?”

Whether she was trying to see through Aiden’s thoughts or not, Arian asked.

Aiden nodded.

“I think it’s worth it.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll go with you.”

Aiden glanced at the van where Sadie was supposed to be sleeping.

If Arian explored the apartment while Aiden looked at the tires, Sadie would inevitably be left alone.

But the distance between the apartment and the vehicle was only about 10 meters. It wasn’t much of a distance as long as Arian was there.

“Alright. Let’s take a look after changing the tires.”

It took about 15 minutes for Aiden to change the tires safely.

During that time, Sadie, who had been sleeping in the car, didn’t easily wake up even with the shaking of the car.

Aiden took care not to disturb her, but more than that, Sadie herself was probably too exhausted.

“Now let’s go.”

After finishing the vehicle maintenance, Aiden immediately entered the apartment.

He approached the entrance surrounded by makeshift barricades.

The floor was covered with white dust, and judging by the lack of footprints, it seemed to have been abandoned for a while.

Aiden shone a light towards the dark interior untouched by sunlight.

Looking inside, Aiden suddenly furrowed his brows.

“This is…”

Arian looked over, wondering what it could be.

But nothing conspicuous caught the eye.

All that could be seen were empty gray walls and strange symbols engraved on them.

A symbol formed by a diagonal line drawn from the top left to the bottom right on a common cross.

“What is this?”

“It’s a symbol of fanatics. This is bad.”

To Aiden, fanatics were a group with whom dealing was more than unwise. No trade, no proper communication with these fanatics. They were even more dangerous than zombies in this world.

“What exactly are these fanatics?”

Arian asked.

Arian had only heard from Aiden that they were not in their right minds. Burning down a village and conducting purification work. Doing crazy things like sacrificing a living person to zombies.

But Aiden didn’t fully understand them either.

“I don’t know well. However, they call themselves the Light. Claim to serve eternal light.”

“Light?”

“That’s just what their leader blabbers about. Probably inspired by the zombies that start rampaging at night.”

“So, the leader of that cult is also insane?”

“Hmm. But whether they’re insane or not, it doesn’t make much difference. The leader is already dead.”

The fanatics referred to their religion as EL (Eternal Light).

The origin of EL was speculated to be somewhere in the southern regions of the United States, but Aiden didn’t know the exact details.

Initially, EL wasn’t the fanatic group it is today. In the beginning, they were like any other cult, venerating a leader and peddling fantasies of mediocre immortality.

However, they began to deviate significantly after the death of their leader.

“Rumor has it that the leader turned into a mutant, became a zombie, and that’s why these EL folks are particularly obsessed with zombies. Some turn into zombies themselves, while others shoot bullets coated with zombie fluids.”

“And those kinds of people were here?”

“It wouldn’t be strange if they were. I didn’t know, but apparently, they had a significant presence in this area.”

The fanatics were known to be more active around Indianapolis, Indiana, than the eastern region where Pittsburgh was located. Due to their considerable size, they posed a thorny problem for the military forces in Fort Wayne.

“However, a few months ago, they occupied Columbus. So, it was relatively quiet for a while.”

“For a while means… they’ve reappeared?”

Aiden nodded.

According to the information he acquired in Fort Wayne, the fanatics, after occupying Columbus, abandoned the city and scattered to various other cities.

“So, they took a city by force and just abandoned it? Why?”

“They’re incomprehensible. There’s no point in thinking too deeply about them.”

This was the dilemma Aiden faced when dealing with the fanatics.

Their actions were beyond common logic, making it impossible to analyze their intentions based on their behavior.

“Moreover, just before we arrived at the 62nd Division, fanatics were spotted north of Fort Wayne.”

Upon learning this, the 62nd Division, realizing that fanatics were nearby, immediately took action. They dispatched reconnaissance forces to nearby towns.

One of those forces was none other than the troops led by Nathan, whom Aiden had encountered in Lima.

Arian, having roughly understood the situation, looked again at the symbol drawn on the wall, a crossed-out cross.

“So, is this…?”

“It’s probably a hiding place the fanatics who spread to the small towns used.”

“…”

“Let’s keep going. We might be able to gather information about the fanatics.”

Since fanatics were undoubtedly a significant threat to Aiden and his group, any information about them was worth obtaining.

Understanding this, Arian nodded, and together with Aiden, she walked along the apartment corridor.

The apartment had a central corridor with doors on either side. The central corridor was filled with peculiar structures, mostly crosses made of all sorts of debris like grass or branches.

But that alone wouldn’t be considered strange.

Above such symbols, there were clear traces of dried blood, and there were even objects with human skulls hanging above them.

“What kind of creatures are these? They’ve done all sorts of weird things.”

Seeing that, Arian let out a bitter smile.

All the apartment doors were wide open.

Whether it was the doing of the fanatics who stayed here or the fact that all the locks were broken, Aiden couldn’t tell.

So, Aiden started exploring the apartment slowly, beginning with the first room.

“Hmm…”

However, after going through several rooms on the first floor, there was no significant discovery.

They found only traces of a room used as a bedroom, with remnants of people and garbage left behind.

The rest of the rooms were no different from abandoned apartments filled with dust.

Aiden scratched his head.

He couldn’t think of this place as having been attacked by zombies, as there was no evidence to support that.

“No apparent issues here.”

“Well, the smell of blood is coming from upstairs, so.”

Was that so?

Having finished the exploration of the first floor, Aiden climbed to the second floor upon hearing Arian’s words.

And there.

“This is…”

Aiden and Arian simultaneously frowned.

The entire corridor was filled with bloodstains.

However, even with so much blood spilled, not a single corpse was in sight.

“This is strange.”

Arian nodded at Aiden’s words.

So much blood had flowed, yet not even a single bone fragment was visible.

Perceiving this as suspicious, they immediately began searching other rooms on the second floor.

Soon, they understood the reason.