How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Arian moved the woman who had collapsed in the basement to the surface.

She appeared to be in her thirties, an African-American woman.

Aiden observed her for a moment.

“…What do you think?”

“It doesn’t seem like a fanatic. Their appearance is distinctive.”

The fanatics who believed in EL always drew their emblem, a crossed line, somewhere visible on their clothes or skin.

But this woman had no such markings.

She seemed to be either a member of the gang that operated this camp or a wandering traveler who had stopped by.

“Besides that, how’s her condition?”

“She shows symptoms of dehydration. Looks like she was trapped in the basement for several days. Should I fetch water from the car?”

“I’ll get it!”

Upon Aiden’s words, Sadie quickly retrieved a bottle of water from the minivan. She even brought a black helmet without being asked.

“I almost forgot about this.”

Aiden put on the helmet that Sadie had brought. It was just in case the woman woke up.

“Be careful not to let the water go into her windpipe. Keep her conscious. Let her drink by herself.”

And he handed the water to Arian.

Since feeding water and waking up someone were both inappropriate tasks for a zombie, Arian nodded silently.

“Wake up!”

Arian woke the woman and slowly poured a little water into her mouth.

Upon doing so, the woman made faint groans but managed to swallow it.

After a short while.

“Ah…!”

The woman’s eyes opened.

As soon as she regained consciousness, she grabbed the water bottle next to her and gulped it down.

It was only after drinking all the water that she finally looked around.

“Phew… Thank you. But who are you people?”

Although the woman didn’t show hostility, her eyes betrayed a reasonable caution.

It was a normal and appropriate reaction.

Upon this, Aiden calmly began to explain the circumstances that led them to this place.

After exchanging stories for a while.

“So… Were you a member of the group that operated this camp?”

“Yes. My name is Emma Morris.”

“What on earth happened here?”

Emma’s expression distorted at Aiden’s question.

Anger and regret emanated from her voice.

“The fanatics… those bastards broke in. They blew up the door with a bomb, and they poured in like a flood.”

“When exactly did the attack happen? How many of them?”

“I don’t know when… I couldn’t see anything in the dark basement. It’s been about three days, I think.”

Emma sighed, seemingly frustrated.

Three days.

Emma might have rounded down, but it was still a quite plausible figure.

If Emma had been hiding in the basement without water for a much longer time, she wouldn’t have been alive.

“And, their numbers were a bit over thirty, I guess. I didn’t count, but.”

“Thirty?”

The number was much lower than expected.

To be frank, with this barricade, it wouldn’t be difficult to fend off such a small group.

When Aiden threw that doubt, Emma explained as if making an excuse.

“At that time, most of the camp members were outside. It was a surprise attack.”

“Outside? Why?”

“The fanatics attacked the camp, not for the first time.”

There were five camps around Indianapolis. Hancock to the east, Hummel to the southwest, Whiteland to the south, and Geist to the northeast, in addition to the one where Emma operated.

The first conflict with the fanatics occurred in the eastern Hancock camp.

“Were the camps friendly with each other?”

“Not particularly. We didn’t fight because our powers were evenly matched. If there was a shortage, it was better to go into the city.”

Aiden nodded, understanding what she meant.

Thinking about it, the gangs he encountered in Pittsburgh were similar.

In battles between gangs of similar sizes, risking all lives wasn’t a choice.

So, unless it was a desperate situation, they wouldn’t make such a decision.

“Anyway, the fanatics didn’t have a large number from the beginning. Occasionally, I saw fewer than ten guys entering the city. But one day, they suddenly brought a huge number from the east.”

“Numbers? How many?”

“I don’t know exactly. They say it’s hundreds.”

This time, the number was overwhelmingly large.

Did the fanatics who had taken over Columbus gather again in Indianapolis?

While Aiden was internally shocked by this revelation, Emma continued speaking.

“So, to stand against them, we decided to join forces between camps. The camp members weren’t all in good shape, but still, they were better than those fanatics.”

“But… they took advantage of that opportunity.”

“Yes. We left only the minimum forces at the base, and most of the troops went to Hancock camp. The situation was that serious. But during that time, the fanatics attacked.”

Emma sighed as she looked at their poorly collapsed base.

The base had crumbled, and it had been three days.

The fact that no one had returned until then was a clear sign.

“But seeing that the main force hasn’t returned, it seems like things haven’t worked out well on that side either.”

“…”

Having roughly grasped the situation, Aiden fell into deep thought.

Unfortunately, the fanatics’ actions were even faster than Aiden had anticipated.

They had only planned to replenish the necessary supplies and leave the camp, but they ended up destroying it.

However, it had already happened, and there was no use blaming them.

In this situation, repairing the vehicle seemed difficult.

So… should they even consider abandoning the vehicle?

In that moment of complexity in Aiden’s mind, Emma threw a question at Aiden with a slightly different tone than before.

“But why did you come here?”

“To replenish supplies. Though it doesn’t seem like a situation where we can do that.”

Aiden’s words made Emma look at him with a peculiar expression.

“If you need supplies, I can provide them.”

“It doesn’t seem like you have anything to offer.”

“We didn’t come unprepared for a war. Naturally, most of the supplies were hidden separately.”

Emma confidently stated.

It didn’t seem like mere boasting.

Storing supplies before a big battle was something any organization would naturally do.

But even so, verification was needed.

“Then show me the evidence.”

“What do you need?”

There was no need to think about the most urgent items.

Tires and ammunition.

Upon hearing that, Emma opened her mouth with a slightly stiff expression.

“There’s almost no ammunition. Most of it was taken by the main force, and what was left here was mostly used in the fight. You might find some left if you search nearby.”

“I’ve already found that.”

“But we have spare tires. We had several vehicles at the camp, so we kept them as spares.”

Aiden asked Emma to show him the vehicle and then inquired if there were matching tires.

Perhaps because it was a common model.

Emma’s face brightened.

“Of course. Wait a moment.”

Having gone out to the back of the camp, Emma soon returned, rolling one tire.

It was the model Aiden was looking for, and its condition was not bad.

“How about this?”

Aiden looked in the direction Emma disappeared for a moment.

Did she hide the supplies outside the camp?

It was bold, but ultimately a wise move.

Thanks to that, the resources held by the gang in the camp remained intact.

“So… why would you give this to me?”

“You look like a junk dealer. I wanted to entrust you with a request.”

Aiden let out a short sigh at Emma’s words.

It was as expected, but what request could Aiden handle in this situation?

“It’s not something like asking me to kill those hundreds of fanatics, is it?”

“I wish that were the case… but I’m not stupid. What I want is the 30 who attacked here.”

Emma’s gaze swept over the ruined camp.

She recalled the battle that had taken place here and spoke.

“About ten of them must have died fighting us, so there should be about twenty now. They took my colleagues with them, and they’re still alive.”

“…”

“So, I want at least to confirm the life and death of my friends. If possible… even rescue them.”

That much was understandable.

The only problem was that they didn’t know the location of those people.

“Do you know their location?”

“They’re in the middle school building across the reservoir. They should be there.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“One of my comrades who was being taken by them shouted that. He knew I was hiding in the basement. He must have heard it directly from the fanatics.”

“Well, I can’t say it’s reliable information.”

Aiden pointed out, and Emma nodded honestly.

Aiden asked the next question.

“Moreover, it hasn’t been three days yet. There’s a possibility they might have joined the main force.”

“That’s true. I know, it’s a reckless request. If they’re not there, I’ll give up cleanly. So, please just check if they’re still in the building.”

If Aiden was willing to go this far, there was nothing more to say.

Aiden calmly considered the risks of the request.

The distance to the middle school building was about 5 km. It was a manageable distance to walk without using a vehicle.

Checking the school building, and if there were no enemies, the mission would end there. However, if there were still around 20 fanatics, a confrontation would be unavoidable.

Aiden had a record of fighting and winning against dozens of gang members.

So, defeating the fanatics there wasn’t an impossible task, especially considering Arian’s power.

But there was a concern.

Regardless of them being fanatics, this involved killing people. Arian might not accept such a task.

“We need to discuss this among ourselves. Excuse us for a moment.”

Aiden said this and led the group away from Emma.

At a distance where Emma couldn’t hear, Aiden looked at Arian.

“What do you think?”

In reality, refusing the proposal was not something Aiden considered.

Although it was regrettable to waste bullets during the battle, without the reward of tires, Aiden and his group would have to give up bullets and vehicles to leave this place.

So, in a way, this request was equivalent to exchanging Aiden’s ammunition and tires.

Aiden pondered on this, even though he didn’t want to give up on either side.

“What does it matter? Of course, we should save them. You saw what they did, didn’t you?”

In contrast to Aiden, Arian responded decisively.

However, her reason was somewhat different from Aiden’s.

She seemed to be recalling the scene she witnessed in Kokomo’s apartment, her expression twisting.

Arian’s answer itself was something Aiden had expected.

Her sense of certainty was like the naturalness of the world three years ago, not now.

But precisely because of that, Aiden asked again.

Since the tasks to be done now might be somewhat contradictory to her way of thinking.

“Are you really okay with it?”

“What?”

“Doing something that involves killing people.”

At Aiden’s words, Arian raised an eyebrow slightly.

She seemed to be about to say something when she glanced at Sadie.

Receiving Arian’s gaze, Sadie tilted her head.

“By the way, what about Sadie?”

Instead of answering, Arian changed the subject.

She might not have wanted to say it in front of the child.

It wasn’t the wrong thing to say.

Matching her intentions, Aiden decided to comply.

“Well. But no matter what, we can’t take her with us.”

In most cases, if it were just about going out to hunt zombies, Aiden would have taken Sadie along without hesitation.

However, this time, the enemy was human.

Aiden could fend off approaching zombies, but he couldn’t stop bullets flying blindly. Taking Sadie into such a battlefield was excessively risky.

“Maybe we should utilize the basement where Emma was.”

“Leave her here? What if someone comes?”

“Discovering the basement won’t be easy for anyone, no matter who comes. We have no choice. It’s the safest option.”

Upon hearing this, Arian frowned as if she didn’t like the idea.

Arian felt uncomfortable with Aiden’s proposal, as secure as it might be, it was also potentially dangerous.

Even though the likelihood of someone coming and discovering the hidden basement was low, it wasn’t non-existent. That possibility made Arian uneasy.

However, since there wasn’t an alternative, she sighed.

“Do you agree?”

“…Yes.”

Normally, he would have sought Sadie’s agreement as well. He made a conscious effort to treat her as an equal companion.

However, this mission was different. Accepting the mission meant taking responsibility for all actions related to it, even if it involved killing. Aiden didn’t want to burden Sadie with any responsibility related to a mission involving murder.

“So, Sadie, you stay here with Emma.”

So, instead of proposing to Sadie, Aiden gave her a command.

Perhaps someday, Sadie would have to face such situations, but Aiden believed that it wasn’t the right time.

“…Yes.”

Whether she understood the implications or not, Sadie followed Aiden’s words with a slightly dubious look.

The direction of the request had been decided.

Aiden, along with Arian, headed towards the middle school where the fanatics were said to be.