How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“They…!”

Nairik immediately tried to shoot them. Inside the inn were his wife and child.

But Arian stopped him.

“Wait. That’s not all.”

Although only three were visible in front, Arian mentioned that other wanderers were lurking around the building.

Nairik looked at Arian with a skeptical gaze.

“How did you…”

“Look over there.”

Arian pointed to a white building across the road on the right side of the inn.

It was a small antique shop, familiar to Nairik. However, inside the broken window of that place, the muzzle of a gun was protruding.

Nairik’s face turned pale as he discovered this.

“There are four in total. They’re spread around the inn.”

Arian’s words made Aiden furrow his brow.

The wanderers had already assumed that there were people inside and intentionally created a disturbance, waiting for someone to show up.

“It’s not their first time doing this. Revealing ourselves now will only attract a hornet’s nest.”

Aiden added.

Most wanderers had the potential to become marauders, but some particularly nasty individuals survived solely by plundering.

The men in front of them seemed to be that type.

“What are we going to do?”

Nairik asked in a serious tone.

Aiden turned to Arian for an answer.

Although he didn’t want to show Nairik, now wasn’t the time to be indulgent.

“Arian-“

“I got it.”

Before saying anything more, Arian picked up a machete and turned around.

And she disappeared from that spot.

“No, just now…”

Nairik, who had witnessed the scene right next to him, was amazed.

But that amazement didn’t last long.

The sound of the hammer trying to break the iron bars resounded again. His attention was fully focused on the safety of his family.

“They’re breaking the door!”

“Wait.”

Aiden said that because if not stopped, they might just pull the trigger. Nairik responded urgently.

“What do you mean, wait?”

“Arian will send a signal.”

“If we sit here, it might be too late.”

“It won’t be too late.”

Nairik looked at Aiden’s black helmet with a frustrated expression.

From inside it, like an echo reverberating from a deep cave, a low voice crawled up.

“I have my comrades inside too. If the people inside are in danger, I won’t just stand by.”

The tone was no different from before.

But that voice sounded even heavier to Nairik.

Aiden’s gun barrel was already pointing steadily towards the people in front of the door.

Aiden himself, as much as Nairik, seemed to be uneasy about this situation.

“To the left, keep an eye on the guy with the gun.”

Aiden continued to instruct.

Nairik, with a sense of urgency, aimed at the head of the unknown man.

How much time passed?

Just when it seemed that they had barely withstood the onslaught of the hammer, a tearing sound as if the prison door was torn apart echoed.

“Aah!”

A scream was heard from somewhere.

The direction was neither towards the inn nor towards Aiden.

It came from one of the houses that stood between the inn and Aiden, where one of the enemies was in ambush.

The intruders heard the ominous scream and faltered.

Even Nairik was surprised by the sudden noise

Only Aiden understood that this was a signal from Arian.

It meant  that all the interfering guys were gone.

“Shoot!”

At Aiden’s command, Nairik readjusted his gun.

Simultaneously, two gunshots echoed, and two of the three in front of the inn, holding guns, fell, spraying red blood.

As for the one holding the hammer-

Swish!

From somewhere, a red machete flew and embedded itself into the guy’s forehead.

In an instant, the three marauders turned into lifeless bodies.

Confirming there were no more enemies, Aiden and Nairik rushed towards the inn.

“Are you okay?”

Tearing down the distorted grid door and entering, Aiden first checked on Sadie’s condition.

Sadie was holding a pistol on the first floor.

She hadn’t been taught how to deal with people yet.

Smartly, she hid near the stairs leading to the second floor.

“The guns are no longer needed. You can put them down now.”

“…”

At Aiden’s words, Sadie could only nod her head.

The eyes that seemed on the verge of crying, just by looking at them, indicated that she was extremely shocked.

It wasn’t strange.

Suddenly, intruders were breaking the entrance with hammers and shooting guns.

Aiden recovered the gun from Sadie and left the rest to Arian.

She could reassure Sadie more than Aiden could.

“Phew…”

Having confirmed the safety of his wife and baby on the second floor, Nairik breathed a sigh of relief.

The baby’s crying was still loud, but fortunately, it seemed that no one was hurt.

Having hastily gone up to the second floor, he came down to the first floor again.

“Is everyone okay?”

“…Yes.”

Answering Aiden’s question, Nairik replied with an exhausted expression.

He stared blankly at the broken front door.

Nairik’s pupils, looking at the door, were shrouded in severe anxiety.

In times like these, it was better to move than just stare.

Aiden urged him.

“There’s still work to be done.”

“Yes…?”

“Supplies. Didn’t you come for food?”

“Ah… right.”

With a complicated expression, Nairik, who had lost the joy of finding a lot of supplies in no time, stood up from his seat.

There was no trace left of the joy of finding so much material.

He, together with Aiden, retrieved the supplies they had placed near the courthouse.

Afterward, they examined the bodies lying in front of the inn and the ones Arian had dealt with.

There were no signs indicating their affiliation.

They seemed to be just wanderers roaming around.

Aiden searched the bodies, collecting a few bullets as well as blood.

Although it wasn’t a pleasant task, but there was no need to throw away useful resources.

“…”

Meanwhile, Nairik’s expression did not brighten at all.

Aiden asked him.

“Have you experienced something like this before?”

“No. There were a few occasions when zombies gathered, but… encountering people is a first.”

Nairik, looking nervous, splashed water on his face as if trying to shake off the uneasiness.

His worry was fully understood by Aiden.

The threats in this world weren’t just zombies. Sometimes, humans with guns could be more dangerous than undead bodies, and now was exactly such a case.

The inn, protected by the iron bars, was like a sturdy fortress against ordinary zombies.

While regular zombies couldn’t enter, guns or cold weapons could deal with zombies clinging to the iron bars from the inside.

However, such advantages didn’t apply when facing people.

If a person with a gun was an enemy, the inn would eventually become an imperfect fortress.

“Wouldn’t it be better to join a gang after all?”

Aiden cautiously suggested to Nairik.

Living alone in this world is inherently challenging, especially for ordinary individuals like Nairik. If he had nothing to lose except his life, it might be different, but Nairik has a family to protect. So, he needed allies.

“…”

However, Nairik didn’t respond to Aiden’s words.

Was he hesitating?

Aiden continued his inquiry.

“Is it because of the child?”

He thought it would be so.

A child who couldn’t walk properly would indeed be a significant burden to an organization. It might not be easily accepted.

However, Nairik had another reason besides that.

“…Partly.”

A strange answer. Nairik soon spoke again.

“I told you before, right? I used to live in Tuscola.”

“…That’s right.”

“The survivor group there disappeared, all because of me.”

He briefly recounted the events of that time to Aiden.

A massive zombie horde attacked the village where he stayed. It was a group of over a hundred.

However, for the 32 survivors in that place, it wasn’t a significant threat.

Zombie hordes passing through the village were a common occurrence, happening several times a month. The people living there knew how to deal with them.

But, unfortunately, on that day, luck was not on their side. The baby, who happened to be hiding underground, started crying right in the middle of the zombie horde passing by.

The sound reached the zombies’ ears.

“They pounded on the basement door as if they were going to break it. So, we couldn’t stop the baby’s crying.”

In the midst of the zombie horde’s march, the small disturbance spread in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the zombies rushed in like a tidal wave.

Just that, and the hiding place of the small survivor group became a beacon in the wind.

They dealt with the corpses rushing through the windows and holes by shooting guns, but their misfortune didn’t end there.

The loud noise from the zombies and gunshots eventually attracted mutants.

The door protecting the hideout from mutants was torn apart by them. After that, mutants and zombies invaded the hiding place, and the survivor group there disappeared without a trace.

Out of over thirty people, only Nairik and his family survived.

“All my colleagues were good people. But only our family survived. How can I say that I’m lucky?”

Nairik raised his voice with a somewhat agitated tone.

He testified that his family survived because of the sacrifices of his colleagues.

Although no one was unaware that the baby’s crying had attracted zombies. None of his colleagues blamed the ignorant baby.

“That’s why… That’s why I came here. There was no one left here.”

The reason he came to this village was that it was a silent, small place where no one lived.

He thought that here, he wouldn’t have to commit any more sins.

“I was going to try it alone until the child grew up a little more. Just until the crying could be endured. But… it’s not that easy.”

Nairik said, looking at the distorted iron bars.

Since there was no one here, he thought he could fend off zombies gathering only due to the baby’s crying.

But that wasn’t the case.

In this harsh world, the crying of a powerless baby attracted not only corpses but also cunning packs of living sly cats. And today, they almost faced death at the hands of those creatures.

If Aiden and the others weren’t there… the door would have been broken through.

“So what do you plan to do now?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Whatever it is, how about fixing the door first?”

Aiden stood up and walked slowly towards the iron-barred door. He held the tools he had brought earlier.

“Yeah, it’s not the right time to be like this.”

Following him with a wry smile, Nairik also moved.

“Do you know how to handle tools?”

“Of course. I doubt there’s anyone alive who can’t handle them at this point.”

“Good, then I’ll help too.”

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“You said it was okay to stay for another day.”

Nairik nodded in response to Aiden’s words.

“…Thank you.”

Soon, Nairik and Aiden began repairing the broken iron door.

First, they straightened the bent bars of the window. Then they disassembled the fallen latch and removed the broken lock. They attached a new latch and only put a hook on the inside where a lock used to be.

This type of latch wouldn’t stop a person, but it was meant to prevent zombies.

After a day’s worth of repairs, the front door finally regained its shape, although its durability had significantly decreased compared to before.

Even so, it should be enough to fend off zombie intrusions for a while.

“Are you really considering staying like this?”

The time when the sunset began. Aiden asked while examining the repaired lattice door.

“…No.”

Was Nairik’s thoughts somewhat organized during that time of contemplation?

Nairik, who had been hesitating, finally expressed his opinion.

“I think we should leave. Now that it’s come to this, it’s better to join a larger organization.”

“A larger organization?”

“Yes. Even if our child cries, we need a place so big that it won’t attract attention.”

“Are there such places nearby?”

Aiden asked, and Nairik nodded.

“You told me about it. It’s called Fort Wayne.”

“Well… it’s quite far away.”

“We need to find a car first. More importantly, how is it there? Would it be safe for our family to go there?”

Fort Wayne.

Even Aiden, who left the city disappointed, couldn’t know how it would be for Nairik.

So, he decided to provide information only.

“I’ll tell you what I know. The rest is up to your judgment.”

“That’s enough.”

Aiden told Nairik in detail about what he had seen and heard there.

Such a conversation continued until nightfall.

* * *

The next day.

After the morning sun had risen for a while, Aiden was preparing to leave Rockville.

Having finished all the postponed maintenance on the vehicle, he came back to the inn to pick up the others.

As they were about to leave the inn, Nairik and his family came out to see them off.

“Are you leaving?”

Aiden nodded.

“Thank you for the past two days.”

“No, I should be thankful.”

Meanwhile, Sadie was saying her goodbyes to the baby.

Although they had experienced such an incident yesterday, fortunately, after a night had passed, she seemed to have recovered a lot.

Watching the family bidding farewell, Nairik, who had been silent, opened his mouth again.

“…Are you really going to Tuscola?”

Aiden nodded. It was the decision he made last night.

He had heard information that there might be some ammunition left in Tuscola’s old hideout where Nairik had been.

Of course, it was risky, but Nairik handed over all the information he knew about Tuscola to Aiden in exchange.

And in return, he made a small request.

Since it wasn’t a difficult task, Aiden accepted it.

“All right. Please take care.”

Nerik bid farewell.

In response, Aiden’s group also exchanged final greetings with them and turned away.

So, they left Rockville and began to head towards Tuscola, the village Nairik mentioned.