How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“Are we not supposed to learn about mutants?” Sadie asked.

Sadie’s proactive attitude was quite welcome, but this time, Aiden had nothing more to teach.

“Acquiring knowledge about mutants is essential. However… this time, I also need to learn.”

He first checked the weapons he had.

A silver revolver with six bullets, one grenade, one flashbang, an assault rifle with two 30-round magazines loaded with armor-piercing rounds, and a greatsword, among others.

Though the variety was there, the armament wasn’t abundant. Especially concerning was the limited ammunition. 

Facing mutants might require pouring hundreds of rounds, so caution was needed with just 60 bullets.

The fortunate aspect was Arian’s presence, but Aiden couldn’t entirely rely on her.

Now, the remaining blood was around 400ml received from Nairik and his wife. It would be depleted after just one intense battle.

Aiden, who had no means to replenish blood immediately, didn’t want to burden Arian more than necessary.

He expressed these concerns to her before the battle. She smiled faintly and nodded.

“Got it. I’ll be careful too.”

“Good. Sadie, you’ll stay here.”

While it would be beneficial for Sadie to witness the fight against mutants directly, Aiden couldn’t bring her all the way to face an unfamiliar mutant.

So, Aiden decided to leave Sadie in the secure hotel lobby.

“Yes.”

Whether she understood this intention or not, Sadie calmly nodded at Aiden’s words.

Lastly, Aiden checked the light attached to the end of the rifle. Although it emitted enough light to secure visibility, its brightness was noticeably weak, indicating the battery was running out.

He felt the supplies and resources slowly dwindling.

Hoping for a way to replenish them beneath the stairs, Aiden stepped into the darkness.

“Alright, then I’m going.”

Aiden swiftly descended the stairs.

The first thing he saw was the torn canopy hanging from the ceiling.

“…”

This underground space used to be a restaurant operated by the hotel.

Except for a separate kitchen on the opposite side of the entrance, the remaining space had a simple structure with holes in it.

However, the tables and chairs that were there had all been removed by Nairik and his companions. Instead, they had set up a makeshift camp using furniture from the rooms.

Because of that, the field of view wasn’t wide.

Just the torn fabric swaying eerily.

But somewhere in this space, there would be a mutant hiding.

Keeping this in mind, Aiden moved slowly.

By the time he reached the center of the restaurant, it happened.

“It’s coming!”

Arian, who had been scanning the darkness, warned.

And right after that.

Whoosh!

Something flew from the darkness, and Aiden barely managed to turn his body to avoid it.

What passed him was a concrete fragment about the size of a head.

It hit the opposite wall with a loud noise, breaking into pieces.

Aiden’s light immediately turned to where the rock came from.

Then, as if the light was unpleasant,

“Ug-urrgh-“

A low growl, echoing through the underground restaurant, sounded like the roar of a monster.

Finally, tearing through the swaying fabric, a mutant appeared with a menacing presence.

“Is this the one?”

Facing the mutant, Aiden carefully observed the creature.

The name Nairik gave to this mutant was Hedgehog.

Seeing it firsthand, the name seemed fitting for this creature resembling a hedgehog.

The zombie was over 2 meters tall, covered in a decent amount of muscle and flesh. Its physique was a mix of well-defined muscles and a bloated Bigfoot-like appearance.

What stood out the most, however, were the thorns that pierced its entire body, as if the creature wore a suit made of spikes. 

Hedgehog had sharp objects such as iron bars and blades embedded all over its body, serving as both weapons and armor.

“Woaaar!”

With that, Hedgehog charged towards Aiden.

While not incredibly fast, its speed combined with the unstoppable force of a charging juggernaut. The torn fabrics scraped by the sharp spikes were torn once more, and even the concrete of the walls crumbled as Hedgehog approached.

Aiden felt a sense of crisis due to the destructive power of this creature.

The space was too confined to evade its attacks.

It was a sealed basement.

“Tsk!”

Helplessly, Aiden retreated in the direction he came from. While doing so, he pulled out his revolver.

The six rounds inside turned into flames aiming for Hedgehog’s head.

However…

Ping!

Most of the bullets didn’t hit its head but instead bounced off, thanks to the thorns protecting it.

This was because the steel bar that pierced hits neck and was embedded in the chin and one of the eye sockets tightly protected its head.

“I’ll take care of it!”

Arian stepped forward.

Hedgehog twisted its thorn-covered arm. With a violent sound of the wind, its colossal fist fell towards Arian.

Crack!

Avoiding the attack with a move that resembled flight, Arian dodged the strike. The force of Hedgehog’s punch only hit the barren ground, leaving deep scars in the sand.

Immediately after, Arian leaped onto Hedgehog’s bicep.

Mockingly, she lightly stepped on the iron bar near its elbow, then swung her machete towards its neck.

Crunch!

However, instead of a clean cutting sound, what echoed was a deafening crack.

“This thing is like it’s made of steel everywhere.”

Arian said with a furrowed brow.

The iron bar pierced through its jaw and emerged from its back, and a long blade stuck into its shoulder.

Various steel pillars were hidden inside its body, making Arian’s attack only cut through the creature’s skin, not reaching the bone.

It was a more formidable opponent than expected.

Of course, if Arian pushed her strength even further, she could cut through the steel. However, in that case, the blood consumption would be immense.

Sensing this, Aiden’s voice echoed.

“Back off for now.”

Arian followed Aiden’s words.

Then, Hedgehog either prepared for another charge or lowered its posture slightly.

Seeing this, Arian asked:

“What’s the plan?”

“Do you know how to use a grenade?”

Arian nodded.

Upon Aiden’s prompt, he handed the grenade to her without hesitation. Holding a flashbang himself, he said:

“Take this. Aim for the head. I’ll create the opportunity.”

As soon as Aiden finished speaking, Hedgehog charged again.

As if they had made an agreement, Aiden and Arian simultaneously dodged in opposite directions.

Tat-tat-tat!

Aiden’s rifle emitted a bright light along with the gunfire. Despite the limited ammunition, Aiden spared no rounds. He aimed for the area of Hedgehog’s legs where thorns were relatively sparse. In an instant, the entire magazine was depleted.

However, the creature’s thick legs proved resistant to the gunfire.

“Woooagh!”

Hedgehog roared and went mad.

Could the legs be a potential weakness?

While swiftly changing the magazine, Aiden directed the flashlight toward Hedgehog.

Then, Hedgehog rushed towards Aiden.

The distance between Aiden and Hedgehog was around 5 meters at best.

However, Aiden didn’t pull the trigger.

Without any hesitation, Aiden tossed the flashbang in between them.

And…

Baaaaang!

An enormous burst of light, accompanied by a deafening explosion, shook the entire underground space.

Aiden’s ears were filled with an uncomfortable ringing even though he had covered them. The loud noise was beyond what could be defended against by simply tearing up nearby debris.

During this temporary pause in Aiden’s movements-

“…”

Hedgehog also halted in its tracks.

Then, as if sensing something strange, it looked around, confused.

Flashbangs, when detonated against regular individuals, not only caused a momentary loss of vision but also possessed enough power to incapacitate one’s motor skills by impacting the vestibular system.

However, when facing zombies, they didn’t exhibit such a powerful effect.

At most, it rendered them temporarily blind and deaf, offering a few seconds during which Arian, with her exceptional physical abilities, could make the most out of.

During this momentary pause in Hedgehog’s movement, a dark shadow swiftly approached it.

Arian inserted the safety handle of the detached grenade into its neck, into the very wound left by her machete.

Hedgehog, who had remained oblivious to Arian’s actions until now, only vaguely sensed something entering its body.

However, that sensation was quickly forgotten.

Its body was already filled with hundreds of foreign objects.

“Uoooh…”

As the flashbang’s effects wore off, vision and hearing were restored.

Hedgehog’s eyes locked onto Aiden once again.

Aiden was in the process of retreating.

Beside him, Arian was also seen near the stairs.

The prey was escaping.

Hedgehog, realizing this, swiftly changed its focus as it attempted to move its legs.

Boom!

The grenade inside Hedgehog’s neck exploded.

Although small, the fragmentation radius of the grenade reached 15 meters, making it a deadly bomb.

Even with a body covered in iron bars, Hedgehog couldn’t withstand such explosive force.

In an instant, its head and upper torso exploded, scattering in all directions.

Moreover, the shrapnel from the grenade, while already having destroyed the small underground room once, shattered it again, turning it into a chaotic mess.

Pak!

One of the fragments flew and embedded itself into Aiden’s calf.

Although he had already moved near the stairs to avoid the blast radius of the 50-meter grenade, he couldn’t escape it entirely.

However, Aiden paid no attention to it and used the flashlight to check Hedgehog’s condition.

The thorny, half-headed body lay impaled on the ground.

Clearly dead.

Upon this sight, Aiden let out a brief sigh.

“…It’s over. Are you okay?”

Arian nodded.

“I’m fine. And you? That flashbang was quite loud.”

“It’s okay. They’re just zombies, after all.”

Confirming Arian’s safety, Aiden organized the expended resources. Besides the valuable grenade and flashbang, there was only one spent magazine. Hunting this new mutant didn’t consume much.

Anyway, with this, there were no more dangerous corpses in the underground room.

Now was the time to do what needed to be done.

“Go upstairs first. We’ll explore the supplies shortly.”

“…Alright.”

Arian went upstairs.

Aiden pulled out an LED flashlight and surveyed the surroundings.

Furniture was shattered, and the floor was broken.

The former hideout, now turned into a mess by the battle, was beyond recognition.

Aiden walked inside the basement.

Past Hedgehog’s corpse, deeper inside.

Having reached the innermost part of the basement where Hedgehog had originally stood, Aiden let out a deep sigh.

“…”

What he found wasn’t supplies.

Just torn and shredded pieces of clothing.

And… a few bones.

Aiden recalled the request Nairik made to him.

Nairik was concerned that his colleagues might have turned into zombies and were wandering here.

So, he asked Aiden to let his colleagues rest.

But Nairik’s colleagues weren’t in the upper floors of the hotel.

You could tell just by looking at the clothes they wore.

Zombies on the upper floor were still clad in rotten garments.

None of Nairik’s colleagues were among them.

Hence, Nairik’s colleagues were all in the basement.

Unfortunately, the mutant that attacked this place didn’t seem to spare even those who had turned into zombies.

“…”

Aiden, having retrieved the remains of those turned into mutant’s prey, exited the basement.

In Aiden’s hand was a hefty bag.

He buried it in the small garden in front of the hotel.

And on that makeshift grave, he placed the small bag sent by Nairik.

It was an invitation to the first birthday of Nairik’s son.

“Rest in peace.”

With this, Nairik’s request was fulfilled.

Aiden turned around.

Behind him were Sadie and Arian.

Perhaps they knew the nature of the request.

Arian stood with a bitter expression, and Sadie was shedding tears.

Aiden gently stroked Sadie’s head with his gloved hand.

“Take Sadie and go to the car. I’ll handle the supplies and come back.”

Arian nodded silently.

So, the two went back to the vehicle, and Aiden walked back into the basement.