How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

After Aiden descended into the basement for a while, he returned to the vehicle with the anticipated rewards in his hands.

“Now, are you feeling a bit calmer?” Aiden asked Sadie.

Sadie, who had been sobbing until a moment ago, quickly composed herself and nodded.

“Alright, then. It would be great if you could help with organizing the supplies.”

Upon Aiden’s words, Sadie and Arian got out of the vehicle, and they started sorting the supplies that Aiden had brought.

The remaining supplies in the basement of Tuscola were in reasonably good condition. Most importantly, they found about 300 rounds of ammunition, which was a relief for Aiden, who was running low.

Although not an overly generous amount, it was all standard ammunition, but for Aiden, who had no bullets to spare, it was a valuable find.

Additionally, about 100 rounds of pistol ammunition were discovered, and somehow, a pack of cigarettes was found.

Even though cigarettes were considered unnecessary items, they held value as trade goods.

Since their next destination was Springfield, rumored to have a gang presence, Aiden could potentially exchange these cigarettes and the wine found in Mansfield as additional supplies.

So it was a decent harvest.

After finishing the supply organization, Aiden and his group got back into the vehicle.

The time was already heading into late afternoon. It was too late to travel to another city, so Aiden decided to find temporary shelter here.

The vehicle carrying them entered the quiet residential area of Tuscola.

* * *

The next day.

Having spent a safe day in Tuscola, Aiden and his group headed towards Springfield, the capital of Illinois.

Originally a city where about 100 000 people lived, Springfield was approximately 100 km away from Tuscola.

Since it wasn’t too far to drive, Aiden and his group could reach there shortly after noon.

“Hmm…”

The eastern entrance of Springfield, connected to Highway 29.

At the place where you could see a restaurant of a famous chicken brand, Aiden parked the car for a moment.

The four-lane road ahead was in quite good condition.

Moreover, structures with gang markings were scattered here and there along the road.

Circular symbols roughly drawn on wooden boards or sheet metal, using paint. It seemed like there were gangs in this place, just as indicated by those symbols.

“Is it safe here?”

Arian asked, perhaps because those structures looked somewhat threatening.

Aiden replied:

“According to the information, it shouldn’t be a dangerous place. Still… you can’t be entirely at ease.”

All the information Aiden knew about Springfield came from Fort Wayne’s information network. According to that information, the gang in Springfield was a group with a minimum level of common sense. They communicated, didn’t engage in insane activities like fanatics, and didn’t shoot bullets indiscriminately at junk dealers visiting them.

However, naturally, you couldn’t entirely trust the information.

There was a possibility of it being false, or the situation might have changed between the time the information was gathered and now.

“So, we still need to be careful,” Aiden added. 

He then asked Sadie to hide between the luggage, ensuring her safety even if gunfire were to erupt. Arian was requested to stay alert.

With the rifle next to him, Aiden slowed down the vehicle and entered the city.

Upon entering, the residential area of Springfield was notably greener compared to other residential areas.

Large trees that could hardly be called garden trees stood between houses.

Now unmanaged, weeds had grown abundantly, reaching up to the waist.

Aiden progressed through such a neighborhood that seemed to be buried in a forest.

Soon, the residential area ended, and abandoned stores began to line the street.

And when he finally reached the end of the shopping district, Aiden could spot the gang’s outpost…

“…There it is.”

The road where Aiden’s vehicle was currently parked was just before entering the city center, passing under a bridge.

Right on that bridge, the gang’s barricade and outpost were visible.

Meanwhile, the path leading under the bridge was blocked with sandbags.

Aiden promptly parked the vehicle between two buildings.

With his rifle and a black helmet in hand, he turned around.

“You two wait here.”

Arian looked at Aiden with a worried expression upon hearing that he was going alone.

“You’re going alone? It looks dangerous.”

“That’s true. But it’s something I have to endure.”

Aiden didn’t deny Arian’s concerns.

It went without saying that directly approaching a gang without any contact was an extremely risky business. It was like stepping out unarmed towards the main entrance of a fortress guarded by a group armed with guns and knives.

But for junk dealers like Aiden, it was an inevitable risk to be faced and handled simultaneously.

“Keep an eye on your surroundings. If they have any malicious intentions, they might target the car before me.”

Afterwards, Aiden said the same to Arian and Sadie.

Just as Aiden discovered them, they might have also noticed Aiden’s vehicle.

So, just in case, if they were to choose robbery over trade, they should target this vehicle, as all the resources for plunder were inside it.

“No need to worry here. So go.”

Arian confidently stated.

Aiden nodded calmly.

Arian’s prowess when dealing with people was as reliable as her words suggested.

Thunk!

Aiden got out of the car and walked towards the barricade.

His rifle was slung across his back.

There was no need to provoke the gang unnecessarily.

As Aiden approached the barricade, a voice came from above.

“What’s your business!”

Two men were sticking their heads out over the barricade.

Seeing another sign of movement, it seemed there were a total of three guards.

Compared to the military barriers in Fort Wayne, this was quite modest.

However, it was mainly because of the group’s larger size while staying in Fort Wayne.

In fact, most of the gangs in Pittsburgh, where Aiden had spent a long time, were at this level.

“I’m a junk dealer. I’ve come for a trade.”

Aiden answered the question while examining the unfamiliar outpost as if it were familiar.

The response from the guard at the gang’s outpost was quite natural.

Perhaps it was a place that frequently traded with wandering junk dealers.

If so, that wasn’t a bad thing.

“What goods?”

“Alcohol, cigarettes, and…”.

Aiden decided to trade the items he had originally intended to sell and some of the provisions and water he had obtained generously from Rockville.

Hearing this, one of the guards nodded.

“What do you need?”

“Weapons. 5.56mm armor-piercing rounds, grenades including dynamite, small-sized handguns. And… we also need blood.”

“Blood? Like, actual blood?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait here.”

Afterward, the guard’s voice sporadically reached Aiden.

Looking at the top of the barricade, one man was holding a black walkie-talkie.

A walkie-talkie, huh.

Though he saw it in Fort Wayne, this place was nowhere near a military outpost.

Common items used in small gangs like this were not usually seen.

Could there be someone with relevant technical knowledge inside?

While Aiden was having such thoughts, one of the guards opened his mouth again.

“Bring the trade goods!”

Aiden nodded and returned to the vehicle.

At this rate, the trade would probably take place right near the outpost.

Usually, that’s how transactions between junk dealers and gangs took place.

From the gang’s perspective, they didn’t want to allow a junk dealer, whose origin and intentions were unclear, inside their stronghold.

So, the danger began now.

If it was a low-quality gang, they might seize Aiden’s goods as they were, or even try to kill and rob him.

Of course, committing such acts would likely isolate them quickly, as information would spread among junk dealers. However, in this world, there were individuals who didn’t care about that at all.

“…”

Aiden, keeping himself sufficiently alert, returned to the outpost with the trade goods – alcohol, cigarettes, etc.

“Junk dealer! If you want to trade, come down to the lower level.”

The guards on the bridge shouted at Aiden.

Aiden followed their instructions, bypassing the piled sandbags and entering the lower part under the bridge.

There, a small table for two and several boxes were placed.

Sitting at the table was a Hispanic woman.

Three gang members with rifles stood behind her.

The woman spoke to Aiden.

“Is this your first time here?”

Aiden nodded silently.

The woman smiled and pointed to the table.

“Welcome to Springfield Militia. Just put the items here.”

It seemed to be the name.

For a gang, it was a rather ordinary name.

Aiden silently placed the trade goods he had brought on the table.

First, the gang would assess whether Aiden’s items had genuine value.

“Well, the packaging looks fine. Doesn’t seem like fakes.”

Examining the opened cigarette pack, the woman commented.

Upon this, the guards holding rifles behind her became slightly less vigilant.

“Now show us your goods.”

Aiden said, and the woman signaled one of the wary members to bring something.

The man brought a large wooden box near the table.

Upon opening it, Aiden could see ammunition and several weapons.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have armor-piercing rounds. Instead, we’ll give you regular bullets. Only two grenades, and no dynamite. But we brought a few small handguns. You can choose from those.”

The woman casually adjusted Aiden’s requested items.

Such modifications were common in deals with gangs, so Aiden nodded.

But the woman’s words didn’t end there.

“Oh, and blood is not allowed.”

“Not allowed?”

“We have rules about the items that can be traded with junk dealers. Blood is not one of them.”

At that, Aiden clicked his tongue softly.

Acquiring blood was as crucial as securing resources.

However, convincing the woman seemed difficult.

She was now looking at Aiden with a suspicious gaze.

“Why would you need that in the first place? Don’t tell me… you’re not a fanatic, are you?”

“As if.”

Unable to help it, Aiden decided to exclude blood from the trade items. He first examined the handguns presented by the woman.

Aiden’s request for a small-sized handgun was, of course, to find a weapon for Sadie.

“Hmm…”

There were five handguns in the wooden box. However, two of them were visibly in poor condition and not small enough, so Aiden ignored them.

Aiden first picked up one of the remaining three.

The smallest handgun among them.

While the weight and size were not bad for Sadie to use, Aiden, examining the barrel, shook his head.

It was a pistol using .22 LR rounds, the smallest and least recoiling ammunition among easily obtainable pistol rounds. So, in some aspects, it could be suitable for Sadie, but its stopping power was weak.

If shot at a person, it could penetrate the skull and go into the brain, but it wouldn’t come out, bouncing around inside the head.

However, Aiden wasn’t pleased with that. Always considering the worst-case scenario, he envisioned a situation where the bullet might not penetrate a zombie’s skull at all.

So, while Aiden was inspecting the handgun he would give to Sadie, the woman interrupted.

“With this kind of goods, I can’t give you more than 50 rounds of ammunition. How about that?”

The evaluation of the items Aiden handed over was concluded by the woman from the militia.

In the end, the deal was about to be made with 50 rounds of ammunition, two grenades, and one handgun.

However, from Aiden’s perspective, that was an unacceptable demand.

“You’re pushing it too far.”

The woman shrugged her shoulders at that.

It was unclear what she meant by that, as if to say she couldn’t understand.

However, Aiden knew exactly where the woman was playing tricks.

“The value of wine shouldn’t be that high.”

“Hey, it’s not beer; it’s wine. We have a few bottles of this kind of wine too.”

Now, three years since they couldn’t produce alcohol, fermented drinks like beer with poor shelf life became more precious than other alcoholic beverages.

And in such a world, wine wasn’t an exceptionally rare drink.

For red wine, the average shelf life was three years, and it could be over 10 years in some cases.

However, Aiden shook his head.

“That’s not it. This wine hasn’t changed its taste.”

“…”

At Aiden’s remark, the woman’s eyebrows twitched.

As Aiden pointed out, wine didn’t easily decay.

However, wine that had been left untouched for several years without refrigeration often went bad.

But the wine Aiden brought was not like that.

Perhaps because it was inside a sealed building, it hadn’t discolored due to sunlight.

The subtle fragrance emanating from the cork proved that the current state of the wine was good.

Thus, negotiations between Aiden and the woman continued for a while.

And as a result, Aiden achieved the outcome of raising the price to 100 rounds of ammunition.

“Fine. Let’s go with that.”

Aiden nodded at the woman’s words and collected his share.

However, Aiden remained vigilant about his surroundings.

Fortunately, there were no signs of an ambush among the men with rifles watching this place.

“…”

Until the moment Aiden put the traded items into his bag, there was no sign of an attack.

Seeing that Arian’s side was also calm, it seemed they weren’t bandits.

Moreover, there was a familiar feeling of dealing with junk dealers in the woman’s attitude and the other guards.

That means… The information obtained in Fort Wayne was indeed correct.

“Hmm…”

Aiden clicked his tongue.

As long as minimal trust was confirmed, he had something to say to this Springfield Militia.

“Wait a moment. There’s one thing… no, two more things to see.”

Saying that, Aiden put 30 rounds of ammunition back on the table.

The eyes of the puzzled woman turned to Aiden.