How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“…”

Aiden organized his thoughts next to Ryan.

Rain containing powerful radiation could indeed be created.

This was due to neglected nuclear power plants.

However, Aiden didn’t know the exact mechanism.

He had heard on the news once that high levels of radiation in the reactor core could melt, penetrate the ground, meet groundwater, evaporate into steam, and become rain.

Therefore, it couldn’t be called an accurate prediction.

It was just fitting Ryan’s claim of people dying or getting sick after being hit by rain into reality.

But as he thought about it, something came to mind.

The strange mutants found only here.

If he considered a Wielder, who died of natural causes, as someone exposed to radiation, it wouldn’t be an impossible occurrence.

Also, Ryan’s current condition supported that idea.

His symptoms weren’t typical of a disease; they could be a result of radiation exposure.

As the strange puzzle pieces oddly came together, Aiden stood up immediately.

He needed more information.

And if this was true, he had to leave this place as soon as possible.

Aiden was about to leave the room but turned back to look at Ryan after a moment.

There was something he still needed to say to Ryan.

“Ryan West. Do you have any words to leave for your children?”

Mia wanted a response, but Ryan was unable to write a letter due to his condition.

So, Aiden decided to convey his words on behalf of Ryan.

With closed eyes, Ryan struggled to lift his head.

“I’ve done my part. I came back home, and I even buried my wife, whom I couldn’t bury before. So… it’s over.”

“…?”

“Now, I… want to rest. Also, I hope my children live healthily without suffering like me.”

Aiden nodded, then left immediately.

He left the city more urgently than when he first arrived.

Aiden gathered his colleagues who were waiting in their temporary shelter and headed straight to the Springfield militia.

* * *

Arriving at the Springfield militia outpost, Aiden immediately contacted Mia.

Whether Mia had already talked to the medical staff or not, they quickly called her, and she came out of the outpost.

“Have you already finished the request?”

Aiden nodded.

In response, a momentary look of distrust crossed Mia’s eyes.

To dispel her doubts, Aiden showed her the items he had retrieved.

They were the supplies that Mia and her siblings had given up on in front of the mart.

“This is…”

Aside from that, Aiden explained to Mia the situation inside the house that she hadn’t been able to see for herself.

Unable to verify these facts without seeing them personally, Mia had no choice but to believe Aiden’s words.

“What about father? How is he doing?”

Aiden calmly conveyed the state of Ryan that he had grasped.

He was dying.

Unable to control his own body properly, his vision was also significantly impaired.

Even if he came to this place, he probably wouldn’t live for long.

Having heard that, tears welled up in Mia’s eyes.

But Aiden raised his head to the tearful Mia.

“It’s not the time to be sad.”

“What do you mean?”

“According to your father… No, let the militia hear this. But first, did you bring the reward?”

Mia nodded and handed him a small vial.

It contained the blood Aiden had requested.

Aiden took it and, along with Mia, went to meet Anna, who was in charge of the militia’s dealings.

“Why do you want to meet Anna again?” Mia asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Aiden replied, making Mia look a bit uneasy.

Thus, they soon met Anna, the deal handler for the militia.

For Aiden, it was the third meeting with Anna.

“What’s going on this time?”

That’s why, naturally, Anna addressed Aiden.

He conveyed the message he had to deliver to Anna.

Firstly, Mia entrusted the request to him without going through the militia, and as a result, he revisited Peoria.

Anna briefly glared at Mia upon hearing this part.

However, Anna’s expression turned perplexed as soon as he heard the conclusions drawn at the end of that request.

“What? Radiation?”

“…That’s ridiculous.”

Anna asked in disbelief, and Mia showed suspicion.

However, Aiden calmly continued without batting an eye.

“The issue is not that it sounded absurd; the problem is if it happened to be true. I want to confirm it.”

“…”

Anna stared at Aiden’s black helmet, her fist clenched in confusion.

It wasn’t an easy thing to believe, but a wanderer like him had no reason to play such pranks.

Moreover, if it was just to confirm danger, it wouldn’t be something the militia would doubt so much.

With that in mind, Anna asked Aiden.

“Then… can we send someone from our side to check?”

“Who would you send? If it’s true, they might die.”

Anna frowned at the unexpected answer.

And Mia, who was standing next to her, opened her mouth in surprise.

“Is the situation that dangerous?”

“…Well.”

Unfortunately, even Aiden didn’t have accurate information.

That’s precisely why he came to this militia.

“I don’t have proper knowledge either. That’s why I’m here. Do you have any experts on your side?”

“Experts?”

“Someone who knows a lot about radiation or maybe even equipment.”

“Someone who knows about radiation…”

Anna tapped the table with her fingers, lost in thought.

Soon, Mia, seemingly having thought of something, spoke up.

“Oh, Andrew might know.”

“Who…?”

“Andrew. The guy who piles up junk next to the warehouse.”

“That man? Well, yeah. If it’s him, he might know something.”

Anna mumbled and then looked at Aiden.

“I’ll bring him. You wait here. And Mia…”

“I’ll stay here too.”

Perhaps because it was related to her father, Mia seemed quietly interested in this matter.

Anna nodded, and beyond the table, she disappeared toward the militia headquarters.

In the meantime, Aiden asked Mia about the man named Andrew.

“What kind of person is Andrew?”

“He’s a peculiar person. He knows how to make various things, and he’s in charge of vehicle repairs for the militia.”

“So, is he a mechanic?”

It wasn’t the most trustworthy profession.

Cars and radiation were entirely unrelated fields.

However, Mia’s next words continued.

“But he can do a lot of things. He fixes broken things well. The walkie-talkies used by the militia were made from parts he gathered.”

Maybe someone with a broad understanding of general science.

Hoping for that, Aiden calmly waited for Anna’s return.

When she came back with Andrew, about 30 minutes had passed.

“It took quite a while.”

Mia, who had been waiting, spoke as she looked at them.

Then Andrew, a Latino man in his mid-40s with a stout voice, replied.

“It took a while to find these.”

He unloaded what he had been carrying onto the table.

One of them was a map.

The rest were small rectangular devices, about the size of a person’s palm.

“I heard the story from Anna. Suspecting radiation leakage?”

Andrew’s brown eyes turned to Aiden.

Aiden nodded calmly.

“Is it a possible story?”

“I’m not an expert in that field, so I don’t know much. But, well, it doesn’t seem like complete nonsense.”

Saying so, he looked at Aiden with those brown eyes.

Aiden opened up to explain what they had been suspecting.

“This is a military map. It includes the areas around Kansas City. Our reconnaissance team found it in an abandoned barracks nearby.”

On the military map, crucial locations that the army would consider were detailed.

And among them was one thing: a nuclear power plant.

A power plant located at the southeastern tip of Nebraska, adjacent to Missouri.

The location was… just 160 km away from Kansas City.

“…It really exists.”

Aiden stared at it intently.

In reality, this alone wasn’t conclusive evidence.

Even if there was indeed a nuclear power plant nearby, it could still be a mere coincidence.

But, in addition to that, Andrew showed a machine next to him.

“And this too. A radiation detector. It’s been abandoned for over three years, so I don’t know if it’s working properly.”

“You had something like this?”

Perhaps because it was an unexpected item, Mia asked.

To this, Andrew shrugged and said:

“I thought it might come in handy. Well, it didn’t actually find much use.”

Saying so, he turned on the power of the measuring device.

Several numbers on the screen went up and down in a blurry manner as Aiden briefly observed.

“How is it?”

“Wait and see. To measure accurately, we need to wait about a minute.”

At Andrew’s words, Aiden nodded and stepped back.

After a while, Andrew said.

“It’s done. But…”

He furrowed his brows as he looked at the radiation meter.

“The radiation level is quite high.”

“High?”

Mia said with a contemplative expression.

To this, Andrew quickly added:

“It’s not to the point of immediate death. But… it’s harmful enough. Damn it, why didn’t anyone know about this?”

“So what? Is this speculation from a junk dealer true?”

“Unless this measuring device is malfunctioning.”

The revelation shocked Anna and Mia.

And Aiden just nodded briefly.

“Thank you. Thanks to this, I’ve gained confidence.”

Saying so, Aiden placed the supplies he brought from Peoria on the table.

It was the appropriate compensation for the information he had in mind.

“I’ll be leaving this place now.”

Afterward, Aiden said so.

It wasn’t anything special.

Being a junk dealer and a wanderer, declaring that he was leaving this place was merely a natural thing.

However, because of that, those words sounded like a command for the remaining three people to leave as well.

Confusion filled Anna’s eyes at this, and Andrew let out a heavy sigh.

Mia, turning around, grabbed Aiden.

“Just a moment.”

Aiden turned to look at Mia.

Despite some scratches, Mia’s anxious expression shone through her clean black helmet.

“I almost forgot. It’s Ryan’s testimony.”

Aiden conveyed the words Ryan left for Mia.

Effectively a final testament.

Hearing this, Mia felt even sadder.

“With this, the request is over. Do you agree?”

Aiden said.

Mia nodded.

Having completed the final request in Springfield, Aiden immediately returned to the vehicle where his companions were waiting.

“…How did it go?”

Arian asked as soon as he returned.

They already knew the story about radiation.

And they also knew that Aiden had gone to the Springfield militia to confirm it.

“It seems like the concern was real.”

Arian’s expression stiffened at those words.

She didn’t know precisely how dangerous radiation was, but because it was undoubtedly harmful to Sadie, Arian immediately spoke up.

“Then we have to leave here.”

“Yeah, as soon as possible.”

Aiden started the vehicle.

In the eyes of Sadie reflected in the mirror, a faint tension was evident.

Sadie might not have fully understood the conversation about radiation, but within the coming and going atmosphere, she sensed that the situation was serious.

“But where should we go?”

“…”

Aiden couldn’t easily answer Arian’s question.

Of course, besides Kansas City, there were also candidates like Des Moines, Omaha, and more.

Aiden had several other cities in mind to head toward.

All the potential destinations were based on information obtained from the Springfield Militia.

However, now all of them were excluded as candidates.

This was because all the cities were to the west.

Even for Aiden, who always made various plans, it was unimaginable that the entire western region would become unsafe due to the threat of radiation.

“For now… we can’t go west. And nearby places won’t do either. We need to stay as far away as possible from the location of the power plant.”

Both Aiden and Arian were ignorant of the threat of radiation.

They didn’t know exactly how far they needed to stay away to be safe.

Nor did they know how much time needed to pass for the influence of radiation to expand or diminish.

They knew nothing.

So, Aiden decided vaguely to move away from this place.

It seemed to be the safest option he could choose.

“Then… are we going back to the east?”

Arian asked, and Aiden nodded.

Returning the way they came was one option, but it was akin to giving up on finding a place for Sadie to stay.

“No, it’s better to go north or south.”

“Hmm…”

Arian sighed briefly.

For them, it was the first time they had to move with no information, only determining the direction.

So, Aiden explained as much as he knew about the advantages and disadvantages of each.

“If we go north right away, it might be comfortable. Summer is coming soon. If we go south, we might experience extreme heat.”

But there were drawbacks.

If they went north, the regions they would pass through, such as North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming, had originally the lowest population density in the United States.

There would be little supplies left, and thus, the number of survivors would also be low.

“Also, the north has a considerable gap between cities. If, by any chance, the vehicle breaks down, it could be problematic.”

“So… like Pittsburgh?”

That statement was correct.

The shortage of supplies, zombies, and even people in the city were just like that.

“Compared to that, the south is the opposite. Many small towns and not a few big cities. Of course, there might be as many dangerous individuals.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go north then? It seems safer over there.”

Arian said, as if she were worried about Sadie.

It was a reasonable statement.

So, Aiden turned to look at Sadie next.

“What do you think?”

Upon Aiden’s question, Sadie quietly brightened her eyes.

After contemplating for a moment, Sadie soon answered the question.

“I think… it might be better to go south.”

Aiden nodded.

He didn’t ask for reasons.

Perhaps this clever girl already anticipated that going north would not be advantageous for Aiden and Arian.

There might not be many opportunities to encounter people or obtain blood there.

Therefore, Aiden, without further words, expressed his opinion.

“I also think going south is better.”

“Why?”

“It seems to increase the chances of completing the request.”

If there were many people, there would undoubtedly be many groups of survivors.

Aiden emphasized the possibility that there might be a place suitable for Sadie among them.

Without asking for reasons, Arian looked at Sadie.

“Well then… decided.”

Arian shrugged and said.

Although she insisted on going north, she was outvoted, and Sadie chose the south.

So, it wasn’t a decision she strongly opposed.

“Got it. Well then… let’s make this place our first destination.”

Aiden chose a city that was a considerable distance south of Springfield from the map.

It was Memphis.

It was a major southern city in Tennessee, reachable by passing through Kentucky from their current location in Illinois.