How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

The church where the survivors and Aiden agreed to meet was a brown brick building surrounded by a dense overgrown weed field.

Centered around a high-ceilinged sanctuary, it was a two-story structure extending in a straight line.

A large cross was engraved on one side of the outer wall.

“Already here?”

Stepping into the entrance of the church, Claire mumbled.

In the now neatly arranged church, only Sadie was quietly welcoming them.

Where did the other two go?

Claire was about to ask Sadie that question when,

“Finally here.”

Aiden, carrying a crowbar, returned to the church.

Joseph, with a voice filled with surprise, asked Aiden:

“When exactly did you guys arrive?”

“…Just a while ago.”

A vague and hesitant response.

Upon this, Joseph inquired further.

“Just a while ago?”

“Yeah. I arrived first and cleared the surroundings. We need a safe base.”

“Cleared…?”

Only then did the survivors glance around the church and belatedly realize.

The zombies that should naturally fill the nearby streets were nowhere to be seen.

Instead.

Thud!

Outside the building, on the road leading to the hospital.

Arian’s figure was visible, swinging a machete as if dancing.

As if marking the path she walked with the machete, headless zombies lay in a row.

“…”

The sight left the survivors in awe.

Without a gun, armed only with a single jungle sword, she had struck down over ten zombie necks.

Even though they were decomposed, they were once human throats.

But to cut them off as if a guillotine fell was an unimaginable feat.

“Come inside for now. There’s still a decent table left.”

Aiden said to them.

Although the survivors threw questioning looks at Aiden, he pretended not to notice and changed the topic.

In fact, this was a somewhat staged spectacle.

It had two purposes.

Firstly, naturally, to prevent the survivors from doubting Aiden’s skills.

Without the survivors trusting Aiden, there was nothing they could do.

The other reason was to take the lead in this request.

In this mission, the survivors had to move according to Aiden’s instructions.

In other words, the command had to be in Aiden’s hands.

Not because the survivors were inferior to Aiden in command, but simply due to a lack of understanding of Aiden’s and especially Arian’s abilities.

So, to efficiently use Aiden and Arian, Aiden had to take the lead in this mission.

It was a kind of performance for this purpose.

“…”

And it seemed to work well. The survivors, with frustrated expressions, naturally followed Aiden’s words.

They surrounded the table that had been left neglected in the church for a while.

After waiting for a while, Arian, holding a machete, returned to the church.

All the survivors’ gazes were directed at her.

Or more precisely, towards her machete stained with rotten blood.

But Arian paid no attention to it and spoke to Aiden.

“It’s done.”

“Good. Let’s start the work in earnest then. Will you show the map?”

Upon Aiden’s words, Claire spread the map on the table.

Aiden pointed to the center of the map with his finger.

“This is the destination, the hospital. Am I correct?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Claire awkwardly replied.

Meanwhile, the hospital they had come to was quite extensive.

Even just looking at the map, it occupied an area approximately 400 meters wide and 300 meters long.

Because of this, there wasn’t just one parking lot; it was situated all around the hospital.

“The parking lot behind the hospital is the widest. Also, there’s a place where an entire block is a parking lot, separated by the hospital and a road.”

“Then… we should head to a separate parking lot.”

“That’s right. At least, we won’t have to deal with the zombies inside the hospital.”

Aiden carefully examined the map.

The distance from the church to the parking lot wasn’t far.

Also, Arian had cleared the zombies until the middle, making it not particularly dangerous or challenging to get there.

However, the parking lot itself posed a danger.

Except for abandoned vehicles, there were no other obstacles, making it no different from an open field if a battle were to occur.

Drawing attention there recklessly could result in swarms of zombies pouring in from all sides, requiring preparation for such an eventuality.

Perhaps that’s why.

Joseph, who was also looking at the map, spoke up.

“How about fortifying within this church? If we make some noise, they might come here on their own.”

“Here?”

Miles, at Joseph’s suggestion, looked around the church.

With sturdy outer brick walls, a relatively narrow entrance, and long vertical windows, the structure wasn’t bad for fortification.

But Aiden shook his head.

“It’s too risky.”

“Wouldn’t it be better than facing them outside?”

“If we had enough bullets, maybe.”

At Aiden’s words, Joseph’s expression changed, realizing his mistake.

They only had 30 rounds of ammunition.

They couldn’t estimate the number of zombies in the parking lot and inside the hospital.

Without a rough idea, they couldn’t recklessly attract them.

Maybe the number of zombies was even greater than the amount of ammunition they possessed.

“Let’s try to refrain from gunfire as much as possible. It seems like there’s a considerable gathering of zombies in that hospital. If, by any chance, those inside also gather, we won’t be able to handle it.”

“…That makes sense.”

Miles sighed, agreeing with Aiden’s words.

Joseph also nodded, acknowledging his oversight.

Maverick quietly listened to the discussion, and Claire, standing nearby, spoke up.

“So, what should we do?”

“For now, we’ve secured the area around this church as a safe zone. We can use this to lure them bit by bit.”

Aiden had cleared the surroundings of the church for this purpose from the beginning.

With a safe zone at least, there was no need to worry about being surrounded by zombies from all directions.

“That seems to be the best option. Does everyone agree?”

Claire asked, and there was no opposition among the group.

Aiden continued speaking.

“Let’s head to the parking lot like this. But can we easily find the parts in the parking lot?”

“The engine itself is of a common model, so finding it should be easy. However, whether the parts there are intact is another issue.”

“How long do you think it’ll take to find the parts?”

“About 30 minutes per vehicle.”

Probably because they needed to disassemble the engine.

It wasn’t a short time for searching for parts in abandoned vehicles.

Moreover, there was a substantial chance that the parts wouldn’t come out immediately.

Considering that all the vehicles here had been abandoned for a long time, expecting them to be in perfect condition was wishful thinking.

So, even if they disassembled just four, it would take more than two hours.

Waiting for such a long time in the same place without any barriers or buildings was by no means an easy task.

“It’s risky.”

Aiden said so.

Especially, that parking lot was a place easily seen from the top of the hospital building.

Dedicating such a long time in the parking lot and attracting attention could not be avoided.

Claire naturally nodded at that.

“Well, did I call you here for nothing?”

That was a valid point.

If it were just for safety, there was no reason to call a junk dealer who knew nothing about it all the way here.

“Can I check it?”

Aiden asked, looking at the toolbox Claire had brought.

Claire made a skeptical expression but readily handed it to Aiden.

Inside were basic tools such as wrenches and screwdrivers.

Even saws, power drills, and even a lock-opening tool were visible.

Like an item fit for a thief, the skill of picking locks was common yet valuable for a wanderer.

“…You’ve gathered quite a collection.”

“Tools aren’t as commonly sought after as food.”

Claire shrugged her shoulders and spoke.

“Got it. Let’s move then.”

Upon Aiden’s words, the group left the church.

Leading the way was Arian.

It might have seemed awkward for her, not yet an adult, to confidently lead the group, but none of the survivors who had witnessed her combat prowess questioned it.

However…

“Is there a problem?”

Aiden asked Maverick, who had been walking beside him, and for some reason, hadn’t taken his eyes off Arian.

Caught by Aiden’s voice, the young man, who had been staring at Arian’s back, quickly averted his gaze.

“No, nothing at all.”

Maverick pretended to inspect his axe as if nothing happened.

Seemingly nothing serious, Aiden also shifted his gaze away.

Soon, a wide parking lot came into view.

Rows of vehicles extended over the broken asphalt, numbering in the dozens.

However, just as many zombies were present as vehicles.

“Too many, isn’t it?”

Joseph furrowed his brow.

For some reason, there seemed to be a considerable number of zombies inside that hospital.

As they got closer to the hospital, the number of zombies seemed to increase.

However, avoiding them wasn’t an option.

The parking lot was their destination.

“It can’t be helped if there are many. Are you all prepared?”

The survivors nodded with determined expressions.

Next, Aiden looked at Sadie.

In Sadie’s hands was a short dagger.

Of course, Aiden had no intention of engaging Sadie in combat.

No matter how intelligent a child was, close combat with zombies was clearly beyond the abilities of a ten-year-old.

He simply handed her a weapon to have something to defend herself with on the battlefield.

Aiden looked at Sadie.

“Stay by my side. Don’t go forward. Got it?”

“Yes!”

Sadie’s expression was tense, but her voice didn’t waver.

With a nod from Aiden, Arian, who had been waiting for the signal, confidently walked onto the road.

“Kiaaa!”

Zombies on the road reacted to Arian.

Responding to the noise, zombies numbering around twenty rushed towards the group.

“They’re coming!”

Thunderous footsteps echoed on the ground.

The first horde that recognized Arian as a target was approaching.

Until another horde behind the abandoned vehicles heard the noise and rushed in, Aiden’s group had to take down these creatures.

“Argh!”

“Kieeee!”

Zombie cries drew closer.

As they emerged from the parking lot, the zombies encountered Arian first.

Her machete danced again.

With a subtle movement, she avoided the hands of the zombies, inserting her blade between them.

Swish!

Accompanied by a chilling sound, a zombie collapsed as its neck bone snapped.

Flawless movements, as if dancing.

However, behind her, there was a relentless number of zombies coming closer, ones that couldn’t be dealt with through movements alone.

Aiden and the group rushed forward.

“Kiiii!”

Thud!

The sound of zombie cries and weapon impacts overlapped.

The end of Aiden’s crowbar pierced through a zombie’s skull, breaking its brain.

Simultaneously, Claire’s spear was thrust into a zombie’s jaw.

“Kieeek!”

A zombie with a metal chain around its neck writhed.

Grasping the chain, it stared at Claire with a mad glint in its eyes.

At that moment…

Thunk!

Maverick’s axe swung down on the zombie’s head, breaking free from Claire’s grip.

The zombie, unable to withstand the force, fell backward, and Maverick delivered the final blow.

“Die!”

On the other side, centered around Arian, Joseph and Miles were wrestling with zombies.

Thunk!

Joseph’s weapon was a shovel. As the sturdy metal hit the zombie’s head, it staggered.

In the meantime, Miles struck the zombie’s leg with his lead pipe.

Quack!

The powerful swing shattered the rotten leg bone.

The zombie’s body tilted to one side when its knee bone broke, and as it fell to the ground, Joseph’s sharp shovel blade came down, smashing its head.

“…”

While Aiden continuously pierced the zombies’ skulls with his crowbar, occasionally observing their battle, it seemed that their combat skills, although somewhat amateurish, weren’t bad.

Among ordinary people, they were quite exceptional.

Even with this level of skill, there seemed to be no problem with Aiden’s planned operation.

As Aiden was evaluating the survivors like this-

“Huff… huff…”

The survivors were also sneakily watching Arian and Aiden’s fight with the zombies.

Although there was no room to spare when facing zombies, thanks to Arian and Aiden taking on the zombies first, they had a chance to assess the situation and take a breather.

The two’s combat skills were impressive, beyond admiration, almost reaching awe.

While they had to stick together to deal with one zombie, the zombies facing them barely even grazed their clothing.

Thunk!

Quack!

Aiden’s crowbar shattered one zombie’s skull and promptly changed direction to pierce another zombie’s head.

The force applied was tremendous, powerful enough to crush a human skull in one blow.

However, he skillfully changed direction without getting entangled, precisely hitting the weak points of the zombies.

In contrast, Arian’s movements seemed to lack any effort at first glance.

A quick and seemingly effortless strike with her machete.

However, for some reason, the zombies she brushed against were having their hands, feet, and even jaws cut off quite easily.

Was the machete originally supposed to be used like that?

There was a strange discomfort, and even the survivors had thoughts like that.

After a few tens of seconds.

“Kiik…”

More than twenty zombies turned into motionless debris.

Like the first horde that had rushed like a wave but scattered like a breakwater, they were annihilated.

The survivors found themselves unconsciously counting the fallen zombies on the ground.

The number of zombies Arian and Aiden had taken down was twice the number the survivors had dealt with.

Although the survivors were twice in number, the result was the opposite.

At that moment, Aiden’s gaze turned towards the survivors.

The obscured eyes behind the black helmet seemed to ask, ‘What have you accomplished?’ The survivors couldn’t meet his gaze.

However-

“Not bad.”

Aiden actually evaluated the survivors’ skills.

Was he making fun of them?

However, there was no time for anyone to retort.

“They’re coming again.”

Hearing the noise of battle, the second group rushed out onto the road, heading towards the group.

The number was around thirty, more than before.

The survivors, suppressing their questions and discomfort, focused on gripping their weapons as the new wave approached.