How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“The name… sounds familiar.”

Upon hearing the term sepsis, Ella tilted her head.

Sepsis, also known as vitamin C deficiency in other words, was a disease that had been prevalent centuries ago. It occurred among sailors who couldn’t consume enough vitamin C during long voyages.

In the modern era, with the development of refrigeration technology, the disease had almost disappeared. However, this savage disease was attempting to make a comeback in this ruined world.

“A disease caused by a lack of vitamins?”

Ella asked in amazement after hearing the explanation.

She thought her brother had some incurable disease, but it turned out to be a vitamin deficiency.

“So… no medication?”

“Not necessary. Just feed him fresh fruits or vegetables.”

“Where do you get that in this world?”

Ella said, looking bewildered.

In a world where fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat were harder to find than ammunition, Aiden spoke.

“It doesn’t have to be fresh. Canned goods will do.”

Aiden took something out of his bag. It was a can of peaches he had found before coming here.

Canned goods preserved vitamins as well as fresh fruits during processing. In comparison to the efforts and worries she had put in so far, this seemed like a simple treatment.

“If he eats this, he should get better in a few days.”

“This is the treatment?”

“Yes, if my diagnosis is correct, he should recover in a few days.”

“This is insane…”

Ella received the peach can Aiden handed out with a complicated expression.

Such fruit cans could be obtained by just giving a few gunshots.

Compared to the efforts she had made, it was a simple treatment that felt almost empty.

“More importantly, are you okay? According to what you said, you’re not in a normal situation either.”

Aiden asked while examining Ella’s complexion.

After a moment of contemplation, Ella opened her mouth with a short sigh.

“That thing called vitamin, it’s in tomatoes too, right?”

Aiden nodded at the obvious question.

Upon hearing that, Ella stuck out her tongue.

“Then, I should be fine. I got tired of just eating ham, so I occasionally ate canned tomatoes instead.”

“You didn’t share some with your brother?”

“He’s allergic to tomatoes.”

In that case, Aiden had nothing more to say.

So, he conveyed the last piece of common advice.

“Don’t just eat one thing from now on; eat a variety. If a specific nutrient is lacking, you might get another illness.”

That statement was not much different from the advice doctors used to give in the past.

Ella laughed hollowly at a piece of advice that did not deviate from the past.

With the canned peaches in hand, she glanced at Aiden.

“Just in case… you’re not joking, right?”

“What benefit would I get by joking about this?”

“…”

“Anyway, the consultation is over with this. But…”

Aiden stared at Ella intently.

Even without him saying anything, Ella could understand what he wanted to say.

“Why, asking me to pay for medical expenses?”

“Of course. If you give something, you should receive something.”

“What do you want? You’re not trying to take all the medicines here, are you?”

Aiden shook his head.

What he wanted from Ella was not materials but information.

“Let’s exchange information instead. Is that okay?”

“If that’s it… sure.”

Ella quickly accepted Aiden’s proposal.

If it was just exchanging information and not giving materials, she wouldn’t incur any losses.

Aiden immediately threw a question.

“Have you stayed around here for a long time?”

“Not long. About a month. Just temporarily tied down because of my brother. If he gets better, we’ll leave right away.”

“You’re on the move.”

“Yeah. Looking for a place to settle. But there doesn’t seem to be a suitable place.”

Aiden nodded at Ella’s words.

For some reason, it was a very empathetic statement.

“Is there a destination?”

“For now… LA. You know, Los Angeles? It’s on the radio. Haven’t you heard it?”

Of course, Aiden was well aware of the fact that people were gathering there too. What surprised him, however, was that the broadcast had reached this far.

Ella’s choice of such a distant destination caught him off guard.

“Isn’t it too far?”

“Well… there’s hope there.”

“Hope?”

Aiden asked.

“Yeah. Haven’t you heard? There are remnants of the old government in LA, so there’s electricity and water, and it’s just an ordinary city with citizens, not just gang members with guns. So… like it used to be.”

The information about LA that Ella mentioned was something Aiden also knew. 

However, he never fully trusted the radio broadcast. 

While it was likely that there was a large survivor group there, considering the deployment of personnel and radio broadcasts throughout the U.S., questioning whether LA was still intact to that extent was a problem.

“…Sounds like a dream.”

So Aiden gave a vague response and changed the subject.

“Enough about LA. More importantly, where were you before coming here?”

“Me? Around Mississippi.”

Mississippi was adjacent to Arkansas, where Aiden currently was, but it was in a different direction from the south he was heading to. Still, Aiden continued.

“I plan to leave here and head south. Anything I should know?”

Ella furrowed her brow at his words.

“Are you going towards the coast? Do you know the situation there?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking now.”

“It’s hell. Damn, why are guys like you reluctantly heading towards the sea? Ships sank a long time ago, and with so many zombies, it’s even hard to dip your feet in the water now. Going there now is like committing suicide.”

It seemed that the situation along the coast of Mississippi was not favorable. So Aiden inquired about other areas.

“What about other cities? Like New Orleans?”

New Orleans, the largest city and port city in Louisiana, was Aiden’s next destination according to the information he obtained from the military base in Memphis three years ago.

However, Ella shook her head with one eye narrowed.

“It’s not good there either. A year ago, I heard from some gang guy passing by that there were tens of thousands of zombies wandering inside the city.”

“Then there’s no survivor group along the coast?”

“I’ve never heard of any. You should go at least as far as Texas to find something, right?”

It wasn’t great news. Aiden would need to gather information from other gangs to cross-verify, but if Ella’s words were true, it seemed he might need to adjust his travel route a bit to the west.

Aiden changed the direction of his questions.

“Are there any gangs or survivor groups around here that I should know about?”

“Well… if you’re looking for a somewhat sizable group in that direction, it would be Shreveport.”

Shreveport was a city about 320km southwest of Little Rock.

Although it was a bit far, it seemed like a reasonable distance to consider.

“What’s the scale exactly?”

“Much larger than the gang here. Probably over 30 000?”

30 000.

Among the survivor groups Aiden and his group had encountered so far, this was the largest in terms of size. It was worth visiting, not just for obtaining blood but also for Sadie to find a shelter.

So Aiden gathered some more information about it and soon had enough.

“…That should be enough. Now let’s check the supplies.”

Afterward, Aiden resumed his exploration.

Although there was quite a bit of medical supplies left, there weren’t as many useful ones as expected.

At best, there were a few bottles of antibiotics and anesthetic.

This was because medications also had expiration dates.

Fortunately, Aiden also secured a large number of syringes and additional antibiotics for tuberculosis.

Syringes were running low, and it was a timely supply.

The tuberculosis antibiotics were specifically for Sadie.

“…”

Aiden carefully checked the medicine bottles, just in case there were any issues.

Sadie remembered to take her medicine every day during the long journey. Thanks to that, there was no risk of tuberculosis recurrence. The medicine brought from Pittsburgh was enough for six months, so the stock was still sufficient.

However, Aiden kept these tuberculosis drugs as a kind of insurance. Even though the medicines were stored in both Sadie’s possession and the trunk of the vehicle, he wanted to be prepared in case one or both were lost.

“Is this everything?”

In contrast, Ella frowned as she looked at the medicine bottles Aiden found.

“There’s so much left. What’s piled up in this cabinet?”

“There’s nothing I can do. This is all we can use.”

“…Unbelievable.”

Ella grabbed any medicine bottle from the shelf, looking frustrated.

“What’s this, and why are you leaving it behind?”

“…It’s a typhoid vaccine. By the way, it’s expired, so don’t think about using it.”

“And this one?”

“Immunosuppressant for intravenous injection. Do you have cancer or something?”

Tutting, she soon picked up what seemed the most straightforward: a common-looking tube of ointment.

Ella opened her mouth, remembering the familiar design from the pharmacy.

“This ointment? Isn’t it used when you’re injured?”

“It’s a bit different. That’s ointment for boils. Of course, you can take it if you need it. It’s still usable.”

“This is crazy.”

Ella, who tossed the ointment carelessly, wiped her face.

If Aiden’s words were true, the items here were worth only a can of canned food.

Aiden spoke with a sigh.

“It’s the result of grabbing all sorts of medicines randomly from the hospital. Most of the truly useful items were probably used up long ago. There aren’t that many genuinely valuable items.”

After checking a few more medicines brought by Aiden, Ella finally seemed to understand.

After Aiden divided up the antibiotics and anesthetics he found, Ella looked at him with some suspicion.

“Are you giving me all of this…?”

“You did your job well.”

Aiden’s expectation for Ella’s role was the lock-picking from the beginning.

And so, having completed all the tasks, Aiden had no complaints about paying the price for the labor, especially since they were able to reach the 5th floor.

Moreover, with this level of harvest, there was no problem in supplying the materials needed to go to the next destination, Shreveport.

For Aiden, it was the best possible outcome, having achieved all the objectives.

“Let’s go now.”

Having distributed the medicine in this way, Aiden immediately left the medical storage. Meanwhile, Ella, still with lingering reluctance, gazed at the storage and belatedly followed Aiden.

Soon, the two descended to the 1st floor.

In a corner of the 1st-floor corridor, Aiden neatly stacked Ella’s weapons.

As the tasks in this place were finished, it was time to return her belongings, just like the initial agreement.

However, since Aiden hadn’t built up enough trust with Ella yet, he decided to leave her weapons in a corner of the 1st floor and planned to accompany her to the entrance.

Only after Aiden completely left the building would she be able to pick up her weapons.

“…This lured the zombies.”

During this, Aiden discovered Ella’s firecrackers.

A type of firework rather than military supplies, these items were nothing more than toys that made loud noises.

There were quite a few of them.

“If you need them, I’ll give you one.”

While Aiden was staring at it, Ella, with a smirk, spoke.

It wasn’t like she was asking for it, but there was no reason to refuse when it was offered.

Aiden took one firecracker and stood up.  Then he walked to the exit of the building with Ella, soon reaching the door.

“Well then,take care.”

Aiden said while looking at Ella.

Meeting her wasn’t that pleasant, but the brief companionship wasn’t that bad.

“If my younger brother gets better like you said.”

“…”

“Someday, when we meet again, I’ll make sure to pay the debt.”

“Do as you please.”

After exchanging a short farewell with Ella, Aiden immediately left the building.

From behind, Ella was seen going back into the corridor to retrieve her weapons.

There was no sign of her hurrying.

After picking up her weapons, the possibility of her attacking from behind after catching up to Aiden wasn’t very high.

“Then…”

Aiden hastened his steps.

Unbeknownst to him, the sun had tilted to the west.

Somewhere in the distance, the wailing sounds of zombies echoed.

* * *

The next day.

Aiden, who had completed the gang’s request, returned to the vehicle.

In his hands were gasoline, a bit of provisions, and about 2 liters of blood.

All of these were obtained through the trade with the gang using the medical supplies acquired the day before.

Aiden confirmed that everyone in the group was in the vehicle, started the engine, and the familiar and powerful engine sound reverberated as they set off on the dirty road.

They headed southwest, in the direction of Shreveport.