How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“There was a Bigfoot?”

“Yeah. This is the evidence.”

Aiden pulled out a fist-sized yellowish rock in front of Anders.

It was Bigfoot’s tooth.

Bigfoot’s unparalleled toughness, which could chew through zombies’ bodies and bones, was commonly used as evidence in Bigfoot hunting.

Anders frowned as he looked at the tooth.

“Bigfoot…”

“Do you know anything?”

“Yeah. I heard stories recently that Bigfoot was sighted nearby. In the residential area near the graveyard, to be precise.”

Aiden could quickly guess where that residential area was.

“Chetonville?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Did you see it too?”

“I saw the traces.”

It was the place he had passed with Arian yesterday.

It seemed like there were zombies gathered everywhere, and perhaps it was the mischief of Bigfoot.

While thinking about that, Anders continued speaking.

“But why did that creature head south? There’s nothing there.”

Bigfoot, which eats both zombies and humans, instinctively moves towards areas abundant with prey.

In that sense, if Bigfoot had moved, the direction should be towards the west or east, where there were other residential areas. There was no reason to go south, where the road led to an empty area.

But the strange thing wasn’t just Bigfoot.

“It’s the same with trappers. They were also abandoning their nests and heading south.”

“Really?”

Anders thought with his chin in his hand.

But the speculations emerging weren’t particularly extraordinary.

“Strange. Is it an earthquake?”

“An earthquake?”

“Yeah, before an earthquake happens, animals sense it and evacuate, right?”

Aiden shook his head in response to that statement without much consideration and changed the subject.

“What about the south? Is there something there?”

“South? Well… I haven’t heard anything. Well, at best, I heard stories that a few guys went to the junk shop and never came back.”

“Junk  shop?”

“Yes. I assigned them a delivery job to Morgantown. There’s a gang there that trades with us.”

Morgantown is a city about 100 km away from Pittsburgh.

Aiden had heard that there was a fairly large gang there.

However, they were quite exclusive, so Aiden wasn’t particularly interested in them.

Was it possible that they were already dealing with them?

Aiden admired Anders’s cleverness and urged him to continue.

“But those guys haven’t come back yet. It’s been a while, so something might have happened. Well, I didn’t care much because it happened often due to those Snuff guys…”

Anders tapped the table a few times with his finger.

“We should send someone to investigate in detail. Do you think so too?”

As Anders said, Aiden also thought so.

He added a detailed explanation to the report because he judged that it was necessary to investigate.

Aiden nodded.

“Okay, leave that to me.”

Anders naturally accepted the request for investigation.

It wasn’t just a simple act of goodwill.

If there really was something happening in the south. Among the two of them here, Anders, who led the gang, had much to lose.

Satisfied, Aiden changed the topic.

“Then let’s talk about the reward.”

“I think I know what you’re going to say. You caught Bigfoot, so you want a little extra, right?”

“First, I used up the armor-piercing bullets. Those need to be replenished. And we need blood too.”

Anders nodded at the request.

He was one of the few people who knew why Aiden needed blood.

Then Aiden pointed quietly at Arian, who was sitting silently.

“I also hope you can get some clothes for this woman.”

“Clothes? Well, more than that…”

In response to the clothing request, Arian grumbled discontentedly to Aiden.

It meant she wanted blood first.

But Aiden shook his head, and Arian turned her face with a frown.

Watching the interesting scene, Anders asked Aiden.

“Do you have a preferred style?”

“…Why are you asking me that?”

With a mischievous smile, Anders, who seemed to be teasing Aiden, gave orders to his subordinates.

Soon, they guided Arian to an area where clothes were gathered and moved away.

Three members, holding rifles and keeping an eye on Arian, moved away.

The possibility was extremely low.

At this level, even if Arian suddenly changed her mind and attacked people, she would be subdued quickly.

“Huh… Anyway, she’s a woman who has nothing to do with you.”

Meanwhile, Anders sighed and said. Aiden, with a puzzled look, opened his mouth.

“You’ve been saying that since earlier.”

“I know. So I’m relieved.”

“What’s there to be relieved about?”

“Well, think about it. If an outstanding trader and my lifesaver turned out to be a pedophile… how should I have reacted? Huh?”

Clearly, Arian’s appearance was at most that of a late teenager.

Of course, it was only judged by her appearance, and her actual age couldn’t be known.

Anyway, if a man like Aiden really introduced Arian as his lover, he would inevitably face such humiliation.

“What a crappy worry.”

Aiden frowned inside his helmet.

Once upon a time, he had a fiance, and the memories were quite unpleasant for him.

“Stop talking bullshit and bring the reward.”

Aiden urged Anders with a low voice.

Anders began to put various types of ammunition in front of him.

* * *

And a little later.

“Phew, now I feel alive.”

Arian, who gulped down about half of the blood in a 500ml plastic bottle as if it were mineral water, said so.

Aiden had given Arian blood after leaving the outer wall of the cooperative.

Walking down the quiet road, Aiden spoke as he looked at Arian.

“It’s unexpected.”

“What is?”

“That clothing.”

The clothes Arian was currently wearing were very ordinary – a hoodie and jeans.

Aiden’s expectation, based on her initially wearing a long black dress, completely missed the mark, as he thought she might choose something similar.

“Do you think I’m wearing these clothes because I like them?”

“Was there a reason?”

“There was a protective barrier blocking vampire tracking there. But it’s gone now, as time has passed.”

“…I didn’t know.”

There was no way for him to know. Aiden, who didn’t want to think deeply about it, quickly changed the subject.

“But… you seem to behave more quietly than I thought. Is it because you can’t drink blood?”

“I can’t say it’s not because of that, but that’s not the only reason.”

Suddenly, a scornful smile crossed Arian’s lips.

“I roughly knew what you were thinking.”

“Hmm…”

Aiden brought Arian here to test her.

A vampire that drinks human blood. What kind of reaction would she show when seeing a human?

In simple terms, Aiden was testing Arian’s sociability.

“Why, did you think I would go crazy and jump around just by seeing a human?”

“Isn’t it a common story? Even zombies are like that.”

“But you’re a zombie.”

However, ultimately, Arian passed the test.

Although she might be hiding her true nature, knowing how to hide it was crucial. In this world, even though it might be an exaggeration, the difference between zombies and humans was only that much.

“So… what are we going to do now? Got a new request?”

“No.”

In response to Arian’s question, Aiden shook his head.

There were no requests to handle immediately.

For Aiden, it was a quite common occurrence to have these gaps in between.

But, of course, he couldn’t afford to waste this time idly.

“Today, I’m going to look for supplies.”

“Supplies?”

“Yeah. Food, water, or medicine. I’m just looking for something useful. You don’t have to follow. It’s a task with no significant meaning other than being dangerous,” Aiden said.

In fact, compared to dealing with Bigfoot, this was by no means a dangerous task.

But he found Arian’s presence bothersome.

If only Aiden moved, he could use the motorcycle, and ordinary zombies could be easily ignored like shields.

However, if Arian followed, that wouldn’t be possible.

So, he hoped that Arian would rest comfortably at the hideout.

“What are you talking about? Of course, I have to go.”

Disregarding his hope, Arian responded.

Aiden clicked his tongue softly.

It couldn’t be helped. It was part of the contract.

So, Aiden headed to downtown Pittsburgh with Arian.

* * *

A few days later.

Aiden was welcoming a quiet morning after a long time.

Arian, the vampire who used the adjacent room, was no longer there.

Because the promised five days had already passed.

On the morning of the sixth day, just yesterday, Aiden asked her to leave. Arian willingly accepted the request and went somewhere.

“…”

Traces of the experiments he had conducted until yesterday remained on the desk.

Ultimately, Arian, or the vampire’s blood, was of no significant help to Aiden.

Although the vampire’s blood didn’t contaminate the bodily fluids of zombies, it wasn’t because it had special immunity.

Rather, it was because the vampire’s blood was fundamentally different from human blood.

Arian’s blood didn’t mix with either human or zombie blood, and they didn’t corrupt each other. Although he couldn’t analyze the components without proper equipment, it was clear that Arian’s blood had completely separate components from human and zombie blood.

This also meant, in other words, that Arian, as she claimed, couldn’t turn humans into vampires. Still, the lack of results was regrettable.

“…Well, can’t be helped.”

He stood up from the creaking bed.

The old bed shook and squeaked.

As usual, Aiden packed his bag and left the room. And he refueled his motorcycle with the gas he had found a few days ago, starting the engine.

Vroom!

The long-missed engine sound burst out again.

As if it was mocking him, the noise, sounding like it was saying, ‘Why are you here only now?’ Aiden, listening to the noise, loaded his bag onto the motorcycle and got on.

And he sped off again.

The refreshing morning air of spring fluttered his white coat.

During the usual ride, various thoughts naturally crossed his mind. One of those thoughts was this.

Where could Arian have gone?

A question Aiden was secretly already halfway sure of the answer.

It was none other than the Merchant Cooperative.

In Aiden’s eyes, that place was the most suitable organization for Arian to join in Pittsburgh.

There were various reasons for this, but above all, that place had a lot of blood.

The gang members of the Merchant Cooperative numbered around 200, a figure that could easily handle the amount of blood required for Arian’s survival and combat needs.

Moreover, from the cooperative’s perspective, Arian could be an excellent asset.

She possessed physical abilities close to that of mutant zombies, and she wasn’t infected by the virus.

With such capabilities, she could likely contribute significantly to the cooperative and quickly rise to a leadership position.

So, the cooperative and Arian were undoubtedly excellent partners in mutual coexistence.

Aiden didn’t bring Arian there just to test her social skills. He had done so with the consideration of facilitating Arian’s easy integration into the cooperative, a small kindness on Aiden’s part.

That was Aiden’s perspective.

“Why are you here?”

He hadn’t expected to encounter Arian today.

He headed towards a quiet shopping district. It was the hiding place of the small survivor group who had asked Rebecca and Diana for antibiotics for a child.

However, in that place now…

“Why? Can’t I be here?”

Arian, who Aiden had sent away just yesterday morning, was shamelessly guarding the entrance.