How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“Ha…”

A tense sigh escaped from Diana’s lips.

How many corpses were hiding in that black darkness?

Just counting the fallen zombies, there were easily more than ten.

But even that seemed insufficient, as the darkness below continued to spawn more zombies.

It appeared as if water was pouring in from all directions, but surprisingly, the two individuals who had descended below were holding off the zombie onslaught effectively.

Swoosh!

Arian’s machete sliced through one zombie, tearing it apart as she passed by.

To Diana’s eyes, the speed and force were simply inhuman.

Of course, it was evident yesterday that she wasn’t an ordinary person. Diana had witnessed her tearing apart a zombie with her bare hands.

She was called a vampire, right?

Although it was an unbelievable thing to accept, there was no choice but to believe it. Otherwise, how could such magical movements be possible?

On the other hand, there was another person on the battlefield with Arian.

Aiden’s movements were extremely refined, unlike Arian’s transcendental abilities. He didn’t possess such extraordinary powers.

However, his calculated movements and calmness, not flinching even when bitten by zombie teeth, were equally remarkable, perhaps even more so than Arian’s abilities.

Moreover, he hadn’t just vaguely asked Diana for cover.

He was aware of Diana’s presence, and repeatedly pushed the zombies to places where it was easy for her to shoot.

You can say he was consciously using her in the midst of chaos. Therefore, most of the zombie attacks were directed towards Aiden.

But Diana couldn’t easily shoot because Arian’s unpredictable movements made it risky to fire a gun without hitting her.

Bang!

Diana’s rifle silenced another zombie.

With each repeated shot, her hands trembled slightly.

Blocked vision, perpendicular shooting from top to bottom, and in the narrow space where one might accidentally shoot a comrade – all these factors interfered with Diana’s shooting.

As a result, an intense tension gradually overtook her body amidst this confusion.

At that moment, Aiden’s shout echoed.

“Beast!”

At those words, Diana’s face stiffened even more than before.

A Beast referred to animals infected with the zombie virus, a term that, strictly speaking, wasn’t classified as mutants. However, they were often categorized as mutants because the number of Beasts wasn’t very high.

Ordinary zombies only attacked humans. For some reason, those corpses didn’t attack animals.

So, the origin of Beasts was somewhat limited, like animals driven to infection due to hunger or self-consumption of zombie corpses, a phenomenon restricted to a few cases.

However, that wasn’t to say it didn’t exist at all, and one such Beast was hiding in this power plant.

“Krrrr…”

With a low growl, a large dog slowly emerged from the darkness.

It was the size of a person, with almost no remaining brown fur, tough muscles visible under decaying skin, and a face resembling a bulldog despite its decay.

Aiden glared at the Beast and quickly guessed its breed.

Maybe… A Mastiff-type fierce dog.

Mastiffs are a strong dog breed that was used as a fighting dog even in the ancient Roman Empire.

As zombification progressed, they became more vicious and cruel, making them a much more dangerous enemy than ordinary zombies, even dogs.

Aiden quickly turned his gun in that direction.

“Kwung!”

But the first to move was the Beast.

It stared at the shotgun’s barrel pointing towards it, then surprisingly, swiftly slipped into the gaps between the zombies.

“Tsk…!”

Aiden clicked his tongue at the sight.

Beasts or mutants usually lacked reason, but some beings were intelligent.

Unlike the zombie hordes driven by madness and appetite, this Beast, despite its twisted nature, somewhat understood the use of the tool called a gun.

Moreover, facing such opponents was several times more troublesome than dealing with regular zombies.

They wouldn’t easily fall into clumsy traps and, in some cases, could even counter with unexpected cunning.

Above all, the fact that they didn’t move according to the plan was a larger obstacle than any physical difference.

As evidence, the Beast didn’t easily enter Aiden’s shooting range.

Nothing could be seen, only the sound of the Beast’s footsteps reached their ears.

Darkness hung over them, and the zombies gathered.

And the structures around them formed barricades on all sides.

The Beast was circling the area cautiously.

“…”

Was it waiting for an opportunity rather than launching a direct attack?

Aiden quickly saw through its intentions, but he couldn’t just stay on guard.

If he remained still, the zombies would sooner or later bite into him. Therefore, Aiden had no choice but to face the zombies first.

Ultimately, the opportunity the Beast was waiting for arrived soon.

In the midst of holding off other zombies, Aiden’s shotgun, which had been scattering buckshot, finally ran out of ammunition. Aiden stepped back slightly, separating the magazine under the shotgun. He threw it on the ground and pulled out a new magazine from his pocket.

His movements were fast and precise. Aiden was so well-practiced that the quick reload was not just sufficient but almost overflowing.

So, even though several seconds passed, the time consumed wasn’t much.

“Kwung!”

At that moment, the Beast was already charging forward.

The Beast, flying like an arrow through the darkness, swiftly approached Aiden.

This was the moment the Beast had been targeting.

The reason was unknown.

But when the small ornament under its fiery stick fell off, it couldn’t attack.

This ferocious creature had only a basic understanding of guns.

It had used its shallow intelligence to prey on countless humans, devouring their meat.

And now, even as its body decayed, the robust creature’s jaw was about to claim another victim.

However, just before it could reach Aiden…

“-!”

Another figure jumped out from behind him.

It was a small human, wielding a machete in one hand, who had been with the prey holding the gun.

The Beast understood the danger of guns.

Therefore, the Beast considered small creatures holding shiny sticks behind it as unimportant.

Until now, the Beast had never felt threatened by a human who didn’t carry a gun.

But that was a clear miscalculation.

If the Beast’s intelligence were slightly higher, it might have sensed the discomfort emanating from the small girl fighting alongside a zombie holding a gun.

However, the Beast, remaining at an animal’s level, couldn’t perceive that discomfort.

It didn’t realize that the girl with the machete, who was barely holding her own next to a zombie with a gun, posed a threat.

Nevertheless, just before the creature could reach Aiden…

Clang! Gagagak!

The sharp teeth of the Beast clashed with the swiftly flying machete in mid-air.

The sound of scraping metal resonated as the creature, which had dashed in confidently, was promptly repelled.

In the meantime, Aiden, who had changed the magazine, pushed back the zombies with his shotgun and opened his mouth.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But… it got grazed. It’s probably not dead yet.”

Arian frowned as she spoke.

Her words were accurate.

The Beast’s teeth were unusually sturdy. As a result, when the machete scraped against its teeth and slid off to the side, it left a large wound from its face to the back leg.

But even so, it was undoubtedly a significant injury.

Once, it had cut through the thick skin of a Bigfoot, and now it had sliced through the Beast’s ribcage, spilling its innards.

Aiden noticed the traces of the rotten innards and stepped in that direction.

“I’ll take care of this.”

“How? What are you going to do?”

“I’ll finish it.”

The Beast had intelligence.

So, Aiden predicted that the creature wouldn’t attack further and would likely choose to escape.

Such cunning creatures shouldn’t be allowed to live.

Thud!

Aiden swung the butt of his shotgun at a zombie blocking his path.

With the retreat of the Beast and the decreasing number of zombies, Arian should be able to handle it alone.

Judging so, Aiden relied on the light attached to the end of the shotgun and walked forward.

The path he needed to take was clear.

The pieces of the Beast’s torn belly were scattered along the way, acting as his guide. Thus, piercing through the darkness, he followed the filthy traces.

Zombies blocked his path from time to time, but they didn’t try to bite him, who was giving off the same rotten smell.

The wide corridor gradually narrowed, and at the end, a door leading to a small office came into view.

Was this the den where the Beast had been staying in this dark underground space?

Aiden solidified his stance and entered.

“Krrrrrr…”

The Beast was there.

However, its injuries were more severe than Aiden had anticipated.

The front left leg, which Arian’s blade had passed through, was bent backward, and the hind leg was about to fall off.

Therefore, the Beast wasn’t able to stand properly, yet it didn’t retreat any further, perhaps realizing it had no place left to escape.

“…”

Aiden, standing in front of it, simply aimed his gun.

At that moment, the Beast leaped, and a fierce gunshot followed.

The conclusion of the futile pursuit was the end of it.

The headless body of the Beast fell to the ground.

No matter how zombified the creature was, it was an obvious death.

Having confirmed this, Aiden attempted to turn away.

However, suddenly, something caught his eye.

Something that the Beast had been sitting on glowed, reflecting the light of the flashlight.

Aiden approached and picked it up.

Its identity was a leather strap with a severed metal plate.

Unlike the leather, the attached metal plate was clean, as if something had been licking it periodically.

Engraved clearly on the clean metal plate were the three letters: Rex.

“Rex… that was its name.”

Aiden placed it on the carcass of the dead dog.

Then, without saying a word, he left the small room and closed the wide-open door.

Only silence and darkness descended on the room now that the intruder had finally disappeared.

* * *

“Are you done?”

As Aiden returned to the ladder where the battle had taken place, Arian asked.

Aiden nodded calmly, surveying the surroundings.

“It looks like things are settled here too.”

The number of scattered zombies nearby exceeded thirty.

An absurdly large number for being trapped in this lightless underground.

However, considering the entrance was in the form of a ladder leading up, it wasn’t surprising.

It had entered like rain pouring in, but it couldn’t climb back up, remaining trapped in this dark underground.

“There seem to be a few left, but not too many.”

“We can deal with them as we go. Which way?”

Arian pointed to the opposite direction of where Aiden had returned.

Aiden glanced in that direction, and suddenly, Diana, who had descended under the ladder, spoke.

“Now we can go find the treasure.”

At her words, Aiden recalled the purpose of coming here.

There was undoubtedly a weapons storage.

At that moment, Diana, looking at the bruises on Arian’s body, spoke.

“Arian, are you hurt?”

“Huh? Oh, this is nothing. It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal…”

Diana mumbled with a complex expression.

Even a minor injury from a zombie could be fatal. So, she seemed concerned about Arian’s wound, but Arian had nothing to worry about in that regard.

“Just wait a bit.”

Even so, Diana took out a bandage and wrapped it around the injured area.

She had seemed quite friendly, having saved Arian’s life yesterday.

Aiden looked around.

Though buried in darkness, this underground facility was quite large.

The traces of gangs lingering here were still vivid.

It seemed that there had been almost no one entering and leaving this place during that time.

If that was the case… Maybe, besides weapons, there could be other gains.

Judging so, Aiden looked at Arian and asked.

“Do you sense anything other than weapons?”

“Something else?”

“Yeah, for example… the smell of chemicals or something.”

At his question, Arian, who had wrapped one arm with a bandage, nodded.

“Yeah, it feels like there’s something similar nearby.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yeah. The smell of gunpowder is coming from somewhere close.”

Perfect timing.

Thinking so, Aiden resumed his move.

Even though zombies appeared sporadically, as Arian had said, their numbers weren’t that great.

Thus, they safely reached the armory.

“This is…”

“Wow! It’s more incredible than I thought!”

As Aiden’s words trailed off, Diana exclaimed in awe.

One room was filled with various weapons.