How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Immediately, a loud gunfire echoed.

Bullets flew at an unseen speed, hitting the barrier and bouncing off, embedding into the ground.

Watching the projectiles narrowly miss him, Anders started shouting frantically.

“Stop what you’re doing and grab your guns!”

“It’s Snuff! They’re Snuff bastards!”

“Close the barrier!”

In response to these shouts, other executives of the association also reacted.

Even in the sudden chaos, they tried to command their subordinates, providing necessary orders.

However, the enemies didn’t stop.

Another explosion rang out over the barrier’s door, which had not been fully closed after being wide open.

Fortunately, no one was swept away, but the location wasn’t favorable.

The explosion caused the door of the barrier to deform significantly, leaving it unable to close.

Repairing it would be quick, but facing the enemy with it right in front of them was not an option.

“Shit…”

With a deeply distorted face, Anders extended the muzzle of his gun towards the outside.

A short exhale calmed his trembling hand.

Then, Anders emerged from the forest and aimed at motorcycles and vehicles racing across the open field.

Bang! Bang!

Dry gunshots pierced through the driver of the motorcycle that was furthest ahead.

The vehicle running beside it was Aiden’s responsibility.

The Snuff gang’s vehicles weren’t ordinary. They reinforced the driver’s seat on all sides with steel plates, making them resemble makeshift armored vehicles.

However, Aiden aimed his gun without hesitation in that direction.

In his hand was a new rifle he had obtained from the power plant earlier today.

A German-made assault rifle with a black and angular exterior.

When Aiden pressed the trigger firmly, the 5.56mm high-velocity bullets tore through the slightly exposed glass window, unceremoniously sweeping through.

The truck, now without a driver, sharply turned its direction and came to a stop in its tracks.

“Get away from the door! Those left, climb up to the barrier!”

While continuing to target the next, Anders gave orders aloud.

Meanwhile, even in the chaos, the armed members responded to his instructions, and a few survivors who had come to invade were swept away by the pouring gunfire as they tried to enter the breached gate.

Once a minimum defensive posture was established, the Snuff gang seemed to have judged the ambush had failed. Several cars and motorcycles that were coming straight at them turned around.

At that moment, just as they seemed to be returning to the forest, the main force of the enemy finally appeared.

“What… are those guys…!”

From somewhere hidden in the forest, about 30 vehicles of various colors, revealed themselves.

Among them, two were military armored vehicles.

Seeing that they had brought such precious items, it meant that the Snuff gang had come here with strong determination.

Moreover, the rest of the vehicles were all covered with the same makeshift armor as the trucks seen a while ago.

Although they wouldn’t provide the same level of defense as armored vehicles, they could at least withstand rifle bullets.

Those enemy vehicles stopped in a line, as if drawing a defensive line.

With the cessation of the noisy gunfire, a strange standoff ensued.

Anders frowned, as if puzzled by their actions.

“What the hell are those bastards trying to do now?”

Anders’ voice carried both anger and bewilderment.

It was likely that those guys were well aware that a zombie horde of thousands was approaching this place.

By now, that monstrous horde must have entered the southern forest, which was already within the Snuff gang’s sphere of influence.

However, instead of simply fleeing from the terrifying zombie horde, they had chosen to declare war by coming here?

It was an extraordinarily innovative form of collective suicide.

If the zombie horde was frightening, all they had to do was escape.

Moreover, they, like Anders’ association, had a considerable amount of resources to give up.

“But why the hell are they doing this shit here?”

Anders couldn’t comprehend the Snuff gang’s behavior.

However, Aiden calmly responded to Anders’ dissatisfaction.

“They must have judged this to be the best option.”

“…What do you mean?”

“They can’t leave that forest. You know why those scumbags were stuck in that forest, right?”

Upon hearing this, Anders’ expression hardened.

Why the Snuff gang chose war instead of escape, it seemed like he had finally understood why.

“The Snuff gang made too many enemies.”

Aiden’s words were true.

In other words, to conquer the forest from the outside, one had to be prepared for considerable bleeding.

For this reason, the gangs in Pittsburgh considered Snuff as enemies but couldn’t easily step into that forest.

It was already a challenging world to live in.

They couldn’t afford such losses just to settle a grudge.

However, the situation had changed now.

The Snuff gang had been forced to give up the protection of the once-reliable forest.

But for the Snuff gang, the entire Pittsburgh was like a hostile territory.

Their enemies lurked without missing a spot even on the main roads leading to other cities.

They had to flee somewhere, but there was nowhere to go.

In other words, it was retribution for making too many enemies.

“So, rather than fleeing, they chose to seize a stronghold. They probably thought they could block the zombies using this barrier and resources.”

“Those idiots… Do they really think that will work?”

Anders squinted.

It was a blatant miscalculation.

Even if the cooperative handed over this stronghold, it would be impossible to stop the zombie horde that had reached four thousand.

If that happened, Anders wouldn’t have stayed behind either.

But the reason for such a miscalculation was too clear.

“They don’t conduct reconnaissance beyond the forest. They probably just fled after seeing the zombie horde coming to the forest. Perhaps those idiots don’t even know the proper number of the zombie horde, let alone the fact that mutants are mixed in.”

“Damn it…!”

Anders cursed.

In the end, foolish crazy guys were causing trouble for innocent people.

From his perspective and that of his association, it was like receiving a punishment for the sins of those idiots.

Why should they sacrifice themselves and their colleagues for the retribution of those bastards?

There was no justice or fairness.

“Anyway, there’s no time. If we get stuck here, there’s no choice but to be wiped out.”

Aiden continued his words.

Anders was also facing the fact.

“But there’s nothing we can do like this!”

Anxious, Anders bit his lip.

The fastest solution would be for the Merchant Cooperative to go out first and sweep away the Snuff gang, but that would cause too much loss of human life.

For the cooperative, which had to gather personnel and resources and leave this place, it was an unacceptable loss.

But waiting continuously was also impractical; time was too pressing.

Even at this moment, the amount of resources that could be collected in time was decreasing.

If those guys kept standing there, it was uncertain if they could even gather the minimum survival supplies.

“Michael, Emma, come here.”

So, Anders temporarily mobilized a small number of members and gave separate instructions.

With the intention of resuming the moving work, they would secretly withdraw a small advance party if possible.

The members who received Anders’ instructions nodded, and soon, they lowered the barrier and started the work.

After a while.

“It’s started.”

In the standoff situation, Snuff moved first.

Since time couldn’t be considered in their favor, impatience had grown in a situation where they couldn’t even receive protection from the barrier.

Engines roared to life in vehicles armored with steel plates.

Moreover, gang members on motorcycles next to them also raised shields without exception.

Where they had found those items, from crude shields made by sticking together pieces of steel similar to those used by past policemen to makeshift items, it was unclear.

Were they planning to advance while blocking bullets with those shields?

Watching that, Anders let out a snort.

Among the resources handled by the Merchant Cooperative, there were undoubtedly various weapons.

And among them were anti-tank weapons that could penetrate even properly armored military vehicles.

Using such shields, they had no advantage.

“They’re coming!”

Just as the engines that seemed to be boiling up echoed, the vehicles of the Snuff gang, which were hidden behind the trucks, accelerated in unison.

A moving wall made of steel began to advance.

“Shoot! Kill them all!”

At Anders’ shout, the gunfire, which had been momentarily quiet, rang out again.

The resumed battle was a full-scale confrontation between the two gangs.

Perhaps because of that, the weapon revealed among them was not just rifles.

Kudatadadadadada!

The rough gunfire struck the barrier.

The barrier shook as if it had experienced an earthquake due to the firepower that was on a different level from ordinary rifles.

Startled, Anders found the cause.

It was the action of a fixed heavy machine gun hidden behind the Snuff gang’s truck.

“Ahh!”

The gunfire erupted again, emphasizing the urgency of the situation.

In front of the formidable firepower that could spray 600 rounds per minute of 12.7mm bullets up to a maximum range of 7 km, someone finally fell from behind the barrier with a scream.

“Shit!”

Anders cursed while firing his rifle.

The head of the man who was shooting the machine gun from the truck flew off immediately, but another gang member on the truck grabbed the machine gun again.

However, the machine gun didn’t fire again.

Bang!

In the next moment, Aiden’s handheld anti-tank rocket hit the truck, exploding spectacularly.

Gagagagak!

Shrapnel from the exploded bullets hit the barrier and steel plates, scattering in all directions.

The ongoing battle continued.

Meanwhile, the damage to the Snuff gang was rapidly increasing.

Most of the bullets pouring from inside the barrier were not ordinary but reinforced with armor-piercing rounds.

Due to the enhanced penetrating power against the originally bulletproof vests, flimsy steel plates were easily penetrated.

However, the Merchant Cooperative led by Anders was also not without concern.

Perhaps they had calculated from the beginning that rifles alone couldn’t penetrate the barrier.

There wasn’t a single ordinary rifle among the weapons held by the Snuff gang.

They were armed with weapons that couldn’t be blocked by the barrier alone, such as heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, grenades, and Molotov cocktails.

Among them, the primary firepower was handled by the heavy machine guns.

When the machine guns shook the barrier with a loud gunfire, the person behind it had no choice but to put their head out, willingly or unwillingly, and would end up having their head blown off.

In between, throwers on motorcycles swiftly approached the barrier.

Afterwards, they threw grenades and Molotov cocktails through the breached gate and over the barrier.

It was a simple but effective method.

When the machine guns shook the barrier, even Anders, who had thick nerves, couldn’t easily stick his head out.

Instead, some of the members who rashly exposed their upper bodies had their heads torn off by machine gun bullets.

There was no one who didn’t feel fear watching that, and that reasonable fear created a gap.

“…”

Therefore, it was at most Aiden who calmly shot and killed the throwers. As if he didn’t feel any fear, Aiden read the trajectory of the machine gun passing over the barrier and inserted the muzzle into the gap.

Three out of five throwers collapsed in place with the ordinary gunfire.

An abandoned motorcycle exploded with grenades, breaking into small pieces.

But even so, some survived.

The grenades and Molotov cocktails they threw exploded inside the barrier, setting it on fire.

Explosions continued behind the defensive forces.

This brought a frown to Anders’ face.

The destruction of vehicles and resources at a time when they had to leave this place urgently was a serious problem.

Therefore, he made a decision.

Although it was possible to reduce casualties by dealing with the situation calmly behind the barrier, he judged that delaying time now would be more harmful.

“Kill them! Pour it all out!”

So, Anders shouted.

He immediately shot a direct-fire rocket himself, blowing up one of Snuff gang’s machine guns.

Then, he quickly brought in a heavy machine gun and fired it at the enemies.

Anders and the members, who had been cleverly responding by hiding behind the wall, quickly turned to an extreme offensive.

In a moment, more than ten heavy machine guns were set up on the barrier, spewing out bullets.

Members poured out of the wide gate.

In the tactical approach that ignored the defense, a few members died immediately after the enemy’s gunfire.

For Anders, it was a painful sacrifice, but the effect was clear.

In an instant, the guys who were swaying the battlefield like mosquitoes with motorcycles were all swept away.

The machine gunners who protected them turned into beehives under the pouring bullets, and the vehicles that were advancing like a fortress exploded one after another.

As a result,

Boom!

The last armored vehicle brought by the Snuff gang exploded.

There were no more moving vehicles.

Also, those who were riding in them turned into black ashes.

In this situation, the man who had been observing the battle from the back, the boss of the Snuff gang, along with two other members, tried to escape on a motorcycle.

Seeing them trying to escape, Anders let out a bitter laugh.

Could it be that it was their intention from the beginning?

Seeing the boss of the gang choosing to flee without hesitation, Anders could understand the reckless attack’s true purpose.

If successful, they could rebuild the gang centered around this stronghold.

Even if it failed, he could escape alone without the troublesome members.

If only three people escaped without any members, it was quite possible for them to escape the city safely.

No matter how crazy a group they were, it was an extremely cunning and despicable tactic to sell out even their own colleagues.

So, while Anders was making a fierce expression, Aiden aimed at the back of those trying to escape.

A transparent circular sight captured three figures.

Then, with an interval of about a second, dry gunshots rang out three times.

As a result, the small heads of the three people several hundred meters away tilted one after another, and they soon fell to the ground as if they were tossed aside.

Thus, the cornered Snuff gang was annihilated.

It was a pathetic end for those who had such a notorious reputation in this ruined city.