How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“…Are you okay?”

Aiden spoke as he looked at Rebecca’s group, each carrying their bags and stepping out onto the street.

Arian, Rebecca, Diana, and even the young girl Sadie were carrying bags almost as big as their bodies.

The loads were too large for easy movement.

“I’m fine!”

Sadie cheerfully responded to that question.

Fortunately, the way to the city wasn’t too far, taking about 50 minutes on foot.

But… still, it wasn’t a city to be out in the middle of the night.

Carrying such large bags while wandering around, not knowing where mutants might be hiding, was ridiculously dangerous.

“You were the one who told me to pack enough weapons.”

Meanwhile, Arian responded nonchalantly to Aiden’s concern.

And she was right.

Considering the upcoming battle, the supplies they had, including the ones Aiden had, were insufficient.

They needed more ammunition and more explosives.

The contradiction wrinkled Aiden’s forehead.

“…I’ll carry this.”

“Oh…!”

Without saying a word, Aiden took Sadie’s bag into one hand.

There was a large bag behind him,  but the body of a zombie that knew no fatigue could easily handle the bag Sadie was carrying.

“I can carry it, too.”

“…It’s okay.”

“Um… Thank you, mister.”

Sadie bowed her head, perhaps judging that Aiden wouldn’t return the bag quickly.

But Sadie didn’t stay still.

After receiving part of her mother’s load, she resolutely continued walking.

Watching this, Diana spoke.

“But do we really need so many weapons? Couldn’t we just hide?”

“Hiding is, of course, the best option, but it might be difficult.”

Aiden conveyed the situation of the cities where the zombie hordes had passed, as told by Anders.

Morgantown, where a gang of a thousand once stayed, and Uniontown, where small gang factions gathered.

However, no survivors were found in any of them.

It was strange.

All gangs wouldn’t have armed themselves against such a large zombie horde.

Surely, someone would have tried to escape, and someone would have hidden in deep underground bunkers.

Yet no survivors were found anywhere.

From then on, Aiden felt something was off.

And since hearing about mutants mixed in with the zombie hordes, he was almost certain.

A zombie horde could have a way to track survivors in the city.

It wasn’t surprising; among the mutants he knew, there were those who could find hidden humans using their sense of smell.

If such a mutant was mixed in, simply hiding in a high building or going underground wouldn’t be enough to escape the zombies’ notice.

“Does that mean…”

“We need to be prepared for a fight.”

The expressions of Rebecca and Diana darkened at his words.

Facing a zombie horde that numbered over 4 000, they understood too well how dangerous and reckless this battle was.

But Aiden continued to move forward without saying anything else.

Only the chilly wind blew in the darkened street.

The group soon passed through the small shopping district where the hideout was and reached a bridge along the river.

Liberty Bridge.

It was one of many bridges connecting the north and south of Pittsburgh, a bridge with a four-lane road directly connecting to the once bustling downtown.

As much as zombies coming out of the city could be easily witnessed there, tonight, the bridge over the river was eerily stagnant.

The concrete underneath was covered with all sorts of debris and wrecked cars, and the river flowed like a murky liquid.

While a storm was approaching the city, only the bright moon peacefully sailed in the water.

“…It’s too quiet.”

Aiden murmured as he looked at it.

The night was so dangerous that even Aiden wouldn’t think of wandering around.

Yet, so far, the group had only encountered a few ordinary zombies.

It was strange, but it wasn’t just luck.

“As expected, the dangerous ones have all moved south, haven’t they?”

This gap was all because the zombie horde had called in surrounding mutants.

It had become a tidal wave that swept through the city.

It was an obvious tragedy, but at least there were no big obstacles in the path they had to take.

“But we still can’t completely relax. But… it’s better to hurry.”

Aiden spoke, conscious of the gradually approaching explosions.

After crossing Liberty Bridge directly, the group followed Aiden’s lead into a hotel building in the middle of the city.

It was a building with a majestic exterior facing a small square that had turned into ruins.

“Let’s make this our base.”

Aiden pointed to the temporary base he had chosen, and Arian looked up at it.

The original tan exterior was covered in dust, resembling a site of ruins, and most of the lower-floor glass windows were shattered.

However, despite that, the building’s foundation was still solid. Apart from minor decorations, the damage to the building was relatively minimal.

Additionally, the building had 25 floors.

While not exceptionally tall compared to other downtown buildings, it was sufficiently high to serve as a base for the night.

“Have you checked the interior?”

“I went in about three months ago. There weren’t any significant issues.”

Arian nodded in agreement with Aiden’s words.

There was no reason to dispute, and the others felt the same.

The group entered the building immediately.

“Kiik!”

Zombies lingering in the lobby reacted to the group at the entrance.

However, Arian and Aiden, who were already aware of the zombies’ presence from outside, quickly subdued them.

In the now silent hotel lobby, Arian looked at Aiden.

“If we make this our base, are we going to block this entrance?”

“No, leave it here. We’ll use the building from the 20th floor.”

In the end, it was a discussion about occupying only a few upper floors rather than the entire building.

Given the small number of people, it was a wise decision.

Continuing, Aiden and Rebecca’s group busily moved.

First, Aiden and Arian searched and cleared the space from the 20th floor to the rooftop, dealing with the zombies inside the hotel.

“Kii!”

The interior was soon cleared.

It was partly due to Arian’s unique sense quickly finding hidden zombies.

And it was also because the mutants had left, leaving only ordinary zombies behind.

After Aiden finished cleaning, Rebecca, Diana, and even Sadie were busy creating a barricade at the emergency stairs.

They piled up furniture in hotel rooms to create it.

“What about the opposite side?”

“We roughly set up the framework there too.”

The emergency stairs in the hotel were at both ends of the corridor.

The width was about three meters, and as befitting a luxury hotel, even the emergency stairs had a spacious and luxurious atmosphere.

But having such a wide staircase wasn’t entirely a good thing.

It wasn’t easy to build a barricade, and that also meant that several zombies could rush in at once.

However, it wasn’t all downsides.

The part of the wall on the opposite side of the entrance was entirely made of glass, which was a significant advantage.

It wasn’t bulletproof glass, so there was some concern about it shattering if shot at, but it was enough to push back the zombies pressed against the broken glass wall.

“I’ll help too.”

Aiden and Arian immediately joined the work.

Soon, the barricade rose to chest height for an adult, presenting a reasonably realistic appearance.

If zombies stood below the staircase, only their heads would be visible.

Next, Aiden divided the group into two teams.

One staircase was entrusted to Arian and Diana, while the other was taken by Aiden and Rebecca.

In addition, Sadie, who was unsuitable for combat, was allowed to stay in the hotel’s penthouse suite.

Just in case something happened, they informed her about the route to the rooftop.

“Don’t hesitate to use the lights. If it seems like the barricade might break, don’t hesitate to blow it up. Also, I’ve set up claymores on the upper floors, so head in that direction first…”

Finally, Aiden provided combat instructions to Diana and Arian.

And as he passed through the long corridor again, heading towards the opposite staircase, Aiden touched the door of a room along the way.

Originally, it would have been an elegant wooden door, but now it opened with a creepy creak, emitting an unsettling sound like that of a haunted house.

“…”

What he wanted to confirm there was the view outside.

Although it was a downtown area with other high-rise buildings, the view to the south from this building was wide open.

However, the cityscape buried in darkness was only dark.

Only the rooftop of the building was touched by moonlight.

The streets below were hidden in shadows, unreachable by sight.

Just the occasional flashes of flames and gunshots within indicated the presence of someone there.

There, Aiden took out a night vision scope obtained from the power plant.

The view, originally pitch-black, turned green, and the darkness revealed what had been hidden.

“Tsk…”

As expected, more than half of the view was filled with zombies.

From all three bridges visible in his field of view, including Liberty Bridge that Aiden crossed, zombies were present.

Among them, one of the bridges attracted Aiden’s attention.

An adult man and woman were crossing the bridge.

They witnessed numerous zombie hordes chasing them and desperately ran.

Unable to cross the bridge and getting cornered, they soon found themselves surrounded by zombies, invisible within the swarm.

The dismal scene wasn’t the only thing.

Not far from the hotel, a five-story building was swarmed by zombies like a pack of rabid dogs.

Then, shortly after, flames and explosions erupted from the top floor.

After that, it became eerily quiet.

Such a tragedy was unfolding throughout the entire city swallowed by the zombie horde.

Unlike Aiden’s group, who hastily fortified their position upon hearing the warning, these people had been engulfed by the zombie horde without any preparation.

Though they had persevered for three years, they crumbled easily in the face of this colossal disaster.

They made noises only a few gunshots and explosions would make in the darkness, and soon, heavy silence prevailed.

“…Strange.”

Aiden murmured as he observed the city.

While there was a sense of regret for the dying survivors in his mind, he was more focused on the collective movement of the zombies.

The zombies weren’t moving randomly; there was a clear pattern.

First, even if no one was visible, they entered every building.

And if there were people inside, they devoured them, otherwise, they casually exited the building.

Once a building had been searched, they didn’t go back inside.

For some reason, their progress seemed slow, but they weren’t just trampling through the city.

They were systematically seeking out hidden people, killing them, and doing so with an unbelievably organized movement for creatures labeled as zombies.

Upon this realization, Aiden narrowed his eyes.

If they had come this far, there must be a presence capable of gathering and controlling mutant zombies, perhaps even commanding them.

If that was the case… it might be another mutant.

If so, it would likely be the most challenging one Aiden had encountered.

“…”

That was as far as his thoughts went.

Aiden holstered his night vision scope and turned back.

Zombies that had just arrived at the front of the hotel were now rushing inside.

“They’re coming. Their movements are different from ordinary zombies. Seems like they’re moving under some kind of command. Be careful.”

Aiden’s low voice echoed in the quiet corridor.

Instead of an answer, the only sound was the click of Rebecca’s determined face, staring down the stairs with a rifle in hand.

“Kiiie…”

In the distance, the sounds of corpses crying were heard.

Upon this, Aiden also quietly raised his weapon.

And finally, behind the barricade, he checked the usable weapons laid out.

Adequate ammunition, grenades, and even claymores for precaution had been set up.

But even this level of preparation was woefully inadequate.

If only there was a little more time, they could have created defenses on each floor.

While Aiden pondered such regret, the distant sounds were much closer now. The rhythmic footsteps of the zombies were distinctly heard.

And finally-

“Kiiiik!”

A zombie revealed itself in front of the barricade.

The creature suddenly stopped in front of the impromptu obstacle.

An ordinary zombie with no special features.

Eventually, it made eye contact with Aiden beyond the flimsy barricade.

“…”

After the moment of silence, its dull eyes passed by Aiden as if he weren’t there.

It didn’t show any hostility towards Aiden.

However, that didn’t mean the creature remained still.

“Kiaaa!”

Suddenly, the zombie screamed.

Its rotten eyes focused not on Aiden but on the makeshift barricade blocking its path.

Bang!

The zombie, glowing, slammed into the barricade as if its way forward lay beyond it.

As if the path it had to take was right in front.

Rebecca, hiding behind the barricade, was startled and swallowed hard.

Upon this, Aiden raised the rifle he had been holding.

Once again, combat seemed inevitable.

Bang!

The bullet pierced through the zombie’s head.

The headless corpse tumbled backward, rolling down the stairs.

“Kik…!”

That was the signal.

Upon hearing the gunshot, the assembled corpses all looked at the headless body.

And their gazes collectively turned upward.

“Kiaaaaa!”

Zombies that were muttering on the lower floor, with a scream, began to climb the stairs.