How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“…”

The residential area where Aiden entered was surprisingly open, considering the many houses gathered there.

A wide yard with no fences on either side lay on both sides of the road.

Moreover, except for a few trees, the place was covered with overgrown weeds, offering an unobstructed view for Aiden.

“Hmm…”

As he walked towards such a residential area, he naturally peered into the abandoned interiors of the houses.

Originally painted in various colors, the two-story houses had all turned uniformly gray.

Inside the broken windows, a clutter of miscellaneous items was scattered. Most of the cabinets and such were open, showing signs of being rummaged through multiple times.

It was probably the result of the survivor group here conducting resource searches multiple times.

Aiden quickly scanned one such house and continued walking.

The vacant residential area extended for a long time.

For a while, it was quiet, as if no zombies or humans were around.

The only things moving were the weeds and leaves swaying in the wind.

The sense of crisis that had attacked a little while ago now felt like a dream.

However, when Aiden entered the center of the residential area.

“…”

The sight of a figure standing alone in one corner of a yard brought Aiden back to reality.

It was a zombie.

Aiden opened the visor of his helmet and approached the zombie.

The creature quickly noticed Aiden’s presence but turned its head away after seeing the decaying flesh.

While the zombie ignored Aiden, he stared intently at the object hanging on the zombie’s back.

It was carrying a rifle.

The barrel was rusted, perhaps left neglected for a long time.

However, aside from that, Aiden was concerned about the presence of the rifle and the zombie’s location.

Now, it wasn’t far from the university where the survivor group had stayed.

But a zombie with a rifle seen here… it seemed like an ominous sign, as if implying a grim ending.

Upon this realization, Aiden briefly licked his lips and quickened his pace.

The number of visible zombies gradually increased.

The barely long residential street ended, and the university site, which resembled a wide plain, appeared.

“Tsk…”

Elon University.

Aiden clicked his tongue as he looked at the place that was once called that.

Until he visited a year ago, the place resembled a small fortress with walls erected here and there between the buildings.

But now one side of the wall was completely gone.

Also, inside there were several zombies similar to those  he had seen a moment ago, staring into space.

Aiden frowned, as the miserable scene looked very similar to the last appearance of the merchant cooperative he had seen in Pittsburgh.

Aiden stepped onto the barricade lying on the ground and entered the university grounds.

Immediately, a horde of dozens of zombies came into sight.

This much was left unattended outside the building… It was a considerable number.

If one were to count the entire university grounds, it would probably be at least in the hundreds.

At this rate, the fate of the survivor group that had been here was obvious without thinking.

The cause was unknown, but they had ultimately collapsed.

“…”

What should he do now?

A dilemma crossed Aiden’s mind.

If the survivor group in Canton was gone, there was no reason for Aiden’s group to stay in this city.

But even so, he couldn’t leave the city right away.

The sun would set in a few hours.

It was too late to head to another city at this hour. So, whether he liked it or not, they had to stay in Canton today.

In that case… it might be good to explore the remaining resources.

Having reached this conclusion, Aiden passed by the zombies and entered the university grounds.

Without realizing it, a pistol was now held in his hand.

Among the various buildings on the grounds, Aiden, recalling past memories, headed for the warehouse where the survivor group used to store supplies.

The location was the library in the center of the university grounds.

Once a place where humanity’s knowledge was stored, now reduced to being used as a warehouse.

However, the zombie guarding the entrance to that warehouse was a familiar face.

“Avery Roberts…”

She was once the leader of the survivors here.

Was she unable to escape when the crisis hit this place?

It wasn’t anything strange.

She was one of the personalities who could be trusted, as Aiden evaluated her.

So, she probably tried to face the danger for the group she led, and this was the result.

“…Good people always seem to die first.”

Muttering bitterly, Aiden slowly drew his dagger.

A short sigh escaped his lips.

It wasn’t necessary, and it wasn’t a meaningful task, but Aiden was trying to take what they had left behind.

So, at the very least, it seemed appropriate to offer them some kind of repayment.

With that thought in mind, Aiden promptly thrust his dagger into the zombie’s jaw.

“Ki-“

The lifeless body of Avery Roberts, along with the dagger, fell silent.

Aiden propped her against the library wall, making sure she wouldn’t move anymore, and turned away.

“…Excuse me.”

After dealing with Avery Roberts’s remains, Aiden entered the library.

It wasn’t a place where a significant amount of supplies had been stored from the beginning.

Because they preferred not to engage in combat, the group mainly focused on exploration, and resources were never abundant.

Perhaps because of that.

“There’s not much to salvage.”

Aiden murmured with a slight complaint after circling the library.

The small amount of food in the corner had decayed long ago, and there was no sign of medication.

Moreover, there were no weapons left, not even a single bullet.

Perhaps… someone had already been here.

Maybe it was the work of someone among those who were here.

Of course, there was still a harvest.

He found a bottle of purification tablets near the decaying food.

With just this, contaminated water could become drinkable, so it wasn’t a meager harvest at all.

However, the fact that Aiden couldn’t see any of the items he needed made him uneasy.

“…It can’t be helped.”

After searching once more and finding nothing, Aiden gave up any lingering hope and left.

It was already time for the sunset.

Now he had to find a temporary shelter to spend the night.

That’s why Aiden returned to the vehicle with his group.

He traversed the long residential area, retracing his steps.

There were no apparent threats along the way.

However.

“That’s…!”

When he returned to the car, unexpected guests were present.

Two elderly people, whose names were unknown, were approaching the vehicle, aiming their guns inside.

Aiden quickly hid in the shadows of a building, aiming his gun at one of the old people.

Whether to pull the trigger or not, a moment of hesitation crossed his mind.

Even if he killed one and immediately took down the next, it would take at least a few seconds. During that time, the other could open fire towards the vehicle.

Moreover, there might be other enemies hiding in unseen places.

So… what should he do?

The dilemma didn’t last long.

Aiden’s finger caught the trigger.

Despite numerous uncertainties, he judged that combat was unavoidable in this situation.

He had no choice but to trust Arian at this moment.

Aiden aimed at the standing old man in the direction where Sadie was sitting, and just before the gun fired…

The door of the car creaked open, and someone approached the old man.

It was… Antonio.

* * *

After Aiden got out of the vehicle, Antonio Romani sat in silence for a while.

The one accompanying him in the car was a girl and an even younger girl than her.

Individuals of an age that was rarely seen in this world.

So, under normal circumstances, Antonio would have initiated a conversation out of curiosity, but now he was deeply tense.

“…”

It was because of the girl with red eyes.

Her name was Arian, right?

At a glance, she looked like a well-made doll, surprisingly beautiful.

However, Antonio felt an indescribable uneasiness from her.

The reason was unknown to him.

Just staring into those red eyes made his heart waver.

He was just anxious.

And that anxiety grew endlessly, ultimately turning into fear.

It was a strange phenomenon.

Looking back, feeling such emotions towards a girl ten years younger than himself was almost ridiculous. But if he were to look into those eyes again, he would become a herbivore standing in front of a lion.

Was it some kind of mental illness from recent hardships?

Antonio let out a small sigh at his strange state.

Then, through the rearview mirror, he glanced at Arian in the back seat.

“…!”

He froze in place.

For some reason, her eyes in the mirror were already fixed on him.

“Do you have something to say?”

Arian asked Antonio as if scolding him.

Had she noticed him checking her movements a while ago?

In response, Antonio hesitated and stammered awkwardly.

Was she possibly reading all the thoughts he had just entertained?

With baseless worries creeping in, he quickly brought up any topic he could.

“Have you two also come from Pittsburgh?”

Arian raised an eyebrow at his words.

It might have been too polite for such a young person, but neither Arian nor Antonio paid much attention to that.

With a slight sense of relief, Antonio continued speaking.

“Why did you decide to leave?”

To this question, Arian chuckled.

“Decide? What are you talking about?”

Even in the face of Arian’s sarcasm, Antonio smiled as if he didn’t understand.

Then, Arian slightly furrowed her brow.

“Are you seriously clueless?”

“Clueless? What do you mean?”

“You really don’t know?”

Antonio listened as Arian briefly explained what had happened in Pittsburgh yesterday.

That a zombie horde of up to 4 000 had overrun the city.

And as a result, the city had become doomed.

“Is that… really true?”

“Why would I make up something like that?”

“…”

Antonio couldn’t say anything in response to that.

The answer to the question he had haphazardly thrown to avoid suspicion exceeded his imagination.

At the same time, a complex emotion welled up within him.

He already regretted leaving Pittsburgh fervently. However, if Arian’s words were true, even that regret became meaningless.

So… what should he and his companions have done?

While he was throwing such a futile question.

Suddenly, Arian’s expression hardened.

“…Someone is coming. Sadie, hide.”

Antonio, alerted by Arian’s sudden words, looked around cautiously, and Sadie calmly hid under the seat.

Finally revealing themselves were two elderly people.

One was a grandfather with pure white hair, and the other was a grandmother with light blond hair.

However, what they held in their hands was an incredibly menacing shotgun.

“…”

Arian narrowed her eyes as she looked at them.

Their intentions were still unclear.

The intentions of those old people were still unknown.

But she now knew roughly what kind of place this world was. A place where you kill someone for just a sip of water, and several people to get a piece of bread.

Moreover, the condition of the old people in Arian’s eyes wasn’t that good.

The skin was flaky and cracked, and the arms were dry. The nutritional status may not be that good.

If so, were they still targeting supplies?

No, actually, their intentions didn’t matter.

Because now that those old people’s weapons were pointed in this direction, remaining still wasn’t an option.

“…You’re here.”

At that moment, Arian’s muttered words briefly shifted her gaze to another place.

She noticed the return of Aiden at that precise moment.

Aiden, confirming the intruders on both sides of the vehicle, immediately hid in the shadow of a building. Then he pulled out a gun.

It was clearly aimed at the old man on the side where Sadie was sitting.

“…”

Seeing Aiden’s actions, Arian grabbed the door handle.

At the moment Aiden’s gun fired, to deal with the remaining person.

But at that moment, Antonio moved.

“Uncle Victor?”

He suddenly opened the car door.

In response to his abrupt action, Arian was astonished.

The old man’s gun quickly turned towards him.

“Put the gun away! It’s me, Antonio!”

Antonio shouted in panic.

At that, the expressions of the two elderly people holding the gun changed.