How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

After concluding the deal with Anders, Aiden’s destination was his hideout.

A 5-story apartment on the outskirts of Pittsburgh.

Aiden, briefly looking up at the shabby exterior, stepped into the quiet entrance.

It had been several hours since he left this hideout.

While Aiden had multiple purposes for his outings, one of them was… to buy time. 

Ever since he realized that Arian was a presence different from what he expected, he naturally considered distancing himself from her.

Of course, Arian’s utility had not diminished. Even though she wasn’t a zombie or a human, Aiden was still quite interested in Arian’s immunity that could withstand the zombie virus.

However, despite that, Aiden eventually decided to give up on Arian.

It was due to the inexplicable ability that Arian possessed. Aiden didn’t feel confident about restraining someone who could use such magical abilities.

So, Aiden, aware that Arian’s restraints were loose, intentionally left her alone during his absence.

During the few hours he was away, he hoped Arian would find a way to break free from the chains and leave quietly.

The reason why he didn’t release her directly and choose such a way was simple.

By doing so, Aiden could avoid the risk of a direct confrontation with Arian.

Moreover, it seemed like the safest option for both of them, as this intentional play would be secure from both perspectives.

“…”

Still, Aiden quietly took out his gun as he climbed the stairs to the second floor.

He couldn’t be certain if the result of this amateurish play would go as planned.

Was there a guarantee that Arian, now freed, would gracefully leave?

On the contrary, she might hold a grudge against him for confining her, and it was entirely possible that she might be hiding somewhere in this hideout, ready to attack him.

So, Aiden climbed to the third floor without letting his guard down.

He still didn’t sense any signs of movement nearby.

The doors of the empty rooms also showed no signs of being opened.

And this was true for the fourth floor as well.

Now, only the fifth floor, where Aiden and Arian resided, remained.

Did she leave quietly, or is she confidently waiting for him on the fifth floor, as if she has nothing to hide?

With these thoughts in mind, Aiden opened the door to the fifth floor where he had stayed and where Arian had been confined.

“…”

He frowned at the completely unexpected sight.

Arian was still there.

However, she wasn’t in a combat stance ready to attack him. Instead, she was rolling on the floor with the chair to which she had been tied.

“Ugh…”

Arian moaned with her face buried in the ground.

The chains that Aiden hadn’t released were still binding her.

It seemed like she had attempted to escape, but only the chair was broken, and she had failed miserably.

Observing her pitiful appearance, Aiden, without even aiming the gun, spoke first.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh…?”

Upon hearing Aiden’s voice, Arian slowly turned her head, still groggy.

Seeing her worm-like movements, a hollow laugh escaped Aiden’s lips.

Perhaps he had overestimated Arian.

“You came? Hey! Untie this quickly!”

Seeing Aiden, Arian shouted impatiently, embarrassed by her own mistake.

An unusual sense of urgency could be felt in her tone.

So, Aiden asked:

“What’s going on?”

“Just untie me if you’re going to! Quickly!”

“I can’t do that.”

Though Aiden had already lowered his evaluation of Arian by a step or two, he still wasn’t willing to release her easily.

Regardless of his expectations, she was still a threat.

But after listening to Arian’s continued plea, his determination wavered significantly.

“I… I need to go to the bathroom!”

“…”

Aiden didn’t know, but Arian’s situation was serious.

Embarrassment, confusion, and a mixture of shame were evident on her face.

To anyone who saw it, it was the expression of a desperate girl trying to maintain her dignity.

“Phew…”

Seeing her face, Aiden let out a deep sigh.

At the same time, a small confusion settled in Aiden’s mind.

Was all this just a cunning play to release herself from captivity?

Or… is he merely tormenting a girl without reason?

“…I have no choice.”

After a moment of contemplation, he decided to release Arian from her restraints.

Even if it was the former, there was nothing to fear. If Arian had to resort to acting to the point of pretending to struggle with these chains, she couldn’t be more powerful than a zombie mutant.

And if it was the latter… well, there was nothing to think about.

With a clicking sound, the locks that restrained the girl were released one by one.

And until the last lock was opened, Aiden never let go of the gun in his hand.

However, even with such precautions, Arian, as soon as the chains were released, hurriedly walked towards the door.

And after glancing back, she earnestly asked:

“Where’s the bathroom?”

“…It’s at the end of the hallway.”

Before his sentence was even finished, Arian disappeared in the direction of the bathroom.

* * *

“C-Crazy! It’s crazy! What kind of bathroom is that?”

After a while.

Arian reappeared in front of the completely bewildered Aiden.

She was expressing her dissatisfaction once again.

The reason was that the so-called bathroom, or the space that used to be a bathroom, was that horrendous.

Well, that couldn’t be helped.

The water supply in this apartment had long been cut off, and before Aiden settled here, some wanderers or scavengers had passed through this apartment.

So, the bathroom in such an apartment was truly hellish.

“Is that so?”

However, Aiden just replied casually.

He hadn’t visited that so-called bathroom since the first day he came here.

Zombies didn’t need a bathroom, after all.

But the only memory he had was that all kinds of debris had piled up to the toilet.

“I’ll never go there again. And you… never go there either.”

Whether Arian had developed a significant trauma from that or not, she grimaced with her face scrunched up.

Staring at such Arian, Aiden calmly spoke.

“So… why did you come back?”

“Huh…?”

“Now, you have no reason to stay with me.”

Arian’s restraints were now removed.

Aiden had no intention of confining her any longer, and it seemed that Arian also had no intention of fighting Aiden.

Therefore, if Arian wanted, she could just leave, and it would be over. However, she chose to return to Aiden.

Whether it was merely to vent her dissatisfaction or because of some unexpected reason, Arian began to reveal a different story.

“I get it. I was going to leave anyway, you know? But when I saw the bathroom, I changed my mind.”

“Changed your mind?”

“I felt a real sense of this world being messed up.”

Why she would feel that by looking at the bathroom was beyond Aiden’s comprehension.

But what followed in Arian’s words was even more incomprehensible.

“So, I’ve decided to stay with you for a while.”

“Ridiculous.”

Aiden flatly denied the statement.

However, Arian didn’t back down.

“You’re the one who caught me. Think of it as compensation.”

“Compensation is more than enough with the food you’ve eaten.”

“It’s enough! Even prisoners in jail are given food. If you had just brought me here, that would have been obvious. Were you planning not to give me any?”

It was an unexpected debate.

While Aiden hesitated for a moment, Arian continued speaking.

“I’m not planning to stay for long. It’s not like I’ll just be fooling around. I’ll help when needed, and I’ll pay for my meals. Think about it. If this is really a world I’m unfamiliar with, I need time to adapt and learn.”

It was only after listening up to this point that Aiden finally realized Arian’s intention.

She wanted to gain information about this world through accompanying Aiden.

“…So, you want to make a deal.”

“Yeah? Well, you can put it that way.”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed. If this was a deal, there were only two things to consider: what he would give up and what he would gain in return.

The former could be summarized as a bit of time, some annoyance, and an immeasurable level of risk.

However, now that Arian’s threat had considerably diluted, evidenced by her inability to break free from the chains and the minimum knowledge she possessed through their conversation today, Aiden acknowledged that her danger was now limited.

Arian’s value as a trading partner was sufficient, given she was not a fanatic like those from a cult or a snuff gang. Just that fact alone qualified her as a potential trading partner.

Moreover, what Aiden would receive in return was Arian’s cooperation.

Aside from her combat skills, she was immune to the zombie virus, and Aiden had a considerable interest in her.

Why could she be bitten by zombies without any consequences?

If he could utilize that immunity, he might be able to restrain the corrosion that was currently devouring him.

In that case, Arian’s value went beyond imagination. Even if it was a bit of a gamble, waiting a few days was a small price to pay.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

So, Aiden agreed. Arian’s face lit up in response.

“Great, then let’s stick together for exactly one week.”

But that was too long.

Aiden shook his head.

“Three days.”

“Six days.”

“Four days.”

“Fine, five days. Is that okay?”

That was enough time to invest. Aiden, judging it as such, accepted Arian’s proposal.

Smiling at the quickly concluded negotiation, Aiden asked Arian one question.

“But why did you decide to come along with me?”

He didn’t need to say it out loud, but Aiden was a zombie. Moreover, he was a zombie who had restrained and confined an unconscious Arian.

So why did this girl easily extend her hand for cooperation?

The unexpected answer was surprisingly simple.

“Because it’s safe.”

“Safe…?”

“You tied me up tightly and didn’t do anything to me. That’s the most significant evidence.”

Arian focused on Aiden’s actions after she was restrained, not the act of being restrained itself. It was a sensible judgment, though not a common way of thinking.

Perhaps this girl had walked her own challenging path. According to the nonsense she had spouted, Arian had been involved in a war against a church organization. It was not a strange occurrence.

Having drawn a conclusion to his doubts, Aiden checked the time.

1 p.m.

It wasn’t too late to go handle the new request he received.

But was it right to handle this request, entangled with Arian?

“…”

To that question, he nodded inwardly.

This request, which involved suitable combat and moderate risk, could be considered a good opportunity.

It was a perfect stage to test whether Arian was a trustworthy presence.

“Can we move right away?”

“Now?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you say you wanted to learn about this world?”

“Fine, then. Where are we going?”

To Arian’s question, Aiden replied calmly:

“Zombie hunting.”

* * *

Afterward, the two left their hideout and headed south.

Aiden’s motorcycle, which would have been used on a regular day, was nowhere to be seen. Currently, the two were moving towards the city’s outskirts on foot.

“You seemed like you were riding something earlier, didn’t you?” Arian pointed out shortly after they left the hideout.

Although she couldn’t see it, she distinctly remembered the sound of the motorcycle engine that had come right after Aiden left.

“If you don’t want to die, don’t think about using vehicles in the city,” he firmly advised.

The noise from the engine naturally attracted zombies.

Of course vehicles were faster than zombies.

So if there was an empty road, ignoring zombies and driving along would be an option worth considering.

But the road of this ruined city didn’t fit it.

The obstacles scattered across the roads and the buildings leaning on either side made driving challenging. The rain of zombies jumping from the buildings during the timing of a vehicle passing couldn’t be avoided by driving skills alone.

In fact, most of the overturned vehicles on the road were the result of foolish attempts at escape.

Therefore, maneuvering through a city filled with zombies on a motorcycle was an unimaginable task under normal circumstances. It was a privilege possible only because the one driving was Aiden.

“Are zombies sensitive to sound?”

“Ordinary zombies are.”

“Ordinary?”

“Mutants have different characteristics. Some don’t have hearing but have an excellent sense of smell.”

“Mutants? What are they?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. Zombies that mutated. We don’t know the cause of the mutation, but they are generally stronger and more dangerous than ordinary zombies. Even if their numbers aren’t large, they are enemies to be careful of.”

Arian listened attentively, nodding seriously at Aiden’s explanation.

The area around their hideout was almost deserted, with only an apartment building in sight. 

As they walked on the quiet road, Aiden continued to explain the common knowledge of this world to Arian.

It wasn’t only for her sake but also for Aiden himself. If this companion started to act recklessly, it would be troublesome, too.

“Ah, so being a junk dealer is a kind of troubleshooter. Is this also one of those requests?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, it suits you.”

“But can you fight?” Aiden asked.

It was a question about whether she could be considered another force when the situation arose.

In response, Arian confidently replied:

“Didn’t you see yesterday? I can fight better than you.”

Aiden responded with a bitter smile.

A little later, after the quiet street where their hideout was ended, a small forest appeared. Beyond the forest was a massive residential area.

Passing through there and walking along a long road, they would finally reach the park, their destination for the request – the communal cemetery.

It was a journey of over two hours on foot, and during that time, many threats would lurk.

The biggest threat among them was the residential area.

Once a place named Chetanville where many people lived, it was a typical American residential area with one or two-story wooden houses lined along the streets.

In that place, where many people once lived, there were still many zombies wandering around their homes.

“Let me repeat, follow my instructions here. Don’t attack recklessly,” Aiden warned just before entering the residential area.

As if tired of the repeated admonitions, Arian answered with a slight frown:

“I told you I understood.”

And so, the two stepped into the eerily quiet residential area.