How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“Now what?”

Arian, sitting in the driver’s seat after getting into the vehicle, asked Aiden.

Usually, Aiden would immediately issue instructions, but this time, instead of an answer, he sighed.

“…”

A civil war had broken out within the Union.

Just looking at that fact, the obvious course of action for Aiden’s group would be to leave this place.

Even if the Union was an attractive group, there was no reason for Aiden’s group to get entangled in their battles with bullets flying around.

However, the problem was that it was midnight.

During this time, when dangerous mutants roamed outside, no one, including Aiden, could guarantee safety.

Amidst this, the Union was still making all sorts of noises, and flames were rising from all directions, bringing corpses towards this direction.

This meant that the city center where Aiden was, as well as the entire Shreveport, had become extremely dangerous.

“Neither going out of the city nor going to the Union is safe. But we can’t stay here either.”

For Aiden’s group, it was a situation of a strategic retreat.

In this predicament, Arian was the one who decided on the direction.

“So… let’s go to the Union.”

“Why?”

“Trying to leave the city in haste might end up surrounded by mutants. That would be the end.”

“Dangerous situations are the same in the Union. If we make a mistake, it could lead to significant harm to the people there…”

Aiden stopped what he was about to say.

He halted because he understood why Arian was trying to go to the Union.

If they were to be surrounded by mutants to the point of not being able to overcome them, even Aiden’s group would suffer great casualties.

So leaving the city was an impossible task.

Compared to that, the Union’s danger had a different cause.

The reason the Union was dangerous now was because of the people involved in the civil war.

And Arian didn’t want to be a part of it, not by her own choice.

Perhaps it was because those entities weren’t natural enemies of humans.

“Could it be… you’re planning to attack the Union?”

“Of course not.”

Arian shook her head at Aiden’s concern.

If Arian wanted to, she could end the civil war within the Union right away.

Of course, in a direction that annihilated one side.

But she naturally had no intention of doing such a thing.

“In the worst-case scenario, it seems easier to save our lives there.”

Aiden fell into a brief silence at Arian’s words.

There was logic in what she said.

So Aiden asked a question.

“After going to the Union?”

“I think it’s best to stay inside the barrier. Even if they don’t accept us, we can enter.”

“Will they accept us? Besides us, many others will gather too.”

“It doesn’t matter. Even if they don’t accept, we can still enter.”

Arian said shamelessly.

With the abilities she possessed… indeed, it wasn’t impossible to leap over that barrier.

“Moreover, there are people we know there. We might be able to ask for help.”

At Arian’s continued words, Aiden let out a short sigh.

It was certainly not something he was inclined to do.

However, compared to going out of the city, going to the Union was a safer option.

“Alright. Let’s go to the Union.”

The vehicle of Aiden’s group, who had finally made a decision, began to move.

In the back seat, Sadie’s eyes looked worriedly at the night sky, burning red.

After a while, Aiden’s group’s vehicle arrived near the Union’s base.

Around them, the appearance of busy junk dealers was visible.

Most people were unaware of what to do upon sensing the disturbance in the middle of the night.

Some, despite the danger, were trying to leave the city.

Aiden parked the vehicle near the convention center, a place he frequently used.

Moving around here with the vehicle and its contents exposed to danger was a calculated risk.

In the midst of all this, they had no choice but to endure such an adventure.

Hoping the vehicle remained unharmed, Aiden took a step forward.

“This way.”

A bridge leading to the wall behind the center.

Aiden, wearing a helmet and fully armed, took the lead.

Sadie followed closely behind with Arian.

Aiden was worried that bullets might come flying at them, but fortunately, that didn’t happen.

They safely arrived at the Union’s wall.

“Look there.”

Arian pointed towards the front gate of the wall.

There, a considerable number of outsiders were gathered, banging on the Union’s door and shouting.

“Open this door!”

“Are you planning to kill everyone outside?”

These were people who had been staying in the Free Zone.

They were aware that the Union’s commotion would attract zombies and mutants. That’s why they were demanding either to open the door or stop the commotion.

Although the atmosphere wasn’t yet too tense, there were undoubtedly guns hanging behind them.

If the commotion continued like this… they wouldn’t stay quiet either.

However, the Union seemed unable to respond to the situation.

The few sentinels standing on the wall were already minimal in number.

Even those few were scrambling inside, confused by the gunfire and noise from within.

It seemed they hadn’t expected a war to break out inside at this hour.

“…That’s not good.”

Observing the state of the wall, Aiden commented.

As everyone here was worried, the commotion in the Union would undoubtedly attract zombies and mutants.

But compared to that, the Union had no preparations whatsoever.

Even though most of the stronghold was surrounded by a river.

Not to mention the bridge, without troops to defend the wall, the advantage of such terrain would disappear.

Seeing this, Arian furrowed her brow.

“Why are they doing this?”

“They probably have no experience. They might not know as much as we do.”

Aiden muttered lowly while watching the sentinels fumble.

“This is bad…”

Arian also sighed and groaned.

Then, as they were looking at the wall, Arian suddenly pointed to one side.

“Aiden, over there!”

In the direction Arian pointed, there was a shadow of someone.

But due to the moonlight behind them, Aiden couldn’t see clearly who it was.

“Who’s there?”

“Probably Amara. She’s up there. And she seems quite serious.”

“Why would that woman…?”

As Aiden mumbled, Amara, probably because of the bright moonlight, spotted Aiden’s group on the wall and gestured desperately.

“She seems to be looking for us.”

Arian raised her hand towards Amara.

In response, Amara pointed in the right direction, shouting something.

Although drowned out by the junk dealers’ cries, Arian’s senses didn’t miss it.

“She’s telling us to go to the right?”

Perhaps Amara wanted contact with Aiden’s group.

Since Aiden had the same intention, the group followed Amara’s gesture, hugging the wall and turning to the right.

As they walked a few hundred meters from the entrance, a small side gate in the wall came into view.

It seemed to be an emergency exit rather than the main entrance.

There, Amara revealed herself.

“Haah… p-please help!”

Whether she had rushed down from the wall in a hurry or not, Amara spoke while catching her breath.

Upon the sudden plea for help, Aiden first assessed the situation.

“What happened?”

The story Amara conveyed was more complicated than Aiden had expected.

The search party couldn’t accept the orders from their command and attempted to gain independence from the Union.

As a result, a battle ensued when they tried to disarm them, especially as the Union and the police vehemently opposed them.

“Because of that, the Union is now divided, fighting between the police and the search team. The situation is not good.”

“So… what do you want from us?”

Aiden asked.

Amara replied as if waiting for the question.

“I need to meet my husband.”

Andrew, Amara’s husband, was undoubtedly a high-ranking member of the search party.

She tried to find Andrew and establish contact with the search party’s command in an attempt to end this civil war through dialogue.

“Do you know his location?”

“Yes. A few hours before the battle broke out, the search party gathered all its members. He should be there. But… I can’t go there alone.”

Andrew was in the search team’s headquarters, opposite the stronghold where the battle was taking place.

So Amara urgently needed someone’s help to find a way through the chaos.

“If you help me, I’ll make sure all three of you can enter the wall. The battle is only happening inside the stronghold. It’s safe near the wall. So…”

Amara, perhaps discerning the situation of Aiden’s group, extended this offer.

It was an offer that Aiden’s group could hardly refuse.

As Amara said, the influence of the civil war had not yet reached near the wall.

In contrast, outside the wall, it was on the verge of becoming dangerous due to zombies.

So, for Sadie’s sake, Aiden’s group had to go inside the wall right away.

“I’ll go.”

Understanding this and going ahead, Arian stepped forward before Aiden.

Arian, with her ability to sense the presence of humans, was invaluable in navigating through the battlefield, avoiding gunfire and finding a way.

So Aiden nodded without much thought.

“Got it. I’ll take care of Sadie.”

Thus, they agreed to Amara’s request, and the roles were assigned.

Amara welcomed them inside the wall and first led Aiden and Sadie to a safe place.

“Here.”

It was a building near the main gate.

From there, sounds from the tumultuous wall beyond and even the sounds of the ongoing battle could be heard.

“I’ve informed others. You can stay here.”

“Okay, let’s go now.”

Immediately, Arian tried to make a move with Amara.

“Be careful.”

“Come back safely.”

Aiden and Sadie said to Arian.

Arian nodded once and left the building.

“Which way?”

“That way.”

“Got it. Stay a bit behind me and follow my lead.”

Arian said that and started walking towards the direction where gunfire was heard.

* * *

Inside the building where Arian left.

“…”

Although Aiden and Sadie didn’t say a word, it was far from silent.

It was due to the junk dealers still protesting at the entrance.

Their cries were now even louder than before.

It seemed like they were about to draw guns anytime soon.

Seeing this, Sadie cowered in fear.

Aiden, after observing her for a moment, spoke up.

“Is there anything you want to ask?”

Thinking that remaining silent might make Sadie uneasy, he threw out the question.

Slightly fearful, Sadie cautiously opened her mouth.

“Why… do people fight here?”

Sadie wasn’t asking about the circumstances before or after this civil war because she didn’t know. 

Aiden and Arian didn’t secretly investigate the Union without Sadie, always sharing all the information with her. It was a natural precaution since she might belong to a different group. 

Therefore, Sadie knew about the factions within the Union and that they had strained relations. 

She was also aware of the recent incident where many people died due to a mistake by a search party at a certain base. 

She knew that the entire search party received reprimands and suffered losses as a result. 

However, despite this, Sadie couldn’t understand why such incidents would lead to a full-scale war.

“…”

And the answer to that question wasn’t easy for Aiden either. 

Of course, human desires, power, etc. If he had to give reasons, he could come up with as many as needed. 

However, ultimately, those reasons were things Sadie wouldn’t comprehend. So Aiden summed it up very succinctly.

“Because they are stupid.”

Sadie blinked at his blunt words. Aiden calmly continued.

“Zombies are always predictable. So, we observe their habits and can read their patterns.”

“…”

“But humans aren’t like that. People can be extremely wise at times, but at times, they can be incredibly foolish. There are no patterns like with zombies; there are only impulses and emotions.”

If one side had thought a bit more rationally, this incident wouldn’t have happened. 

Even if they had lost privileges, suffered losses, or even returned some benefits without pushing the situation to the end, it would have been less costly than a war. 

However, the reason they went through with this was simply that their emotions couldn’t endure those small losses. The exploded emotions fueled bold impulses, leading to this absurd conclusion.

“So, you don’t need to bother understanding them.”

Aiden added that there was no need to think deeply about it.

Sadie was about to nod slightly at this. But…

Bang!

A loud gunshot startled Sadie, and she opened her eyes wide. 

It was a sound heard nearby. 

Aiden immediately focused his attention beyond the barricade.

But it wasn’t what he thought.

Soon, the cries of an unknown junk dealer pointed out the cause of the gunfire.

“Zombies! Zombies are coming!”

Following that, several more gunshots were heard.

Eventually, the disturbance attracted zombies that passed through the city and reached the Union.

“Wait here.”

With that, Aiden decided to leave Sadie here for a moment and head up the barricade.

Leaving Sadie alone bothered him, but if the zombies’ momentum was unusual, he needed to find a safer place.

“…Okay.”

Sadie nodded.

Aiden headed straight for the stairs leading up the barricade.