How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“I’m sorry. But… I couldn’t just stand still.”

Sadie, lying flat on the ground, spoke towards Aiden, who was looking at her. Sadie being here meant that she had violated Aiden’s instruction to wait below. 

However, Aiden shook his head.

“No, you don’t need to apologize.”

The shouts of those fighting just below the wall must have been heard by Sadie as well. The wall couldn’t block the sound, even if it could stop the zombies.

Therefore, preventing her from seeing the scene wouldn’t have made any sense. Instructing her to hide in the building, turning a blind eye, would only breed anxiety.

So, Aiden didn’t stop Sadie, who was slowly approaching his side.

“…”

Sadie, standing beside Aiden, quietly watched the grim battle below the wall. 

The child didn’t say anything for a while. However, Sadie’s eyes soon seemed to fill with tears.

Aiden followed Sadie’s gaze. Soon, he could see something he hadn’t noticed before.

Among those desperately holding back the zombies, there was a familiar face.

“That’s…”

It was Angelo. The one who had given cookies to Aiden and his group a few days ago.

Furthermore, behind Angelo, his younger brother Maxim was also visible.

The child of similar age to Sadie did nothing but cower behind his brother, covering his ears.

“How… could this happen?”

Sadie asked, but Aiden had nothing to say. 

There was no need for words. Just defending this wall was sufficient for the survival of Aiden’s group. 

With the Union’s first-line soldiers lined up on the barricade, even if a considerable number of zombies or powerful mutants were present, they could easily hold them back.

However, helping those junk dealers here would be a serious adventure. It was impossible to determine how much resources would need to be invested, and even using all they had wouldn’t guarantee victory. 

Moreover, even if they managed to save them, it was impossible to receive compensation for that effort.

It wasn’t a quest or anything like that.

“Stay back.”

So, Aiden said that. Sadie, unlike usual, questioned his statement.

“Why?”

Sadie looked at Aiden. Her gaze soon passed Aiden, targeting the Union’s first-line soldiers below the wall. 

Sadie seemed unable to understand why they were just watching.

But none of the people here were villains. Nobody wished for those junk dealers to die. Anyone would want to go down there and save them. 

However, engaging in such an act was an excessive arrogance. 

Everyone here knew what excessive arrogance brought about.

The only one who didn’t seem to understand that was this pure child.

“Is that… the right thing to do?”

Sadie continued to ask. 

Aiden, who had been rubbing his lips to make a cool justification, eventually closed his mouth. 

It wasn’t the right thing to say. At least, he couldn’t answer this child the same way he did to others.

As Aiden hesitated to answer, a vague sensation flashed through his mind. 

Sometime, a woman who threw him a similar question in a situation like this.

“…”

A faint memory he thought he had forgotten revived. 

Jane Rose. 

The woman who had asked him this question once. 

However, at that time, she chose arrogance in response to this question and ultimately died because of it. 

Leaving her fiance turning into a corpse.

Aiden now remembered that incident as a distant past. 

Once, he had regretted that decision several times. If he could go back to that time, he would never leave the same choice.

However, looking at it objectively now, the current Aiden knew that it was impossible. 

If it were her, she would make the same decision even if she could go back to that time. The Jane he loved was such a woman.

“…”

Aiden’s consciousness, momentarily recalling the past, returned to reality. 

Below the wall, junk dealers were still fighting for their lives. 

And in front of him, a small child with teary eyes.

Nothing had changed. Only Aiden’s gaze seemed to have changed a little.

“…It’s not the right thing to do.”

He sighed and answered like that, then slung the rifle he had been holding over his back. Next, he checked his attire.

The armament was… perfect. Thanks to anticipating combat from the beginning and being able to bring a variety of weapons from the vehicle.

“Stay here,” Aiden said to Sadie. 

However, Sadie grabbed the hem of Aiden’s clothes.

As if knowing what he was going to do from now on, she raised her head.

“I want to go too.”

“That’s dangerous.”

“You’re going because of what I said. Just me staying here… it feels cowardly.”

Aiden smiled inside his helmet at Sadie’s words. 

Even though she was a child, there was no way she didn’t know that the battle raging below was dangerous. Moreover, there was no way she wasn’t afraid.

However, despite that, Sadie took responsibility for her words and didn’t ignore them or avoid them using the excuse of being a child.

Looking at Sadie like that, Aiden nodded.

“Understood.”

Aiden, who had made a decision, went to the commander of the first-line soldiers.

And he requested an emergency-use rope from him. 

In situations like this, escape ropes for emergencies were commonly equipped on these walls. If the way down was blocked by zombies, it was for escaping from the tightly sealed barricade.

But that’s why this rope was strictly one-way.

It was intentionally made a few meters shorter than the distance from the ground.

So that it could not be climbed up. It was made only for grabbing and falling.

“You’re coming down?”

“I can’t just watch anymore.”

The commander, who sighed deeply at those words, nodded.

If one of the junk dealers came down with the rope, it wouldn’t harm the Union. The rope used for descending could be retrieved.

Of course, preparing for this was an unnecessary effort in itself.

However, even so, he personally installed the rope and handed it over to Aiden.

“Thanks.”

Aiden lowered the tightly tied rope from the top of the wall. Next, he took out three grenades from his pouch.

After pulling the pin, Aiden tossed them over the legions of zombies rushing towards the barricade and beyond.

Finally, with a loud explosion, the steel fragments cleared the corpses, creating a short gap in the oncoming siege.

“W-what is it?”

The junk dealers, who had momentarily stopped firing, looked towards the top of the wall.

On top of the wall of the barricade, Aiden, holding Sadie in his arms, stood.

Some of the junk dealers realized what he was trying to do and were astonished.

And right after that-

“Then… Hold on tight.”

Aiden immediately leaped off the wall.

With only the strength of the grip on the handle, he skillfully controlled the descent speed.

Although the gloves were hot due to the friction, the zombies’ skin didn’t even get a burn.

Thud!

Thus, Aiden and Sadie landed on the ground under the wall with a dull sound.

The surrounding junk dealers turned their attention to Aiden and Sadie.

Some of the junk dealers wore puzzled expressions at the situation where a child had been brought along.

Among them was Angelo, but they had no time to open their mouths.

“Gyahhh!”

The sharp scream of a zombie echoed, and the gazes of the junk dealers returned to the original direction.

The one who stepped on the messed up bridge and appeared in sight was a mutant named Wielder.

It, with one enlarged arm holding a construction site iron beam, was stamping the ground.

“Shoot!”

The junk dealers resumed firing. Aiden also took out his rifle, and Sadie even joined with her small pistol.

In the resumed chaos and gunfire,

“…”

Maxim, who had been hiding behind Angelo, was now looking at Sadie.

Seeing the young girl, about the same age as him, holding a gun with both hands and skillfully knocking down the corpses, Maxim felt embarrassed.

While he couldn’t do anything because he was scared, he was just hiding behind his brother.

In contrast, Sadie was fighting zombies with her own strength.

When the magazine ran out, Sadie moved her small hand to replace it.

The hand movements were quite skillful.

It was as if Maxim was looking at his older brother, whom he respected.

Surpassing amazement in Maxim’s eyes, a sense of respect mingled.

* * *

Inside the Union’s stronghold, within an old factory.

There, Arian was with Amara.

Although Amara’s sobbing had subsided a little while ago, she was still staring blankly at the lifeless body of her husband.

“Amara? We need to move now.”

Seeing Amara like that, Arian, who couldn’t stand it any longer, opened her mouth.

Because they couldn’t stay here forever.

Upon hearing this, Amara slowly lifted her head. After letting out a long sigh, she finally spoke.

“…Just a moment. Please wait a moment.”

Amara searched through her husband’s lifeless body on the chair.

Old photos, a single pistol, and a wallet, among other mementos. After arranging some of these items, she gazed intently at her husband’s hand, or more precisely, the wedding ring he was wearing.

“…”

However, unable to bring herself to take even that, Amara stood up, leaving behind other keepsakes.

“…Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Back to where we came from… the wall.”

Amara replied with a voice soaked with moisture.

Arian nodded and led the way, just like when they arrived.

The dawn was breaking far away.

Looking at the slowly brightening morning sun, Arian asked:

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m leaving. I can’t stay here anymore.”

Amara was now lacking strength, but she spoke with a clear determination.

Meanwhile, gunfire still hadn’t ceased in the surrounding area.

As if it wasn’t enough to fight through the night.

Arian narrowed her eyes and moved her steps.

So, they returned to the wall.

However, Aiden and Sadie had disappeared from the room where they had decided to stay.

Arian initially raised an eyebrow but soon realized that their voices were coming from not too far away.

“…What happened?”

However, their location was outside the wall.

Aiden and Sadie were casually mingled among the junk dealers, where the zombies were supposed to be gathered.

Unconsciously, Arian tilted her head.

She couldn’t understand why those two were outside the wall.

“Where did the others go?”

Amara, who had finally looked around the room, asked.

Arian cautiously uttered her assumption as if guessing her own certainty.

“They went outside… I guess?”

Upon hearing this, Arian and Amara approached the side door leading outside.

The door was still tightly closed, and there was even a sentry guarding it. Perhaps they were concerned that the junk dealers might break in through this door.

“…Open the door.”

Amara said to them.

There was a brief struggle between the sentry and Amara, but the sentry had no right to stop a member of the Union from going out.

Thus, the door opened, and Amara and Arian came out of the barricade.

“What’s all this…?”

Arian murmured.

Before their eyes unfolded an astonishing sight.

The junk dealers who had gathered during the night were cheering.

Some were exhausted and lying against the wall, resting, but most seemed unharmed.

On the other hand, the sight of the bridge connecting to the city was beyond words.

It was a mess, with collapsed structures everywhere, and most importantly, the number of corpses covering the area was truly overwhelming.

In addition, there were a considerable number of mutants scattered around, testifying to how serious the battle was here.

And Aiden… was surrounded by excited junk dealers.

From what was being said, it didn’t seem like he had fallen into trouble.

On the contrary, the junk dealers seemed to consider him a savior of lives, and Aiden was drawing blood from them with a syringe.

“Just a moment.”

Arian pushed through those junk dealers and approached Aiden.

Soon, Aiden and Sadie came to her.

Sadie embraced Arian, and Aiden opened his mouth towards Arian.

“You’re back.”

“Yeah, I’m back. But what’s all this?”

“…There was some trouble.”

Aiden said calmly.

However, in Arian’s eyes, it didn’t seem like the explanation was over with just that.

So, she gestured with her eyes towards the opposite side of the barricade.

It meant to talk in a quiet place.

Aiden nodded, and they soon left the wall and moved to a quieter convention center.

* * *

After that, within the convention center in the deserted urban area, Aiden’s group and Amara exchanged their stories from the previous night.

“…It’s unfortunate about your husband.”

Aiden, hearing Amara’s story, said so.

Amara nodded silently without saying a word.

As the awkward silence passed, Arian asked:

“What now?”

“Of course, we’re leaving. Right now.”

Aiden said as if it were obvious.

Combat was still ongoing within the Union.

While the zombie onslaught had momentarily halted, there was no telling when they would swarm again. Therefore, Aiden intended to leave Shreveport as quickly as possible.

“Yeah, I think I should do the same. What about Sadie?” 

“I… think the same way.”

Sadie quickly agreed to leaving the Union.

It was a clean agreement, free from any lingering attachment, unlike their time in Fort Wayne.

Aiden then turned to Amara and asked:

“Will you join us if needed?”

This was asked because Aiden had heard about Amara leaving this place.

However, Amara shook her head.

“Not yet. There’s still something I need to do.”

Aiden nodded in understanding.

Whatever it was, Amara’s task probably involved her husband. After the frequent battles in the Union had subsided, she likely had to deal with his remains.

“Well, guess we should part ways here.”

“…Yes. Thank you all.”

Amara bowed her head.

Aiden’s group bid her farewell and returned to the vehicle parked near the center.

Fortunately, the vehicle they had left there the night before was intact, and its contents were unharmed.

“It’s fortunate, but…”

Aiden sighed briefly while organizing the vehicle’s supplies.

The recent battle, where they had risked their lives without any specific mission or reward, had depleted almost all of their strategic resources. Now, only a few rounds of ammunition remained.

Just then-

“Hey! Wait a moment!”

Someone approached their vehicle, running towards them.

It was Angelo and his brother Maxim.

“Are you leaving now?”

Aiden nodded in response to Angelo’s question.

Angelo, with a bewildered expression, then said:

“What will we do if you go like this? We all survived because of you. We should at least repay the favor.”

“Blood I got earlier is enough,” Aiden replied calmly.

These people, who had poured out all the ammunition they had to survive the night, wouldn’t have anything to give in return.

Above all, since this wasn’t something he did in hopes of receiving compensation, Aiden didn’t ask for anything more than blood donation.

In response, Angelo scratched the back of his head with a wry smile.

“Well… that’s true. But still, take this.”

Angelo handed over something long.

It was an axe, a specially crafted one made of metal, from the blade to the handle.

“The one I used yesterday broke. This one was made by the Union. It’s a good tool, specially made for zombie hunting.”

As Angelo said, the crowbar he had been using until yesterday broke during the fight.

It looked like he was paying attention and gave up the weapon he had.

Aiden didn’t decline his consideration and accepted the axe.

“Okay. I accept it gratefully.”

“And Maxim too. He has something to give you.”

At Angelo’s words, the boy, who had been hiding behind him, cautiously stepped forward. He handed a small bag to Sadie, not to Aiden.

Inside the bag were cookies. Something they had bought before the Union battles broke out.

“Thank you.”

Sadie accepted it with a smile.

Maxim nodded with a red face.

At that moment, a loud explosion came from the direction of the Union’s stronghold.

The warm atmosphere was shattered by the noise, and Angelo’s forehead crinkled.

“Well, then we’ll go.”

“…Yeah. Take care.”

Aiden replied, and his group bid farewell to them.

Soon, Aiden and his group got into the car.

“May you be safe.”

The group waved goodbye to them and soon the car drove off.

Sadie, sitting in the back seat, quietly looked back at Angelo and his brother and the Union’s wall, which was slowly moving away.