How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

After taking down the zombie alligators, Aiden’s group thoroughly searched the floating base again.

This was because there were a few items Asher had asked them to find there.

Most of them were essential items like food and fuel, but there were also some whose purposes couldn’t be discerned.

One such item was a red baseball cap. It had the logo of a once-famous basketball team embroidered on it – an unremarkable cap.

Aiden came out carrying the cap, which had been stored in the cabin of one of the yachts.

“Are we done?”

Returning to the boat they had arrived on, Aiden asked his companions.

“Yeah, I’m done.”

“Me too!”

Arian and Sadie responded.

Of course, they too had been searching the floating base for the requested items, eventually finding about half of what Asher had asked for.

It was gradually becoming time to depart back to land. As Aiden was organizing their belongings, Arian worriedly asked:

“But what if those Beasts appear again?”

At her question, Aiden let out a short sigh. Even he had been having that concern from earlier.

The boat they had arrived on was too small and weak to cross a lake where zombie alligators – Beasts – lived.

However, Aiden didn’t have a better solution at the moment.

“For now, finding a working yacht among those tied here would be the best option.”

“And if there aren’t any?”

“If that’s the case, I’ll go back alone. After that, I’ll have to arrange for a proper means of transportation.”

Arian’s expression stiffened slightly.

When she hadn’t known about the existence of the Beasts, she had crossed the lake without issue by boat. But after learning about them, she couldn’t feel at ease anymore.

If they really tried to cross the lake on that decrepit boat and were attacked by a pack of alligators, the boat wouldn’t even withstand a single strike before breaking apart.

“I don’t want to stay here any longer either… but we have no choice. Let’s search for a boat first. If it’s operational, I’ll cut the ropes tying it.”

Aiden nodded and began checking the larger yachts on the outskirts of the floating base first.

“Hmm…”

After inspecting a few yachts, Aiden let out a sigh.

Most of the yachts seemed to have been thoroughly remodeled for residential purposes, ruling out any possibility of reactivating them.

In some places, makeshift beds had been installed where the control rooms had been completely removed. In others, the dashboards and steering wheels had been taken out to make space for tables.

It seemed there weren’t any intact large yachts.

So Aiden next inspected the yachts near the entrance. He presumed that those who had lived on this floating base would have had vessels for transportation or carrying supplies.

And as a result…

“This one… seems alright.”

As expected, he found one yacht that appeared to have been used until recently.

Conveniently docked near the entrance, it was slightly larger than a small yacht but considerably safer than a canoe-like motorboat.

The control room and dashboard were intact, and there was even fuel inside.

While the ignition key was nowhere to be seen, Aiden quickly found it after searching the cabin.

“We’ll take this one.”

Afterwards, Aiden’s group transferred their belongings onto the yacht and cut the ropes tying it to the base.

The yacht, which had been part of the floating base, slipped away like a puzzle piece, slowly exiting through the waterway entrance.

And so, the yacht carrying Aiden’s group began moving back towards land.

“Unexpected.”

Aiden spoke while watching Arian sitting at the yacht’s controls.

Aiden didn’t know how to operate a yacht himself.

He had never owned or even ridden on one, so it was only natural.

He had intended to somehow get it moving, even taking some risk if necessary. But then Arian stepped up – she was well-versed in operating yachts.

“What?”

“You said you couldn’t drive a car, but you can handle a yacht.”

At Aiden’s words, Arian shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, when you’re constantly on the run, you need to know how to move regardless of the terrain. So I learned. But since running on land with my own feet was better, I didn’t particularly need to know about cars.”

It was a story from her past life, when she had been the enemy of many people in that other world.

So while Aiden didn’t fully understand her reasoning, he was grateful that Arian knew how to operate a yacht.

There was no need for the reckless adventure of randomly pressing all the buttons around the control room to test it out.

“Good thing the methods are the same in this world and that one.”

“That’s right.”

With those words, Aiden’s gaze turned towards the tranquil lake surface.

In the water tinted with shades of blue and gray, nothing could be seen beneath.

However, somewhere in this lake, Beasts lurked.

That fact kept Aiden’s tension taut.

“Look over there.”

Arian pointed towards the gradually approaching land.

It was the lakeshore of a wasteland area, somewhat distant from the city.

There, an alligator was attacking a passing zombie.

The zombie, its leg suddenly bitten, let out a screech.

But the alligator paid no heed, immediately dragging the zombie’s leg into the lake and disappearing underwater.

“…”

The scene resembling a nature documentary momentarily left Aiden speechless.

So this was how the alligators had become zombies – they must have hunted zombies entering this lake in such a manner.

It wasn’t strange at all.

Alligators were natural scavengers that readily ate rotten, decaying meat.

So to them, zombies – rotten corpses – were clearly recognized as prey.

“This lake… was more dangerous than I thought.”

Aiden muttered while caressing his rifle.

In the distance, another alligator that had been watching them quietly submerged into the water.

* * *

A while later.

After completing the request within a day and making contact with Asher again, Aiden’s group explained what they had discovered and presented the evidence – the severed head of a zombie alligator.

“Damn it… I’ll be damned. Zombie alligators this time?”

Seeing the grotesquely shattered head, Asher’s rugged face twisted his brow.

It was an unexpected enemy, and simultaneously, an extremely dire situation for him.

“Seems you didn’t know about them.”

In response to Aiden’s words, Asher answered with a heavy sigh.

Aiden could fully understand Asher’s frame of mind.

While this new type of Beast was merely a threat for Aiden to remember, for Asher and his group who had built a floating base and lived there, it was a bombshell revelation.

The existence of these Beasts directly negated the very premise of the floating base’s existence – that zombies couldn’t cross water.

“Has there never been any alligators in this city before?”

“At least not since the zombie outbreak. This is the first time I’ve seen them.”

“What about before that?”

“I don’t know. Charlie, you’re from around here, right? Do you know anything?”

Asher asked one of his companions.

The man called Charlie was the same one Arian had taken hostage earlier.

After racking his memory for a moment, Charlie answered:

“About 5 years ago, there was news of alligators appearing in that lake. But the state government immediately drove them all out, or so I heard. It had been quiet since then.”

At those words, Aiden nodded his head.

Ultimately, with the government’s collapse, the alligators had broken free of human control and infiltrated the city again after 3 years.

Aiden continued his questions.

“What are the chances of the ones from Lewisville Lake coming here?”

“High. The lakes aren’t that far apart, and moreover, there are rivers flowing from the surrounding lakes into that one. If they followed those rivers… they could spread across the entire lake area. Maybe they’ve already entered.”

Saying that, Asher gritted his teeth.

He was realizing the crisis facing himself and his organization.

“Holy shit…”

Whether out of frustration or not, Asher roughly scratched his head.

If Aiden’s words were true, remaining at the floating base any longer would be suicidal.

So they would have to immediately abandon their base and relocate elsewhere, but that was no easy task.

Whichever path he chose, Asher would be staking the lives of his entire group.

Thus, being forced to make that choice, Asher couldn’t help but feel immense pressure.

Watching Asher in that state, Aiden calmly confirmed the remaining part of the request.

“I found some of the items you asked for.”

Arian laid out those items on the ground.

With a conflicted expression, Asher gestured to his companions.

They then retrieved some food supplies, fuel, and other resources.

But there was one item…

The red cap Aiden had brought back, Asher silently held in his hands and stared at.

“Are you sure you found the right one?”

Aiden asked Asher.

Letting out a brief sigh, Asher opened his mouth.

“Yeah, I’m sure. This is… my friend’s belongings.”

He flipped the cap over and pointed to the inside.

There, someone’s initials ‘A.T.’ were embroidered.

Asher’s words continued.

“He was with me until last year. But he got fed up, didn’t want to be part of this group anymore, so he left. And he joined that gang at Lewisville Lake.”

“…”

“The bastard betrayed me, but thanks to him, I was able to establish contact with that gang. After that, we reconciled and met occasionally… but it ended up like this.”

Asher let out a bitter smile and put the cap on his head.

The casual cap clashed with his rugged appearance, exuding an awkward dissonance.

However, Asher continued speaking in that state, unfazed.

“I’ll give you the compensation right away. Charlie!”

Through his companions, Asher had Aiden’s request compensation delivered.

It included a suitable amount of rifle ammunition, two grenades, and vehicle gasoline.

Additionally, three people came forward to provide their blood.

Aiden had Arian assist in collecting their blood donations.

And as Arian took out the syringes for drawing blood, Asher continued speaking.

“Hey, junk dealer. If you’re not leaving right away, I want to give you another request.”

“Another request?”

“Yeah. As you can probably guess, we have to leave immediately.”

Asher spoke in a heavy tone.

Although he had seemed flustered earlier, it appeared he had only made a decision after receiving the belongings of his deceased friend.

“But the situation isn’t good right now. During the last scouting trip, we suffered many casualties. So I need some help.”

Asher’s request was straightforward.

He and his companions now had to abandon the floating base and move to land.

However, they currently lacked any vehicles to transport people and supplies.

Since operating vehicles within the zombie-infested city was impossible anyway, they had mainly been using boats.

So Asher designated a temporary base on the opposite side of the city, near the lake.

He intended to lead the entire group there on foot.

However, since most of the personnel would be carrying supplies during the journey, he lacked sufficient manpower to clear the path and provide escort.

That was the role Asher wanted to entrust to Aiden.

“If it’s true that you took down three such monsters, then you’re worth entrusting this request to. Don’t you agree?”

Asher spoke while looking at the shattered alligator head.

Instead of answering directly, Aiden asked a question he needed to know.

“How many people are in your group in total?”

“A little over 50. The number we can spare as combatants is… around 10, I’d say.”

At the response, Aiden tilted his head slightly.

Even considering various circumstances, he had expected at least half of the 50, or around 20 people at the very least, to be combatants.

“That’s far too few. Is there a reason?”

“Out of those 50, around 10 can’t participate in combat at all. They’re children. Not just combat, they can’t even properly hold a gun yet.”

At the unexpected revelation, Aiden’s head swiveled in surprise.

Not three or four, but 10 children.

For a small group of around 50 people, that ratio was too high.

“Why are there so many children?”

“Somehow… it just ended up that way.”

Asher avoided answering.

Aiden stared intently at him.

Even without hearing the words, he could guess the circumstances well enough.

“You couldn’t abandon the children.”

In this world, children who lost their parents were mostly rejected by groups.

For any group, beings who couldn’t fight or work were merely burdens.

But not everyone was like that. There were still some people who couldn’t bring themselves to be so cold-hearted, and Asher seemed to be one of those people.

On the other hand, Asher let out a bitter smile at those words.

“…Do you think I’m foolish?”

“Of course not.”

Aiden shook his head.

If Asher were truly foolish, he wouldn’t have been able to survive until this point.

So Aiden simply continued his questioning.

“Where is the location of this temporary base?”

Asher took out a map right there.

After scrutinizing the local area depicted on it for a while, he soon made a decision.

“Here. Do you see it? On the other side of the lake, there’s an area called Heath. The temporary base is a small farm beyond that.”

Aiden checked the map.

Based on the lake Asher’s group was staying at, it was on the opposite side from the city.

The only path connecting to the city center was a narrow embankment. Apart from that, they would have to make a large detour around the lake, making it difficult for the zombies swarming the city to reach that far.

“There should be fewer zombies than in the city.”

“Right. In fact, I went there a few weeks ago. Unless there have been major changes in just a few weeks… we’ll still have to be prepared for combat on the way, but there shouldn’t be any zombies.”

Aiden nodded his head.

Asher’s words continued.

“And we’ll disembark the personnel and supplies as close to this location as possible. Specifically, this park here.”

Asher pointed to a park adjacent to the lake.

From there to the school building was about 8 kilometers.

Not an excessively long distance, but there were residential and commercial areas of varying sizes in between.

Passing through those while providing escort for a group of dozens would be no easy task.

“I want to entrust the role of clearing the path to your group. Of course, I’ll join as well. What do you say, will you accept the request?”

There was a brief silence as Aiden considered Asher’s question.

In fact, for Aiden, there was no particular need to accept this request.

From the blood needed for their next destination to the gasoline, he had already secured everything required through the previous request.

However, that was merely Aiden’s perspective.

Arian, who had been listening to the negotiation process right beside them, would likely have a completely different opinion.

She, who cared for children, had been quietly glaring in this direction ever since hearing that Asher’s group had children.

Moreover, Sadie, waiting in the vehicle, would also likely want to accept this request.

Considering his companions’ judgments as well, Aiden soon nodded.

“Alright, I’ll accept it.”

At that answer, Arian nodded, and Asher faintly smiled.

“Then let’s meet tomorrow morning at that park in Heath.”

“Understood.”

The discussion ended there.

With many tasks still remaining, Asher hurriedly returned to the base with his companions.

Aiden watched their retreating figures for a moment.