How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

How inconvenient that it had to be now.

It was just when the end was finally in sight.

They had endured the massive tidal wave of the zombie horde, and only the lingering ripples remained.

If they could have held out just a little longer, it would have been over.

However, no amount of lamenting would bring back the ammunition they had expended.

So Asher surveyed their surroundings with a dispassionate gaze.

The remaining zombies numbered in the hundreds.

But they were far more threatening than at the beginning.

The fallen zombie corpses had become stepping stones, forming a slope leading up to this rooftop.

Their geographical advantage was now almost nullified.

The remaining corpses were surging towards the rooftop in droves.

Asher shouted.

“Everyone, take up your weapons!”

He gripped his spear.

And his companions also discarded their guns, each taking up their respective melee weapons to confront the onrushing zombies.

Everywhere, zombie shrieks and human screams intermingled.

“Aaack!”

Casualties immediately began mounting.

A man swinging a club with one hand was grabbed by a zombie and dragged off the rooftop.

Below, only a terrifying, indescribable sound could be heard.

On the opposite side, a woman had her throat torn out by a zombie.

An immense amount of blood poured out onto the ground like a faucet had been turned on.

As her final act, the woman smashed the head of the zombie that had ripped out her throat with a hammer before collapsing, never to move again.

Such scenes unfolded from all directions.

Asher’s face contorted hideously at the deaths of the companions who had trusted and followed him.

“Kiiiik!”

But not all he saw was a desperate sight.

The number of zombies, which had reached hundreds, was decreasing at an alarming rate.

At the center of it all was Arian.

Her crimson blade, the sight of which alone made one’s hair stand on end, slaughtered the corpses with tremendous force.

Her machete, enveloped in an indescribable red aura, cleaved through the zombies like sheets of paper.

For some inexplicable reason, the blood of Asher’s fallen companions was also flowing through the air towards her.

It was an eerie spectacle.

From a certain perspective, it was even more unbelievable than the zombies themselves.

As such, her appearance was terrifying and ominous, like witnessing a demon, but beyond that, it was exhilarating.

Towards Arian, Asher felt gratitude rather than fear.

If she could eliminate the corpses devouring his companions, and even save the life of a single companion because of it…

Even if that girl named Arian was an actual demon, Asher didn’t care.

And finally…

“Kiee…!”

The last of the zombie horde that had assaulted this place was torn apart by the crimson blade.

With the sound of that falling, crushed head like a squashed tomato, silence at last descended upon the area around this small warehouse.

“…”

However, none of those present could raise a cheer of victory.

Asher raised his eyes to confirm the number of remaining companions.

Nearly half, over twenty people, were nowhere to be seen.

Most of them had been the injured, but some vanguard members were also among the missing, and even a few children were included.

Overwhelmed with grief, Asher closed his eyes and lowered his head.

For a while, no one there could speak.

In the west, where the sun had already set, the black tidal wave of zombies that had engulfed them was slowly receding into the distance.

* * *

A while later…

“…You did well.”

Aiden spoke to Arian, who had returned after dealing with the zombies.

However, she didn’t say a word.

With a stiff, expressionless face, she stared intently at a corner of the corpse pile.

There, smaller corpses could be seen, distinct from the others.

Arian’s gaze lingered on each of them.

She grit her teeth.

Once again, she had fought desperately.

Forcibly using the blood of the sacrificed, she had tried to drive away the zombies, but in the end, she had failed to protect them.

Regret caused Arian’s hand, still gripping the machete, to tremble.

A small hand grasped her trembling hand.

Arian’s gaze, fixed on the deceased, shifted.

“…”

It was Sadie.

Even after the ammunition had run out, leaving her by Aiden’s side throughout that ordeal, she had emerged unscathed.

Arian tightly embraced Sadie.

Sadie also hugged Arian back, and Aiden silently watched them before turning away.

He couldn’t console them in that way.

He had simply decided to do what he needed to do.

“We need to move.”

Aiden approached Asher and said that.

Asher, who had been blankly staring at the corpses, furrowed his brow at Aiden’s words.

“What…?”

“It’s dangerous to remain here. Night will fall soon. We need to leave immediately and find a place to take shelter.”

Asher’s lips quivered as he processed Aiden’s words.

Many people had died here.

They were all Asher’s companions, not a single one whose name he didn’t know or with whom he hadn’t conversed.

And now Aiden was telling him to abandon their corpses and leave this place immediately.

“We can mourn later. Right now, we need to struggle to survive.”

The following words were tinged with anger.

The emotions he could barely contain wanted to lash out in rage.

However, after barely suppressing that impulse and reconsidering, he soon realized the truth.

Aiden’s words were simply an acknowledgment of reality.

Raising his downcast gaze, he looked up at the sky.

The sun had already set considerably.

In just two or three hours, it would completely disappear below the horizon.

They needed to move before then.

With many injured, securing a hiding place took priority, requiring personnel organization and scouting.

And if possible, they needed to dispatch people to retrieve the supplies they had abandoned.

The food and water for today were still there.

“Phew…”

Coming to his senses, he realized there was more than just one or two tasks at hand.

He raised his hand and slapped his own cheek.

The clear sound drew the attention of a few people towards Asher.

Asher first looked towards Aiden.

“Junk dealer… no, Aiden. Do you have any energy left?”

“Why do you ask?”

“We need to retrieve the supplies we abandoned. Even just a portion of them. We only need the food and water for today. We can gather the rest tomorrow. Can you retrieve them?”

At his words, Aiden nodded.

For him, unaffected by fatigue or injury, it wasn’t a particularly difficult task.

“Thank you. And Charlie… are there any injured…”

Asher’s words momentarily trailed off.

It was only now that he realized Charlie’s absence from the very beginning.

After briefly biting his lip, he soon opened his mouth again.

“Mark, sort out the injured. And from those unscathed, pick scouts. We need to find a place to stay tonight.”

A man nodded at Asher’s words.

And so, Asher tended to his companions and assigned them their respective tasks.

Despite unable to hide their grief and fatigue, his companions silently followed his instructions without complaint.

“…”

Watching this, Aiden turned to retrieve the supplies.

It was as if the clock hands, which had barely stopped, were starting to move again.

“For a moment, I’ll leave Sadie in your care.”

He said that to Arian, who was still holding Sadie in her embrace.

Arian silently nodded.

Instead of using the severed stairs, Aiden descended by stepping down the slope of corpses leading up to the second-floor rooftop.

* * *

The next day, Aiden’s group left their temporary shelter early in the morning.

Although they had reluctantly stayed with Asher and his companions the previous night, now that the request was completed, there was no reason to linger any further.

“You’re leaving?”

The one seeing off Aiden’s group was, of course, Asher.

The others were still resting, unable to overcome the fatigue from the previous day.

“We have to. The request is over.”

Asher nodded.

However, he soon continued with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“Will that really suffice as compensation?”

Asher hadn’t been able to provide the compensation he had promised Aiden.

It was because they had expended nearly all their resources in the previous day’s battle.

So instead of the promised compensation, Aiden had received their blood.

It was a significant shortfall compared to the promised reward, causing Asher to feel apologetic.

“It’s fine.”

However, Aiden waved it off with those words.

Having witnessed the previous day’s battle, Aiden was well aware of their circumstances.

Moreover, there had been numerous casualties as well.

In a situation where they couldn’t be said to have fulfilled the role of escorting Asher’s group as per the request, demanding the full promised compensation would have been excessive.

“More importantly… what will you do now?”

“We’ll have to change our plans. We can’t stay in this area for long. We might have to go quite far away. I’ll need to discuss it with my companions.”

“Yes, that would be wise.”

Asher had originally intended to stay in this area for a while, scouting for potential base locations.

However, if this was a place where a massive zombie horde roamed, the situation changed.

Their top priority now was to escape the horde’s territory.

Asher was well aware of this, and he in turn posed the same question.

“So where are you planning to go?”

“Houston.”

“Houston… heading south, huh. Why there?”

“We have information from Shreveport. There’s supposed to be a survivor group there too.”

In Houston, there was a fairly large survivor group numbering in the thousands.

However, for the Union in Shreveport, resources were more urgent than people.

As such, they had no intention of venturing southwards where people were present, and they seemingly had little to no interaction with Houston.

For that reason, detailed information was difficult to obtain, but unexpectedly, Asher seemed to know something about Houston.

“Yeah, there is one. But…”

“Do you know anything about them?”

“You could say that. But there’s no solid evidence, so you can take it with a grain of salt.”

Aiden nodded, indicating it didn’t matter.

Asher’s words continued.

“That group in Houston, we’re quite familiar with them. For about a year, we continuously traded with them, distributing some of the resources we could procure in Dallas.”

“What kind of resources?”

“Mainly things like plant seeds and fertilizer. I heard they were attempting agriculture.”

“Agriculture…”

For a survivor group numbering in the thousands, it was certainly an endeavor worth attempting.

The credibility of the information Aiden had obtained from Shreveport increased.

However, Asher’s next words sounded somewhat ominous.

“But the trades abruptly stopped about two months ago.”

“For what reason?”

“I don’t know. They were always the ones sending people, but then they just stopped coming. That’s all I know.”

As Asher said, it wasn’t information with any clear details.

Only the faint possibility that something might have happened was hinted at.

Although not enough to change their destination, it did suggest the need for some level of preparation.

“Understood. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Aiden nodded his head.

There was nothing more to discuss with Asher.

So as he turned to leave, Asher’s voice stopped him.

“And one last thing… thank you. To you, Aiden, and to the two of you as well.”

Asher turned his gaze towards Arian and Sadie.

“If it weren’t for you, we would have all died on that damned warehouse rooftop. Of course, I still don’t understand how it happened, but…”

Asher trailed off after saying that.

The abilities he had witnessed from Arian the previous day were so unbelievable.

However, Asher didn’t question her about it until the end.

He had already sensed that Aiden’s group wouldn’t welcome such inquiries.

So he simply lowered his head.

“I won’t forget your help.”

In response to Asher’s gratitude, Aiden silently looked at him.

Arian showed a bitter smile, while Sadie gave a somewhat shy one.

“May your journey be safe.”

Aiden extended his hand for a handshake towards Asher.

Asher grasped Aiden’s hand and nodded.

With that, Aiden’s group parted ways with Asher and his companions.

They soon returned to the vehicle they had hidden before the request and set off for their next destination.

* * *

Interstate Highway 45, directly connecting Dallas to Houston.

After traveling about 160 km along the road, Aiden parked the vehicle in a small town called Fairfield.

Originally with a population of only around 2,300, the town was small in scale.

However, Aiden had something to do here today.

“We’ll stay here today.”

“Already?”

Arian asked.

The sun was still high in the sky.

Yet Aiden had decided on an early base because they needed to search for supplies.

Not only ammunition and weapons, but even their relatively ample food and water supplies were gradually dwindling.

If there was a survivor group in Houston to replenish those supplies, it wouldn’t have mattered, but Aiden didn’t take Asher’s information lightly.

Considering the possibility of something amiss there, he wanted to try and resupply at least a little here.

“There are many supplies we need to find. So let’s split up and move separately today.”

Fairfield was a town that stretched east-west along State Highway 84, which branched off from the interstate it flanked.

Aiden’s group was in the western part of the town, where there was a small commercial area with a few restaurants and hotels.

Aiden planned to have Arian and Sadie handle that area while he ventured further into the town himself.

“Understood.”

“Okay.”

Arian and Sadie respectively responded to Aiden’s suggestion.

After confirming they had entered a fast food establishment, Aiden also set off, following the road that cut through the town.