How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Chapter 125



“Don’t blame me for this. If you had just left, you would have either died or become slaves.”

“…”

River calmly responded to Aiden’s words, and Aiden couldn’t refute him further.

If River only knew Aiden and Arian as ordinary people, his statement wasn’t wrong.

So River’s intention of detaining Aiden’s group here despite knowing the gang was coming couldn’t be seen as entirely malicious.

“And that’s not all. Iron Sight doesn’t care about kids. They think they can’t even use them as slaves. If you had been captured, the children would have been killed outright.”

At those following words, Arian frowned.

However, River paid no heed and continued speaking.

“So if you have no intention of helping us, leave this city immediately. I’ll tell you the way out.”

Surrender or flee – that was his suggestion.

However, it wasn’t a choice Aiden could make.

“We can’t just leave.”

Aiden muttered.

Fleeing empty-handed without any supplies or a vehicle harbored risks greater than fighting the gang.

They could starve to death without food or die of thirst without water.

For Aiden and Arian, who would be in danger if they didn’t consume blood for even a few days, it was even more perilous.

So Aiden let out a deep sigh and looked towards his companions.

“We can’t simply leave. No matter what, we need to at least secure the vehicle.”

At those words, Arian also nodded her head.

She fully understood the importance of the vehicle as well.

“Let me check first and come back. We still don’t know for sure if they actually took the vehicle.”

The vehicle had been parked outside the collapsed base’s outer wall, at a considerable distance from here.

Even so, Aiden simply nodded in agreement.

Soon after, Arian exited the building, and River shook his head as he spoke.

“It’s no use. If you’re hoping they didn’t take it because they lacked keys, give up on that. Those guys have technicians among them. Opening the door and hot-wiring it takes no more than a minute.”

“…”

Despite River’s negative words, Aiden silently waited for Arian’s return.

The members of Iron Sight who had already begun searching the ruined base eventually came into view.

It seemed they thought Aiden’s group was hiding inside the school building and were searching there.

Soon, Arian returned.

Her expression alone conveyed the answer – the vehicle had indeed been seized, as she relayed.

“Then… I guess we have no choice.”

Aiden looked at River.

He had decided to accept the man’s proposal.

Of course, he still harbored reservations about intervening in a gang war.

However, the situation had changed.

Iron Sight.

They themselves had given Aiden a reason to become their enemy.

“What are the exact details of the request?”

At Aiden’s words accepting the proposal, River faintly smiled.

“We’ll soon be attacking Iron Sight. So the request could involve joining us in raiding them, or you might be assigned a separate mission.”

“…It will be dangerous.”

“Of course it will. But I won’t give you an unreasonable request. After all, we can’t completely trust you either.”

Aiden nodded at River’s words.

Forcing an overly reckless request would only lead to the junk dealer fleeing, which would be troublesome for River’s side.

So he was saying the request would be within reasonable bounds.

While Aiden couldn’t fully trust him, he had no other choice, so he accepted River’s words.

“Alright, I’ll accept it. Then what will our role be?”

However, instead of answering, River turned his gaze outside.

There, the gang members who had finished searching the building were now slowly approaching this location.

“Before that, let’s change locations first.”

River spoke those words.

Aiden nodded his head.

* * *

A short while later…

“This place…”

Aiden muttered while looking at the large hospital building.

Quite a distance northwest from the ruined base, at the outskirts of Houston.

Completely outside Iron Sight’s patrol territory, this was the hideout of the group River belonged to – the Kingwood Militia.

“Come on in. This is our militia’s base.”

River guided the group through the hospital’s entrance as he spoke.

At the left and right of the entrance, several men and women stood on guard with their guns ready.

Upon entering further, even more people became visible.

Some of those militia members approached River.

“River, who are these people?”

“People who want to join.”

“You brought more?”

“Well, we are short on manpower.”

The man addressing River briefly glanced over Aiden’s group, Susan, and Theo.

Fortunately, his gaze only held normal wariness, without any negative undertones.

Perhaps they were accustomed to accepting outsiders.

With that thought, Aiden followed behind River.

Soon, they occupied one of the hospital’s patient rooms.

“Shall we continue our previous discussion?”

There, River looked around at the group and spoke those words.

Aiden, as if waiting for it, posed his question.

“You said Kingwood Militia? How many people are you in total?”

“Around 200.”

“Not a lot.”

River had mentioned earlier that Iron Sight numbered around 500.

Compared to that, 200 was less than half the opposing force.

“With those numbers, fighting Iron Sight won’t be easy. Do you have a plan?”

To attack the enemy’s base, a significantly larger force would be required.

For a number not even reaching half to drive them out… unless they had an exceptional method, it was an almost unimaginable task.

Even so, River confidently stated:

“We have a few countermeasures in mind.”

“What are they?”

“First, explosives.”

River raised one finger.

“We have a considerable amount of explosives. Iron Sight’s base is an abandoned military facility in the city center, set up by soldiers during the initial zombie outbreak. And our explosives are enough to blow that place sky-high in one go.”

Explosives, huh.

If they were powerful enough to demolish barricades, it was certainly a viable countermeasure.

However, it naturally wouldn’t be sufficient on its own.

“And after that?”

Even if they breached the barricades, this wasn’t a medieval siege.

If their forces rushed through that narrow opening in vehicles, they would simply become target practice amidst the incoming gunfire from all sides.

“We’ll drive that thing inside.”

“That thing…?”

“The Rhino. We’re planning to lure that mutant.”

At River’s words, Aiden frowned deeply.

Within his common sense, it was an inconceivable act.

“…That’s madness. I’ve never seen a single instance of intentionally luring zombies end well. It’s a reckless act.”

So he firmly stated that.

However, River’s determination didn’t easily waver.

“I know it’s dangerous. But it’s the best option. We lack the numbers. And the only way to make up for that shortage is to utilize the corpses. Unless you have another method?”

Aiden let out a sigh.

As River said, there was no other countermeasure available.

Accepting that, River continued speaking.

“We can use the explosives twice. First, we’ll destroy the front barricade with them. Then we’ll drive the mutant inside and lure out Iron Sight’s forces.”

“Lure them out?”

“Yes. In the meantime, we’ll blow up the rear barricade.”

“You mean leaving the front to the zombies while annihilating them from behind?”

It was a common tactic.

And simultaneously, one that Aiden had witnessed numerous gangs fail at in the past when attempting similar maneuvers.

However, there was a slight difference in River’s plan.

“Annihilation is fine too. But behind their base, there are our comrades being held captive by those guys. Rescuing them comes first.”

The militia’s primary objective was to extract their captured comrades from Iron Sight.

While not a significant difference, the possibility of avoiding direct confrontation with the zombies was preferable.

After grasping the militia’s overall plan, Aiden soon pinpointed the crux.

“But… how do you plan to lure the mutant?”

It was the most dangerous yet crucial task.

Of course, they wouldn’t assign such a role to Aiden’s group, who were essentially outsiders like junk dealers.

If they failed, the entire operation would be in vain, so they wouldn’t entrust such an important task to external parties.

“We’ll handle that ourselves. You don’t need to know.”

Perhaps for that reason…

River didn’t share the specifics of that method with Aiden.

Without further inquiry, Aiden moved on to his next question.

“Then what will our role be?”

“We’ll load the explosives into a vehicle and charge straight into the barricade. The operation will take place right after sunset. It’s a simple task, but there will be one guy with a machine gun posted atop the barricade. We need someone to confirm he’s far enough away and give the signal.”

“A simple mission.”

“Of course. That’s why I’m hesitant to assign our combatants to it. If possible, I’d like the lady in your group to take this on.”

River pointed at Arian as he spoke.

He still didn’t seem to regard Arian as a proper combatant.

If so, there was no reason for Aiden to refuse such a proposal.

Aiden looked towards Arian, and they nodded at each other.

“Then what about my role?”

“The vanguard of the rear assault squad. Literally the personnel who will charge in first once the rear barricade is breached.”

Indeed, it was no trivial task.

And yet, it wasn’t a solo operation but rather a mission involving multiple people.

Even if he tried to break the contract and flee, secretly slipping away would be difficult.

It was a suitable task to entrust to a junk dealer.

However, for Aiden, it was a request he could handle without issue.

Bullets weren’t as dangerous to him as they were to ordinary people.

“Alright, I accept.”

“Eh, this easily?”

“Then I’ll also have grounds to make some demands of you.”

At Aiden’s words, River gave a wry smile.

“Ah, you mean compensation?”

“First, you must guarantee the child’s safety.”

Aiden pointed at Sadie as he spoke.

No matter who he was, taking Sadie into a battlefield filled with gunfire would be unthinkable.

River readily acknowledged Aiden’s demand.

“Of course. We also have children here. They’ll all be waiting at this hideout. While minimal, we’ll leave some personnel behind to protect them.”

At his response, not only Aiden and Arian, but even Susan, who had been guarding Theo, let out a sigh of relief.

“Anything else?”

“I’d like to receive part of the compensation as an advance payment.”

In addition to the basic weapons provided for the request, Aiden asked for bullets, grenades, and blood.

Weapons to prepare for unforeseen situations, and blood for Arian’s sake.

River readily agreed to this as well.

However, perhaps unable to contain his curiosity, he posed a question.

“But why blood?”

“You don’t need to know that.”

At Aiden’s firm response, River easily backed down.

He wasn’t so tactless as to pry into unimportant matters.

“Alright. The operation starts in 3 days. Until then, you can stay comfortably here. Use this room as is.”

Saying that, River exited the room.

Susan and Theo followed after him.

Unlike Aiden’s group, having formally joined the militia, they would be staying elsewhere as fellow members rather than outsiders.

After their departure…

In the now quiet patient room, Arian asked Aiden:

“Do we really need to go this far?”

“What do you mean?”

“I could just handle it.”

Arian spoke nonchalantly.

As she said, if they left everything to Arian, the task could proceed smoothly.

Arian alone could potentially wipe out a gang numbering around 500 in a single night.

However, Aiden shook his head.

“There’s no reason for you to go that far.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This is a revenge they need to take themselves. We only need to retrieve the vehicle.”

“But…”

“And you… don’t really want to do that either, do you?”

Arian slightly raised her eyebrow.

“You think… I wouldn’t want to?”

“That’s right. Would you really enjoy killing people?”

Arian only blinked her eyes.

While Aiden’s words were true, she had never avoided combat for such a reason.

In the past, even if she didn’t want to fight, she always had to.

No matter how much she ran, the hunters would chase her to kill her, and at those dead ends, she had to kill those hunters with her own hands.

So Aiden’s consideration felt somewhat strange to Arian.

However, she didn’t dislike it at all.

“Well… I suppose so.”

And so, Arian accepted Aiden’s kindness.

Completely oblivious to Arian’s feelings, Aiden indifferently continued speaking.

“If the operation proceeds as planned, while they rescue their people, we’ll seize the opportunity amid the chaos to retrieve our vehicle and escape. If we play our part then, it might be easier than expected.”

Watching him discuss their role with such seriousness, Arian stroked Sadie, who was sitting beside her.

* * *

And 3 days later…

As promised beforehand, Arian stood atop the ruins of a building in Houston’s city center.


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