How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

In an abandoned grain silo near the town’s entrance, far enough from where the mutant had been discovered…

That was the hideout currently occupied by Carter’s group, Arian, and Sadie.

“…”

However, there was hardly any conversation between them.

It wasn’t a situation conducive to casual chatting.

The Young family, having just narrowly escaped with their lives, sat numbly on the floor, barely relieved of their tension.

The Clark siblings, who had initially avoided them, averted their gazes, hesitant to speak first.

Meanwhile, Eli, the only one from Carter’s group who had acted independently and returned to this hideout earliest, carefully chose his words as he observed them, likely able to roughly guess what had transpired.

“Let’s rest for today, Sadie.”

So the only one uttering words in this place was Arian, speaking softly.

Sadie was gazing vacantly at the silo’s closed door.

Aiden still hadn’t returned.

“But… when night falls…”

Unable to complete her words, Sadie’s eyes clouded with gloom.

The sun had already nearly set.

Only the moonlight seeping through holes in the silo’s ceiling provided any visibility within, everything indistinct in the dim illumination.

Night, the most perilous time, had arrived.

Which was why Sadie couldn’t dispel her ominous premonition.

It was on a night just like this pitch-black darkness when she had once lost her mother and close older sister.

“It’ll be alright. That guy probably has some way, doesn’t he?”

Arian comforted Sadie, patting her shoulder reassuringly.

It wasn’t an unfounded statement.

From the start, Aiden had recognized that time would be limited in his battle against the mutant.

Considering his mentality of always anticipating the worst-case scenario, he had likely expected this situation as well.

“And Aiden is… you know.”

Arian added those words with a wry smile.

While it sounded like a jest, in circumstances like these, the fact that he was already a zombie was an immense relief.

As long as he dealt with the mutant clinging to him, ordinary zombies wouldn’t pose a threat.

His survival chances at night far surpassed those of ordinary people.

“…”

Whether accepting Arian’s reassurance or not, Sadie gave a small nod.

After comforting Sadie that way, Arian turned her gaze towards the Young family – Carter, Naomi, and Audrey – who had just returned, still catching their breath.

Arian had something she needed to tell them.

“Hey, you people over there.”

Her tone, clearly colder than when speaking to Sadie, was directed at them.

“Surely you know what happened to Aiden, don’t you?”

“Ah… well…”

At Arian’s question, Carter carefully chose his words.

Carter had been hiding in the adjacent block until just before Aiden entered the bank.

However, he hadn’t witnessed Aiden’s battle to the end.

Upon seeing the mutant and zombies pouring out of the bank, fear had taken over, prompting him to flee midway.

He had only regained his senses belatedly and reunited with his family on the way back.

So the only ones who truly knew were Naomi and Audrey.

As Carter’s response faltered, Naomi spoke up instead.

“That junk dealer was… at the police station.”

While Naomi’s tone was somewhat hesitant, she provided a detailed account of Aiden rescuing them and what had happened afterwards.

Hearing that, Arian nodded curtly.

“So you saw that and still left Aiden behind?”

“I… had no choice. I needed to protect my daughter.”

Naomi spoke those words resolutely, causing Arian’s brow to furrow slightly.

While her brazen attitude was unpleasant, Arian couldn’t really refute it.

As Arian briefly fell silent, she suddenly recalled words Aiden had once spoken.

One type of person to be wary of in this world was parents with children.

More so than lone individuals, parents could make selfish or extreme choices under the pretext of protecting their offspring.

However, both then and now, Arian didn’t consider it inherently wrong.

She was similar in that regard.

For Sadie’s sake, Arian would do anything as well.

“I’m sorry.”

So Arian didn’t condemn the apologetic Naomi for lowering her head.

She simply clicked her tongue before swiftly changing the subject.

“Fine. Then give me your compensation instead.”

“Compensation?”

“Your blood.”

Arian retrieved the blood collection kit she had brought.

She extended it towards the Young family.

“It’s the payment Aiden agreed to receive for rescuing you.”

As if questioning its veracity, Naomi looked towards her husband.

In response, Carter let out a brief sigh before asking in return.

“Do we really have to do that?”

“What’s with that reaction? Trying to back out now?”

“Well, it’s just suspicious. Taking people’s blood, what’s that for?”

Carter raised an objection.

However, before Arian could respond…

“Dad, please…!”

…Audrey, who had grasped the situation, glared at Carter as she spoke those words.

At his daughter’s exasperated reaction, Carter belatedly nodded.

“Ah, I got it. We’ll do it, alright.”

And so, the Young family each took a blood collection kit.

Next, Arian approached the nearby Clark siblings.

“What’s this about? We never asked that guy to rescue those people.”

In response, Adam spoke up.

Arian was already aware of that.

It had only been Carter who had proposed the request to Aiden.

“I know. I came to make a trade.”

Arian presented two cans of food.

Fist-sized cans of corn, enough for their evening meal.

“Donate some blood, and I’ll give one can each to you.”

It was just about evening mealtime.

The siblings exchanged glances.

Their decision came swiftly.

“If that’s what it’s for.”

“Sure, I’m fine with it. Reminds me of the old days when they gave candy for blood donations.”

The Clark siblings readily accepted Arian’s trade offer.

And so, Arian collected blood from Carter, Audrey, and the Clark siblings.

For some reason, Naomi simply stared vacantly while holding the syringe, but she didn’t seem to be refusing the blood draw, so Arian decided to wait a bit longer for her.

In the meantime, the others began their meal.

It was just canned goods, but precious sustenance nonetheless.

And Arian turned her gaze towards Eli, who was sitting alone in a corner, having finished eating first.

“How about you? Care to donate some blood? I could give you bullets or water in return.”

“I’m good.”

Contrary to expectations, Eli bluntly rejected Arian’s offer to trade.

Arian’s eyebrow raised slightly at that.

It wasn’t just about the blood itself.

Even without Eli’s, the blood collected from the others would suffice for several days.

However, Arian found his outright refusal of this advantageous trade suspicious.

Any reasonable person would view it as a beneficial deal, so why refuse?

It was then that Arian’s gaze happened to drift towards Eli’s side.

“You… got injured, didn’t you?”

There was a distinct bloodstain.

Arian had been aware of Eli’s injury from the start, but the dim lighting of the silo had concealed it from everyone else’s notice.

Which was why…

“Injured? Eli?”

…Adam was the first to react sharply.

Following that, everyone’s attention shifted towards Eli.

Realizing their gazes harbored suspicion, Eli shook his head in displeasure.

“What? It’s not like that.”

“Then show us the wound.”

Frowning at Adam’s insistence, Eli hesitated briefly before letting out a deep sigh.

He then obediently lifted his shirt to expose his side.

“Got cut by some glass while climbing through a window.”

As he had said, there was only a long gash, as if sliced by something.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem to have penetrated deep enough to damage his internal organs, but it was still a fairly deep wound that continued bleeding.

However, upon seeing it, the others turned their gazes away in relief.

As long as it wasn’t a zombie bite, they didn’t seem to care about the details.

At that, Eli calmly bandaged the wound with a cloth, showing no disappointment.

“…”

Arian quietly observed Eli with an expressionless gaze.

The others didn’t seem to have noticed, but just above Eli’s injury, Arian had spotted something else on his side.

A small burn scar in the shape of an arrow emblem.

The same symbol of the Eaters she had witnessed a few days prior.

Did that mean… Eli was an Eater?

Just as Arian’s thoughts became complicated by that possibility…

“Mom?”

Audrey’s voice suddenly rang out.

While not particularly loud, for some reason it pierced the ears of everyone present with stark clarity.

And following Audrey’s line of sight, their gazes shifted towards Naomi.

“…”

Naomi, who still hadn’t provided her blood, had her head lowered stiffly.

One hand gripping the syringe was trembling violently.

Eventually, Naomi couldn’t maintain her grip and dropped the syringe.

The plastic syringe fell to the floor with a light clatter.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Her husband, Carter, asked that question.

However, Naomi didn’t respond, only taking a step backwards.

“Ah…!”

And it was in that moment that Arian realized it.

At some point, Naomi’s scent had changed.

The aroma of an ordinary human tinged with the faint stench of rotten blood.

“Be careful.”

Sensing this, Arian observed Naomi intently.

The clothes Naomi and Audrey had been wearing when they took shelter in the bank were partially spattered with zombie blood.

Which was why Arian hadn’t immediately noticed it either.

That one of them had likely been bitten by a zombie.

“You were bitten by a zombie, weren’t you?”

At Arian’s words, the others reacted with shock.

Immediately, the nearby Carter shouted at her.

“What the hell are you saying all of a sudden!”

“Her right shoulder.”

Arian precisely indicated Naomi’s injury location.

On her shoulder was some lace-like decoration, so from the outside, only a slight tear was visible.

It didn’t outwardly appear to be a zombie bite.

“Just for that much…!”

Which was why Carter raised his voice even louder.

As if trying to calm him, Sedy spoke up.

“Let’s just check, shall we?”

“What?”

“It’s not that difficult, is it?”

Sedy gestured towards Eli as she said that, causing Carter’s face to contort.

However, it had only been moments earlier when Eli had been subjected to similar suspicion and provided proof.

Carter lacked justification to refuse now.

So he reached towards his wife’s shoulder.

“Don’t be ridiculous. A bite, my ass…”

As he began shifting Naomi’s clothing aside, Carter’s eyes widened.

On her bony shoulder, a distinct bluish bite mark was clearly visible.

Carter lost his words and took a step back.

“You’ve got to be kidding… you really were bitten!”

Witnessing that, Sedy cried out in shock, prompting the others to react simultaneously.

Among them, Adam had already drawn his pistol.

“Kill her! Do it quickly!”

“W-Wait a minute! Just wait!”

The Clark siblings shouted for Naomi to be killed immediately.

Carter tried to stop them, while Audrey let out a scream.

The previously quiet silo instantly descended into chaos.

It was Arian who intervened amidst that pandemonium.

“Quiet down. Do you want to attract more zombies here?”

Her chillingly ominous tone snapped everyone back to their senses.

The momentary clamor of voices fell silent.

It was Eli who broke that silence.

“So… what are we going to do now?”

He was asking Carter that question.

Unable to decide one way or the other, Carter simply looked at his wife.

“Honey…”

“…”

However, the zombie-bitten Naomi kept her head lowered, not uttering a word.

No one could tell if that silence stemmed from shame or was an early sign of her transformation.

“Dad, no…”

Audrey shook her head.

Carter pulled her into a protective embrace.

It was then that Naomi raised her head.

Tears were brimming in her eyes.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have lost her sanity yet.

“I’m sor-“

Just as Naomi was about to say something…

A gunshot suddenly rang out.

Simultaneously, a red hole appeared in Naomi’s forehead.

Shlick!

Blood sprayed from the back of her shattered skull.

A beat later, Naomi’s body crumpled backwards like a sack of rotten meat collapsing.

“Aahh!”

Audrey’s piercing scream followed.

“What the hell did you do!”

Witnessing that, Carter erupted in outrage.

The one who had fired the shot was Sedy.

Carter tried to draw his own gun towards Sedy.

“Calm down!”

Eli and Adam restrained Carter, pinning his arms with their full bodies.

Held by the two men, Carter struggled futilely.

“Why did you do that!”

“Get a grip. I merely did what you should have.”

In response to Carter’s question, Sedy coldly replied.

Although Carter hurled insults at her, Sedy didn’t even register them.

Rather, as if finding Carter’s behavior repulsive, she continued speaking.

“Damn it. You’ve had no problem killing the other infected until now, haven’t you? Saying they’d just turn into zombies anyway. Saying it couldn’t be helped if we wanted to survive. And now you’re going to make me the asshole instead?”

Carter bit his lip hard.

As Sedy said, in situations like this, Carter had always calmly eliminated such threats.

That was how he had survived.

For the sake of his family.

Which was why Carter could only glare at Sedy with a resentful gaze.

“She’s not wrong, you know.”

Even Eli sided with Sedy.

At that, Carter contorted his face as far as it could go before roughly shrugging off the arms restraining him from Adam and Eli.

“Mom…!”

Amidst that tense atmosphere, someone’s sobs could be heard.

It was Audrey.

She was sprawled over her mother’s corpse, weeping.

“I… didn’t even get to say goodbye…”

At Audrey’s mournful murmurs, even Sedy had no words to offer.

With a brief sigh, Sedy put away the gun she had been holding.

Seeing his daughter’s grief, the anger filling Carter’s mind gradually shifted to sorrow.

He soon sat beside Audrey and began tending to Naomi’s pitiful remains.

“…”

Observing those people, Arian impassively checked their surroundings for any signs of disturbance.

Fortunately, perhaps due to their location on the town’s outskirts…

No zombies seemed to have reacted to the earlier gunshot.

Meanwhile, Sadie was cradled in Arian’s embrace.

A faint tremor could be felt from the child. The events that had just unfolded were likely quite shocking for Sadie. Gazing at her, Arian’s eyes carried a hint of pity.

And so, night deepened amidst that gruesome situation.

Aiden still hadn’t returned.