How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Led by Aiden and Arian carrying Sadie, the people ran down the hill.

Having already seen the zombie horde, they chased after Aiden’s group at maximum speed.

However, no matter how hard they ran, the distance from the zombies didn’t increase.

Because the zombie horde was slowly pushing forward while spread wide horizontally like a net, they couldn’t easily escape its range.

“Grrrr…”

The zombies’ groans were now audible.

At this, Camila panicked and spoke to her companions.

“Huff… Is it really okay to keep going like this?”

Camila said, gasping for breath.

She looked ahead.

The direction the junk dealer Aiden was leading them wasn’t completely opposite to where the zombie horde was coming from.

If the zombies were coming from the south, he was heading northwest.

He was leading the group in a direction that was subtly diagonal.

“We’ll be caught soon! Let’s break off to the back instead.”

Camila suggested moving away from the zombies first, rather than following Aiden.

But Ivan immediately disagreed.

“We can’t do that.”

“Why?”

“Because that way… huff, there’s no end to it.”

A zombie horde doesn’t change direction unless there’s a special reason.

Therefore, unless there was a way to dramatically increase speed, like using a vehicle, simply moving in the opposite direction was a waste of energy.

They were already not much faster than the zombies, running while carrying survival gear.

But the undead that never tire would keep advancing endlessly, and moving parallel to them would inevitably lead to being caught.

“But at this rate…!”

Just as Camila bit her lip.

“Kiaaaa!”

A frenzied zombie’s scream echoed from behind.

Camila turned her head in that direction with an uneasy expectation.

And the scene that met her eyes matched that unease.

“They’ve seen us!”

The zombie horde had already approached right up to the group.

Because of this, a few zombies at the front had spotted Aiden and his companions.

Immediately after, the corpses surged forward.

“Damn it…!”

Camila gritted her teeth and ran.

The distance to the zombies was about 30 meters.

However, zombies sprinting after discovering prey were several times faster than humans carrying luggage.

The distance of tens of meters was closing in an instant.

“Kieee!”

Hearing the screech right behind her, Camila raised her club with trembling hands.

A wooden bat with nails embedded in it.

She couldn’t just run away anymore.

Just as she made that judgment and was about to turn around.

“Don’t stop running.”

Someone’s shadow said that as it brushed past her.

It was Aiden, who had been running ahead.

He stood behind Camila with an axe in one hand.

Crack!

Then his axe shattered the head of the zombie that had gotten closest.

Immediately after, another one pounced, but Aiden didn’t bother to engage it and stepped back.

“You keep running. You’re falling behind.”

He instructed Camila like that, and Camila clenched her teeth and ran without even giving a reply.

Aiden stuck to the rear like this, as if protecting Camila who had been at the very back.

“Huff… huff…!”

After that, the group continued running.

Soon Camila’s breath was coming up to her throat.

From behind, only the sound of the axe smashing zombies could be heard endlessly.

Even so, Camila didn’t dare to even think about looking back.

There was no room for that.

It was hard enough just to keep up with the pace.

She could see Ricardo, who had been ahead, gradually falling behind.

Was it because he hadn’t fully recovered from severe dehydration?

Even seeing her companion like this, Camila couldn’t do anything.

But even amidst this, Aiden’s presence smashing zombies behind her remained constant.

That distance neither closed nor widened.

It meant that while Camila was just running for her life, Aiden was steadily keeping up behind her even while fighting.

Doesn’t that man ever get tired?

Just as Camila was thinking this while forcibly moving her trembling legs.

“Damn it… huff, to the side!”

It was Ivan’s voice.

Had he heard their companions making a commotion?

In the direction he pointed, another group of zombies was approaching.

Their number was about 20.

It wasn’t a large number compared to the entire horde, but it was too many for hand-to-hand combat.

But then should they take out their guns?

Just as everyone running was having this dilemma.

“No guns.”

As if reading their minds, Aiden spoke up.

While everyone was having trouble even speaking due to being out of breath, his voice continued in a strangely even tone.

“If we make gunshots here, the entire horde will converge on us.”

“Then… what should we do…!”

“Fight with melee weapons. I’ll handle the ones coming from behind.”

Even Aiden couldn’t protect everyone in this situation.

So instead, he took charge of the most dangerous rear.

However, the rest would ultimately have to fight for themselves.

“Huff…!”

At this, Ricardo’s group and Zaid’s group each took out their weapons.

Arian also put Sadie down for a moment and took out her machete, while Sadie aimed her small crossbow at the zombies.

Thwack!

An arrow sprouted from the head of a zombie running in front.

That was the signal for the start of full-scale combat.

Crack!

Ivan’s hammer crushed a zombie from top to bottom.

With that heavy and weighty attack, the zombie fell face-first to the ground with its head smashed.

“Kiee!”

But immediately another one rushed in.

Ivan is exposed in the gap created between large attacks.

But Ricardo supported Ivan in such a situation.

Thud!

Ricardo’s iron bar struck down the zombie aiming for Ivan.

Next to him, Camila’s spear pierced through the neck of a zombie running alongside.

As if they had trained together, the coordination of those three was quite good.

However, the zombies’ fierce attacks were not something that could be blocked just by good teamwork.

“Kiaaa!”

Immediately, more than twice the number of corpses they had taken down swarmed in.

Ricardo’s group faced off against the corpses but soon started to be pushed back.

The violence of overwhelming numbers.

Camila gritted her teeth at this.

Just the three of them couldn’t handle it.

“Someone…!”

She turned her gaze to ask for help.

But Aiden was single-handedly blocking as many zombies as they were facing.

Arian was also busy protecting Sadie.

Aiden’s group had no room to help them.

Camila’s face turned pale.

But right after that, someone responded to her voice.

It was none other than Zaid and Linda.

Crack!

Zaid’s pitchfork dug into a zombie’s chest.

It wasn’t an attack that could finish it off in one go, but it was enough to hold one in place.

Linda used a sharply ground shovel.

Contrary to her appearance, she drove its tip into the head of the zombie caught by the pitchfork with a fierce momentum.

As they joined Ricardo’s group like this, the balance was barely restored.

After that, a frenzied melee ensued.

Crunch!

A pitchfork was driven into the mouth of a zombie trying to bite Camila’s arm.

Rather than saying thanks, Camila broke the arm of a zombie that had grabbed Linda’s hair.

“Kiiiie!”

“Damn it, just die already!”

The zombies’ screams overlapped, and dull crushing sounds erupted here and there.

When they came to their senses, the number of zombies had greatly decreased.

But there was no time to rest.

“Run again. They’re coming.”

As soon as the battle ended, Aiden urged them impatiently.

The group followed his instructions without even properly organizing their weapons.

How long did they run like that?

After that, they had to face zombies that had flowed in from the horde two more times.

As a result, the number of zombies Camila alone had taken down today reached over 10.

It was an impressive result for combat without using guns.

However, such achievements weren’t any consolation to Camila.

“Huff… cough…!”

She was so out of breath it felt like blood was flowing from her throat.

There was no strength left in her arms and legs.

Camila was barely holding her weapon, without even the energy to swing it properly.

And it was similar for the others too.

Not only her companions who had fought together, but Zaid and Linda’s limbs were also trembling as if convulsing.

Because of this, the group was now walking rather than running.

They were so completely exhausted that even climbing and descending shallow hills was difficult.

“Kiee…”

Amidst this, the groans of zombies could be heard from somewhere.

Those corpses were approaching again with big strides.

Judging by the sound, they weren’t too far away.

Because of this, anxiety flowed through Camila’s mind.

It had been a miracle that they had survived until now.

But if another battle broke out here, there truly was no hope.

Swallowing her anxiety, Camila looked at Aiden standing behind her.

Whether he had a plan or not.

The expression of the junk dealer hidden behind that black helmet was not visible at all.

“What… are we going to do now?”

But Camila had saved her life several times today thanks to Aiden.

So she asked him with one last hope.

Despite everyone being on the verge of collapse from exhaustion, he who still showed no signs of wavering answered Camila’s question calmly.

“Just a little further.”

He simply urged Camila on.

But Camila wasn’t even angry.

She had no choice but to follow his words now.

Just as she turned her head like that.

Boom!

A deafening explosion erupted from somewhere.

It was beyond the hill they had already passed.

That massive roar spread to every corner of the shallow mountain range.

Soon it became bait to attract all the surrounding zombies.

“Kiee…”

The presence of zombies approaching the group soon receded like the tide.

At this magical occurrence, Camila looked at Aiden again.

“This is…?”

“A sound bomb.”

Aiden said calmly.

It was something he had set up on the way here.

It was a precious weapon that Aiden had purchased with the surplus supplies from disposing of the vehicle in Albuquerque, with a simple modification to add a time delay function to the existing sound bomb.

But Aiden didn’t particularly boast about it.

There was no need or room for that.

“Enough, keep moving. We’ve probably escaped the horde’s identification range for now, but it’s not time to relax yet.”

At Aiden’s words, the group squeezed out their last strength to move their feet.

It was a long time after that when they finally stopped marching, in the middle of some desert.

* * *

“Phew… I really thought I was going to die…”

Camila, sprawled out on the bare desert ground, muttered like that.

“Yeah. I heard zombie hordes roaming the desert were scary, but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

Ricardo said, furrowing his brow as he sat on the ground.

Zaid was also sitting next to him.

Zaid looked up at Aiden, who was still standing straight.

“But… aren’t you tired?”

“I am tired. In my own way.”

Zaid gave a bitter smile at his tone that didn’t seem tired at all despite his words.

Then, as if suddenly remembering, he changed the subject.

“By the way, you really fought well. I couldn’t see properly because it was so chaotic, but…”

“It wasn’t just fighting well. How many did you hunt alone?”

Ivan chimed in on Zaid’s words.

Beside him, Ricardo was also nodding.

The atmosphere between the two groups that had seemed ready to eat each other just a while ago had somehow been washed away.

Was the life-or-death battle against the zombie horde not all bad?

While Aiden was inwardly relieved with such thoughts, Ivan’s gaze shifted elsewhere.

“And that woman too. She was cutting zombies in half with a machete. How is that even possible?”

Ivan was looking at Arian as if observing a strange animal.

“You don’t need to pay too much attention to us.”

Aiden said, as if cutting off Ivan’s curiosity.

Reading his implicit meaning not to probe further, Ivan raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.

While everyone was taking a break like this, Aiden approached Arian and Sadie.

“Sadie, are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m a bit tired, but I’m fine.”

Sadie, who was sitting leaning against Arian, said with a bright smile.

From when the full-scale battle started, Sadie also had to run on her own feet.

So it must have been hard for a child’s body, but Sadie wasn’t showing it much.

Aiden stroked Sadie’s head a few times as if proud of her.

Then he turned his gaze to Arian.

“How about you? No problems?”

“I’m fine. I used up some blood, but… we have a place to get more, don’t we?”

Arian whispered with a strange smile, gesturing with her eyes towards Ricardo’s group.

Come to think of it, there was still something to receive.

Aiden nodded.

The chaotic battle was finally over.

So now, as a junk dealer, it was time to settle accounts.