How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“You want my blood?”

“You have to pay for the water you drank earlier. You didn’t think I just gave it to you for free, did you?”

“No, it’s not that. But…”

Ricardo trailed off.

He too knew that it was thanks to Aiden that his life was saved.

From the beginning, he had intended to repay him for that. Especially after seeing Aiden fight the zombies, he couldn’t even entertain the thought of biting him.

But he was troubled by what Aiden had demanded.

It was fortunate that he didn’t ask for food supplies, even a small amount, but blood.

The only ominous thoughts that came to mind were having to make a cut somewhere on his body.

“How are you going to take the blood?”

So Ricardo asked.

Aiden immediately took out a blood collection set from his belongings.

Upon seeing this, Ricardo let out an involuntary laugh.

He hadn’t expected Aiden to be so serious as to even carry syringes into this desert.

“Ha, you carry something like that around?”

Fortunately, there was no need to make any cuts, but Ricardo’s suspicion deepened a bit.

To him, unaware of Aiden’s group’s circumstances, the existence of that syringe seemed like an intense obsession with blood.

And no matter how he thought about it, that obsession wasn’t something normal.

At best, Aiden was just an ordinary mentally ill person, and at worst, he could be a cannibalistic cultist.

“You guys… you’re not cannibals, are you?”

Camila, who had been watching from the side, asked with a slightly contorted expression.

Ivan too quietly shot Aiden a suspicious look.

Aiden let out a short sigh and calmly took out a can of corn from his belongings.

“I’ll throw this in as compensation for the blood. But the condition is that you don’t ask anything.”

Upon hearing that, Ricardo’s group looked at each other.

A mere can of food wasn’t that big of a deal.

But for Ricardo’s group, who was short on food supplies to begin with, it wasn’t an insignificant amount either.

In fact, the only thing Ricardo’s group had received from Zaid was just two cans of food.

With this additional can, each of the three of them could have one can to eat.

So Ricardo’s group forcibly suppressed their suspicions in silence.

“If they were cannibals… they wouldn’t have just let us go until now.”

Ivan, who had remained silent, calmly defended Aiden.

It was a reasonable point.

None of the people here had missed seeing Aiden single-handedly kill dozens of zombies that had swarmed behind their group just a while ago.

Ricardo too let out a short sigh and continued speaking.

“Come to think of it, I’ve never heard of cultists who draw blood with syringes. Have you?”

“Well…”

Camila still could not let go of her suspicion, but in the end, no objections were raised.

Ricardo nodded his head.

“Alright. Take the blood or do whatever, I don’t care.”

With his consent, the deal was sealed, and Aiden briefly surveyed the surroundings.

The place they were at was a flat desert with no obstacles in sight.

They had completely left behind the small mountain range where they had encountered the zombie horde, and the wide open view showed nothing but flat land stretching out.

Moreover, no threats were detected in that area.

After confirming this, Aiden carefully opened the packaging of the blood collection set.

“By the way… where are you all headed?”

Aiden asked casually, likely to ease the tension as he picked up the syringe.

Ricardo calmly answered his question.

“Us? Of course we’re going to LA.”

“No, I meant which city you’re stopping at along the way.”

“What about you guys?”

“Phoenix.”

“Too bad. We’re going to Las Vegas.”

In the end, the answers could only be Phoenix or Las Vegas.

Those were the only two major cities of the past that were closest to this desert.

However, their answer was somewhat unexpected for Aiden.

From this location, Phoenix was about 150km closer.

While Zaid’s group was heading to Las Vegas to use the trains, for ordinary wanderers, Phoenix would naturally be the preferred destination.

“Why’s that? It’s a bit farther than Phoenix.”

So Aiden asked, and Camila answered with a shrug.

“There are rumors that Arizona has some dangerous mutant roaming around? Apparently it was strong enough to wipe out an entire gang. I don’t know what it is, but I definitely don’t want to encounter it.”

“So going to Las Vegas is to avoid that thing?”

“Yeah. I heard it’s more active around the mountains and forests. Las Vegas is easier to get to while avoiding those kinds of areas compared to Phoenix.”

The information about the mutant was something Aiden already knew.

Of course, even though he was aware of it, Aiden had chosen Phoenix, judging that there would be more survivors for periodic contact.

After hearing Ricardo’s group’s destination, Aiden turned his head towards Zaid.

“Then… you two have the same destination.”

At those words, Zaid, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, nodded awkwardly.

Ivan narrowed his eyes slightly.

“You’re headed to Las Vegas too?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“I see.”

An odd silence fell after those words.

It was Ricardo who broke it.

“Is it because of the mutant too?”

“No, not that…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Zaid revealed his purpose.

He had actually repaired a train to travel long distances, and planned to use a similar method to get from Las Vegas to LA.

Upon hearing this, Ricardo’s eyes widened in surprise.

It was a method Ricardo’s group had never even considered.

“Is that… possible?”

Camila seemed doubtful at Zaid’s words.

In response, Zaid could only give a wry smile, but Aiden spoke up to support him.

“What he’s saying is true.”

Aiden recounted the story of how he had met Zaid before in a small town near Lubbock, where Zaid had hired him to retrieve train parts.

“Really…?”

With Aiden’s testimony, the look in Ricardo’s eyes changed.

To him, Zaid’s plan to obtain a train in Las Vegas and head to LA now sounded quite plausible.

Ricardo’s mind raced.

Even if they managed to reach Las Vegas safely, there was still a vast desert blocking their way to LA.

A desert as wide as the one they were currently wandering aimlessly in, where an incident like today’s could happen again at any time.

However, if Zaid’s plan had a chance of succeeding, the situation would be different.

It would provide a much safer method than traversing the desert on foot.

“Then…”

Ricardo opened and closed his mouth several times but ultimately couldn’t continue.

Zaid too wore a wry smile, his gaze fixed on the ground.

Aiden could fully grasp their intentions.

Ricardo and Zaid both wanted to join forces.

From Zaid’s perspective, he needed at least a minimum number of people to repair the train and continue their journey.

But his current group only consisted of Linda.

He needed to increase their numbers, and the youthful trio of Ricardo’s group fit the bill.

On the other hand, Ricardo’s group needed Zaid to increase their chances of reaching LA.

In other words, they were in a mutually beneficial situation, and if there were no issues, they would have immediately proposed joining forces.

“…”

However, they couldn’t bring themselves to make such an offer.

It wasn’t due to any lingering resentment from the past.

It was simply because they lacked any remaining supplies.

They didn’t even have enough food to get out of this desert.

If they spent just three more days here, someone could end up in critical condition due to lack of water and food.

They all knew this simple fact.

And so an awkward silence lingered.

In that silence, Aiden finished the blood collection and secured the blood as compensation.

“Hmm…”

With that, he had completed what he needed to do.

It was about time for him to get moving.

He took one last look at his companions.

“Haah…”

Arian was seated on a small rock, gazing at the distant horizon with a bored yawn, as relaxed as ever, or perhaps even more so than usual.

Outwardly and inwardly, she didn’t seem to have any problems.

But Sadie next to her was a different story.

For some reason, that child was staring at Zaid and Ricardo’s group with a worried gaze.

“What’s wrong?”

Aiden approached Sadie and asked.

Sadie opened her mouth a few times, then shook her head as if it was nothing.

A puzzling reaction for some unknown reason.

But Aiden didn’t press Sadie further.

“Alright. Then let’s get ready to move.”

He began preparing to set off again with Arian and Sadie.

“You’re planning to move out?”

Zaid asked, and Aiden nodded.

“Yeah. I hope you all stay safe.”

Aiden gave a light farewell greeting.

In any case, there was no longer any reason for them to travel together, and they were headed in different directions.

So parting ways here was only natural, but Zaid added with a troubled expression.

“Would it be alright for us to accompany you? To be honest, I’ve lost my sense of where we are…”

Zaid seemed embarrassed.

But it wasn’t entirely his fault.

After all, they had fled a considerable distance from their original location while mindlessly running away from the zombie horde.

Of course, Aiden had meticulously kept track of the direction and distance they had fled from the beginning.

But there was bound to be a difference between the zombies who couldn’t even feel flustered and the humans.

“Then… how about this.”

Aiden allowed them to accompany his group until they reached the nearest road.

In this desert, the roads crisscrossing it were among the few landmarks one could use to determine their location.

If they made it that far, Zaid’s group would be able to find their own way.

“Thank you, we appreciate it.”

Zaid immediately got up from his spot, and Ricardo’s group did the same.

After the brief rest, they soon set their course westward.

“You’ll see the road in about 30 minutes of walking.”

Aiden said as he started walking.

A chilly autumn wind blew across the desolate desert.

Although the midday sun was high in the sky, its light strangely didn’t feel warm at all.

“…”

Whether it was due to tension or lingering fatigue, not a single word was exchanged between the eight of them as they walked.

Aiden glanced around, pretending to survey the area while actually observing the other groups.

Zaid and Ricardo’s group were following at some distance behind Aiden’s group.

Zaid and Linda’s faces were full of concern.

Left in the desert without any supplies, they were naturally worried about their future prospects.

And Ricardo’s group shared a similar somber mood.

Though their supplies were better than Zaid’s, it still wasn’t enough to get them out of the desert.

“…”

As unfortunate as their situations were, there was nothing Aiden could do except avert his gaze.

Of course, Aiden’s group did have a decent surplus of food supplies.

So they had the option of sharing the minimum amount needed for the other groups to make it out of the desert.

But that would require giving away more than half of what Aiden’s group currently had.

It was not something Aiden could decide on his own, nor was there a reason to do so right now.

Above all else, there was currently no reason to do so.

As Aiden thought this and turned his head, at that moment:

“Um…”

Sadie, who had been quietly walking, spoke up.

The child was looking at Aiden.

“What is it?”

Arian’s consciousness turned to Sadie as well at Aiden’s question.

Sadie slowly opened her mouth.

“Will those people… be okay?”

This perceptive child had clearly picked up on the fact that the other groups were short on supplies from listening quietly all this time.

“Hard to say for sure. But at this rate, it could be dangerous.”

Aiden answered in a voice too low for the others to hear.

Sadie’s face clouded over at that.

“Do you want to help them?”

Aiden asked, seeing through the child’s intentions.

Sadie gave a small nod.

“Then tell them that.”

“But…”

In contrast to Arian’s nonchalant remark, Sadie’s voice shrank as she said that none of the supplies belonged to her.

It was then that Aiden understood why Sadie had been so restless up until now.

This child had accurately recognized the plight Zaid and Ricardo’s groups were facing, but had made the opposite decision from Aiden.

At the same time, Sadie had thought that none of the food supplies in Aiden’s group belonged to her.

That’s why she couldn’t easily voice her intentions.

It must have seemed like a burden who couldn’t do anything was trying to suggest giving away the precious supplies that her companions had worked hard to obtain.

It wasn’t an entirely incorrect perception.

In reality, most of the supplies had been obtained by Aiden or Arian, and the amount Sadie had contributed was minimal.

Compared to the countless searches conducted by the zombies or the superhuman senses of a vampire like Arian, there was clearly a limit to what a child like Sadie could do.

It was only natural that Sadie’s contributions were small.

“What kind of talk is that?”

However, Arian responded like this.

She looked at Sadie with a somewhat hurt gaze.