How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“No way. What kind of…”

Sophia’s face turned pale upon hearing Mateo’s words.

“No, it can’t be, right? But Oliver…!”

The lips that had tried to continue were ultimately unable to form any more words.

Mateo opened his mouth again in a harsh, stiff tone.

“I saw him get attacked with my own eyes.”

“…”

“I’m sorry. I just thought you needed to know.”

Mateo added an apology as he deeply lowered his head.

For a while, Sophia couldn’t respond at all.

But just as she was finally about to find her voice again.

“Kiii…”

The faint groan of a zombie could be heard coming from beyond the wall.

Perhaps the sounds of their battle within the gym had leaked outside.

Kung! Kung!

Then, as if reacting to the human voices coming from inside the building, the zombie pounded against the wall.

That noise forcibly cut off Mateo and Sophia’s conversation.

Amidst that chaotic atmosphere, Aiden spoke up.

“Let’s move for now. This place seems dangerous.”

Sophia slightly bit her lip.

With a face that looked like she might burst into tears any moment, she stared towards the locker room’s exit.

“…Okay.”

Sophia answered with a voice that sounded forcibly suppressed.

Aiden led his group out of the locker room.

It was then that Mateo, belatedly noticing Aiden’s presence, turned to look at Aiden’s companions.

“But you people are…”

“The junk dealer your companion hired.”

Aiden briefly relayed the request from Sophia to him.

At that explanation, Mateo simply nodded his head.

He too seemed to lack the mental leeway to even question the presence of the two young girls accompanying Aiden. Perhaps due to the grueling ordeal of being trapped here.

They soon exited the gym.

Fortunately, there weren’t many zombies that had gathered in the vicinity yet.

Enough for them to avoid combat if necessary.

Having judged as such, Aiden looked towards Sophia.

“Then we can search the grocery store now.”

That was the last place Mateo had seen his other companions.

It was a location they had to visit for their scouting mission.

But to that suggestion, Sophia didn’t immediately answer, and Mateo spoke up instead.

“I’ll go there alone.”

Mateo advised Sophia to remain here instead.

It was because of the man named Oliver that he had mentioned earlier.

“I’ll look for Chloe. And if… Oliver is there…”

“It’s okay, Mateo.”

Sophia cut off Mateo’s words.

“I want to confirm it with my own eyes.”

“…”

Unable to argue against Sophia’s insistence, Mateo could only nod in response.

Confirming their decision, Aiden led his group onward again.

“This way.”

The grocery store was located on the opposite side of the central shopping area from the gym, separated by a parking lot.

So Aiden’s group had to cross that vast parking lot and the road.

Fortunately, most of the zombies that had been there were drawn away by Aiden’s luring tactic.

While some still remained, by taking a wide detour around the buildings, it was a distance they could reach without much difficulty.

“Kuuu…”

Just as they had made their way from the camp to Glendale, avoiding or silently dispatching zombies, Aiden’s group stealthily advanced.

They soon arrived at the grocery store.

“Here it is.”

A low, wide building with a narrow entrance.

The grocery store’s structure was similar to the gym.

As such, the interior wasn’t visible from the outside.

“Arian, what’s inside?”

“Fortunately, nothing too serious.”

Arian reported that there were about half as many zombies inside the grocery store compared to the gym, and no mutants were present.

“But there is one person there. Based on their location, it seems they’re on the rooftop.”

“A survivor, then. We’re lucky.”

Aiden muttered quietly.

When he had initially accepted this request, he hadn’t expected even half a chance that any of the three reported missing would still be alive. But now, not only had they rescued one, but another had been discovered as well.

As he said, it could only be described as fortunate.

“But I smell blood. Their condition doesn’t seem too good.”

However, that survivor seemed to have sustained some injuries.

In that case… it might be better to make a swift entry.

With not too many zombies inside, there was no reason to hesitate.

Aiden glanced back at his companions.

“We’re going in right away. Get ready.”

At Aiden’s warning, the others each prepared for combat.

Even Mateo, whom they had just encountered, carefully gripped the weapon he had.

However, Sophia’s state seemed unusual amidst all this.

Unable to hide her anxiety more than when facing zombies, her hands were trembling severely.

Instantly sensing something amiss, Aiden approached her.

“Are you alright?”

“…Yeah.”

“You don’t seem alright.”

Aiden calmly pressed Sophia, who was forcing herself to appear fine.

But Sophia didn’t respond to that.

After a brief sigh, Aiden continued speaking.

“What was your relationship with Oliver?”

Aiden had already guessed the reason for Sophia’s behavior.

Faced with that direct question, no longer able to evade answering, Sophia’s lips parted heavily.

“That’s…”

With her head lowered towards the ground, Sophia fell silent for a moment.

Then, finally opening her mouth, she confessed.

“Oliver was… my boyfriend.”

Sophia admitted that Oliver had been her lover.

As if ashamed to say it, Sophia spoke those words, prompting Arian, who had been silently observing from the side, to tilt her head in puzzlement.

“Is that really something to hide?”

“Well, junk dealers tend not to prefer requests like that.”

The answer came from Aiden.

Requests involving lovers or children weren’t particularly welcome for junk dealers.

It was because, in such requests, the clients commonly displayed blindly biased tendencies.

As a result, the clients themselves often failed to properly assess the risks of the request. In some cases, they even outright concealed hazardous factors and placed impossible demands.

Fortunately, this request didn’t reach that extent.

But even so, had Aiden known from the beginning, he likely wouldn’t have fully trusted Sophia’s words either.

“So that’s how it was.”

“…”

“Then, are you still determined to enter?”

However, rather than blaming Sophia for hiding that fact, Aiden calmly asked her.

In any case, Aiden’s group was already aware that this place was dangerous.

And even the mutant they had encountered by chance fell within the scope of expected threats for Aiden.

More importantly, there had been no lie in Sophia’s words about rescuing her companions.

From a junk dealer’s perspective, there was no reason to fault her at this point.

“…I’m going in.”

On the other hand, to Aiden’s question, Sophia gave that answer.

Aiden stared intently at Sophia.

Just in case she might do something reckless.

But she didn’t seem to be showing any strange signs at the moment, so Aiden nodded and followed up with another question.

“Then, could you describe Oliver’s appearance?”

“Why…?”

“So that if he has turned into a zombie, I can deal with him as gently as possible.”

At Aiden’s words, Sophia’s expression stiffened.

A brief sigh could be heard from beside them.

When Aiden turned, Arian was shooting him a sharp look, muttering something about his lack of tact.

“…Oliver was wearing jeans and a gray sweater.”

Instead of Sophia, it was Mateo who provided the answer.

Aiden simply turned away, as if that was enough.

“We’re going in.”

Aiden and Arian simultaneously entered the grocery store’s entrance.

Immediately after spotting them, the zombies inside let out shrieks and charged towards them.

“Kieeeee!”

Their frenzy was unchanged, but their numbers weren’t overwhelming.

In that case, they were hardly formidable foes for Aiden’s group.

Twack!

Aiden’s axe, leading the way, cleanly split a zombie’s head in two.

Following that, his leg mercilessly kicked aside another corpse that had been trailing behind.

Crunch!

Accompanied by the sound of shattering ribs, the madly charging zombie’s body staggered.

Through that opening, Arian’s machete flew in.

The staggering zombie collapsed to the floor, reduced to a headless corpse.

In barely a minute’s time, the dozen or so zombies that had swarmed out were swept away like leaves before Aiden and Arian’s onslaught.

“Ah…!”

Watching this, Sophia’s eyes filled with unease instead.

Before she could even discern if any of them were her companion, they had all fallen.

However, as if aware of her concern, Aiden opened his mouth.

“Your companion isn’t among these.”

“…”

Even so, Sophia’s gaze momentarily turned towards the fallen zombies.

Their discolored skins and tattered, unrecognizable clothes…

Nearly all of them seemed to have turned over a year ago.

“…There are still some supplies left.”

Aiden muttered as he surveyed the long rows of shelves.

Fortunately, it seemed they would be able to gather enough of the supplies they had come to search for.

“Let’s keep moving.”

But even realizing that, Aiden brusquely passed by the shelves without stopping.

There was a proper time to collect supplies. For now, there were still people they needed to find.

And so they proceeded through the wide store interior.

Occasionally, zombies would notice Aiden’s group and come charging, but they posed no significant threat.

At the very back was a door leading to a storage area.

Kiii-

Upon opening that door and entering, they were greeted by complete darkness.

Aiden’s flashlight illuminated the interior.

Scattered piles of cardboard boxes could be seen here and there.

But there were no human shadows visible anywhere.

“Over there.”

It was then that Arian pointed towards one corner of that storage room.

Aiden’s flashlight shone in that direction.

There was an iron staircase leading upwards.

At the top was a door that likely led to the rooftop, and someone was standing right in front of it.

It was a man wearing jeans and a gray sweater with one arm torn off.

Oliver.

Upon making this discovery, Sophia swallowed hard, and Aiden drew his sword instead of his axe.

Around the staircase were scattered remains of a few zombies, along with a green-stained crowbar drenched in their rotten blood.

Even though only his back was visible, Aiden could already surmise what had befallen this man named Oliver.

“…Oliver?”

Sophia’s parched voice slipped out into the previously silent storage room.

At his lover’s call, Oliver turned his head.

Oliver’s face appeared ordinary at a glance.

Even after becoming a zombie, human skin didn’t rot away in just a day.

So for those who had only recently turned, the only indication that they were no longer human were their pale, discolored pupils.

Without any particular injuries, their outward appearance resembled that of a pale-skinned person.

And now, that very face stared at Sophia with a blank expression.

An expression that seemed as if some semblance of sanity remained, as if he might respond to Sophia’s call at any moment.

But that was merely a fleeting illusion conjured by Sophia’s own hopes.

“Kiiiiah!”

The being that had been Oliver let out a bloodcurdling screech as it tumbled down the stairs.

Within that horrific wail, there wasn’t a shred of humanity left. Only an insanity more befitting a beast than a human being remained.

Aiden positioned himself before that undead creature.

“No! Oliver!”

Sophia cried out, as if realizing what Aiden was about to do.

However, the junk dealer who had charged towards the zombie didn’t halt his hand.

Swoosh!

He mercilessly thrust the sword he was holding up into Oliver’s jaw from below.

Sophia let out a scream.

Oliver’s body briefly convulsed before immediately going limp like a puppet with its strings cut, unmoving.

Aiden gently lowered that motionless body to the floor and withdrew his sword.

It was then, a beat later, that blood began flowing from Oliver’s jaw.

Not fresh, red human blood, but rotten, discolored green fluid that further defiled the floor.

After briefly watching the fallen Oliver, Aiden stepped back.

The one who took Aiden’s place standing before him was Sophia.

“Oliver…”

With his eyes closed, Sophia stared intently at Oliver, who looked as if he had simply fallen asleep.

There was no doubt about it.

No matter how many times she looked, that was undeniably the face of the man she had loved.

“No… Oliver, this can’t be…!”

The swaying Sophia dropped to her knees on the spot.

Between her clenched teeth, sobs she could no longer hold back finally burst forth.

To Sophia in that state, Aiden couldn’t offer a single word of consolation.

For he knew all too well that such words would hold no meaning for her.

“Arian.”

Aiden simply asked Arian to stay by Sophia’s side.

Arian nodded in understanding.

Aiden then ascended the stairs Oliver had been standing before.

Mateo followed behind him.

Sadie remained with Arian.

Chadak!

But the door leading to the rooftop at the top of the stairs was firmly locked.

Just in case, Aiden called out to anyone who might be beyond that door.

There was no response.

“Step back.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“I’m going to break down the door.”

The door to the rooftop was made of wood. Fortunately, it wasn’t an excessively sturdy material, so Aiden didn’t need to rely on Arian’s strength for this.

Bang!

Aiden’s combat boot forcefully struck the area around the door’s handle.

The door let out a creaking sound as it twisted like melted butter, and with the next strike, the section connected to the handle shattered.

Having finally reached the rooftop, Aiden surveyed his surroundings.

Not far from the door, he saw a fallen Caucasian woman.

Chloe.