How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“You hold this position.”

Saying that, Aiden took out a considerable amount of blood from his belongings and handed it over to Arian.

It was a stockpile he had prepared, just in case, after confirming the sewer zombies.

“We can’t let those things breach the walls. You understand, right?”

“Yeah. But…”

Arian’s expression tensed as she looked at the blood-filled bottles.

Certainly, the quantity of blood Aiden had brought was not insignificant.

But whether it would suffice against that immense number of zombies was another matter entirely.

For that, far more blood would be needed.

So much, in fact, that even if they had more time, obtaining such an amount might have been impossible.

Of course, Aiden was well aware of this limitation too.

“Right, this won’t be enough. But you won’t be alone. People will arrive soon. And we still have a bit of time before those things crawl all the way here.”

In front of the half-constructed wall perimeter where Aiden and Arian stood, there was merely a two-meter-high wire mesh fence erected.

Utterly inadequate to stop even an ordinary zombie horde, let alone mutated ones.

Yet for that very reason, several sentries were stationed around that flimsy barricade along with construction equipment.

Those sentries had already detected the anomaly in the mountains and were scrambling into action.

It meant that a proper defense force would soon be deployed to this location.

“But I’ve heard most of LA’s troops were dispatched outside. There may only be an absurdly insufficient number remaining. Still, is it possible?”

At Aiden’s question, Arian let out a brief sigh.

It was not a matter of possibility or not.

This was something they had to accomplish, no matter what.

“…Yeah. I’ll give it a shot. And you?”

“I’m going to Sadie.”

“You? Will you be alright?”

Arian asked with evident concern.

For now, LA’s interior remained calm.

As if this night too would pass peacefully, the silence protected someone’s slumber.

But with the mountain zombies already stirring, such tranquility was bound to shatter soon.

Their numbers were simply too vast, and LA’s unfinished northern perimeter stretched too far for a few military units to secure alone.

Before long, a city-wide mobilization would likely be ordered, rousing armed civilians from their beds onto the streets.

Not to mention the zombies the Mayor had hidden in the sewers could also surface at any moment.

While their numbers were not unmanageable, infiltrating the city interior through those tunnels could sow considerable chaos.

This was the very frontline Aiden would be heading into now.

For an ordinary person, traversing those hazardous streets as a zombie himself might be too dangerous.

“I’ll be fine.”

Yet Aiden’s expression remained composed.

Flipping his black helmet over, he continued nonchalantly,

“Just in case, I’ve stashed a bike nearby. That should be sufficient.”

His unperturbed demeanor made Arian smile faintly.

“Alright then. I’m counting on you.”

With just those words, Arian made her request.

Though apprehension for Sadie’s safety still lingered, this was the best course available for now.

And so, the two parted ways in opposite directions.

Of the two, Arian dashed toward the darkness of the mountain range where gunfire still rang out intermittently.

* * *

“Just what in the world is going on here?”

Ricardo, one of LA’s soldiers, muttered those words as he glanced around warily.

The radio slung near his shoulder crackled with overlapping voices even now.

Moreover, their reports were… mostly about the sudden appearance of zombies.

The forest that had been deathly still mere moments ago was now filled with gunfire, human screams, and the wails of the undead in an instant.

“What’s causing this all of a sudden?”

At that dramatic shift occurring within just minutes, Ricardo’s comrade Camila voiced her unease.

Yet Ricardo had no reassuring reply to offer.

Since arriving in LA, Ricardo’s group lacking any special skills had all been assigned to the military – tasked with guarding the city walls.

Their presence here tonight was due to a sudden directive.

Not just their border patrol unit, but the entire perimeter defense had been ordered to search for some man.

While the target’s description of a black helmet and white coat was highly recognizable, the instructions stressed capturing him unharmed had put them at ease when deploying earlier.

However, nowhere in that operation briefing were they told to expect confronting zombies.

Of course, venturing outside the walls inevitably risked zombie encounters – that much was understood.

But no one could have foreseen this many zombies bursting forth from the nearby mountains without warning.

“Down there, look!”

Then Ivan, another in Ricardo’s group, pointed at the ground.

Camila’s flashlight beam fumbled over hastily.

What it illuminated was a withered hand clawing up through the earth – its fingers contorting as if in a seizure before steadying its grip on the soil.

That was only the beginning.

Soon, the once flat surface began to undulate, gradually revealing the outline of a shallow buried corpse.

Before long, it had shaken off the soil weighing it down and raised its submerged head from the ground.

“Kiiii…!”

The zombie’s eyes snapped open.

Its maddened gaze immediately fixed on the closest targets – Ricardo’s group.

Bang!

Immediately after, the rifle Ricardo was holding punched through the zombie’s skull.

It was only then that the three of them comprehended the meaning behind those frantic reports.

“What is this…?”

Ricardo stared briefly at the fallen zombie.

But at that moment, Camila grabbed his shoulder, her voice heavily shaken.

“Here… they’re everywhere…”

Following Camila’s line of sight, Ricardo soon noticed the disturbance too.

He couldn’t discern exactly when it had started.

But the entire ground surface visible to them was now undulating.

Crunch!

Desiccated, twisted hands erupted from the earth all around. Their numbers densely filled every patch of exposed ground, obscured only by darkness and vegetation.

The faces of Ricardo’s group went deathly pale at the sight.

It was then that someone’s voice crackled over the radio, yelling for retreat.

“Run!”

Ricardo’s group obediently followed that command.

The three of them dashed across that indistinctly visible terrain.

But their expected headlong flight never materialized.

Because the rotten zombie hands sprouting like weeds had already begun grasping at their ankles.

“Kuk!”

Ivan, nearly tripped by one such hand, swung the rifle stock down to smash its withered wrist.

It snapped like a twig, but the zombie itself was already rising from its half-buried slumber.

“Kieeee!”

Letting out an inhuman screech at Ivan, it was immediately met with gunfire.

Splattering rotted brain matter, the zombie’s torso embedded into the ground as its body crumpled.

“You okay?”

Camila checked on Ivan’s condition.

Though he nodded to indicate no issues, their situation was grim.

Zombies were already crawling forth from underground all around them. But this flat terrain offered no cover besides the sparse trees.

Engaging in combat seemed utterly hopeless.

“Damn…! The path ahead is blocked!”

In the midst of trying to forge ahead, Ricardo backed away with his rifle raised.

With their forward progress halted, the three naturally gathered together in one spot.

Positioning themselves back-to-back, they aimed their muzzles outward in all directions.

And surrounding them, the corpses had finally risen.

Within the illuminated sweep of the rifle-mounted flashlights. Amidst the moonlit shadows of the distant treeline. From the unseen darkness, the newly awakened zombies’ wails echoed endlessly.

Their total numbers were… too immense to even attempt counting.

Faced with this overt crisis, Camila spoke up.

“So… what now?”

At Camila’s question, Ricardo and Ivan could only grit their teeth, unable to offer any response.

“Kiii…!”

“Uwoooohhh!”

The zombies that had surfaced acknowledged the presence of living prey amidst them.

In an instant, a tsunami of undead surged forth.

Ricardo’s group fired desperately to stem that tide.

But it was only a temporary reprieve.

While dozens fell, the gunfire simply drew even more zombies racing towards the sound.

In the end, they seemed destined to be swept away like buoys adrift, surrounded by the sea of corpses.

But then-

Whunk!

Something intervened, blocking the oncoming zombie horde just before they were overwhelmed.

Simultaneously, an inexplicable dread shook their very consciousness.

“Kuweek…!”

Even Ricardo, steadfast in the face of mortal peril until now, let out a pained groan.

It was then that crimson blades scythed through both earth and undead alike.

Twack-twack!

The zombies charging toward them were bisected along with the forest’s towering trees.

Smaller ones lost their heads, while larger mutants had their upper bodies shredded and dismembered.

“Wha…”

Just what had happened?

Though their eyes were wide open witnessing it directly, not even Ricardo could comprehend the phenomena.

In a single instant, over a hundred zombies occupying the surrounding dozens of meters had been swept away like fallen leaves.

A scene akin to a bomb detonating, but what now stood before them was no explosive device.

“You are…”

A girl wielding a blood-red machete had appeared in their midst.

Her crimson irises exuded an instinctive, unsettling dread.

Had it been anyone else, they might have screamed in terror, forgetting this girl had just saved them from a dire predicament.

But Ricardo’s group had seen those eyes before.

“Arian…?”

That was undoubtedly her name.

The girl gave a small nod in acknowledgment when addressed.

Ricardo’s lips trembled as if to speak.

But before he could say a word, Arian spoke first.

“Run.”

Gesturing over her shoulder, Arian instructed them to flee the mountain range back toward LA’s direction.

And littering the path she had indicated were countless shredded zombie remains.

Had she truly carved through all of those to reach this point?

An unbelievable tale.

But recalling the events that just have happened, such disbelief itself seemed ludicrous.

“What are you waiting for, hurry!”

Arian urged Ricardo’s momentarily stunned and fearful group.

Finally regaining their wits, the three riflemen awkwardly followed her directive.

Fumbling their way across the corpse-strewn forest floor as they ran.

“Haah…”

Arian watched their retreating backs briefly.

Within her range of perception, there were no other living humans left in these mountains now.

Those soldiers had been the last patrolling this area.

The rest, Arian had already sent back toward LA’s safety.

Or they had perished before her arrival.

So all that remained was buying time.

Until those men reached LA’s border to sound concrete warnings, and defensive preparations could be made.

“Gheurr…”

From the forest Arian had just scythed through, more zombies began crawling out once more.

Arian coldly glared at those corpses as she unscrewed the cap of a blood-filled bottle.

Sensing its master, the crimson vital fluid reared upward like a serpent roused.

* * *

Aiden’s motorcycle tore down LA’s streets.

With the early morning hour past midnight, its ferocious engine roar disturbing the night air could only be considered a public nuisance.

But the city Aiden currently sped through was embroiled in such pandemonium that this noise was easily drowned out.

Shouts echoed from all directions.

People brandishing rifles dashed about haphazardly, and gunfire could be heard within just a few blocks’ radius.

Some zombies had even begun emerging from manhole covers onto the very roads.

“Kiaaa!”

One such creature, spotting a human target, let out a bloodcurdling roar.

Its quarry was some woman who had just exited a building – her face still heavy with grogginess, likely roused from slumber moments ago.

Petrified by the zombie’s unexpected appearance and scream, she could only freeze up.

The motorcycle Aiden was riding body-checked that zombie charging the woman from its flank.

Thud!

With that forceful vehicular impact, the zombie’s midsection crumpled and folded as it was flung aside.

Simultaneously, the jarring collision violently shook Aiden’s bike so severely it nearly toppled over.

But Aiden had no reason for concern.

Wooooong!

The subsequent guttural exhaust rumble propelled the motorcycle’s forward thrust.

Through machine-like handlebar inputs, Aiden stabilized the bucking chassis to regain balance.

Affording no chance for a grateful reaction, Aiden had already vanished from the woman’s sight once more.

“…This should be it.”

After speeding through that city where chaos had begun to erupt, Aiden soon arrived at the rundown apartment complex where Sadie was staying.