How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Not long after, another iron gate came into view.

Another padlock at the depths of the sewer.

Moreover, this one too was well-maintained.

Seeing this deepened Aiden’s suspicions.

At the entrance, he could understand.

But finding traces of human activity this deep was clearly abnormal.

He took out his lockpick again.

It had a slightly more complex mechanism than the entrance lock, but Aiden easily opened it as well.

An ominous creaking sound rang out.

The path leading further inward, however, soon ended.

“This is…”

What came into view at the end of that path was an enormous cavern.

That majestic underground space was so vast, its far wall could barely be seen even with Aiden’s flashlight illumination.

The ceiling too was tremendously high.

Tall enough for a whole building or two to fit inside.

Likely the central junction where the sewage converged.

The sewer Aiden stood in was like a hole opening into the upper part of that cavern.

Only there was no way down from this opening to the cavern floor.

It was simply a drainage channel to allow water overflow, structured like a precipice.

Advancing further didn’t seem possible.

With no choice but to stop at the edge of that channel, Aiden shone his flashlight down into the cavern below, wondering if anything was there.

And then.

“…!”

Upon seeing the cavern floor, his eyes widened in shock.

Down below, about 7 meters beneath where he looked, was an astoundingly large number of zombies.

Aiden immediately reached for his rifle, but soon realized something was amiss.

Despite detecting the light, the zombies showed no reaction at all.

They simply stood motionless in orderly rows, staring blankly ahead.

Not turning their heads in the slightest.

And there were approximately thousands of these unmoving zombies.

The sight of them seeming to hibernate en masse was downright eerie.

Aiden stared gravely at the underground cavern.

Why were so many zombies gathered here?

And why were they just standing still like that?

All sorts of questions arose, yet he couldn’t answer a single one.

No matter how dire the scenario he envisioned, he had never imagined anything like this.

As he observed the cavern, something else caught his eye.

“…”

It was a CCTV camera attached to the cavern wall.

Nonchalantly pointed in Aiden’s direction, it seemed to gaze back at him indifferently.

Noticing this, Aiden’s brow furrowed deeply.

He had thought there would be no risk of encountering humans here.

That was why he had even removed his helmet to search.

But the existence of that CCTV proved his miscalculation.

An electronic device that would have long ceased functioning outside the walls – he had failed to account for its presence here.

Of course, Aiden couldn’t tell if it was actually operational.

However, this was not the kind of place CCTVs would normally be installed.

Someone must have set it up, undoubtedly related to these zombies.

Then… the most rational approach was to assume the worst possibility once more.

“Tsk…!”

Aiden swiftly retreated backwards.

Remembering only that zombies did indeed exist here, he immediately began exiting the sewers.

* * *

“Ungh…!”

The first thing Ava felt upon opening her eyes was the pain in her left arm.

A searing heat, as if it had been set ablaze, burning her elbow.

That agony roused Ava’s consciousness.

“This is…”

Still not fully lucid, Ava looked around.

She saw pristine white walls and ceiling, and sunlight pouring through the windows.

For a moment, she was at a loss for words.

It was so starkly different from the last scenery she recalled.

She distinctly remembered sustaining injuries from that mutant in the darkened refinery facility.

As Ava frowned, trying to recollect what happened after that,

“You’re awake?”

A voice called out from somewhere.

Before Ava could turn her head toward the source, its owner stepped into her view.

It was Arian.

“Why are you…”

To the still disoriented Ava, Arian recounted the events from the refinery battle until now.

Ava had lost consciousness after Wielder’s counterattack.

But immediately afterward, Wielder was defeated, and her subordinates were able to rescue Ava and escape the facility.

“Then other soldiers brought you, injured, back to LA. I returned as well, by the way.”

“Were you hurt too?”

Ava asked, but Arian shook her head.

Arian was unharmed.

The reason she had returned midway was because she had directly engaged the mutant.

Suspecting even the slightest infection risk, the military immediately recalled Arian from the operation area for observation over a full day.

But of course, Arian showed no signs of any mutation.

So she was eventually released, which was why she could be here now.

This caused Ava to tilt her head slightly.

By Arian’s account, it seemed a considerable amount of time had passed since then.

“So how long has it been since that day?”

“Three days.”

“Three days, huh…”

Ava slowly sat up in bed.

Not just her bandaged left arm, but her torso too was a source of pain.

Watching this, Arian continued speaking.

“Your arm was badly fractured, and some ribs were broken too. Don’t overload yourself by moving around.”

“…I can tell.”

Just sitting up in bed was considerably taxing.

Having been unconscious for three whole days, her physical exhaustion must have been immense too.

Yet Ava couldn’t complain.

Simply being alive after the mutant’s attack was fortunate enough.

This realization led Ava to recall something else.

There had been someone other than herself struck by the mutant, hadn’t there?

“Ah, what about Harris? Back then, he clearly…”

“He died.”

Arian’s matter-of-fact reply made Ava’s expression harden.

But Arian kept speaking.

“His remains were brought back to LA along with you. The funeral has already been held too. Harris was buried.”

Arian even informed Ava of Harris’s grave location.

Moreover, it was Arian who had notified Harris’s family and delivered his belongings.

Hearing that Arian had handled her own duties in her stead, Ava bit her lip.

“What about the others…?”

“They were safe until I left. I can’t say about now, though.”

Arian said the operation was still ongoing at the refinery facility.

Only the commanding officer had changed due to Ava’s injury.

The soldiers were still struggling to secure the area.

“Haah…”

After listening to this recap, all Ava could do was let out a long sigh.

For a while, she stared vacantly with a somber expression, before expressing her gratitude to Arian first.

“Thank you. I’m indebted to you.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

Arian waved it off nonchalantly.

That aloof, utterly indifferent attitude was just like her usual self.

Seeing Arian’s unchanged reaction, Ava could only let out a wry smile.

“But why are you here?”

“Just stopped by briefly. I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.”

Arian shrugged as she spoke.

It was half the truth.

The military unit she belonged to had been deployed for the operation and had yet to return to LA.

So Arian couldn’t report for duty, and she was also concerned about Ava’s injured condition.

Of course, there was another reason too.

Ava was hospitalized at a medical facility operated by LA.

And hospitals were places that managed blood supplies, even if just for transfusions.

Arian had come to see if there might be any legal means to acquire blood here.

Though she found no such opportunity, just seeing Ava awake had put her mind at ease.

“You…”

Ava was about to say something to Arian when.

Movement could be heard from outside.

Following a knock on the hospital room door, a nurse entered.

Seeing Ava was awake, she brightened up.

“You’re up?”

The nurse soon called for a doctor.

“That’s a relief. You don’t seem to have any complications.”

After a brief examination, the doctor said this to Ava.

Instructing her to get plenty of rest, the doctor turned to leave, but then looked back.

“Ah, by the way, the Mayor may visit you later. Will that be alright?”

“The Mayor…?”

Ava tilted her head quizzically.

Why would his name come up here?

Sensing his explanation lacked context, the doctor continued.

“The Mayor periodically visits to consoled injured soldiers. Today happens to be one of those days. Of course, only if you’re amenable…”

After briefly considering the doctor’s words, Ava accepted.

To be honest, she harbored some resentment toward the Mayor over the Nora incident.

But since he would be coming in person, this was an opportunity to settle that matter.

So Ava gave her consent to the doctor.

“Am I allowed to stay too?”

Beside Ava, Arian asked.

Aware that Arian had some interest in the Mayor, Ava readily permitted it.

Not long after, the previously quiet hospital corridor became somewhat noisy.

The Mayor had arrived.

Starting from the central area, he visited each patient room one by one.

“…”

Ava quietly waited her turn.

Gradually, the Mayor’s movements drew nearer.

But for some reason, the closer he approached.

“…?”

Arian’s expression grew oddly tense.

Tilting her head, her brow furrowed deeply.

Was she feeling anxious?

It did not seem that way from her look.

Ava regarded Arian’s strange demeanor with puzzlement, if only briefly.

“May I come in?”

Finally, Mayor Ross Preston arrived at their room door.

With Ava’s permission, he opened the door and entered.

His gaze met Ava’s.

As always, his hair and attire were neatly groomed.

“Ava Hill… it was you after all.”

Ross spoke with an apologetic expression, as if embarrassed.

Ava was the sister of Nora, who had held a research director position, so Ross was acquainted with her.

They had never met personally, but Ava had coincidentally faced the Mayor alongside Nora before.

“I’m sure you can guess what I’m about to say, can’t you?”

Ava questioned Ross in an accusatory tone.

With a stern face, Ross nodded.

“Yes. It’s about Nora’s belongings, I presume.”

“…It’s not just that.”

Nora, who had perished along with the research facility in the fire.

Ava claimed the city government had conducted no proper investigation into her death, nor retrieved any of her belongings.

However, Ross immediately shook his head.

“That’s a misunderstanding. The site was sealed off for safety reasons. It was a place researching the zombie virus, after all. Moreover, the investigation there has already concluded. But nothing was left behind.”

“Nothing was left?”

“Yes. The research facility itself, as well as Nora’s lodgings, were the same.”

Ava shook her head at the Mayor’s words.

She no longer trusted him.

Which was why she had intended to confirm it herself.

“Then may I enter and see for myself?”

“That… I’ll look into it soon and let you know.”

That response made Ava’s expression harden.

She knew it was a phrase Ross often used to refuse proposals.

So Ava tried to press further, but Ross swiftly turned his attention away from her.

Instead, his gaze fell upon Arian beside the bed.

“And who might you be?”

Ross asked, looking at Arian.

One of his accompanying aides then whispered some information about her into his ear.

“Ah, so you’re the one who saved Ava…!”

Reports based on soldier testimonies about the incident Ava experienced had already reached upper echelons.

Ross too was aware that Arian had miraculously saved Ava’s life with an inexplicable ability.

Perhaps for that reason, he smiled faintly and extended a hand toward Arian.

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Ross Preston, the Mayor of LA.”

Ross naturally offered a handshake.

An innocuous gesture by any standard.

Yet Arian regarded Ross with an extremely perturbed expression.

Just as the flustered Ross was about to ask why, Arian spoke up first.

“Are you really the Mayor?”

Confusion and shock were evident on Arian’s face as she said this.

As if Ross had uttered something inconceivable.

But her reaction was solely her own perspective.

That rude query left even Ava, who had been prepared to argue with Ross, at a loss for words.

However, before anyone else could respond, Ross simply nodded with an unchanged smile.

“Of course. Is there something off about me?”

“…”

Instead of answering, Arian stared intently at Ross.

Her gaze then turned toward Ava, Ross’s aides, and even the medical staff behind them.

To Arian, they all appeared utterly abnormal.

And for good reason.

This Mayor Ross had a face far too human-like, a voice far too person-like.

Yet the stench of rotting corpses emanated from him, and the movements of his facial skin were ever so slightly unnatural.

Could she perhaps be mistaken?

Entertaining that possibility, Arian took Ross’s offered hand.

For some reason, it felt subtly warm to the touch.

A temperature mimicking body heat, yet in that moment, Arian became certain.

There was no pulse, no heartbeat from that hand whatsoever.

Without a doubt.

This Ross Preston was not human, but a zombie merely wearing human skin.

“Is everything alright?”

The zombie asked her that.

Arian, still unable to process the situation, could only withdraw her hand.

The Mayor was a zombie?

An inconceivable reality that left even her uncertain how to proceed.

“Ah… no, it’s nothing.”

So Arian simply said that and retreated.

Ross regarded Arian’s strange behavior with puzzlement.