How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

“What did you say?”

At the northern wall of LA, the section still incomplete unlike the eastern wall.

Ava, who had been overseeing supply transportation work at that site, questioned Arian with those words.

In response, Arian casually repeated her previous inquiry without any reservations.

“How do I meet with the mayor?”

At that, Ava looked at Arian with puzzlement.

Arian was a newcomer who had only joined the unit Ava commanded as a captain a few days ago.

With an outward appearance that seemed no older than a high school student at most, Ava was still convinced Arian had lied about her age to be here.

However, separate from that, the Arian that Ava had observed over these past few days was no mere naive child.

First of all, Arian had been perfectly handling all the menial tasks assigned to her by the unit.

No matter how physically demanding the simple labor might be, she hardly seemed fatigued at all.

Additionally, Arian hadn’t uttered a single complaint about the extended working hours that exhausted everyone else.

She simply continued the tasks mechanically, without pause.

The groans of ‘This is too hard’ or ‘I’m so bored’ that spilled from everyone else’s lips had never once passed through Arian’s.

Moreover, though Ava hadn’t verified it yet, according to Arian’s own words, she was also experienced in combat against zombies.

For those reasons, Ava’s impression of Arian had changed considerably.

Even if she truly wasn’t an adult, Arian was not someone who could be treated like a child.

At some point, Ava had come to regard her as a legitimate, full-fledged member of the unit.

“If you’re asking about the mayor, you must mean Mayor Ross Preston?”

Arian nodded.

Ava’s questioning continued.

“Why?”

“I’m just curious about the person leading LA.”

Arian provided a casual response, but Ava accepted it without issue.

After all, it was a natural thought for any evacuee who had come to LA.

“The mayor holds a state of the city address in the city hall plaza once a month. There aren’t any special qualifications required to attend the address, so you’ll be able to see him then if you go.”

“And when will that be?”

“The most recent address was two weeks ago. So two weeks from now.”

Two weeks from now.

That wasn’t a satisfactory answer.

Arian was supposed to reunite with Aiden in just one week’s time.

While there wasn’t a strict time limit on her investigation per se, she had hoped to have answers before then if possible.

“Is there no way to meet him before that?”

“No other methods immediately come to mind. He does work at city hall during the day, but just showing up won’t let you meet him. He’s an exceptionally busy man.”

Then should she try visiting the mayor’s residence at night instead?

No, Arian shook her head inwardly at that thought.

It would be pointless in the end.

What Arian was curious about was the mayor’s official duties as the mayor, not prying into his private life.

So she would need to visit city hall during the daytime hours.

But to do that, she would have to leave her current workplace.

Even for Arian, it wouldn’t be easy to slip in and out of city hall unnoticed from her assigned worksite during broad daylight.

“Is there perhaps a way to take leave here?”

So Arian posed that question.

Upon hearing it, Ava’s brow furrowed slightly.

* * *

At the same time.

“This must be it.”

Having arrived at the pharmaceutical company’s research lab located in Riverside, as Dirk had mentioned, Aiden gazed at the stone structure standing by the entrance.

The lettering carved into the massive boulder, larger than a person, remained clear and legible despite nearly four years having passed since then.

It was the name that had once belonged to one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in America, and the location Dirk had specified for this request.

After concealing his motorcycle in a suitable spot, Aiden entered inside.

The exterior of the research lab was a landscaped park-like space.

A circular lawn area overgrown with withered weeds swayed gently in the breeze.

And at its center stood a long-since stilled fountain, like a weathered statue.

Beside the research lab, a small lake could also be seen, but Aiden silently focused on the road leading to the main building itself.

From the outside, the research lab only appeared to be around two floors high at most.

A simple design with rows of blue-tinted windows lining its pristine white exterior walls.

However, the main entrance to that very research lab stood wide open, most of its windows shattered as well.

Numerous scars marred those outer walls too.

Underneath them rolled the corpses of zombies that had died here long ago.

It seemed quite a few junk dealers or wanderers had passed through this place before.

But for Aiden, the ground floor of the research lab held little significance.

He had already obtained the building’s layout from Dirk in advance.

While only appearing two floors high from the outside, this research lab actually extended five floors underground as well.

And the ground floor itself had mostly just been office space.

The actual research and development of vaccines and new drugs had taken place in those underground levels.

So after entering the research lab building, Aiden immediately searched for the stairwell leading underground.

The stairs were located in the central area, next to the elevators.

The elevator doors were damaged and inoperable, with no electricity running to them anyway.

Aiden opened the door to the stairwell.

What greeted him first was darkness.

Naturally, there were no light sources underground, leaving even just one floor below completely obscured from view.

Pat!

Aiden switched on the flashlight mounted at the end of his rifle’s barrel.

No immediate threats were visible at the moment.

Next, he checked over his armaments.

Aiden had no way of knowing what might be waiting below.

The only information Dirk had briefly mentioned was that the areas beneath the third basement level likely hadn’t seen human presence in quite some time. And that mutants might be present down there as a result.

So Aiden was prepared for potential combat.

At the very least, his armament status had improved considerably thanks to resolving quite a few requests over these past few days.

After confirming his firearms and explosives were in working order, Aiden stepped into the darkness below.

“…”

He paused for a moment in front of the corridor leading to the first basement level.

Aiden’s flashlight illuminated the research area.

Arranged along the straight hallway were research labs to the left and right.

The pristine white walls, thick glass windows, and hazmat suits displayed inside were all quintessential sights for a research facility.

However, there was one jarring element amidst that scene.

Unmistakably, it was the rotten corpses strewn across the floor.

“…Did someone pass through here?”

Aiden murmured those words.

The zombies on the first basement level had all been put down.

Moreover, there were signs that people had recently traversed this hallway in various spots.

Most likely, these were the traces left behind by the other junk dealers Dirk had mentioned, those who had come searching for the cell analysis unit.

Their search must have been quite thorough, as Aiden found nothing of note remaining on this first level.

The second basement level was similar to the first.

The zombies had been cleanly dispatched, and the expansive research labs appeared to have been thoroughly scoured, leaving no worthwhile harvests behind.

The skill level suggested these were no mere amateur junk dealers.

While Dirk had dismissed them as idiots who mistook printers for cell analysis units, Aiden couldn’t view them with such disdain.

As they weren’t zombies like Aiden himself, those junk dealers who had ventured here were likely among the top echelon in Huntington Beach.

“Hmm…”

Having considered that possibility, Aiden let out a soft hum.

The fact that such skilled junk dealers had returned with only meager results troubled him.

Soon, as Aiden reached the third basement level, he was able to confirm the source of that unease.

The door leading to the third basement was not only firmly locked, but the entire door frame had been warped and mangled, leaving no way for anyone to enter.

But that wasn’t the issue.

Etched onto that distorted door were what appeared to be vicious claw marks.

Those markings extended from the door all the way across the stairwell’s outer walls, with the concrete gouged out over 10cm deep in places.

“…So this must be what Dirk was referring to.”

Dirk had only mentioned the possibility of mutants being present here.

At the time, Aiden had dismissed it as unnecessary information, given how obvious that likelihood was.

But now, he could see there had been clear evidence after all.

Aiden stared intently at those scars.

They were undoubtedly not the kind of damage any ordinary zombie could inflict.

The junk dealers who had come here previously must have witnessed these markings themselves.

Realizing the presence of mutants, they likely chose to retreat from this point onward.

A sensible decision, naturally.

For any junk dealer, veteran or otherwise, avoiding combat with mutants was the wisest course of action.

But from these marks alone, Aiden couldn’t discern the specific mutant’s identity either.

The traces seemed mismatched with the mutants he was familiar with – Wielders, Brutals, or Hedgehogs.

Whatever had left these seemed to possess elongated, blade-like appendages far sharper than anything those other mutants wielded.

The closest comparison might be the spines protruding from a Hedgehog’s body, but these gashes were too cleanly carved to be from mere random stabbings.

If not those, then the only possibility Aiden could conceive was a Beast.

Otherwise, it was highly likely this was an entirely new strain of mutant unknown even to him.

Chillleuk!

Aiden tried forcefully pulling on that mangled door, but it remained firmly sealed shut as expected.

If Arian had been here, perhaps they could have forced it open together.

But alone, this was a door he couldn’t breach.

Having judged the third basement inaccessible, Aiden descended one more level.

The fourth basement’s condition was far more blatant.

Those eerie claw marks were gouged everywhere.

And whatever had occurred here, the stairwell leading down to the fifth basement had completely collapsed, the ceiling caved in and blocking the way.

Amidst that devastation were the remains of zombies scattered about haphazardly.

Like crumbs spilled by a careless child, putrid flesh, severed hands, feet, and organs littered the floor in disarray.

To Aiden, it was clear evidence that the mutant present had cannibalized its own zombie brethren.

“Kiii…!”

Alerted by Aiden’s flashlight beam, one of the zombies amidst that carnage let out that sound.

Perhaps it had once been a researcher here, still wearing a soiled white lab coat.

That zombie was missing its lower body.

As if torn apart and partially devoured, only a horrific stump remained, the creature merely whimpering piteously amidst the rubble.

That whimper almost seemed to be warning Aiden about the presence lurking here.

Leaving that zombie behind, Aiden entered the research facilities on the fourth basement level.

Their overall structure didn’t differ much from the upper floors.

But these appeared to be more specialized areas.

The individual research labs had unconventional designs.

Some seemed intended to create vacuum environments, with specialized doors and reinforced glass windows.

In one room, Aiden found a massive machine he couldn’t identify the purpose of, taking up the entire space.

“…”

Aiden silently advanced along that corridor.

The single beam of light meticulously swept across every darkened corner of the research labs.

For a mutant’s dwelling, there was surprisingly little evidence of widespread destruction present.

It was amidst those thoughts that something caught Aiden’s eye, glinting in the flashlight’s beam.

He crouched down and picked up the object reflecting that light from the floor.

“This is…”

A spent cartridge casing.

But unlike the others buried under years of accumulated dust, this one seemed to have been dropped only days ago at most.

It was an anomaly.

Ultimately, it meant that someone had been here very recently.

Could it have been those junk dealers who had ventured this far into the depths?

In that case, they would have undoubtedly obtained information about the mutant present.

And they surely would have reported that to Dirk as well, yet Aiden hadn’t heard a single mention about it.

Had the information been deliberately withheld from him, in case he refused the request?

“Hmm…”

Of course, that possibility couldn’t be ruled out entirely.

If an exceptionally dangerous mutant was involved, any junk dealer would likely choose to withdraw.

But on Dirk’s side, withholding that information would be a foolish gambit.

If a junk dealer unaware of the mutant’s presence ended up falling victim to it, the request would ultimately fail regardless.

That would only result in a loss for Dirk as well, would it not?

Whether he had truly made such a senseless judgment, or if someone other than junk dealers had ventured this deep instead.

However, the answer to that question unexpectedly surfaced soon after.

As Aiden advanced further inward with his rifle raised, an unimaginable sight came into view.

Blood.

Not the rotten, greenish blood of the undead, but the deep crimson of human blood.

Pools of it were scattered about, each one invariably accompanied by a corpse lying amidst the viscera.

And those bodies unmistakably belonged to humans. People in the LA military uniforms that Aiden had become all too familiar with by now.

Moreover, their deaths seemed to have occurred no more than a day or two prior at most.

The very mutant Aiden had been exercising caution against was positioned right next to those fallen soldiers.

Its size was only slightly larger than an average human’s build.

And its arms… its bones seemed to have undergone some mutation, protruding through the skin as elongated, white skeletal protrusions resembling blades.

Those must have been the source of the claw marks gouged into the door.

It was undoubtedly a strain of mutant Aiden had never encountered before.

And yet, that creature now lay sprawled on the floor, its head damaged.

The bullet holes riddling its body and charred, flame-licked face.

Coupled with the shrapnel embedded in its shattered skull, it seemed the mutant and soldiers had engaged in combat, mutually annihilating each other.

Coincidentally, the cell analysis unit Aiden needed to retrieve was located right nearby.

Had those deceased soldiers also come in search of this very item?

Aiden picked up the cell analysis unit.

Fortunately, it appeared undamaged, though stained with streaks of crimson blood along its edges.

“Tsk…!”

Having recovered the requested item, Aiden clicked his tongue as he surveyed the fallen soldiers.

The number of people who had perished here reached around ten.

No matter that they had fought a mutant, such a staggering sacrifice was simply absurd.

Moreover, Aiden already had an inkling as to why these soldiers had met their demise in this place.

This cell analysis unit was an item desired by LA’s city government.

And according to Dirk, the reason they wanted it was to conceal a policy failure of theirs.

So the presence of these soldiers here was hardly surprising in that context.

Having lost faith in the Huntington Docks’ ability to produce results, LA’s government had directly dispatched their own forces.

To secure the cell analysis unit themselves, undoubtedly.

“…”

With a sense of finally glimpsing LA’s hidden face, Aiden’s gaze narrowed.

Just what was so important about this research lab that they had gone to such lengths?

This was an issue that clearly warranted further investigation.

Firmly committing that to memory, Aiden briefly surveyed the grisly underground scene once more before ascending back to the surface.