How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

The place Amara designated for Arian and Sadie to wait was a small square in the university.

It was a location where you could directly overlook the Union headquarters building.

The surroundings were kept like a suitable park, serving as a rest area for the workers working nearby.

Arian and Sadie sat on a small bench in a corner of the square.

Since it was still the time when workers were actively working, the surroundings were quiet.

Moreover, the Union headquarters building was more than 10 meters away, and the guards at the entrance were not paying much attention to this area.

For Arian, who wanted to eavesdrop on the Union leaders’ conversation, it was a perfect spot.

Amara, still unable to hide her apology, spoke as she departed.

“Well then, please wait here?”

“Yes. Take your time.”

Arian nodded, and Amara quickly left, leaving a message that she would return as soon as possible.

Once Amara left, Sadie, who was next to her, tugged at Arian’s sleeve.

“Why did we come here?”

Sadie asked in a low voice.

Perhaps Sadie sensed discomfort in Arian’s words.

The girl already noticed that Arian deliberately came to this place.

“Well, you see…”

Arian conveyed her thoughts to Sadie.

She explained that she intended to quietly eavesdrop on the Union leaders’ conversation here and try to understand their intentions.

Upon understanding Arian’s intentions, Sadie nodded in agreement.

“Well then, I’ll quietly stay here.”

“Sure, thanks.”

Arian patted Sadie’s head and quietly focused on her sense of hearing.

Then, all sorts of sounds began to ring in her ears.

Sounds of hammers striking in the workshop, someone shouting, countless footsteps, and unnecessary conversation sounds.

It was a conglomeration of noise mixed with various sounds.

However, Arian calmly searched for the sound she was looking for amid the noise.

Finally, she was able to catch the sound of someone talking.

The direction was the conference room on the top floor of the command building.

Arian, thinking that it must be that place because of its location, focused her attention on that place.

Then, Arian’s ears began to hear sounds from inside the conference room clearly.

* * *

Union’s conference room.

A man in his mid-50s was aggressively speaking.

“What did you just say? Is this our fault?”

That man was Charlie Wise, the representative of the Union’s search party.

He was glaring at Jordan Holt, a middle-aged East Asian man and also the police representative, who spoke a little earlier.

However, Jordan just looked at Charlie indifferently.

A tense atmosphere hung between the two.

The person who spoke next was Isabella Castro, a Hispanic woman in her 40s who sat at the table with them.

“It’s not entirely wrong. What’s the search party’s job? It’s to prevent those damn zombies. But what if everyone turned into zombies? What does that mean?”

She, representing the workers, threw words that seemed to press the search team. 

Charlie’s expression crumpled badly at her words.

“Ridiculous! This incident is an accident!”

He forcefully tapped the few yellowed papers on the long conference table with his finger.

“Haven’t you seen this report? There are no signs of combat outside the base. So the zombies didn’t come from outside but from inside!”

“That’s what your search party investigated, so of course they would say this.”

“Are you saying you can’t trust us now?”

Charlie’s momentum turned cold.

However, the other two had no intention of responding positively to him.

“Isn’t it natural to not trust you? Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, because the suspect was investigating himself.”

Jordan, the police representative, said so.

Upon hearing that, Charlie bit his lip and mumbled in a low voice.

“Then… What do you suggest?”

“We need a separate investigation. As you all know, this is not something we can just overlook. Hundreds of people have died. The responsibility must be clearly determined.”

“I agree with that.”

Isabella raised her hand, interrupting Jordan’s words.

Charlie scoffed at their seemingly coordinated attitude.

“So, who are we sending for the investigation?”

“I’ve thought about it, but ultimately, sending anyone from the Union would create unnecessary noise, right? If we set up separate investigation teams for each faction, we might worry about whether the investigation will go well. And we might accidentally erase unfavorable evidence without anyone knowing.”

“Enough, get to the point.”

Charlie interrupted Jordan’s words.

Jordan cleared his throat uncomfortably but continued, not hiding his displeasure.

“We’ll send an outsider.”

“An outsider?”

“Yeah, junk dealers.”

At Jordan’s suggestion, Charlie seemed bewildered, and Isabella chuckled amusingly.

Charlie was the first to speak.

“Are you out of your mind? What do they know?”

“They don’t know anything, and that’s precisely why we’re sending them.”

Saying so, Jordan chuckled lightly.

It was a somewhat ominous smile, like a snake.

“An outsider who knows nothing, so we can all believe the investigation results. Isn’t that right?”

A moment of silence filled the conference room at Jordan’s words.

His argument made sense.

It wasn’t just a matter of investigation methods. It involved internal affairs of the Union, power struggles between factions, and even the repercussions this incident would bring.

Jordan suggested that an outsider who knew nothing about all of this could conduct an objective investigation.

“Not a bad idea. I agree.”

Isabella spoke, and Charlie hardened his expression.

Already with two out of three faction representatives in agreement, the conclusion was almost set.

“So, who are you going to entrust this to? You haven’t already bought out junk dealers, have you?”

“Don’t make presumptuous remarks without evidence.”

Jordan warned Charlie.

After glaring at Charlie for a moment, Jordan continued.

“I’ve called in the official in charge of overseeing the junk dealers. You should know her. Mrs. Olson.”

“Ah… Andrew’s wife.”

Charlie’s expression softened slightly at the mention of the name Olson.

The Olson couple was considered somewhat neutral among the three factions.

Andrew Olson, her husband, was a high-ranking member of the search party, and Amara Olson, his wife, was a police officer.

Although they had little connection with the workers, there was a personal friendship between Isabella, the worker representative, and Amara.

“Let’s entrust the job to the junk dealers recommended by her. What do you think?”

So, at Jordan’s proposal, both Charlie and Isabella nodded without much hesitation.

Charlie gestured to the man standing guard at the door of the conference room.

“Where is Mrs. Olson?”

“She came a little while ago and is waiting outside.”

“Bring her in.”

The man silently opened the door he had been guarding and went outside.

And after a while, with a somewhat tense face, Amara entered the conference room.

Jordan welcomed her with a professional smile.

“Sorry for calling you in despite your busy schedule. There’s something I want to ask you. Please, have a seat.”

Amara took a seat on one side of the table.

With a businesslike smile, Jordan conveyed to her a part of the conversation they had just been sharing.

Ignoring the dispute over the responsibility of the incident, he focused on the need for additional investigation to accurately understand what happened at the Forward Base.

“Given the situation, we’re looking for a junk dealer who can handle this matter. Can you recommend someone?”

“Well, if that’s the case…”

However, before Amara could respond, Charlie added:

“If possible, I’d prefer a junk dealer who recently arrived in the city. If possible, within three months.”

“That sounds like an unreasonable demand.”

Isabella interjected in response to Charlie’s statement.

If a junk dealer had been in the city for less than three months, they would typically be at most Grade C.

However, considering the risk of this particular task, it required a junk dealer of at least Grade B or higher. 

Charlie looked at Amara.

“Is that really the case? Are there really no suitable candidates?”

In response to Charlie’s question, Amara hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether to mention a name that had come to mind. 

However, she decided there was no reason to hide it.

“Aiden Lee and Arian Clifford. These two individuals reached Grade B within a month of arriving here.”

“A month? Is that possible?”

“Yes. If they handle requests diligently every day without exception for a month… theoretically, it is possible.”

Isabella let out a dry laugh.

The Union had strict criteria for assigning grades to requests. 

For example, Grade E requests were for simple item deliveries, Grade D excluded combat-related missions like delivering items or conducting local reconnaissance.

Grade C and above involved combat in the tasks. Therefore, handling Grade C requests every day meant dealing with life-threatening combat every day.

Charlie nodded, realizing the implications. 

“Impressive skills. And in just a month…”

Charlie glanced at the other two representatives without saying a word. 

It seemed his monologue conveyed the idea that there wouldn’t have been time for them to make a move during that time.

“Any other candidates?”

“For Grade B or higher… there are none. All other junk dealers have been here for more than six months.”

Isabella’s question, asked just in case, came back with an answer as expected.

Jordan then turned to the other two representatives, and they nodded silently.

It was the moment when the decision was made on who to entrust with the task.

“Then, Mrs. Olson. Assign them the request as we discussed earlier-“

Jordan then conveyed the detailed requirements of the request to Amara.

Listening to his words, Amara focused on the information.

“…”

Outside the meeting room, sitting on a bench in the square, Arian listened quietly, lost in thought, to the details.

* * *

That afternoon.

Arian and Sadie, who went inside the Union, came out safely.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Amara to be called to the command center.

Thanks to that, Arian and Sadie were on their way after looking into every nook and cranny of the Union.

But right now, the only thing that remained in Arian’s mind was one request.

Arian and Sadie immediately returned to their base where Aiden was staying.

Their base was located in a hotel in the city, within the Free Zone. 

The interior was once lavishly decorated with marble and gold-colored wallpaper, but now, after a long period of neglect, the scene seemed eerie.

It was worth noting that within the Free Zone, while safety was guaranteed, all buildings were Union-owned, and outsiders like junk dealers couldn’t occupy them freely.

The Union used this as a basis and operated hotels where junk dealers, including outsiders, had to pay accommodation fees at regular intervals.

Of course, the conditions and services in these hotels, to call them that, were not much. They merely provided rooms, and in reality, they did nothing else.

Despite the obvious disadvantage, the safety guarantee and reasonable accommodation fees, along with the desire not to attract attention from the Union, kept Aiden and his group staying here.

Arriving at room 301 of that hotel, Arian knocked on the door.

Two quick knocks, followed by four slow ones – it was a prearranged signal.

“…Did you come?” 

As the door opened, Aiden, wearing a helmet, appeared.

As Arian and Sadie entered the hotel room, Aiden immediately took off his helmet.

While the hotel room had a somewhat luxurious feel, it was a typical business hotel.

A moderately sized room with vertically patterned white wallpaper, brown curtains, and a dirty red carpet on the floor. There was also a bathroom next to it, but it had no running water and was unusable. The room contained furniture such as a bed and chairs that had remained since the hotel ceased operations.

Although not particularly clean, the luxurious design was still intact, barely reaching a level where people could use it.

“How was the harvest?”

“It was good. Found some interesting things.”

Arian sat on the bed, sharing what she had seen and heard with Aiden.

Aiden showed interest in the various technologies the Union possessed, but when he heard about the information related to the task they were going to undertake, he sighed briefly.

“…I see. Did Amara say anything separately?”

“No, she didn’t say a word today. But she treated us as if nothing happened.”

Arian recalled Amara guiding them through the Union’s internals after receiving such demands without a change in expression.

Although it felt awkward to call it a performance, Amara was a woman who seemed to know how to manage her expressions quite well.

“…”

Having heard Arian’s words, Aiden fell into thought for a moment.

Arian urged Aiden for an answer as he remained silent.

“What do you think?”

“Well.”

Watching Aiden save his words, Arian grinned.

“I thought you’d naturally agree.”

Certainly, to delve deeper into understanding the Union, accepting the task without much thought was the right thing to do. 

However, Aiden felt an uneasy atmosphere in the conversation between the Union representatives that Arian conveyed.

Could it be that they were considering entrusting such a task to outsiders because they didn’t trust each other?

The lack of trust between the internal factions of the Union seemed to be deeply rooted, more than Aiden had anticipated.

“It’s too risky to think lightly about it. We might get involved in the factional disputes if we make a mistake.”

“…So, we won’t do it?”

“I guess it’s impossible.”

Although the task might intensify conflicts between factions, refusing wouldn’t change anything.

If it wasn’t Aiden, another junk dealer would handle the task.

Rather than just watching, it was better for Aiden to uncover the truth of the incident and observe the Union’s response.

However, before making a final decision, Aiden briefly shifted the topic.

In some ways, it was a much more critical subject than the task.

“How about the Union? Did it seem like a good place to settle down?”

“There were some places that didn’t sit well with me, but at least, in my eyes, it seemed better than any group I’ve seen so far.”

Aiden nodded at Arian’s response.

Considering what she had seen in the Union, such an evaluation was by no means unreasonable.

Aiden then turned to Sadie.

“How about you, Sadie?”

“I… liked it there too.”

Sadie calmly expressed what she had felt to Aiden.

Each diligently performing their assigned tasks while feeling no anxiety was something Sadie appreciated.

“In that case… the decision is made. Let’s accept that request.”

Having heard the responses from both, Aiden made the decision.

Their positive responses implied that there was value in stepping deeply into the Union.