How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Last night's bath and soft bed were so good.

I'm now earnestly rolling around on the bed while sipping on a blood pack that I had saved as a spare.

The sunlight coming through the window felt so good.

It felt like the fatigue in my whole body was melting away, after who knows how long.

Knock knock

"It's the innkeeper. Are you ready to come down?"

I'm called from beyond the door.

Since all preparations were finished, I stepped out without hesitation.

Creak

When I opened the door, the innkeeper was waiting for me.

"Shall we go down then? I've prepared a carriage in front of the inn."

"Let's go."

I followed the innkeeper out.

As we came down from the 2nd floor room to the 1st floor, the innkeeper opens the door for me.

I gave a word of thanks.

"Thank you. I was able to rest comfortably thanks to you. I hope I can come again."

"I'm glad you think so. Please come again."

Leaving the innkeeper's smile behind, I stepped out the door.

In front, an old cargo carriage was standing.

The coachman was Vincent.

Seeing me, he greeted me cheerfully.

"Did you rest well, Arian?"

"I rested comfortably for the first time in a while. Did you prepare well?"

"Of course, we're betting our lives on this job too."

I climbed onto the cargo area.

"Don't people usually sit next to the driver?"

"I want to go with my legs stretched out comfortably."

"Well, do as you like. Hya!"

The carriage slowly started moving.

Vincent talked a lot about this and that, as if curious that I was just quietly looking at the sky without saying much. If I had any questions, how their preparations were going.

I asked about the Red Rose, the first target.

"What's the Red Rose's ability? Does it make flowers bloom or something?"

"The reason it's called Red Rose is because of the title given for growing roses with human blood, and as for ability... well, there's nothing known about its ability. In the first place, vampires have degraded a lot like us, so I heard that compared to several hundred years ago, many of their blood utilization techniques have disappeared. So those bastards are hiding their abilities as much as possible and focusing on producing low-level vampires."

"Pushing with numbers. A simple strategy."

"That's right, but we don't go that far. If friction with the church intensifies too much, we'll lose our place to live, you see."

"Since there's no compromise with vampires anyway, you're trying to avoid friction with the church by limiting your population, is that it?"

"Vampires and us have a thousand years of built-up grudges, but humans are different."

"I understand that part too, there's no need to needlessly provoke, the church is persistent after all."

"Yes, to survive without going extinct."

"Our goals are the same then, to survive."

With those words, I closed my mouth.

I hear Vincent's laughter from the driver's seat.

"We'll make good allies. In about 30 minutes, we'll reach the campsite. Rest until then, Arian."

I didn't answer and closed my eyes.

And so the carriage rushed towards the campsite.

* * *

When we arrived at the campsite, it had become a dark night.

I felt a tense atmosphere.

Beyond the campsite, a collapsed castle was visible in the distance.

That seemed to be the residence of the Noble of the Red Rose.

Without even lighting a campfire, about a dozen werewolves were visible.

They looked similar, but their fur color, build, and facial structure were different.

They were looking at the castle without saying a word to each other.

I too had no need to talk with them separately, so I was just waiting.

Then Vincent approaches me.

He is in werewolf form, having transformed from human form as soon as he arrived. Black fur covering his entire body. And yellow glowing eyes. An impressive appearance.

"The battle will start soon. I'll leave the infiltration timing to you."

"Alright. Have you identified the Red Rose's location?"

"There's a garden behind the castle. The Red Rose will be there."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

Good. I don't care how they conduct their battle.

My only concern is to deal with the Red Rose quickly.

"Start whenever you're ready."

"Will do."

Vincent stepped to the front of the pack.

Awoo!

When Vincent howled first, the other werewolves also made rough howling sounds.

The wolves' howls echo across the field.

Is this a declaration of war? Is it okay to throw away the advantage of surprise so easily?

They ran forward like mad.

Reaching the castle's main gate in an instant at considerable speed, they easily jumped over the castle walls and entered inside.

"I should get going too."

I too reached the castle wall in an instant.

And using my speed, I kicked off the ground and jumped up.

Having soared too high over the wall, I could see the battlefield situation well.

In the center, Vincent and 5 werewolves were fiercely fighting dozens of vampires.

And centered on Vincent, two werewolves on each side were blocking approaching vampires, and the remaining one was guarding an escape route behind them just in case.

"They fight well."

I turned my gaze to look at the collapsed castle.

One part was severely damaged, and it seemed I could infiltrate through there.

As soon as I landed on the ground, I approached the castle stealthily and quickly.

One side of the wall had completely collapsed, and entering through there, the interior was an empty ruin with nothing inside. There was no sign of low-level vampires inside the castle, and I could find a door leading to the back garden from inside the castle.

Creak

Opening the large door and coming out to the back of the castle, there were bright red roses filling the entire garden.

The sight of roses that were completely red from leaves to stem made me feel bad. And the scent coming from the roses was not the scent of ordinary flowers, but a strong smell of blood.

I briefly covered my nose at the terribly strong scent of blood and headed towards the center of the garden.

In the center of the garden was a round table for four, and there was a woman wearing a red dress.

As I gradually approached, that woman turned her gaze to look at me.

Her eyes, red like mine, looked at me once and then showed a look of contempt.

"A lowly insect has entered."

This time I'm treated as an insect, huh.

Maybe being treated as a monster would be better. This rudeness befitting the title of a noble.

"You who covet the blood of such an insect, what are you, a maggot?"

"Hohoho, you speak so rudely, insect."

"Yeah, you too."

I don't intend to lose in a war of words from the start.

Should I go for a preemptive strike?

Or a light greeting?

The thought wasn't long.

I took out my short sword from behind my waist and kicked the ground.

Bang!

Slash.

The sword I swung down as soon as I rushed in only cut the chair.

Faster than expected.

The Red Rose, who avoided my sword in an instant and stepped back a few steps, seemed annoyed and threw a fit.

"You insect! Who do you dare to attack?"

"Ah sorry, I thought I needed to teach some manners to a maggot."

No more words were necessary.

I increased my speed and thrust my sword towards the front of the Red Rose.

Swoosh

The Red Rose lightly avoided the thrusting sword, widened the distance, then took out a huge club covered in thorns and attacked.

Bang!

The club smashes the ground, raising thick dust.

"The primordial blood has walked into me on its own, now all that's left is for me to become king."

"...Lady, are you sick somewhere?"

"Eek!"

Bang bang!!

Encouraged by my provocation, the Red Rose attacked fiercely.

Isn't the pattern too simple?

Doesn't she intend to use any other power?

"If all you can do is simply swing down a club, it's too easy, you know?"

When I provoked again, a red aura spewed out around the Red Rose's body.

"It's too much for a lowly insect, but I'll show you!"

When the Red Rose raised her hand, I felt the roses in the garden squirming.

"My lovely children! Dance!"

Then the rose vines in the garden instantly extended and rushed at me like whips.

I swung my short sword sharply and cut down the approaching vines.

Is this the ability to control roses made of blood at will?

Werewolves or ordinary hunters would be captured in an instant, unable to do anything against the vines.

"As expected, a noble is a noble. But."

When I first entered the garden, I saw blood spattered here and there on the ground.

They must have given blood instead of water, if so, then there's no reason for me to lose.

As I continuously cut the approaching vines and concentrated, the blood spread throughout the entire garden becomes tiny droplets floating in the air.

"It's been a while since I used this, shall I imitate too? Now! Let's dance!"

As I shouted, the small droplets became blades and started their dance.