'Damn it...'
Rather than the number of zombies visible in front of him, Aiden tried to stay calm because he couldn't predict how many zombies would rush in due to the battle about to unfold.
When he looked at the rooftop, Jane waved her hand.
He could see Jane moving vigorously, as if very worried.
Aiden sent Jane the pre-arranged signal.
Then Jane was seen quickly coming down from the rooftop.
'Can I do this?'
Aiden ran a simulation in his head.
They're not clustered together but maintaining distance.
First, approach the closest one by surprise and smash its head with the baton.
If lucky, he could take it out with one hit.
Then rush in and strike the next zombie's head, and use just two bullets on the zombie rushing at him to minimize noise.
"Phew... Let's go."
There was no time to hesitate.
The sun was already setting.
And his stamina was already as good as depleted.
Hoping Jane wouldn't rashly open the door, Aiden took out his baton.
Whoosh.
Extending the baton, Aiden ran towards the nearest zombie.
Thwack!
The zombie, not yet noticing Aiden, fell to Aiden's swinging baton.
Without time to check if the zombie was dead or alive, Aiden immediately ran towards the next zombie.
-Grrrr!
The remaining three zombies noticed Aiden and started rushing at him.
But faster than their reaction, Aiden swung the baton at the next zombie.
The second zombie also fell.
Click.
Bang! Bang!
Aiden shouldered the submachine gun and pulled the trigger.
Partly because he didn't take proper aim, but also due to Aiden's lack of marksmanship. The bullets that grazed the zombie's head hit the innocent wall of the research facility.
Still, thanks to the zombies hesitating, Aiden was able to stand in front of the research facility's iron door.
"Damn it!"
He saw the two zombies hit by Aiden's baton also getting up.
The zombie that the bullets missed also started rushing at Aiden, spewing its maddened gaze and cries.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He pulled the trigger in succession, but it was difficult to aim for the heads of the rushing zombies.
Perhaps thanks to the bullets penetrating their bodies, the rushing zombies fell and writhed.
Now noise wasn't the issue. If he couldn't deal with the zombies in front of him right now, his life would be in immediate danger.
Additionally, the cries of zombies and the sound of something rushing in started to be heard from all around.
"Huff...! Huff...!"
Bang bang! Bang bang!
After catching his breath, Aiden fed bullets into the heads of the fallen zombie and the one hit by the baton, then looked at quite a number of zombies rushing towards him from afar.
Now there really was no time left.
Thump thump! Thump thump thump!
Aiden knocked on the iron door.
Clank clank!
Creak
The iron door opened and Jane's urgent voice was heard.
"Come in!"
Thud!
Aiden took refuge inside the research facility.
Bang bang!
-Grrrr! Grrrr!!
Thud thud thud!!
The iron door shook violently as if it would fall off.
Even after closing the additional door and engaging all locks, Aiden and Jane had to keep watching the shaking iron door for a while.
After some time passed, the research facility became quiet.
Aiden and Jane sat down simultaneously.
"Haah..."
"I almost died..."
Jane's sigh and Aiden's grumble came out at the same time.
"You idiot!"
Jane rushed into Aiden's arms.
"I'm sorry... I came back alive."
Aiden could feel Jane trembling in his arms.
Hugging Jane tightly like that, Aiden felt grateful to be alive.
Relieved to have survived, the two felt each other's warmth for a while.
"You got a sample?"
As Aiden was organizing the few supplies he brought back, he seemed to remember belatedly and handed Jane the bag containing zombie fragments for samples.
"You should have shown me something so important first!"
Aiden just smiled, finding Jane cute as she spoke as if sulking.
"Now we can start full-scale research."
"That's right, Aiden! This is the real beginning."
Jane's appearance, even humming as if so pleased, was loveliness itself.
Aiden suddenly remembered the first day the zombie outbreak occurred.
He thought that if he hadn't known anything and was preparing for work, if he hadn't found Jane and gone to the hospital, what kind of hell would have unfolded, he probably wouldn't have been able to do anything and would have ended up like the zombies rolling around outside.
"Jane, thank you for finding me first."
"...You are the most precious person in the world to me."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
* * *
A month had already passed since the zombie outbreak occurred.
It was very difficult to increase the progress speed of vaccine research.
Even though Aiden was a doctor, he didn't have specialized development knowledge, so Jane had to handle a lot on her own.
But they didn't give up and kept adding progress.
Aiden went outside the research facility from time to time to obtain additional samples and supplies, and now he could hunt zombies quite easily.
Meanwhile, hoping there might be survivors, Aiden roamed quite far around the research facility's radius, but while there were very small traces, he didn't meet any survivors.
During her daily routine, Jane turned on the radio and tuned to various frequencies.
It was because of the thought that large groups like the government or military might come to their senses and broadcast for their citizens.
However, the radio was completely silent.
They couldn't grasp at all what the state of other cities outside New York was like, and even when Aiden roamed around the research facility, all he saw were zombies.
They thought there must be a group of survivors somewhere in this huge city, but they couldn't find them right now.
So the two silently continued their vaccine research.
Time was just flowing like that.
"There are no more supplies in this area now."
Aiden muttered with a serious expression.
A map was spread out on the table, with X marks here and there.
Now they had to go beyond at least a 1km radius.
What was fortunate was that they found a gun shop and were able to acquire a large quantity of bullets there.
If they don't recklessly go around shooting zombies to death, they won't need to worry about bullets for a while.
But food is gradually running out.
Thud.
Aiden marked an area with a pen.
"Walmart..."
It's a mart located about 3km away from the research facility.
It's also the most common mart you can see in America, and you can expect abundant supplies including various groceries, clothing, and shoes.
Of course, it was either someone had already looted it, or because it's a place where many people gather, there might be an unimaginable number of zombies occupying it.
A round trip of over 6km, if the route gets twisted, it's a place you have to go at least 10km.
Leaving early in the morning, arriving, finding supplies and returning could take more than a day.
Aiden couldn't help but hold his head.
At that moment, Jane, who had just woken up, appeared.
"Why are you looking at the map with such a serious expression?"
"Ah Jane, did you sleep well? How's your condition?"
Jane had a slight fever from the day before.
She must have accumulated fatigue from continuing research too hard.
What was fortunate was that both of them had constitutions that were healthy without frequent minor illnesses, so they could save on over-the-counter medicines.
"I'm fine. I guess people really need to sleep well."
"That's good, even a small illness could be dangerous in this situation."
"Oh~ Dr. Aiden? You're looking quite cool right now."
"Don't tease me, Jane."
Aiden laughed at Jane's playful manner.
As he turned his head and looked at the map with a serious face again, Jane also looked at the map together.
"Walmart, huh?"
"Yeah, we're running low on groceries."
"I guess it's about time, I feel bad for making you go out alone all the time."
Jane looked at Aiden with a regretful expression.
She couldn't not know how much Aiden struggled every time he went out where death lurked.
"Should I go out this time?"
"Jane! Don't even joke about that, how could I possibly send you to that place full of zombies?!"
"Aiden?"
Aiden started getting agitated rapidly.
"Out there is hell, Jane, the never-ending cries of those zombie bastards, and corpses everywhere, it's hell itself! I can never send you there!"
"Aiden, calm down, look at me."
Jane gently caressed Aiden's face.
Only then did Aiden seem to calm down a bit and took deep breaths.
"S-sorry, I got too excited..."
"No, I'm more sorry, Aiden. You must have been suffering the most, I was short-sighted."
Aiden's eyes trembled.
Not knowing he would get so emotional himself, he kept apologizing to Jane.
"I'm going to the rooftop for a moment, I want to get some fresh air and check something."
Saying that, Aiden turned and headed for the rooftop.
Jane saw Aiden's back trembling very slightly and just watched quietly with a gloomy expression.
"Haah... That wasn't like me, pull yourself together Aiden, what are you doing getting shaken up?"
Aiden, who had come up to the rooftop, berated himself as he headed for the railing.
He was thinking about the map now, trying to figure out the direction where Walmart was located.
For the past month, he had thought there might be survivors here and there, including occasional gunshots heard.
Whether he was lucky or unlucky, he hadn't encountered survivors yet, but where there's a mart means there are supplies, and survivors might be gathered around there.
It's uncertain whether those survivors would be beneficial or harmful.
Disasters always tend to drive humans to madness.
In this lawless situation now, everyone you meet needs to be treated with caution.
As he was contemplating while roughly assessing the route with his eyes, at that moment.
The rooftop door opened and Jane approached Aiden.
"Were you checking the route to Walmart?"
Jane asked carefully.
Aiden nodded and pointed in the direction of Walmart with his finger.
"Roughly in that direction, about 3km away, Walmart should be located. The problem is whether we can make a round trip in one day or not."
"You shouldn't push yourself... Ah, there are no more supplies left in this area, right..."
Even without any particular explanation from Aiden, Jane quickly caught on.
"I think we'll have to go, Jane. In this state, it'll be difficult to last even a week."
Aiden explained that if they conserved the remaining supplies, Jane could last about 2 weeks.
But considering everything from vaccine research to sample collection, they needed to be in good physical condition, so it was an unavoidable choice.
"It'll be... dangerous. And maybe, we might meet survivors, and we don't know if those people are safe."
"But you're going, right?"
"I'll maintain weapons today, look for routes a bit more, then leave tomorrow."
Aiden nodded.
Even if he couldn't help much with vaccine research, he thought his biggest role was to ensure Jane could live without discomfort.
"I'll definitely come back, I won't leave you alone."
Jane held Aiden's hand.
She just held his hand tightly without saying anything, not letting go.