The next day. Early dawn.
Aiden left for the mart to gather supplies.
Jane remained alone and started vaccine research.
The zombie cells viewed through the microscope were truly incomprehensible.
Certainly, there was a beginning.
Jane remembered the first zombie virus this research facility had.
Although Jane only participated in the early research, it was certain that this virus's initial purpose wasn't like this.
Zombies, they said they were making a vaccine for treatment.
Of course, government officials frequently came in and out of the research facility, and there were quite a few secret meetings Jane couldn't know about, but the initial results of closely observing and researching the zombie virus showed an aggressiveness that couldn't be considered for treatment purposes at all.
Beep.
Jane turned on the voice recorder.
"10th infiltration reaction result. The infiltration speed is still beyond imagination, even cells injected with vaccines 25 and 50 couldn't slow down the speed."
The combinations of vaccines the research facility had among existing vaccines were running low.
From the start, they were struggling just to understand the basic structure of the zombie virus.
"We need to abandon the virus characteristics identified in the 9th experiment and try a different approach."
Beep.
Jane, who turned off the voice recorder, collapsed onto the desk.
"I can't give up... but it's a moment when I want to give up."
Jane desperately missed coffee.
And very strong at that.
In a situation where even available supplies are running low, thinking about coffee, she needs to control such luxurious thoughts.
Jane got up and headed to the rooftop.
After doing experiments non-stop from morning to noon, her whole body felt stiff, and she thought she could regain her senses if she got some outside air.
A chilly wind brushed Jane's face.
Wondering how far Aiden had moved by now, if he was safe, looking outside actually made her worry more severely.
Jane stood at the rooftop railing and looked down.
New York outside the research facility was still the same.
Only zombie cries or gunshots from unidentifiable locations echoing through the quiet New York.
There must be survivors somewhere, where did they all go? Just as Jane was thinking this.
About 2-3 blocks away from the research facility, she saw something moving busily.
"Is it Aiden? That can't be?"
It wasn't time for him to return yet.
!@%^&&*
She seemed to hear shouting voices.
"Survivors!"
Jane was startled.
To think that the survivors they had been trying so hard to find all this time would appear at this moment when Aiden was gone.
She saw a few zombies leaving the vicinity of the research facility and heading towards an alley.
And soon, Jane's sight caught a woman running while carrying a child, followed by a man appearing, and they were heading towards the research facility.
Jane didn't hesitate and immediately came down from the rooftop.
And she instantly ran down to the 2nd floor, shouldered the submachine gun, and ran to the 1st floor.
After running frantically to the iron door, Jane hesitated for a moment.
She wondered if it was right to go out and save them, if she could save them.
What would Aiden have done?
But Jane didn't ponder any longer.
She took a deep breath, checked the submachine gun's magazine once.
Then she opened the additional door's lock, and immediately opened the iron door.
Jane, who came outside, didn't close the iron door right away but left it slightly open and shouted towards the approaching survivors.
"Over here!"
The survivors seemed to hear Jane's voice immediately and changed their direction from running towards the research facility's main entrance.
Jane raised the submachine gun and pulled the trigger towards the zombies chasing behind the survivors.
Bang! Bang!
There were no zombies around the research facility as Aiden had cleaned up the area over time.
So she didn't hesitate to shoot.
Thud thud!
The zombies fiercely chasing behind the survivors started falling as they were hit by bullets.
The woman running in the lead came right up to Jane, with the man following right behind.
Jane shot a bit more, slowing down the zombies' advance, and they entered the research facility following Jane's hand gestures.
Thud!
As all the survivors entered the research facility, Jane also jumped inside and quickly locked the door.
"Phew... My hands are all shaky."
Jane, who took several deep breaths to calm her heavily pounding heart, only then approached the survivors.
They were hugging each other tightly and trembling.
She felt she should say something, but Jane only then could think about how recklessly she had taken them in.
But seeing the two adults, who looked like a couple, trembling while hugging the child, she had no words to say.
"They... won't be bad people, right? They have a child after all... Haha..."
Jane, keeping her hand on the submachine gun's trigger just in case, waited for them to calm down.
* * *
Aiden was taking cover between cars across the road where Walmart was just visible.
Getting here wasn't easy.
The number of zombies he killed on the way already exceeded double digits.
Thanks to the experience of consistently going out to collect samples and killing zombies for over a month, he was now able to attack them more easily, allowing him to come this far with his body intact.
However, the scene of Walmart visible before his eyes was utterly bleak.
The number of zombies visible in front of the main entrance alone seemed to exceed twenty, and inside the store windows, zombies could be seen roaming around.
The area around the mart and the interior was quite miserable.
Quite a few corpses with their heads blown off were visible here and there, the mart's windows and doors were all broken and shattered, and the interior visible from outside didn't look good either.
Had someone already looted it once?
The bullet marks visible here and there seemed to show that there had been a fierce battle.
Although Aiden wondered if he could obtain supplies even if he went inside, he had no choice.
He was able to collect small supplies by stopping at small marts or convenience stores on the way to Walmart, but this wasn't nearly enough, so he had to force his way into Walmart.
"It would be nice if I could sneak in through the back. There's not much time left."
Aiden, who had left at 5 AM, arrived at Walmart at 1 PM.
Looking at the watch on his wrist, Aiden thought he needed to leave for the research facility by 2 or 3 PM at the latest.
Aiden, who started moving towards the back of the mart, moved with his body lowered as much as possible.
He couldn't just focus on the zombies at the main entrance because zombies could pop out from anywhere.
Maintaining tension, Aiden was able to come to the back of the mart easily by slightly circling around and passing between damaged vehicles.
Was he quite lucky? The door at the back where supplies come in was open and no zombies were visible.
Aiden quickly entered the mart interior through the back door.
"I've been lucky so far..."
Aiden slowly walked around the interior.
Unlike what was visible from outside, there were no zombies in the innermost part of the mart, allowing him to search for supplies easily.
He looked for supplies without letting his guard down, but so far there wasn't much worth taking.
It was certain that someone had looted this place first.
Still, he was able to get a few 500ml bottles of water and some canned goods.
However, Aiden couldn't proceed with the search any further.
While the back door area of the mart was almost free of zombies, the main entrance area was different.
A considerable number of zombies were gathered there, and as he already knew, quite a number of zombies were occupying the area outside the main entrance.
Aiden checked the supplies he had obtained so far.
"This much... Even if we save, it'll barely last a week."
The greed to get just a little more crept up, but any more would be too much.
At least he had cleared the zombies on the way here, and thinking that it wouldn't be difficult a second time since he had come once, Aiden headed back to the rear door.
At that moment.
Vrooom!
Ratata!! Ratatata!!
The sound of a car engine and gunshots at the same time.
It was from the main entrance direction.
"Survivors?!"
Aiden took cover in a direction where he could see the main entrance and observed the situation.
-Grrrr!!
-Uahhh!!! Uohhh!!
The zombies' roars spread noisily as they ran frantically towards the main entrance.
Aiden, who carefully poked his head out to look at the main entrance, could faintly see the survivors who had fired guns.
Dudududu!!! Ratatatatat!!
Three people in the trunk of a fairly large pickup truck were frantically pouring bullets at the zombies.
Meanwhile, the pickup truck wasn't standing still but moving back and forth wildly, sweeping away the rushing zombies with its large wheels.
"Impressive, are they former soldiers or something?"
Aiden quietly admired their quite skilled appearance.
They seemed quite excited as they massacred the zombies.
Aiden, who was quietly watching that scene, rather slipped away through the back door.
"It's dangerous, they're equipped with professional weapons, and the fact that they can waste bullets like that means they're not ordinary people."
Still, Aiden could feel a little relieved knowing that survivors were armed and resisting the zombies.
If they dealt with the zombies while rampaging like that, it meant that Jane and his research facility could be a little safer.
"If they barge into the research facility, that's a different story though."
Aiden hurriedly started heading towards the research facility.
He needs to discuss this with Jane.
Thanks to them drawing all the zombies' attention, Aiden thought the way back would be easier as gunshots continued behind him.
* * *
"Have you calmed down a bit?"
"Yes, yes..."
The man answered.
"I'm Jane, and you are?"
"Ah... I'm Sean. This is my wife, Lyla, and our daughter, Liv."
As Jane had guessed, they were a family.
Certainly, if they weren't family, there would be no need to run around with a child in a place full of zombies.
"Where did you come from?"
Jane immediately asked what she was curious about.
"Um... If it's alright, could we possibly get even just a glass of water? Or at least something for the child to drink..."
Lyla pleaded to Jane with a pitiful expression.
Only then did Jane realize that Liv looked very exhausted.
"Ah, I was thoughtless. Let's go to the 2nd floor."
"Are you alone?"
Sean asked.
Jane tensed slightly at those words and unconsciously fiddled with the submachine gun.
"Ah, ah! That's not it! I didn't mean to threaten you! I was just wondering how a woman could be here alone..."
"I'm not alone, he's out gathering supplies right now."
Jane subtly emphasized to Sean that her companion was a man.
"I, I see. Anyway, thank you so much for helping us! It was really... really hard."
"Let's talk about the details upstairs. I have a lot I want to ask too."
Jane held out her hand to Liv, who was looking at her with anxious eyes, buried in Lyla's arms.
"Liv? It's okay, you can relax."
When she smiled brightly, Liv hesitated and looked at Lyla.
"It's okay, Liv."
When Lyla said that, Liv reached out her small hand and grasped Jane's hand.
"Thank you, Liv. Then let's go up to the 2nd floor. Come on. Sean, Lyla. Please go up first with Liv."
"Thank you."
Sean and Lyla went up to the 2nd floor, expressing their gratitude.
Jane watched their backs and let out a small sigh so they couldn't hear.
"What should I say to Aiden...?"