Aiden explained the situation in LA in detail to the siblings.
The two were particularly surprised by the talk of the vaccine; to people in the West who didn't know the situation in the eastern United States, the existence of the vaccine came as a great hope.
The two told Aiden the reason why they were heading to LA.
They said that Springfield scattered after the radiation danger was announced.
Several groups gathered and started moving, and the siblings, along with more than 10 people, began moving westward while avoiding large cities in the southern region as much as possible.
Their life-risking journey headed towards Nebraska.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the siblings weren't attacked by looters or fanatics, but they said they were driven to the worst situation as they were surrounded by countless zombies.
When they finally arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska, they were even more discouraged because countless zombies were wandering around the city of Lincoln, so they had no choice but to move endlessly westward without properly obtaining supplies.
They said they struggled fiercely on the Great Plains of Nebraska and moved to Denver.
There, they entered a survivor camp with vigilantes, and just as they thought their hellish journey was over, within a few months, the worst situation unfolded with the appearance of a new mutant.
In the process of the camp suffering catastrophic damage, James, the second of the siblings, died.
He chose death by becoming bait himself to save Mia and Oliver.
And the siblings heard definite information that LA's camp actually existed from the surviving people, and they concluded their story by saying that they were moving towards LA with the survivors.
Aiden comforted the siblings who were reminded of James's death, and then called together the other resting people.
"A vaccine for the zombie virus has been developed in LA."
Everyone stirred at Aiden's words.
"Is that true?"
Aiden immediately nodded and provided additional explanation.
"Although distribution hasn't started yet, they plan to start vaccinating LA citizens soon, and based on military power, they're on the verge of recovering the entire LA area."
"Oh God..."
"Is the terror ending?"
Seeing hope begin to fill people's eyes, Aiden unfolded a map and instilled explanations about the route that could go directly to LA.
He gave Oliver two of the grenades he had brought, telling him to use them in emergencies.
He told Mia that when they arrive at LA's checkpoint, if they mention his name and Arian's name, they would be allowed to pass easily.
The siblings expressed their gratitude to Aiden for caring until the end.
"Thank you, Aiden. Sincerely, you... have you changed somewhat?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes, the last time we saw you, it seemed like you just handled requests and didn't think about others..."
"People change. I'm no exception."
"That's right? Really, thank you Aiden. You said you're on a request now, right? Are you returning to LA right after the job is done?"
Aiden nodded.
"It will take 2-3 days, but I plan to return immediately."
"Then, I look forward to safely reuniting in LA."
As Mia and Aiden exchanged greetings, the remaining people, including Oliver, each gave words of thanks to Aiden, and the Mia's group began moving towards LA.
Aiden watched their retreating figures closely, preparing for any situation, and only when their figures disappeared did he start moving towards the college to proceed with his request.
* * *
Riverside City College.
The excellent college, which was rated as the best short-term college before the zombie outbreak, was now so devastated that it was hard to find traces of its former glory.
Aiden was observing the interior of the school from the entrance.
It seemed that a considerable number of zombies had settled inside the school, and the number of zombies wandering around the outskirts was not small either.
If the military were to enter in this state, they would consume a considerable amount of supplies. Aiden took out an axe from his bag, which he hadn't used for a long time.
"I can provide cleaning service within the possible range."
After that, Aiden was unstoppable.
Entering the school, he swung his axe at the heads of visible zombies.
The zombies, with no reaction, were sandbags themselves. Some zombies flared up and rushed at the sound of Aiden moving vigorously, but the moment they saw his face, they became docile again, repeating this pattern.
Aiden massacred the zombies near the entrance in an instant.
Now what remained was the interior of the buildings.
As Aiden was walking along the internal roads, he saw the gymnasium.
Seeing that the size of the gymnasium was quite large, Aiden entered the gym without hesitation.
Except for four zombies spinning in circles in the center of the gym, the state of preservation wasn't bad.
This seemed excellent for storing supplies or using as temporary accommodation.
After finishing his check, Aiden left the gymnasium and slowly explored the interior of the college, arriving in front of the largest-looking building.
Aiden felt eerie as he looked at the door of the building labeled Information Services Building.
Despite it being daytime, the dark appearance visible through the glass door exuded an ominous aura.
Aiden turned on the flashlight attached to his rifle.
Then he switched the sight to single shot mode and pulled the bolt.
Click!
Aiden slowly opened the glass door of the building.
Creak
The sound of the glass door opening echoed inside the building.
Aiden shouldered his rifle and slowly examined the interior of the first floor through the flashlight as he moved forward.
Fortunately, there wasn't much problem on the first floor. He immediately headed to the second floor.
There wasn't anything special on the second floor either. There were broken walls and furniture here and there, but no traces of zombies or corpses.
Aiden heightened his tension and headed to the remaining basement.
The basement had a structure where a corridor stretched straight as soon as you came down the stairs.
From walls with cracks everywhere to the ceiling, there were unstable cracks.
'There's a risk of collapse.'
Aiden moved towards the end of the corridor.
There was a room that looked like a conference room, which was large enough to accommodate 40 people.
Aiden, who shone his flashlight on the center, was momentarily stunned.
"A mutant...?"
In the center was a huge flesh-colored spherical mass whose identity was difficult to grasp.
Hiss-
Hiss-
The huge spherical mass was tall enough to reach the ceiling and had a body that seemed to be 8 meters wide.
And there were holes all over the mass, from which came sounds like heavy breathing.
'It doesn't seem to react to light, should I approach?'
As he couldn't know what kind of mutant it was, Aiden was even more careful.
He couldn't carelessly stimulate it.
Aiden walked carefully step by step towards the mutant.
Then, to see if it reacted to sound, he picked up a stone lying on the floor and threw it beside the mass.
Clank clank!
The moment the sound of hitting the side wall of the sphere was heard.
Swoosh!
Bang!
Tentacles shot out from inside the holes of the mass towards the wall where the sound came from and smashed the wall.
'This is... dangerous.'
Aiden checked the holes of the mass, and there weren't just one or two.
There were more than 10 holes visible in front of him.
As the tentacle that smashed the wall went back into the hole, the mass convulsed.
Thud thud thud!
Crackle!
Sensing danger, Aiden immediately distanced himself.
After vibrations that seemed like the ceiling would collapse continued, the middle part of the mass writhed geometrically and then tore open with a ripping sound.
And a huge eye appeared and stared at Aiden.
Feeling sudden danger, Aiden switched the rifle's sight to automatic and pulled the trigger.
Ratatatatata!
Clank clank clank clank clank!
In an instant, a magazine of thirty rounds was emptied, pouring into the mass.
The bullets seemed to hit, but it didn't seem to cause much damage to the mass.
Rather, it moved its large body even more.
Crackle!
Swoosh!
Tentacles came out of all sorts of holes in the mass.
"Damn it!"
Aiden immediately took out a grenade, quickly removed the safety pin, threw it at the mass, and ran back aimlessly.
Boom!!
With a loud explosion, the basement ceiling began to collapse.
Aiden ran with all his might towards the first floor stairs.
Bang! Thud thud thud!
Aiden, who barely reached the first floor stairs, ran frantically towards the first floor.
Boom!
Aiden, who barely made it to the first floor, looked at the collapsed basement.
"Is it dead?"
Rumble rumble!!
Thud! Bang!
As soon as Aiden's words fell, the basement shook terribly.
The entire building shook, and Aiden, sensing danger, escaped outside.
From the continuously shaking building came sounds that seemed like something was exploding continuously.
Thud!
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
"It seems like it's trying to come out."
Aiden took a stance and waited for it to come out.
Zombies from around also gathered due to the loud noise.
There was no need to worry about the zombies, but Aiden hid his body.
Bang! Boom!
As soon as he hid his body, with a tremendous sound, one side of the building burst open, and the spherical mass revealed itself.
The creature seemed to have quite a few wounds from the grenade explosion and falling building debris, as it was torn and shattered all over, dripping black blood from its entire body, and swinging its tentacles as if flaring up.
The surrounding zombies that gathered due to the sound were wrapped in the mass's tentacles, then lifted and began to be absorbed into the creature's holes.
Squish
Squish squish
Sounds like zombie bodies being compressed were heard as they were all absorbed into the creature's body.
Then, the wounded body of the mass began to recover.
Aiden finally understood why there were no zombies inside the building.
'It was a type that absorbs zombies.'
Feeling that the danger level of this new mutant was more dangerous than other mutants, Aiden unhesitatingly attached a grenade launcher to the underside of the rifle barrel.
Click!
Aiden, who immediately loaded a grenade, aimed and then pulled the trigger.
Thump!
At the same time, he took out a hand grenade and immediately threw it at the mass creature.
Whoosh!
Bang! Boom!
In the sound of continuous explosions, Aiden kept pulling the trigger towards the mutant without rest.
Ratatat!! Ratatatatata!!
Although thick dust obscured the view, Aiden, who was firing relentlessly towards the mutant, urgently threw his body.
Swoosh!
Whack!
Crack!
The mutant's tentacle flew at the tree where Aiden was hiding and broke the large tree.
If he had hesitated even a little, he could have been cut in half along with the tree.
Aiden, who barely got up, checked the mutant's condition.
It seemed to have been hit directly by the grenade, with 1/3 of the mass blown away, and shrapnel from the hand grenade embedded all over its body.
Thinking that he could kill it with just a little more attack, Aiden ran alongside the mutant while pulling the trigger.
The mutant seemed to have taken out all the tentacles from its remaining holes, swinging them roughly and attacking Aiden.
Continuous attacks from the tentacles followed, and Aiden's legs, as he was running, were wrapped by a tentacle.
"Huh!"
In an instant, Aiden's body was dragged towards the mutant.
Aiden, being dragged in without a chance to resist, didn't lose his coolness and took out the last remaining hand grenade from his pocket.