Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I looked at Olivia and she gestured for me to hug Kaley back. As best as I could, I gulped and slowly raised my hand to slowly~ wrap at her back. I slowly~ raised my right hand for a bit as I slowly~ began to pat her back awkwardly. Olivia saw what I did and she facepalmed at the sight.     

I then heard a soft chuckle and I felt Kaley letting go of me. Once she did, she looked at me with a bright smile, and then she looked at the ground for a moment before looking back at me. I instinctively rubbed my nose and when I looked at Olivia, she was looking at me with a huge grin and she was giving me two thumbs up. However, she was having a hard time breathing as she slightly red while trembling.     

'What does that mean?!' I shouted in my head.     

"That was so awkward~! HAHAHAHAHA~!!!" Olivia suddenly exploded as she was pointing at me.     

'Oh, I might've blanked out…' I thought to myself.     

"You've changed a lot but you're still the same." Kaley chuckled.     

I gave a smile with a confused look and I said, "A-Anyway, I'll leave you two here. I'm going to clean up a b-bit."     

I finally excused myself and then I opened the door to my room. I grabbed a towel and a change of clothes then I went upstairs. Unlike the 1st and 2nd floor with different sectors, the 3rd floor was wholly a gym aside from the large shower room. It had different kinds of equipment for training one's body, half of the room hung two large mirrors facing each other, and a huge mat was covering the flooring.     

I went to the shower and then I undressed. After I folded my clothes, I looked at myself in front of the mirror.     

I had black hair which was short and spiky but a few strands were starting to invade my ears and the back of my neck. My eyes were also black and I had a sharp look. I had a scar on my left eyebrow and a few isolated scars on my right arm. However, the scars on my arm were covered splendidly by a tattoo sleeve. It was an eastern dragon that starts from the shoulder then it slightly overlaps to my neck and to my right hand.     

I turned the shower on and steam started to fog the mirrors and the glass partitions. I felt the hot water and then I placed my hands on the mirror, staring at myself.     

'It's fucking starting eh?' I thought to myself.     

I just stared at myself for a few moments then I quickly finished my shower. I dried myself with my towel and then I put on my clothes. I went back to my room to wear a holster for my torso and then I placed two Beretta M9s and a few extra mags to my left and right. I wore a jacket to cover them and I went outside.     

I then overheard Kaley and Olivia laughing in the bathroom but I couldn't hear the rest of their conversation. I let them have their own fun and then I went to my aunt's place to ask her to include us with lunch. I looked at my watch then I saw Lois just lounging around near his computer.     

'Time to buy anything I could with the time left.' I thought to myself.     

I grabbed Lois and made him accompany me to Puregold and Mercury Drug to stock up on supplies. I would be spending the money I have left as long as it was still able to buy something. I took the sedan and then we drove outside.     

It was a few minutes past 10:00 AM and Lois was flipping through the radio channels. He already knew about what happened from Oscar and there was a mix of worry and excitement on his face. We noticed that the police cars and the ambulances that were driving around increased significantly. We first stopped by Mercury Drug to buy medical supplies and a few more essential items.     

"What are we getting again?" Lois asked.     

"I'll head to the medicine counter and I'll buy whatever vitamins, supplements, and other OTC drugs that they have available. You head to the aisles and take care of the hygiene products and other food items available. Grab tissues, deodorants, wipes, baby powder, napkins-" then Lois cut me off.     

"Wait, n-napkins? As in what the girls use? Eww! What the fuck bro?!" Lois exclaimed.     

I jabbed his stomach as I gave a menacing smile, "Yeah, napkins. Also tampons, panty liners, razors, band-aids, bandages, lotion, sunblock, and also that insect repellent kind. BUY. FUCKING. EVERYTHING."     

I saw his face turning red as a tomato then he said, "Alright I'll fucking do it! B-But let me grab some things too! You're paying, right?"     

"Yeah, yeah. Of course, I will." I replied while shaking my head.     

"Great!" Lois did a 180 as he grabbed a pushcart and headed to the aisles.     

I went into the medicine counter and requested a lot of each type of medicine available either for fevers, colds, sore throats, and etc. I even bought a lot of eye drops, lip balms, and different vitamin supplements. How I wish I made a fake prescription so I would be able to clear out their shelves with a few more types of medicine not readily available to the public.     

The lady stationed at the counter and the other staff present were eyeing me suspiciously. However, I kept ordering and ordering box after box and the lady serving me finally decided to ask me, "E-Excuse me sir… can I ask what are you doing with all of these?"     

"Oh! Hahaha... Is it too much? I'm- well, my friends and I are going around the Philippines this year. We're planning a very~ long vacation and I'm the one in charge of the supplies that we need." I replied smoothly.     

"Really~? That sounds nice, where are you going first?" the lady at the counter became interested and her mind was off the suspicion that I was starting to hoard medicine. I replied with the common travel destinations and I was off the hook.     

One box behind the counter caught my eye and now I was contemplating of buying it or not.     

However, I didn't notice that I was staring at it for a while. The lady at the counter followed my line of sight and then her eyes landed on the box. A smile slowly formed on her face and her one of her eyebrows started to rise. She looked back at me with a different expression and she leaned on the counter after adjusting her hair.     

"Well, that thing... you might need a lot of it. How much are you going to buy, hmm?" she said     

I started to panic as she continued to stare at me. I wanted to maintain this air of confidence around me but I slightly stuttered, "G-Give me five."     

"Really? Five? I thought you'd be away for a while? Or… are you planning to use that later perhaps? Hmm?" she said as started to twirl her hair, still maintaining eye contact.     

My mind was now in shambles and I blurted out, "B-Boxes."     

"What? Say that again?" she looked visibly surprised.     

"Give me f-five... b-boxes." I said with a tremble in my lip.     

"Wow." she mouthed as both of her eyebrows rose.     

I almost banged my head on the counter as I saw her turn around and grab one. However, she started to lean over the shelf where they were. I didn't put it to mind but she walked back to me with a single box.     

What happened next was possibly in the top 10 of the most terrified I got.     

She placed her hand on the mic and she said loud enough for everyone to hear:     

[Can we get four more boxes of Trust Condoms at the front, please? I repeat, can we get four more boxes of Trust Condoms at the front, please? Thank you.]     

As soon as she said that, every staff and customer looked at me. I could feel their eyes piercing my back and I could surmise what was going through their heads right now. The guard at the front gave a loud cheer and he started to clap slowly while nodding his head several times. Lois was sprawled on the floor, clutching his stomach while dying of laughter. Tears were coming out of his eyes and he was red from laughing.     

I was now stuck in a staredown with the lady at the counter. My left lip was twitching nonstop and she was casually computing my total. I gave her my card and she swiped it on the POS system. She was wearing a mischievous expression and I accepted my loss but I received a slip of paper with her number on it. I figured that she just played a little prank but open for business. However, I just smiled as I took the paper for courtesy.     

'Not gonna happen.' I thought to myself.     

What happened was too much for one day so I just gave Lois my card so he could pay for the items he had on his carts. In this place, the area for paying for the items you bought from the medicine counter was different from the other items they had on display.     

He had to wait in a separate line so it would take a bit of time. I gathered too much heat inside that store so I decided to cool down and walk outside.     

However, as soon as I walked outside the store, the guard patted me in the back and continued to cheer for me. I had no choice but to enter my car and roll the windows up as I wait for Lois to finish.     

After an embarrassing few minutes, Lois and I drove to the next location. However, he was still laughing his ass off as we drove to Puregold's parking area. The car was already full of supplies but the good thing with Puregold was that they could deliver the items you bought if you buy enough items from them.     

We stepped out of my car and we went straight to their customer help desk. There were a few more people in front of me, either complaining about something stupid or returning an item. I was looking around and nothing seemed to be out of place. It seemed like the news still hadn't gotten here and no one was panic buying or trying to steal groceries.     

My turn eventually came and I asked for the list of all the items they have available that could be ordered in bulk.     

The much demure lady at the counter printed a list and handed it to me, "Here you go, sir."     

"Thank you. I could have the items delivered to my house, right? I'm gonna buy quite a lot and I'm sure that it wouldn't fit in my car." I said.     

"Oh, yes we do. Actually, we have two delivery trucks and they could deliver it to your place for free. What items do you have in mind, sir?" she asked politely.     

"That's great. I would like to place 50 orders of dried beans that are placed in those plastic 6-gallon buckets. However, please give me the five different kinds you have in stock. Also, I'd like 20 sacks of oatmeal... wait- it isn't written here so are they the ones ready to eat where you just put hot water in or is it the one where you cook it for a while?" I started.     

"We have both of them, sir. What would you like?" she answered quickly but she got concerned when her list wasn't perfect.     

"Oh, give me the ready to eat ones then. I'll also have 40 boxes of canned baked beans, 20 boxes of canned spaghetti, 20 sacks of dried dog food, and 50 boxes of the canned dog food but kindly have them in a variety. Oh, would you please add 50 boxes of your Bees Home Natural Honey too?" I continued.     

"Of course, sir. What else do you have in mind?"     

"Hmm~ give me 30 boxes of Kopiko Black Coffee, Kopiko White Coffee, and Ricoa Choco. Also, add 10 boxes worth of canned evaporated and condensed milk that you have. Also..." I said item after item and the lady listed them splendidly.     

There were some items not on the list because they didn't have enough of them so I asked Lois to bring out several carts to haul different kinds of food items like protein bars, sweets, chocolates, and etc.     

I was looking at how the lady worked and it made me fall into deep contemplation.     

'Should I invite her?' I thought to myself.