Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Johnny was taken aback for a few moments but he still returned to his suspicious self. However, his brief talk with Oscar had already relieved much of his suspicion but a man such as himself wouldn't believe simple words.     

I broke the silence, "I can debate you for hours on how I can do what I say I can do but in the end, it's all just words. I think you'd be more convinced once you see my place for yourself. How about this? You can visit us for a short while and if you're not happy with what you saw, you can always come back here."     

Johnny stared at me for a few seconds, "What's your situation on food?"     

"What about yours? The last time I checked, Mrs. Thelma manages a large store right across the gas station. How come you're adamant about serving us food earlier? Furthermore, I left her a note. Did something happen in between?"     

Johnny started to look upset and bitter the moment the words left my mouth. I thought he would reply but he just kept quiet.     

Thelma interjected, "A-Anyway, thanks to that note, I managed to place the supplies on our delivery vehicles but one of my workers took off with the other. We're left with one and that's all we have. Just yesterday, J-Johnny and Marco were contemplating on whether to go outside and loot a few places or even get to my sister's shop, but we decided to ration first and avoid going out at all costs."     

Johnny said, "Yeah, yeah... We'll ration, sure. But the moment our supplies get to half, we're going outside no matter what. We could only do so much by waiting."     

Joanne shook her head, "I get you but we'll wait for as long as possible."     

'Disagree on that. We waited for a bit but it's much different waiting until your supplies are about to run out.'     

Jared interjected, "You guys have guns, right?"     

Joanne replied, "Even though we have a few guns in here, we're not really sure if that is really what it takes since we haven't gone outside yet. The news said a shot to the head is all it takes but I still think it's too dangerous to go out so I convinced them to stay put for now. Besides, it takes more than just having them to survive outside."     

'Well, that is true...'     

I took their attention and said seriously, "Let me put it this way… My place isn't an unbreachable fortress but I think we could agree that it's better compared to this one, no offense. On that note, your problems will be solved if you choose to come with us. We have people, we have supplies, we have a larger safe space, and we have more security. The only thing that we need is people, good people. All of you will have a house to yourselves and meals to nourish yourselves without rationing as much. All I ask is cooperation as I take the lead."     

All of them were mostly willing to check my place out but everyone's eyes were on Johnny. He was wearing a difficult expression as he rubbed his right leg but once I caught a glimpse of it, I kinda understood where he was coming from. It didn't take long for him to roll up his right pant leg for my group to see.     

Johnny was wearing a transfemoral prosthetic leg and he kept looking at my face to see my reaction.     

"Kid, let me be honest. Your offer is really good and I'd like to at least meet someone like your old pal but will you even accept me even if I have this? You see, I could offer my expertise but my… how I move isn't like it used to if you get what I mean."     

Joanne just looked at her husband solemnly. The whole room was quiet and they were all waiting for my answer.     

I shook my head and said, "Are you serious? That's all been weighing you down? Sorry but I have a close friend that traveled hundreds of kilometers just to be here and he couldn't walk since birth. I know it's different for each individual but let me be blunt, he has bigger balls than you. We're talking about the safety of you and your family here and the thing keeping you from joining us is your condition. Isn't your family more important than that?"     

Johnny didn't say a word as he stared right at me with a frown. I didn't let up as I stared right back at him and we were in a staredown in a few seconds. However, Joanne approached him and touched his shoulder.     

"Dear… listen to me. I think the young man is right and we need to at least check his place out. We could always come back here if we don't like that place, right? Or… do you want me to start packing our clothes?"     

Johnny rubbed his glabella before sighing heavily, "Okay… fine. Let's uh… pack up just in case. You know… you guys like it. But… we'll still decide on whether we stay or not. You'll let us leave, right? Is that acceptable?"     

I faintly smiled, "Of course. I doubt you'll leave though..."     

"We'll see about that."     

"Sure."     

Joanne interjected, "Wait. Can we make a short stop for my shop first? We still left a few things behind over there. A few pistols, rifles, .22s, and a bit more..."     

"No need. We already went to your place, that's why I found this address."     

"Oh! Are the guns still there?"     

"Yes, all of it is on the back of our pickup. To be fair with both parties and as a sign of goodwill, we'll split it in half. Sounds good?"     

Joanne got taken aback, "I..."     

Johnny instantly raised his voice, "Wait! That's ours!"     

"Was. Last time I checked, the world has gone to shit and everything outside is fair game. We cleared a lot of deadheads to get those and I'm being generous by letting you keep half of them. You already got half of them in this place, right? So technically, we're just keeping a quarter of it. You did say you planned on looting other places; will you give them back if they asked for it?"     

"I-"     

"Dear... I think that it's more than generous… they could've said they never saw it and just kept everything."     

"B-But still..."     

"Dear..."     

"Fine..."     

I smiled as I stood up, "Okay, we'll wait until you guys are done packing up. You could place some of your bags in our pickup if you need more space. If you need some help, I'll be on our pickup splitting the guns and ammo."     

Before I went outside, Thelma and Joanne briefly thank me before they started packing their stuff. As I opened the duffel bags in my pickup, I pulled out 10 long rifles, 28 handguns, and 56 boxes of .22 LRs. I was smiling a little bit as I split them up because they were all in an even number.     

Kaley approached me, "Oh, that's quite a lot."     

"Yeah, too bad we'll be splitting them even more."     

"Hey, do we need to worry about them?"     

"Hmm?"     

Kaley whispered, "You know… Bobby and the rest."     

I helped Kaley up the Raptor before responding, "Hmm~ It wouldn't hurt to worry but I don't think they'll screw us over. You see, Bobby seems to be a normal kinda a bit emotional dude while Johnny is just a protective serviceman. Let's just say that Johnny has been through a lot that's why he's like that. We could even change protective into an overprotective pain in the ass if we wanted."     

Kaley chuckled, "Well, you're not wrong."     

"Don't worry too much. They're just new people like Andrew and Arthur's families. We'd learn more about them if we spend more time together in one place. Well, it's not bad to keep an eye out but in my opinion, it's not even a week since it started."     

"What do you mean?"     

"I mean… we still have water and electricity for the most part. Food could still easily be found and most of the people that stayed in their homes have a bit of them tucked away. I'll just start being wary about the people we would meet in the future if gets difficult to acquire resources. Bringing it back, we need to get more people as early as possible because they haven't gone to the deep end yet. The only challenge is keeping them well-fed and happy."     

"Hmm, true. B-But wouldn't it be better if we find people that have experienced it first and still turned out to be good ones?"     

"That would be the best-case scenario since we never really know what people are deep down. Hmm~ This is gonna sound sinister but… move closer..."     

"Hmm? What?"     

I made sure that it was only the two of us before I whispered, "It would be next to impossible to get 100% good people but it's possible to get people to be 99.9% loyal. It sounds evil but that's why we try and get everyone on our side. Through our actions, we make them think that we are their benefactor or something and it would lead to them returning the favor."     

Kaley looked sullen, "Isn't that some sort of manipulation?"     

I scratched my head, "Yeah… something like that. You know, feeling obligated to help someone because that person that asked for your help has been helping you or giving you favors without a bat in the eye. The only difference with us is we do it without malicious intent."     

"But still..."     

"Listen to me. I think it's better than leaving others to their deaths or even killing them because we don't want the risk of other people knowing our location. Well, we've been lucky so far because people seeking some sort of asylum would first stumble into the DDR Camp near our place before reaching ours."     

"But what would we do if they do something bad after all that we've done for them?"     

"That's a hard question with a simple answer. I think you already know the answer to that but it's still early to decide to follow through with it."     

Kaley looked down at her boots, "I understand... Hey, how long do you think this thing would last though?"     

"This thing? Hmm~ In my honest opinion~ Wait. Are we talking about our country or the whole world?"     

Kaley tilted her head as she looked at me, "Why are you asking?"     

"Because I think it will vary between countries. In our case, I'm thinking between 5-10 years at the earliest because we're separated from the other countries by large oceans. The ones where they only have borders and right next to each other? Probably a lot more depending on their size and population. I'm not really sure about those but we'll have kids by then."     

"I see... wait, w-what?!"     

I tried to play it off, "What?"     

Kaley almost hissed, "Kids?! How did we end up in that?!"     

I chuckled, "It's an honest estimate. Well, talking about it now is too sudden. We've been together for almost a week now... I- Ow! Kaley! Where did that punch come from?!"     

Kaley was keeping air in her left cheek as she was pouting, but her face was flushed, "D-Doofus! Hmph! I'm sorry..."     

"Heh. It didn't hurt, I'm just acting. Can't you see this gu- Ow! Again?!"     

"Why do you keep saying 'Ow!' if it didn't?!"     

"Just making you guess!"     

"Hngh… nevermind… Y-You changed a bit when we became y-you know… together. When Oscar and Aunt Sharon was teasing you, you were a l-little fidgety… but now… you're a little more… c-confident..."     

I chuckled before I threw Kaley's words back at her, "Didn't you know that that's what being in a relationship is like, you doofus!"     

"Wha- You!"     

It got chaotic when Kaley started to pinch my sides and jab my shoulder but I was just cackling hysterically as I teased her. She was blushing the whole time it was happening but I noticed a faint smile near the end when Joanne approached us.     

"Young man, Johnny will get mad at me but I've decided to let you keep everything you got from my store."     

"Reall? That's great! Thank you!"     

"No problem. We're the ones that should be doing that as a sign of goodwill. Taking us in without question is the best thing we could hope for. Oh, don't tell my husband that I told you but we'd only come back here when it's all over. We'll try and persuade him to stay at your place even if he decides against it. Marco even agreed to it and he'll help with that."     

I smiled, "Then it's all good then. Are you guys about done?"     

"Ah- j-just a few more minutes. My grandchildren are still packing up their toys."     

"No worries. Take your time."     

"Thank you."     

'I guess we'll just watch the recording of the broadcast later...'     

As soon as Joanne went back to their house, I placed all of the guns and ammo I took out back to the duffel bags I put them in. Kaley was smiling as she was helping me but we could hear Johnny's grumbling complaints when he discovered we would be keeping them all.     

Kaley teased me, "You freakin' hoarder."     

"Heh. Being like Jared, huh? That's true though. I guess I'm hoarding people as well."     

"You are, but it's really kind of you. I first thought we would only be taking people that have a set of skills."     

"Why? I'm the best there is. Why would we need another one? I could always teach people."     

I was grinning like an idiot but Kaley suddenly kicked me.     

"Why are you so violent?!"     

"Hmph! Doofus..."