Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

"We'll make a protocol then. Tatiana will be with you guys just to be sure. We take them in but they need to surrender their weapons and be searched thoroughly. If they won't even comply for a simple security check then there's nothing to talk about. We go about our own ways and if they don't do that, Tatiana knows what to do." I explained.     

"I thought Tatiana needs to be by your side at all times?" Oscar said.     

"I think it's useless to protect someone you can't even beat yeah?" I glanced at Tatiana.     

"Hah~ sure, I'll accompany them. I'll beat you in the future." Tatiana smirked.     

"She actually agreed. Great." I thought to myself.     

"Are you sure kid?" Oscar asked.     

The rest of the group gave solemn expressions.     

"I said before, we don't kill until we needed to. If they walk away with a peaceful undertone, that's fine, we let them. If they try to do something which could harm our group, we fight back. We don't have the luxury to bring out the goodness of people and wait for them to change their ways. They get the stick if they don't accept the carrot." I explained.     

"I agree with that. The phrase 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' is bullshit. People who say that clearly haven't been in the war. It only takes a moment of carelessness before it's all over. I learned that the hard way." Johnny said as he touched his prosthetic leg.     

"We need someone who can read people then." Kaley said.     

"Look who's talking, can't you always tell when I fib?" I replied.     

"Kid, you've been pretty good on reading people too. Everyone you have taken in were good people." Oscar said.     

The people I've taken in gave a smile when Oscar spoke.     

"So, are you two going to different groups then?" Tatiana asked.     

"Nope, she's mine." I said flatly.     

"Wow, getting territorial now kid?" Oscar smiled.     

I looked at Kaley and she was blushing while shaking her head in amusement.     

"Well boss decreed it, thy will be done, hahahaha!" Mark chimed while laughing.     

"I think I kind of announced it in the public though, nevermind that, I'd like to keep her close as always." I thought to myself.     

"I think I could do it Sky…" Kaley muttered.     

I looked at her and she looked serious and determined. I rubbed my glabella and I gave a long sigh. Oscar looked at me with a solemn expression while the rest of the group waited to hear my decision.     

"Fine. Let's try it for now. BUT! Tatiana and Mark will be always at your side and I'll give you something later. Don't go past the elementary school and just around the place first as we did on the right side." I said as I looked at her straight in the eye.     

"Are you sure Kaley? This kid would murder all of us if anything happens to you." Oscar said while grinning.     

"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, Tatiana and Mark are with me." Kaley said with a serious look.     

"Okay then, it's settled. My group today will be composed of Jared, Dong, Unc Zardon… Lois, and Nicole. The clearing group will be Tatiana, Kaley, Mark, Jay, Bing, Jon, and Marco. I'll give you your protective gear for later and we'll start in 30 minutes. The rest just continue on what you're doing and fill more containers with gas. Grab a few people if you need help with them yeah?" I ordered.     

I then went back to my room and grabbed a few guns for the new members of my group. I gave Lois a Ruger 10/22, a Colt 1911, and a combat knife. For Nicole, I handed her a few magazines for her Walther P22 and I handed her a Kukri. It looked like a machete but the end tip is much heavier and larger for the purpose of chopping. Their guns were added suppressors and a few other attachments.     

Jay's group got a small upgrade from their melee weapons since I gave them proper ones and I handed a .38 special revolver to Jay, a Kimber M1911 to Bing, and a Maverick 88 to Jon. Marco already had a Sig Sauer P320 with a few attachments from their armory so I just let him roll with that. The three's guns were stock but they're used to melee weapons so I didn't add anything on them. They'll just use it on emergencies because the people they're with were fucking loaded.     

I gave the groups extra ammunition and protective gear and I contemplated what I would give Kaley. I opened a case from one of my Liberty Safes and I pulled out my CZ P-09 pistol. It had a suppressor, a flashlight, and a red dot sight. I loaded the magazine with 9mm bullets and gave a couple of extra magazines to Kaley.     

"Here, replace it with the M9. This is a CZ P-09 and it holds 19+1 9mm bullets, a few bullets more than the one you are using. This will be more comfortable for you and the recoil will be more manageable because the slide here is small and much lower and that flashlight could act as a little compensator. Also…" I explained to her the features of the gun.     

"Sky…" she trailed while looking at me.     

"Hmm?" I said as I grabbed a flare gun in another case.     

"Thanks for trusting me." she said.     

"Yeah, yeah. If I could help it, I'd like you to stay with me at all times." I replied.     

"It's just a few houses from this place okay? I have a good teacher... W-wait hold up. IS THAT A GRENADE?!" she was speaking normally then she exclaimed mid-sentence.     

"Yeah. Put two of these at this pouch and to use this, just pull the pin and fire in the hole. This shit doesn't have the enemies' name on it, it's more of a to whom it may concern situation. Okay, what's next... Ah! This is a flare gun; I know you have one of these at airplanes. You pull that trigger after pointing it up and I'll rush back yeah? You could also point it at people and shoot them with it though the accuracy is very low and you need to be close to deal damage. Oh! Have this too." I said as I tied my wakizashi to her hip after pulling out my tanto from her hip.     

"Sky? This is a bit much, don't you think? What will you use now?" she said embarrassingly.     

"I still think this isn't enough. I'll give a shotgun to Mark too. Tell me if they moved an inch from you, I'll beat them when you come back. Also, I think it's time for this." I said to her with a worried expression and then I took the katana from the rack and placed the tanto back.     

"SKY! I'm gonna be fine, okay? I'll be really careful so focus on your mission too. I'll also murder every last one of them if you don't come back too, okay?" she said as she gave me a tight hug.     

"Is this how parents feel when they send their kids to college? I'm so stressed!" I said to myself.     

I had the Tavor slung on my shoulders, Glock 19s on my torso, and the katana on my hip while Kaley had the AR-15 on her back, the CZ P-09 on her hip holster, and my wakizashi on the other side of her hip. I nodded at her getup and we decided to go down. Oscar saw us and his eyes grew wide.     

"You going to war kid? Hah! You armed Kaley to the teeth too. If she had two pistols on her torso and a tattoo on her arm, she'd look like the girl version of you." Oscar heartily laughed.     

"Yeah, I'm a beauty too I might say." I joked while Kaley gave an overhead kick.     

*whoosh*     

I just tilted my head to avoid it and I smirked.     

"Learning the ropes eh? The kick was a bit slow but you pulled it off without any indication, good job." I chuckled.     

"If she could learn my kick I did with Tatiana now..." I planned in my head.     

"Mark, Tatiana, take good care of her yeah?" I sternly said.     

They both nodded and then my Aunt Sharon approached me.     

"Take care of my three kids too. Lois sometimes spaces out but he's really smart. Nicole sometimes gets her emotions ahead of herself and Jared much more. Good thing he follows you whatever it is you tell him. Just smack the other two in the head if they don't follow you, okay? Hit hard." my Aunt Sharon said while I let out a devilish smile. Lois gulped when he heard his mom's order but Nicole was too far away.     

"Sure thing. I promise we'll come back with all of them. Nicole! Save that for later yeah?" I saw Nicole on the catwalk kissing Alicia in the mouth while Allan and Jenny were a bit uncomfortable watching the two beside them.     

We brought the truck out while Kaley and her group started to walk outside the fence.     

"Where do we go first?" Unc Zardon asked.     

"Let's go to the Pineda residence first. I was itching to go to that place yesterday." I said.     

The drive would take a few minutes but we finally reached the destination.     

"Jared, guard the truck with Lois and Nicole while we three go inside. Radio in if anything happens." I told them.     

The gates were high so I used the truck as a boost and I jumped down to the other side of the gate to unlock the latches from the inside. We first checked the house of the keeper because it was smaller and the search would be faster if we started with that. I brought my Unc Zardon with me while Dong guarded the door.     

I threw an alarm inside and waited for a while. Nothing was attracted to the alarm so we went further in. I drew my katana and I reached for the flashlight in my belt. I shone the light all over and I was making sure that I didn't miss anything. However, my uncle flicked the switch in the corner which lighted the whole place up.     

Everything could be seen perfectly.     

"Oh, I didn't see that there, ahaha..." I said as I scratched my nose.     

"..." the two.