Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Jared and my workers were already eyeing the guy from afar but he tensed the moment we met eyes. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and raised both of his hands, revealing that there was nothing hidden in his sleeve. However, a crowbar was hanging from the side of his backpack and a familiar bulge was protruding on the side of his hip.     

I said loud enough for everyone to hear, "That's enough distance. One sudden move and we'll gun you down, understand?"     

The guy's expression got suddenly wrought in fear but he didn't dare move from his spot except for the continuous shaking from his knees, "D-Don't s-shoot! P-Please! D-Don't shoot! I-I-I-I h-have a g-gun in my hip and a c-crowbar in my b-bag! That's it! P-Please! I-I just-"     

I cut him off, "Stop talking for a bit. Here is what's gonna happen: you'll turn around, take 10 slow steps backward, and you wouldn't move a muscle once more. After that, one of us is gonna check you and the contents of your bag and if you give us that, we'll talk. Do you understand me?"     

"Y-Yes! I-I understand! I-I'll..."     

The guy slowly turned around with his hands still in the air and he followed my every instruction. He was now only a few meters away from us but Jared was continuously watching the surroundings if the stranger in our midst had any friends lurking about. With that said, there seemed to be no one trailing behind him so I made Tatiana search the guy.     

Tatiana just nodded in kind but she had an additional order, "Kneel."     

"K-Kneel? Oh god, oh g-god I-"     

I shook my head, "Just follow what we're saying and you'll get to live. If we wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."     

"I-I-I, s-sure! I..."     

The guy slowly kneeled down before Tatiana immediately went for the guy's gun and crowbar. The crowbar had bits of blood present but the gun seemed to be unused. All of the bullets were still there but he seemed to have no extras. With that said, all Tatiana found from the bag was his wallet, ID, a bunch of clothes, food, and water.     

Tatiana was about to hand me all of his gear but I only kept his gun after briefly looking at his ID.     

'Let's see if it checks out… Bobby Marley, 28 years old, lives closeby, had an office job in the bigger cities...'     

I placed his gun in one of our duffel bags and said, "Bobby Marley, cool name. I'm Sky Ishiyama. Anyway, you can stand up now. Where did you come from?"     

Bobby slowly stood up before facing us while covered in sweat, "T-Thank god… thank you! I-I… yes, I u-umm from behind the stadium b-back there. J-Just around the b-block."     

"Are you alone?"     

"Y-Yes! I just saw you guys killing those things earlier and I-I n-needed-"     

I cut him off, "Slow down. The DDR Camp here is on the opposite side. Why didn't you go there instead?"     

"W-Wait… y-you're not from the camp? Y-You all have g-guns, right? I-I was just about to head there but I saw you guys and decided to r-ride along… f-for safety…"     

"It's true that there's safety in numbers but we're not from the camp. Let's just say that we're a special unit but we could drop you off there if you want."     

Bobby's eyes lit up, "T-That's great! T-Thanks! W-Wait… Hold on. D-Does that mean you h-have a different place?"     

"We're camped someplace else but I couldn't tell you where it is if you're already planning to go to the camp here. You know, for security reasons."     

Bobbly suddenly looked like he was processing a lot of things through his head, "W-Wait! C-Can I come w-with you instead?"     

Mark and Dong instantly interjected, "Haaaa~?"     

"P-Please! Hear me out! I-I… before the internet went o-out… I heard mixed reviews from the DDR Camps and that's why I-I-I tried to hold off for as l-long as p-possible! P-Please! I t-think t-this is a f-fated meeting and I p-promise I'll do anything you ask of m-me… w-within r-reason. I'm j-just a regular office worker a-and I'm quite f-fine doing the s-same thing o-over and over."     

I turned to my group and they were just looking at me so I decided to take a closer look at our new prospect. He seemed to be sincere in what he said as I looked at his eyes. And there was no dilation of some sort and his breathing was quite normal, though a bit faster because of just being searched and pointed a gun at. With that said, I just offered a hand and the motherfucker almost hugged me from happiness.     

"Easy, now. We just met. Anyway, you might want to get close to the Raptor since a few are already coming."     

"W-What? I-I o-oh no… c-can I have my c-crowbar please?!"     

"Sure, go ahead."     

'At least he's trying to pull his weight.'     

A small pack came running straight for us while a few slow deadheads were trailing right behind them. Bobby was holding his crowbar tight as he waited for them to come but Tatiana and I met them in the middle of the road, much to his surprise. The moment the first runner swiped at me, I immediately decelerated before swaying back and sinking my blade at its head.     

We easily took care of the fast ones before I let Bobby took down a few with the slow ones. With that said, he was trembling each time he sunk his crowbar into their heads but he still got the job done. He took down a couple that we left for him and he even helped with moving the bodies to the side to remove the road obstructions.     

We were just about to board the Raptor but the familiar sound of bare feet kicking violently on the ground resounded.     

Kaley exclaimed, "Sprinters! There are two over there!"     

Everyone turned to where Kaley pointed at but Jared was already lining his shot. He was still atop our vehicle and the moment we heard the short exhale, one of them just dropped and tumbled after a bullet bored through its head. He was about to aim for the other one in the distance but I waved him down and turned to Tatiana.     

"Let's try something. Shoot its legs."     

Tatiana waited for a bit until it was closer and she unloaded two shots one after the other. As soon as her used shells fell on the ground, the last sprinter tumbled forward and rolled a few times over right until it was a few meters by our feet. Looking at it closely, its legs and kneecaps were mangled to bits and the momentum it created was lost.     

'Hmm...'     

The crippled sprinter was still alive but all it could do was flail its arms around while trying to crawl its way toward us. It was now no longer different from a regular deadhead and a simple knife ended its life. Looking at it now, the only difference it had with a normal one was its speed.     

Tatiana pulled out her knife from its head but that was when Bobby projectile vomited everything that he ate, making the situation look much, much worse. It seemed like he reached his limit from being around the dead bodies and had some sort of reaction. With that said, we eventually drove to the place we had in mind.     

Jared asked, "Bro, where are we going? More of your friends?"     

I replied, "No, it's the address of the owner of the gun store we just came from. Let's just hope that they're here and if not, we'll try and get inside to see if more guns are stashed inside."     

"We're taking them with us if they're still alive then?"     

"That's the idea. The old lady has her eccentricities but she will be a great addition to our team, even more, if her husband is also present. Besides, we need more people back home if we ever want to build a working community."     

Bobby interjected, "Is that why you took me in as well?"     

"Yeah, something like that."     

After a few minutes, we passed by Rin's old residence and drove further in. Once we found the right address, we parked right in front of it and cleared the deadheads trailing behind. Bobby helped as well and he seemed to be keeping himself together after vomiting once. When the coast was clear, I approached the gate and pressed on the intercom.     

-     

*bzzt*     

"Hello? Mrs. Joanne Smith? Are you there?"     

*bzzt*     

-     

I thought someone would reply back but I heard a door opening followed by heavy staggered footsteps. I thought that person would open the gate for us but we heard a hoarse voice coming from the other side of the gate.     

"WHO'S THERE?!"     

'The husband?'     

I replied as calmly as I could, "Hello, my name's Sky. I'm an old customer of Mrs. J-"     

"GO AWAY!"     

"Good sir, you must be mistaken. We have a place; We're just extendi-"     

"DIDN'T HEAR WHAT I SAID?! I SAID, GO AWAY! WE WON'T GO TO YOUR CAMPS AND WE WON'T GIVE UP OUR WEAPONS, YOU HEAR ME?! GO AWAY!"     

"But sir-"     

"GO AWAY! IT'S THE LAST TIME I'LL BE WARNING YOU!"     

Kaley tapped me and whispered, "Hey… I think we're not welcome here. I think we should come back another time… He might… you know..."     

I just heavily sighed but I got another idea. I turned to the intercom once more and I tapped it a set number of times. It was making this beeping sound so I decided to make the best use of it.     

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….     

Jared and Tatiana were focused on the beeps while the rest of my group was left confused. After I got the right sounds down, I pressed it a few more times until the message was apparent.     

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….     

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….     

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….     

After a few short seconds, the person behind the gate was completely silent but we eventually heard him undoing the locks of his gate. The moment the gate partially opened for us, we saw an old man in his late 50s. He was partially wearing his service uniform and he was looking at me curiously.     

He gave me an up-down look before saying, "Come in before I change my mind. Drive your vehicle inside as well."     

I just smiled, "Thank you."     

He opened the gate fully and Jared was just shaking his head in amusement when we drove inside.     

Kaley tapped me and whispered once more, "What did you do?"     

"Oorah."     

"What?"     

I widened my eyes before repeating myself, "Oorah. It's morse code."     

"But what does it-"     

Jared chimed in, "It's a Marine yell."     

Kaley nodded pensively, "Oh~ I see, I see. Can't you just… you know… yell it?"     

I chuckled, "I'm weird, just let me have my moment."     

We at the back were just smiling at each other but the moment Unc Zardon parked our vehicle, I was met with a familiar face.     

Mrs. Thelma exclaimed, "Mr. Ishiyama?!"     

"Woah. Mrs. Thelma! You live here?!"     

"Yes! What are you doing here? Are you guys alright?"     

The man approached us after closing the gate, "Thelma, you know them?"     

"Yes, Johnny. I used to work for his mom back in the day. Can you ask my sister to prepare something for them? They're one of the reas-"     

Johnny cut her off, "Thelma, you know full well that our foo-"     

I cut him off, "Thanks for the offer but we're here on business. I'm guessing Mrs. Thelma is Mrs. Joanne's sister? Are there more of you?"     

Mrs. Thelma waved us off, "Let's not talk here. Let's go inside."     

As they guided us to their home, that was when I noticed one of their delivery vans slightly obstructed due to the other vehicles they have in their parking area. I would've noticed much sooner but I was more focused on keeping an eye on Johnny, and I got distracted by seeing Mrs. Thelma.     

I introduced my group first before Mrs. Thelma introduced themselves. They were nine people in total but three of them were kids. Some of them were just looking curiously at my group but I returned it with a faint smile.     

"You already know me, I'm Thelma and this is my husband, Marco. My sister over there is Joanne and her husband is the man you've already met, Johnny. That younger man over there is Jimmy and that's his wife, Clarice. Their kids over there are named Judith, Carlo, and Jimmy II but we just call him Junior..."     

We exchanged handshakes before Johnny cleared his throat. He grabbed my hand a little tighter but I didn't budge an inch.     

"Kid, you in the Marines?"     

'Why do old dudes always call me kid?'     

I replied, "No. If you're talking about earlier, I just did that to get your attention."     

Johnny frowned, "Well, you did it. What do you want? And why are you looking for my wife?"     

"I just want to-"     

Joanne was looking at me the whole time and she finally had the look of realization, "Wait! I remember now! You're the young man with this old army guy that bought from me a few years ago! That's you, right?!"     

I nodded and smiled, "Yes, that's me."     

'I guess she already forgot about what she did… good. Let's keep it that way.'     

Johnny turned to Joanne, "You know this kid, dear?"     

Joanne started to tell the short story about us while I shared a few of my own. When our stories checked together, Johnny and Marco just nodded in understanding before I told them about my plan. However, Johnny was still looking at me suspiciously when I told them about my place.     

"So, what you're trying to say is that you want us to move to your place that's so secured beyond measure, and that place itself is someone you're in charge of? No offense, I think I find that story a little bull. Do you have any proof that you belong to a special unit?"     

I first pointed to Tatiana and made her relay the orders given to her by our president. However, hearing her repeat it for the second time just made me feel like something was off. I felt that her responses were a little too robotic as if she was hiding something but I didn't know whether she had rehearsed it a lot of times or I was just too fucking paranoid.     

With that said, Johnny wasn't convinced one bit just because Tatiana came from a different country.     

I had to bring out someone from his own.     

I took his attention as I pulled out my phone, "If you're not gonna believe what she said, why don't you talk to someone you might be familiar with."     

"Who?"     

"Oscar Goodman. He's on the other side of the phone."     

Johnny looked at me suspiciously once more but he took my phone and excused himself for a while. His back was just facing us while he was standing in their kitchen but after a few minutes of talking with the old man, his mood lightened and his guarded demeanor lightened somewhat.     

'Good job, old man.'     

Johnny turned to me as he sat back down, "I understand your situation now. However, what I don't understand is why a veteran from the US Army, especially a Colonel, a Russian soldier, and a large group of people, though mostly family, is following your orders without question. I wasn't told the full story but I wanted to hear it from you. How did you manage to do that?"     

I just looked at him straight in the eye, "Because I can."