Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Excluding floaters like Tatiana and me, the usual formation would be Unc Zardon bringing the front with his shield while Dong and Mark were on both of his sides, waiting for an opportunity to strike. At the same time, Kaley and Jared would be our shooters and they're positioned at the back of the truck.     

It didn't take long to clear the small group that came for us and my workers eventually just relocated them to one side. I once again pulled out my tools to take care of the locks and Jared was right behind me.     

"Hey bro, can't we just use the crowbar next time?"     

"If we're in a hurry, sure. You see, it's noisy when it breaks and I'd like to keep simple padlocks like these since I have my own set of tools to open them without the actual key."     

Jared just shook his head in amusement, "You freakin' hoarder! Heh."     

I chuckled as I easily picked the locks open, "Yes. I. am! Bingo! Kaley! Come with me for a sec!"     

"O-Okay! Let me climb down for a sec."     

Jared just helped me with pushing the roll-ups up before Kaley and I went inside. I would've brought Unc Zardon once more but the place was relatively safe, and Kaley and I knew what type of medicine we needed to prioritize. With that said, simple OTV medicine or any simple things that could clean simple cuts would be considered.     

We first took all of the antibiotics we could then we collected an equal number of bandages, antiseptic ointments, rubbing alcohol, paracetamols, painkillers, antihistamines, supplements, decongestants, and a few other things that would need a doctor's prescription. We placed everything inside our bags and we closed the place once more since we would be coming back a second time.     

The truck was full of supplies once more and it was almost noon when we came back. Oscar was on the catwalk once more and he greeted us when we drove back.     

"Right on time! Lunch is almost ready. Did anything happen? Your trip took a bit longer."     

"Yeah. We just got lucky on the first run. This time, we stopped by more shops and killed a lot more of the dead. We might need to start burning them too since they wouldn't be going anywhere if we left them unchecked."     

"Fuuu~ Yeah, that's true, kid. Let's think about that later, let's have some lunch when it's ready. Hey you! Bring a few and help us unload the truck!"     

A few of my workers responded, "Y-Yes, sir!"     

The contents of our truck were once more unloaded and Rin was kept busy recording everything with her new helper, Demi. She was Derek's daughter and it seemed that she offered help when we were away.     

'I just hope she's up to standards. Well~ she'll learn eventually...'     

Glancing around, I've discovered that our fences were reinforced by making the area where the metal bars and the chain-linked fences join together thicker and heavier by adding more materials. At the same time, I was told that Unc Zeidrick and the rest have started building the fence that would be put on the end of the canal system.     

After a while, we gathered in the pool area and we ate lunch with everybody.     

For our lunch, Aunt Sharon made some homemade fried chicken with a side of mashed potatoes, coleslaw, or some buttered corn. With that said, a huge pot of steamed rice was by the side with a few choice condiments. The smell of fried chicken wafting over us made our stomachs grumble so we immediately raced for the plates like madmen. However, the elderly and the kids would always have first priority but right behind them was always Tatiana. Kaley and I were just right behind her but Oscar was first in line.     

"Hmm! Something American! This smells good! No rice please~ Thank you very much! Kid! We should remove rice sometimes! We already have potatoes here!"     

I was pouring gravy over my rice before I chuckled, "Hah! That will never happen, old man! We eat everything with rice! Potatoes, pasta, bread, anything you could think of!"     

"Geez, kid!"     

Oscar and I started a shouting match while we were a few feet apart from each other, but Tatiana took my attention. We were already sitting on our own spots when she started tapping my shoulder.     

"That's a faster way of eating. You're all pouring it on your rice to remove the dipping motion, correct?"     

Everyone suddenly threw her weird glances but I replied, "Not exactly. I don't know… everyone here just does that ever since we discovered gravy. I guess eating everything with rice includes gravy and other condiments… I sometimes do it with soup and sometimes even ketchup! Weird, right?"     

Tatiana just gave me a weirded-pensive nod before changing the subject, "Anyway, how come we never encounter gun shops? There should at least be one in a town like this, right? Or do we need to drive further? Maybe on the highway?"     

I placed my spoon down and explained, "Let me explain… we're in a special location in this city, Valenzuela City. It's one of the bigger cities in this country but we're on the outermost edge of it, a few towns or barangays short of being in the Bulacan Area. With that said, the reason why we're not seeing a lot of gun stores is that the shops being built in this location were for the civilians to spread out and avoid clumping in the center."     

"And why is that?"     

"You see, before it started… on rush hours, the number of people going to work in the big cities is staggering, the government needed more people to have more jobs outside the cities themselves so issues like traffic, pollution, overpopulation due to people moving, and etc. could be lessened. That could be one of the reasons why we have more stores that sell food, water, medicine, construction materials, and etc. compared to guns."     

"So, there's none here?"     

"Not exactly. There used to be a few but most of them closed after a few months. I'm not really sure because most of the guns we have are umm- purchased somewhere else since the time it takes to get a single pistol takes too fucking long. The last one I visited was in Quezon City, a couple of cities away from where we are. Oscar and I knew the owner though we mostly just purchase ammo, gunpowder, and a bunch of primers from him."     

"Why didn't you buy from the ones closer?"     

"We do sometimes but his prices are more negotiable and we can buy in bulk."     

Kaley interjected, "Is he still alive? Can we reach him?"     

"I've sent the same email to him but he never responded."     

Oscar finally heard the conversation and realized what we were talking about, "Oh! That's the guy with an eyepatch, right?"     

"Finally chimed in? Heh. But yeah, that's the guy. There are more shops out there but it's gonna be a long ride, probably a couple of hours on a normal day. Besides, there are still a lot of places to look into like police stations, other houses, convenience stores, or a few places with a security detail. We could get lucky and score a few guns at those places but to get to Quezon City, I suggest we bring Tatiana's Humvee, Tiny, or Betty."     

Tatiana tilted her head, "Who?"     

I chuckled as I replied, "Tiny is the armored van and Betty is Oscar's H1. Don't ask me why… just ask Allan and the old man for that..."     

Oscar waved us off to change the subject, "Kid, isn't there a few isolated ones in the Bulacan Area? The ones who thought I was a cop?"     

"Oh! Those illegal ones? We could try those places too but they're all in a shady neighborhood, we need to be packing if we ever go there. Hmm~ Well, we could exchange some gunpowder with them because I'm sure they'd be taking over one of those factories near them. I still have a lot of materials in storage but it would be nice to still have a place where we could get them. We'd need a lot of them if I ever cast more bullets."     

"You still got your reloading equipment, right?"     

"Of course, why would I get rid of them? I only buy more since I could only make so much."     

"I see-"     

Oscar's eyes suddenly shot up, "Kid! Wait! How about that old lady who tried to seduce us near the funeral home?! She had a shop over there, right?!"     

I suddenly got chills when I remembered what happened in that place, "I- ah… I think so… yeah… can we pick another place?"     

"What?! That's the closest place here, kid! Let's just go and check it out!"     

I started shivering as I stuttered, "B-But… that place… it's too… too much..."     

Kaley looked at me mischievously, "You look really suspicious… What happened over there? Hmm~? Tell us! I need to hear it!"     

Tatiana added, "Seconded!"     

Olivia exclaimed as well, "What?! What is that place then?! I need to hear that story!"     

"Yeah!"     

"Tell us!"     

Everyone close got excited as well so I just sighed in defeat before telling them the short story.     

"F-Fine… there was this small gun shop located on the 2nd floor of a funeral home. It's really secluded and barely noticeable because of all of the signage obstructing the view from the road. In any case, the shop sells low-caliber handguns and rifles chambered in .22 LRs and .25 ACPs, but she still had a few pistol rounds available. When we went there… the nice old lady watching the shop eyes us both and happily showed us her goods..."     

"Hmm~ Goods? You mean..."     

"Uhh… you're all too advanced… umm… her merchandise? Her products? Her guns? Well~ to move the story faster… let's just say she got a little… frisky..."     

"I knew it!"     

"HAHAHAHA!!!"     

"Tell us more!"     

"Y-Yeah… You see… every gun she handed us… she uhh… you know… would accidentally tangle with our arms or even brush her actual 'goods' with us, and every time she would reach the lower shelves… she would bend her body in incriminating p-poses..."     

"Like w-what poses?"     

"Oh~ We're going there, eh? Like this~ and like this~ and some of this~"     

I started acting out what the old lady did that time and everyone just lost it when I fully committed. After a while, some of them were still crying-laughing while a few managed to keep it together.     

I added, "Anyhow, I think she's more interested in Oscar for some reason and she promised that she would give us a huge discount if she ever gets Oscar's number. To cut it short, we just kept it professional since we discovered something else."     

Tatiana commented, "Sounds like a very lovely woman."     

Kaley asked, "What did you found out?"     

"Well, we discovered that her husband was a US Marine and was just away for quite some time. After a short talk with Oscar, we bought a number of items though if I could remember correctly… we just have the following orders delivered in this address before we switched to our guy in Quezon City."     

Oscar interjected, "Anyway, since we'll be training more people in the future, we could stop by that store again. You've already trained your current students with regular pistol rounds but the others that would follow that are a little- umm… weak on the grip should start with .22s. They're cheaper and costs fewer materials to make over and over, right?"     

"Yeah, I agree. I just hope they're all still there. I wouldn't be too picky but I'd want more than just a couple boxes of .22 LRs."     

Kaley confirmed, "So, we're gonna head there next?"     

"Yeah, we'll go there next. Guns and ammo are equally important to food and water but we still have more access to the latter from where we are situated. Furthermore, we'd need more specialized tools and rarer materials to create the former and they can't be found or done as easily. The same thing could be said with modern medicine since the labs making them are out of commission."     

Oscar added, "Yeah, it would suck if we revert to using caveman shit paired with herbal medicine or something. We should save every bit as we can but not to the point it would get us in trouble."     

We talked about a few more things and I told my group to rest for a bit. With that said, I saw Jonathan approaching me while Rin was showing me the updated list of our inventory. I waved Rin off for the moment before turning to Jonathan.     

"Yeah? Need something?"     

"Umm, hey. I gotta a-ask… Would you mind keeping an eye out for a wheelchair for my grandma? Your workers would drive us here every time, my dad just wanted to push her here to save some gas. There could be one in Mercury Drug or even the DDR Camp and-"     

I cut him off, "A wheelchair? We have one extra here."     

"Really? Ken's spare?"     

"No, it was from the ambulance that we uhh… 'borrowed' when it started. I just never had the chance to return it. Heh."     

Jonathan was taken aback for a short moment before he responded, "A-Ah… Is that so? Ahaha… W-Well… thank you for this."     

After a while, we prepared everything we needed but instead of using my 8-wheeler, I borrowed Raphael's Raptor. It was because our only goal was to check the place out and just scout for more places to hit, so a smaller vehicle would be more viable. We boarded the Raptor and then we drove outside once more.     

We passed by the places we looted earlier and the compound where Dave and our landlords were currently holed up. After a few more blocks of driving, we eventually reached the highway while each of us took a mental note of the places we have been passing through.     

Surprisingly, we only ever encountered broken-down vehicles and clumps or clusters of the dead walking aimlessly. We took care of the small clusters before they grew into larger and larger herds but the time it took to reach our destination was extended. Nevertheless, we did good by putting them down and we reached the gun store after driving close to an hour.     

'It still looked the same as last time...'     

We cleared the area first by making another perimeter and it didn't take long before I was picking the lock to gain entry. I brought Unc Zardon with me while the rest of my group was keeping watch and I nary heard a gunshot from below.     

"You're taking longer, harder?"     

"Kinda- oh… it opened. Heh."     

The moment I heard the last heavenly click, Unc Zardon and I just looked at each other once more before giving each other a high five.     

Once we opened the set of doors to the gun store, we instantly noticed that almost half of the guns on display were missing along with their respective ammo. I was expecting to get a few guns chambered in 9mm or .45 ACP but all that was left were guns chambered in .22 caliber and boxes and boxes of ammo. With that said, an ample amount was still left considering the circumstances but I discovered several documents left on the counter after placing everything inside our duffel bags.     

I started rifling through them, hoping to get a home address because this place didn't look like it was robbed, except when we did. In the best-case scenario, taking in a couple or a family where one had served in the Marine Corps and the other a possibly proficient gunslinger or even a simple gun owner was enough reason to risk another trip. With that said, a photocopy of one of their legal documents had their current address. A few more items bearing the same address confirmed it so I was 100% sure it was correct.     

'Bingo! Quite close to Rin's place!'     

Unc Zardon and I eventually headed down with a few duffel bags but as soon as we placed it on the back, Tatiana tapped me with a serious expression.     

"Someone's coming, he's armed."