Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

As soon as I took the first step inside our compound, Allan instantly stared me down the moment he saw the riot shield, the helmet, and the huge ass range gun I was carrying. Furthermore, Kaley was wearing part of the riot gear we managed to uncover. He was like one of those dogs on the border between the US and Mexico and he was looking at us very suspiciously.     

"Dude… I smell something fishy… really~ fishy… it stinks to high heaven but I want to get my hands on it..."     

"Yeah? You know, your nose is close to your mouth… that might be the reason? Want some mint? I found some on th-"     

Allan snapped comically, "Dude! Just tell me! You found guns, right?!"     

"Hah! Yep!"     

"Sweet! Can I have one?!"     

"You seriously have no idea that what you have is one of the best out there. It has the fun switch too, they're mostly illegal in some places. Okay, want me to trade that souped-up HK416 with a bare M16? This one could also go fully automatic but it won't have the things I've placed on yours."     

"Uh… Reall? N-Nevermind then… carry on! Carry on! Nothing to see here!"     

Kaley and I were finally granted passage after getting held up by a gun nut, but another gun nut who was more fucking experienced and knowledgeable was already running up to us with a deranged look. Oscar managed to sniff us out from the pool area and he was looking maniacally at the bag I brought.     

"THAT LOOKS BULKIER!!! YOU FOUND SOMETHING, DIDN'T YOU?! KID!!! SHOW ME!!!"     

"Fine..."     

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NICE!!! Are you sure you're not a hound, kid?! Where did you find them?! I've looked all over last time and I found nothing!"     

"Heh, under 'under' the bed. Turns out, there's a custom safe hidden quite nicely. It's not big but it's enough to hide a few guns."     

"Nice. I'm guessing this 870 is for me, right? I'll be-"     

"Ah-ah-ah! You know our rules! Finders Keepers! If you want this, come trade it for something!"     

"Wha- kid! You're pulling my leg here! Can't I at least get a freebie?"     

"Oh, here. For blocking knees and stuff." I handed Oscar the riot shield.     

"Knee? Wha- KID?! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"     

Chaos ensued for a moment but everyone around us started laughing as Oscar started chasing me with a fucking rake. Good thing I still have the riot shield me and I easily shoved him to the pool but the motherfucker started splashing me with water. Everything eventually settled down but I saw Tatiana and Rin just coming down from our house.     

They were quite 'relaxed' but Tatiana just nonchalantly walked over to me and started her 'bodyguard' job while Rin rushed over to the pile of items getting brought down from the truck. She immediately got busy but she seemed a little more happy than usual. Tatiana was almost the same but she was doing a better job of keeping what happened to them secret.     

'Well, as long as they're happy I'll support whatever they do...'     

Tatiana whispered over to me, "Sorry I was you know… late… I got a little preoccupied..."     

I chuckled, "Yeah, don't worry about that. I think it's better you weren't there… you might've killed someone."     

"Wh-What? Did something happen while I was away?"     

"Just an asshole doing asshole stuff. Don't worry, it's settled now. Oh, come with Mark and Unc Zardon with the others because they'll still be coming back for more items to haul back. I'm gonna stash the guns we found and just keep an eye on them. If anything ever happens over there, just remember: maximum tolerance but maximum vigilance. We're looking for more people, not the other way around."     

"Then is it okay if I ask the others what happened when I was gone?"     

"Yeah, go ahead. Just know that I handled it, nothing to worry about."     

"Understood."     

After Tatiana left with the others, Kaley and I stashed the guns we've found and we took a short rest before the broadcast. Everyone was present to watch it but it started ten minutes late. Their messages were still the same pending updates as before but nothing major could've easily happened in a short amount of time. However, we noticed more foreign people walking at the back and I assumed they were the ones sent to this place like Tatiana.     

'They're too many to figure out who came from who… the camera is just focused on the president too...'     

At their ending statement, they revealed to the public the sprinters from their side. They were caught on video from one of their helicopters and a number of them were making a beeline away from the city. Like us, they've already killed a few but what they wanted was to capture a live sample for further study. With that said, they still haven't given any news about the ones staying completely still.     

After a few more words of encouragement from the president, the broadcast concluded.     

The feed was now replaced by the news reporters saying the same stuff the president mentioned while giving their own opinions about it but it was eventually replaced with survival videos that were meant to tackle every issue we were facing at hand. It was currently showing a video of someone cleaning the internals of a pistol and just as I was about to turn it off, Tatiana stopped me and chuckled.     

"Those guides… One of them is you, correct?"     

The group then turned their heads toward me and I rubbed my glabella.     

"W-What?!"     

"He's there?!"     

"Who?!"     

"I can't see it! The one with the gloves?"     

Olivia piled on even more, "W-Where did you see him, Tatiana?! I c-can't- no… is it? No… Where?!"     

Tatiana started laughing, "It's the guy cleaning the gun wearing gloves. He wasn't in the camera as we could only see his hands moving but the technique of disassembly was all too familiar. It is you, correct?"     

"Oh~ She's right! It's too fast when the guy did it, it must be him!"     

'What? A few guys could do it as fast as well… but that's years ago… I'm much faster... Tatiana just picked up on it really fast though...'     

Oscar cackled, "Hah! Looks like they found you out, kid! That's what you get!"     

I just shook my head in defeat, "Yeah, that's me. After this is all over the president will owe me royalties for using some of those videos. I wore a mask and a pair of gloves to muffle my voice and hide my tattoo. Oscar and I started that channel a while back but I was the one who ended up doing all of them."     

"Hah! You're much better at speaking than me, kid! Besides, there's also that Demo guy close to where I live before so it would be hard to get some traction!"     

"Well, you had the idea to do it but you could've at the least helped me with something!"     

"What? Do you want me to fucking edit?! I'm not as tech-savvy as you think!"     

"Reasons! Haaa…To be honest, I was surprised when I saw my videos after the broadcast. I never told anyone since I cringe whenever I hear my own voice."     

A few people laughed at the thought then we eventually dispersed to do our own thing. It was still a few hours before our little celebration but I asked Unc Zardon to pick up Andrew and Arthur's families using our vehicle. In the meantime, some of us decided to go to the gym early and I discovered Kaley and Tatiana were already there. Kaley was actually receiving a few tips from Tatiana so I just decided to do my own workout.     

After a couple of hours, I was just cooling down after finishing my workout when Tatiana approached me.     

"Hey, I'm still curious as to how I got knocked out earlier. They told me you kicked me? Is that correct?"     

"Yeah, that's correct."     

"But how? I was still out of range from your right foot."     

"Yeah, but with my left, you're at the right spot."     

"What?"     

"Let me show you."     

I assumed the same stance as earlier but now, Tatiana was circling around me, trying to figure out the trick for my movement. However, even if she was watching me closely, how I shifted my weight between my feet was unnoticeable. She was staring at me weirdly for a moment but I just easily kicked with my left foot upwards without any indication. With that said, Tatiana grew even more curious as she made me repeat it a few times.     

"B-But… how? That's impossible! What did you do?"     

"Hah! It's possible, really. All you need to do is to shift your weight to the other. However, you should do it in a way that's impossible to notice and that is when it gets tricky. Every movement you make is always observed by your opponent so you need to practice doing it over and over or find another way."     

"Another way?"     

"Well, that's up to you. You could try diverting their attention from your legs or something similar. In my case, I never needed to find the other way. I just trained the normal way of continuously looking at myself in the mirror, correcting each movement until I got it. It took me a while but once I figured it out, I can do it every single time from that point on."     

"Hmm… any tricks you found along the way?"     

"Tricks? Not really… It would depend on how well you could control your body. It's different for everyone but I think you already have a firm grasp on how to control your own."     

"Okay, let me try then."     

Tatiana walked in front of the huge mirrors in our gym and she tried doing what I told her to do. She was excited to do it the first few tries but her face turning solemn told me that she wasn't making much progress. Looking at her, shifting her weight to the other foot would always be noticeable and she wasn't able to do what I did, even by luck. She was looking frustrated after a while so she stopped for a moment and approached me.     

"Thank you for this… I'll work on it as much as I can. Do you want something I could do for you? It's only fair to return a favor, correct?"     

I just looked at Kaley hard at work and said, "You're teaching something to Kaley, right? That's enough for me and I might owe you if she learns a lot so keep asking me for pointers. Your body's flexibility is something extremely rare and your training might be suitable for her. I'd be scared if she gets buffer than me if she follows what I do, heh."     

"I agree. Kaley's body is a rare find too, even more than me."     

"Really?"     

"You know, she's naturally gifted in 'those' areas."     

"Ah… I thought you we're-"     

Tatiana chuckled, "I'm kidding but it's true. She's busty-fit and she's a diamond with just a few rough edges. We just got to work on it."     

"Hmm… I remember she used to dance before. She's really good at it too."     

"Dancing? That explains a few things."     

"Few things?"     

"Come, you'll see."     

Tatiana just smiled at me then we approached Kaley who was lying prone on her yoga mat. She was controlling her breathing as she picked herself up, trying to do a split while bending her back as slow and far as possible. She tried a few more forms next and she was too focused to notice that Tatiana and I were right beside her. We just watched her for a few more moments before we left her alone.     

Tatiana commented, "She's pretty flexible too, correct? She just needs a few more touch-ups in her foundation and we'll work from there."     

"That's great. Wanna spar again?"     

"Very well, I could try."     

Tatiana and I wore gloves and we sparred for three five-minute rounds, avoiding to throw headshots. A few that came to the gym with us started to spectate and even the ones that were done stayed for a while. I think we tied after those bouts but I could feel her restraining herself every time I assumed the same position.     

'It left a mark in her head, huh?'     

Nevertheless, Tatiana's body was still incredibly flexible as she threw several kicks from different and impossible angles. Furthermore, the way she would catch me off-guard with some of her locks was also very difficult to deal with. However, my advantage was still how we were built differently but her techniques were fucking polished.     

'Best addition to the team...'     

We eventually finished our training but when I was about to take a shower on the 2nd floor, Rin was occupying it while I discovered that Allan was occupying the 1st-floor bathroom for some unknown reason. I decided to just walk back to the gym to take a shower with my workers because it was a common occurrence after working out.     

However, all hell broke loose when Tatiana suddenly entered the shower room.     

I was in the middle of covering myself with soap and shampooing and I only discovered it happen from the high-pitched screams of my workers. Despite that, she nonchalantly removed her clothes and took the shower right next to mine after greeting everybody. However, it didn't take long before Kaley came barging in, prompting everyone else besides me to run outside.     

"TATIANA!!! I TOLD YOU TO-"     

"What's the problem? It's just skin? Back home-"     

"IT'S DIFFERENT HERE!!!"     

Kaley was red through her neck but she was right in telling Tatiana that it was different here. I wasn't sure about Tatiana's case but for myself, I'm used to co-ed baths from my dad's place in Japan and there wasn't any malice in doing it except for a few very circumstantial occasions in public or private baths. Stealing a glance from my left, she was acting very normally and was here only for the purpose of showering.     

"Don't worry~ I'm really just here to shower. The bathrooms below are occupied so I went up here. You're about to take a shower too, correct? Just join us!"     

"HNGH~ And you! Why are you also showering like it's nothing?! Can't you see she's over there?!"     

"Ah, I was here first and I was already covered in soap. I only noticed when it's too late… Besides, it's very steamy here... I could barely see her. C'mon! It's just us here… we're really just gonna take a shower like normal adults and- Ow!"     

"What happened?!"     

"S-Shampoo got in my eye… C-C'mon… the water's really nice."     

"B-But still!"     

Tatiana added, "What's the problem? He's your partner and I'm a woman like yourself. I see no problem at all."     

"T-That's not the point! Hngh~! Fine! Tatiana! Don't come close to this side, okay?!"     

"Sure~"     

The three of us were just the only ones in the shower room but due to the steam, we could only see an arm's length around us. Kaley quickly undressed as she joined me and she was still red through her face even if she started to soap herself. As time passed, we really did just shower the whole time without speaking to each other. The sound of water splashing onto our skin could be heard with the sound of us soaping ourselves.     

When we were done, I covered myself with my towel while the two of them had an extra towel on their heads. We were holding our used clothes in a clump but Kaley was still red when we head outside, extremely opposite of Tatiana who was still wearing a nonchalant expression. We head to our rooms to put on some clothes and I just remembered that Kaley and I were now sharing a room with each other.