Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The harpoon guns were lined up right next to the fishing poles though one of them was placed on the middle of the table. It seemed to have been in the process of repair but the owner of this house wasn't able to finish it.     

Jared took one of them and examined it, "Bro, we could also use this for fishing, right? Or… just be a Scorpion incarnate, heh."     

I chuckled as I checked the broken one, "Beat me to it, heh. But yeah, we could defer on bait if we use but I would still prefer fishing rods."     

"Why?"     

"Same reason I sparingly use gaff hooks. I'd like the fish to be intact as much as possible and using these kinds of contraptions are to blame. Unc Zeidrick will smack you in the head if somehow you damage a perfect Ahi. Anyway, let's go back."     

Mark interjected, "How about the bodies and the loot, boss?"     

"Let's worry about that later. Who would even get to them? Everything from our fence up to that canal system is basically ours. From this point on, our goal is to just expand. Besides, I'm hungry and I'd like to eat without the image of rotting bodies in my head."     

When we were about to head back, I saw Oscar at the end of the road looking down at the canal system.     

"What's up, old man? What're you thinking about?"     

"Kid, I think we should put up a fence in this place too. I've already spotted a few floating in the water and if the water rises… you know what I mean, right?"     

"Yeah, I agree. Building on that, I'm thinking of making a small pier so we could have other means of transport. We'd be able to use our boats back home too."     

"Oh~ That sounds great. Remind me, where does this go?"     

"Anywhere, basically. If we boat west, we'd be able to reach the Manila Bay after going through a couple of rivers. We could go even farther but it'll depend on the boat… and fuel… lots and lots of fuel..."     

"That is a good option though I wouldn't want to leave our place. I don't know about you but our compound is my life's work. Wait till they see all it could do, hehehe~"     

"Heh, you act like it could shoot missiles down, old man. Anyway, did your daughter contact you yet?"     

Oscar shook his head as he tidied up his hat, "Bah! I think she's still mad at me for me selling the house. I tried ringing her many times but she's not answering. I dunno, maybe she's tasked somewhere I couldn't reach or she's completely avoiding me..."     

I joked, "Would be nice to have a warship... I thought you'd hook us up with one? So disappointing..."     

"Kid?! Always dreaming crazy stuff… But yeah, that would be nice, fucking nice. I sure hope that she's in one though… She'll be fucking safe there..."     

I tried to cheer him up, "C'mon, old man! I told you to drag her here at all costs! Where did the so-called sKiLLz where you knocked me out as you said before? You should've done the same when you had the chance! I would!"     

"Bah! Too late for that now!"     

I just jabbed his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, she'll pull through."     

"Yeah..." Oscar was silent as he exhaled.     

"C'mon, let's head back. I have another idea. You'll definitely like it."     

"Hmm? What is it?"     

"I'll leave some breadcrumbs. Just follow me!"     

"You… Bah! Whatever! HEY, YOU SLOWPOKES!!! WE'RE HEADING BACK!!!"     

"WE'RE THE ONES WAITING FOR YOU!!!"     

"Ah… Did we really take that long?"     

"Yup."     

"Okay, let's hear this plan of yours..."     

We started heading back to the compound and the idea I had was to have a small celebration over dinner. We've cleared a large area for ourselves but we still needed to clean up the bodies and loot the remaining houses. With that said, the danger of doing that was so low, we wouldn't need to worry until sunset comes. Looking back these past few days, a huge burden was lifted off my shoulders.     

As we arrived, our stomachs instantly grumbled because of the smell of what was cooking. Aunt Sharon was definitely preparing some Spicy Indian Beef Curry and the spices she put into it were assaulting our noses in a good way. We hurriedly went inside to clean ourselves but Kaley and I still took our time because they said it would take a few minutes. However, Tatiana almost couldn't contain herself because she ran down to the first floor's bathroom to have a wash.     

'She really likes Aunt Sharon's cooking… can't blame her though… heh.'     

When we went down, the food had just finished cooking and Tatiana was already drooling from her seat. With that said, I felt that the morale was high because of our little accomplishment. We just secured for ourselves a small piece of land and the days we spent doing it was well fucking worth it. Everyone ate happily and Tatiana was already at Aunt Sharon's face asking for seconds.     

'Ah… so she just eats a lot… I thought she was just really hungry last time… A small price to pay… something I'm willing to pay twice over...'     

We continued eating while we talked about starting our initial building phase.     

The building phase would start by taking down all of the shacks built in the squatter area and then slowly starting to fortify each house. Furthermore, the unused houses would be remodeled to a certain degree and some would be repurposed into something entirely different.     

Indoor farms and off-site storage areas were high on the list though we would table the decisions made for them before we start using our limited materials. We couldn't just keep on building more and more facilities because not only it would take some time, it would also take some manpower.     

Raphael was listening then he interjected, "Why don't we increase our territory from the left side of the compound? It's better if we have a larger place to our name, right?"     

"That's for the future since we'll be holding onto our location advantage."     

"Advantage?"     

"As you can see, from this place going up to the plot of land where we burn bodies is a choke point. What that means is that we could have a simple gate, or in our case just a fence, for keeping the deadheads away. Furthermore, we'd be able to use fewer guards in the meantime and we won't have to worry about splitting them if we have more entrances."     

Oscar added, "Besides, what we have right now is plenty but we'll do that if we have more people. By the way, how are you on mounting my M134?"     

"Ah. I've finished the measurements but I'd still need to cook up a few ways to do it and go from there. However, I think I'm needed to work on the irrigation system on the farm so I'll postpone that for a little bit. Don't worry it won't take that long."     

"Sure, just take your time. It's better to do it right."     

When we finished eating, I told my group to rest for a while and we'll get to clearing the bodies later.     

With that said, I went up to my room to clean my wound and change the bandage because I would be cleaning my wakizashi after. It didn't take long to finish taking care of my hand and I eventually grabbed the tools for cleaning my blade. I placed them all on the table in front of me and I wore some gloves for protection. My goal was to remove the grime that had seeped through the internal parts of my blade and its scabbard.     

Tatiana suddenly popped up from behind, "What are you doing?"     

"Wha- Where's Kaley and the rest?"     

"I think they're still eating, you ate fast this time. Are you gonna clean it?"     

"Oh, ah- yeah, I'm gonna clean this properly."     

"Can I watch?"     

"You're already doing it..."     

I just shook my head as I started to disassemble my blade. I first wiped it off with a few sheets of rice paper to remove the existing oil on it and the remnants of the blood that were left. After that, I laid it down on a soft piece of cloth as I slowly removed the handguard, the spacers, the pommel, the bone handle, the silk wrapping, and etc.     

After laying everything on the soft piece of cloth, I wiped the blade for the second time, including all of the parts I took from it.     

I then grabbed a small powdering ball to apply some powder and I wiped it with another sheet of rice paper to remove the excess. After that, I inspected it for rust before dropping bits of oil and wiping it again to make a thin film covering it completely. I waited for a while for it to dry up but I cleaned the scabbard before reassembling it.     

I faintly smiled because my wakizashi looked brand-new and I once again secured it on my hip. However, when I turned around to check on my chaperone, Kaley, Olivia, Rin, and Zeus were now present, keeping silent the whole time I was working. They were all looking at me weirdly but Tatiana was the one who spoke up.     

"That's weirdly fascinating to watch. He's really good with his hands, correct?"     

Kaley answered, "Yeah, he is great at many things. It's fun to watch him work."     

Olivia immediately interjected, "Oh! I know! Show her how you do it with your guns! I saw him cleaning it super fast!"     

Tatiana turned to me with a faint smile, "Really? Is that so? I believe a challenge is in order. You think so too, correct?"     

Something just clicked from inside of me so I just pulled out my Glock 19s and I disassembled them at my 'normal' speed to create some sort of illusion. Kaley was already giving me the 'look' that I was cheating but no rules were placed beforehand. I laid every part on the table and they were like a mirror image of each other.     

Tatiana commented, "Admirable. You're decent."     

I smirked, "Want to add a wager? It could spice things up?"     

"Oh? You might regret that. You're good at hand-to-hand fighting but I won't lose in this case."     

'Sure… Just think that way...'     

"What do you want to wager then? I'll do anything within reason."     

One of Tatiana's eyebrows went up as she said, "Even having you for a night?"     

I instantly BSOD'd, "A wut?"     

"Fucking. I'm talking about fucking. Is that within reason?"     

Everyone exclaimed, "WHAT?!"     

'I know she'll get comfortable but not at this rate...'     

Tatiana started laughing, "What? If you win, I'll do whatever you want even if you're actually free to do it already. I'm just saying that to let you know..."     

Kaley was about to run interference but I took what Tatiana said as an opportunity to learn more about her. Not in a sexual way obviously but it was about something I caught glimpse of earlier.     

I waved Kaley down and said jokingly, "Before I answer, is it to the death?"     

Tatiana just chuckled, "Everything is to the death now, I must say."     

"Then it's on. If you win, I'll let you have me for a night but..." I leaned closer and I whispered to Tatiana's ear.     

As soon as I whispered a few words, Tatiana's eyes widened and she looked at me with shock and wonder. She was looking at me solemnly for a few seconds before her expression returned to normal. With that said, Tatiana sat opposite my table and we let Olivia do the countdown.     

Kaley was kinda pissed that I agreed to the wager but I just mouthed at her to trust me. Her expression didn't change immediately but a look of curiosity was beginning to surface. It started when I whispered in Tatiana's ear and now with how confident I was about winning the challenge.     

Olivia started, "3~ 2~ 1~ GO! GO! GO!"     

Tatiana started loading the magazine with bullets first while I grabbed the barrel and the slide. The sound of several internal parts joining together could be heard and the room was completely silent. I breezed through assembling my pistol and all that was left to fill the magazine with bullets and to shove it inside the mag well.     

However, I just picked up a round and placed it inside the barrel.     

Tatiana was just about to start assembling her pistol but she saw me pointing my gun at her. I let her see the reflection of the brass casing before I pressed the slide release. There were still 18 bullets in front of me and my extended magazine was left untouched. The rest didn't know what to do but Tatiana and I just stared at each other for a brief second.     

She shook her head in amusement before and saying, "Hmm! You win."     

Rin interjected, "W-What? He cheated, right?"     

Kaley added, "He did, he clearly didn't finish loading all of the bullets. He didn't follow the rules..."     

I was still smiling cheekily and I let Tatiana explain for me.     

"No, he did follow the rules. Before we started, we agreed that it's to the death, correct? Besides, the wager was to assemble the gun, not load the magazine fully. In any case, why are you defending me? Want me to have my way with him? You could join too if you want?" Tatiana started smiling brightly.     

Kaley stammered as she got redder and redder, "B-But! I just- No, I- Hmph! I really ju- I m-mean..."     

Tatiana finished assembling my pistol before saying, "If you want more reasons, it'll only take a single bullet in the right place to kill someone. In any case, he won fair and square. But, that 'thing', I'll only talk about it in private."     

"That's fine by me."     

"If I may, where did you learn that trick? Honestly, I know of it but I didn't think you would do it in a bet like this. I think I could tie or even beat you if we do it normally but doing it that way could be crucial in some cases."     

I instantly chuckled, "Oh, that? I'll tell you if you join us for a movie later."     

'I bet she never seen it...'