Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Not only did I see my workers like Mark making some barbecue with my trainees like Marvin— or even Brian, who coincidentally came from the same place the cadets did, even Johnny out of all the people was wearing Hawaiian clothes, a straw hat, and funky sunglasses while sipping from his "glass" of piña colada made from the bottom half of a pineapple.

I'm pretty sure that I gave them precise instructions to keep our vessel safe and secured but I was jumped by Cynthia and the twins the moment I got out of my car. They instantly pressed their bodies against me as they gave me a hug and tons of kisses:

"YOU'RE BACK!/ DID YOU MISS US?!/ NICE CAR! IS THIS YOURS?!"

To my surprise, Cynthia had a complete makeover where her hair was now deep purple in color wrapped tightly in a ponytail and both the top of her ears had wicked piercings—even her bellybutton—just from looking at her while she was partly clothed. And right now, she was sporting a nice tan with a warmer undertone except for the places where her bikini and her short jean shorts were covering.

On the other hand, the twins had minor stuff done on them—though they still looked strikingly similar and just as pretty and cute—but they were leering at me whether if I could still tell them apart.

In any case, I just chuckled as I rolled my eyes before I pointed at Ruru, "You're Ruru," then to Riri, "And you're Riri. I always know, alright—"

They both exclaimed though they were smiling as they jokingly gritted their teeth, "HOW ARE YOU DOING IT?!"

Then Cynthia cut in, "H-How about me?! Noticed anything—"

I tried to jokingly ruffle her hair as I looked straight at her, "Seriously? You want me to address the humongous purple elephant in the room? And the piercings?"

She chuckled as she leaned close, "I have a few more for your eyes only though…"

I politely waved her off, "Oh? That's… Uh-huh… Why don't I introduce you to everybody first and I'll get to the problem at hand."

"W-What problem?"

With that said, I brought everyone together to get the introductions in place but the atmosphere started to get tense when Brian and one other of our trainees named Cyrus met eyes with JP specifically. They seemed to have a brief history of sorts and with the two getting labeled as the black sheep when they were sent to my place was part of the reason they were staring each other down.

And yeah, don't let me get started when Cynthia and the twins noticed how Alexa, Megan, Chloe, and Mimi were acting towards me because even without Dr. Nichols in the mix, these girls do be territorial at times and there seemed to be a pecking order of sorts going on between the people in our circle.

However, my biggest concern was Johnny lounging around like he was on vacation because let's be honest here, he'd probably head back to our place first given the chance. Right now, his actions were completely off what I pegged him to be because he was as uptight as uptight goes and I would place him in the same spot the people in my alma mater were.

"Speak your guts, kid. Why are you looking at me like that?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "Umm… The ship?"

He waved me off, "The ship's fine. Lawrence is there with our other workers and your Russian friends are using your homemade— I mean, shipmade, heh. Get it? They're using the shipmade gym of sorts to make the guy they came back with to—their words: to remember. Whatever that means."

"What?"

"Beats me— heh, I'm in a fucking roll today! You trust them so I trust them but I actually thought they'd just say some codeword and he'll fucking reset—"

Tatiana cut in after rolling her eyes, "They brought back Alexander then? How long?"

Johnny replied, "HmM~ Around a week or so? Right. Mikhail and Alexei took a few pistol rounds but they'll be a'ight."

I almost blew my lid, "A'ight?! How long have you been here, Cap?!"

"Cap? I like that more than Captain—"

Then Kuzma cut in, "They got shot? How?"

Johnny shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno exactly but they obviously got shot at, that's why they got shot but it probably has something to do with the camp that's keeping one of your guys hostage. I'm sorry, I had a bit of a drink so—"

I cut in again, "So, they're both fine at least?"

"Of course, they're fine! You drunk?! I would've said they were dead if that's the case ain't it?"

Tatiana and Kuzma almost kicked the legs off the chair he was sitting on from the way he was casually speaking about one of their getting shot but I turned to the two with the keys to my Impreza:

"Here. We'd only be here a few hours at most so get in with Artem to do your reunion of sorts and get all the details of what went down. You can bring Dr. Nichols with you to check on the two—no, on everyone because the others might've sustained other injuries."

Dr. Nichols glanced at me briefly from giving her orders but she just faintly smiled as she took her bag from my Raptor, "I'll need Mimi with me and—"

Chloe cut in, "I-I wanna stay here for a bit, mom…"

Dr. Nichols continued, "I know you would. Stay close to Kaley alright and we'll meet you soon."

"Thanks, Mom! See you soon!"

On that note, the four went on their way to the pier further back—though Jesus insisted to accompany them so that he could introduce himself to the rest of my crew, and that's just icing on the cake so I let him do what he wanted. However, Johnny still looked off but extremely happy for some reason so I needed to fish some more info on our captain, and taking the alcohol from his grasp was the first step.

"Wha— What gives?! I was drinking that, kid!"

"We're leaving soon, Captain. Tell me, did something happen back home?"

He let out this weird, toothy grin, "Not at home per se— didn't Oscar tell you? He's been keeping in touch, right?"

"I checked in a week ago but he said nothing about—"

"Ah~ That's why, that's why…"

"Then what happened back home?"

"It's not what happened back home, it's a ways away from home, kid. You know Subic Bay, right kid?"

"Subic— You mean— Oh. Oh! OHHHHH! OH SHIT! WE GOTTA GET HOME! EVERYONE PACK YOUR FUCKING BAGS OR WE'LL LEAVE YOU!"