Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

"Hello, everyone. Nice to meet you all. Well, to start off, my husband is a little shy so I'll introduce us both. His name is Matthew James Payan and I'm Marisha Ann Payan. We're both 47 years old and he's British-Filipino unlike me who's a purebred Filipina. My husband is a Photographer though he likes to hunt game when we camp around. On the other hand, I'm a Psychology Professor, well... used to be, considering the circumstances now. That's about it and I'd like to keep more of our stories later because I might run out in the future." Marisha gracefully said with a smile.

They sat down then a few close to them that haven't introduced themselves to them yet greeted them.

"Okay, let's start the meeting now." I said.

We discussed the food situation first. Everything was still brimming and the supply was still continuing to increase from the scavenging missions, from our farms, and the haul that Kaley's parents brought. Charlotte had planted a few seedlings outside the farm area that we built before. Some of them were green onions, lettuce, baby carrots, spinach, and peas. We still get daily eggs and milk from the animals as well and we concluded that part of the discussion.

We next discussed the building phase. Anthony made a small smelter like he told us and it was hooked on a propane tank. He started to melt a few scrap metals like aluminum to small cylindrical blocks. He showed me a few of them and he said that we could melt it again to make something else. However, we need some sort of mold if we want to make something out of those items. The only problem with the smelter because it was kinda small. He decided to write up a blueprint to make something larger for us. The barn and the SUV were discussed as well a few other things.

Before we moved to another topic, Ken approached me.

"Hey man, check this thing that I'm working on while I'm watching the CCTVs." Ken said as he showed me his laptop.

"Oh! You're making our own server here, right? With this setup, we could also reach the other houses. We might need to start small though. Nevertheless, this is great." I replied.

"The problem with this is we need the hardware for this setup. This is not in a rush, just place this thing on the back burner." Ken explained.

"That's true. We could get the hardware for this at a mall in the Bulacan area but going there is a bad idea for now. Well, we just need a dedicated PC first but I would like to grab th-" I got cut off.

"Hey, in English nerds?" Oscar interrupted.

"Let's just say that we're bringing back a small version of the Internet. To be precise, a few things that we've saved over the years. I had several drives in storage that not only contained manuals and instructional videos, it contained every little bit of what we have before: Music, Art, Movies, Books, Novels, Comics, Photos, and etc. There are much more in the drives I got but if we start small, we could at least catch a break by seeing what we have before or learn new stuff by yourselves since I can't teach everyone all the time." I said with an excited smile.

Everyone grew excited when they understood what we were trying to do.

"How much have you stored in your drives then? I only brought about 20 Terabytes worth." Ken asked.

"Hah! Definitely much more than what you brought. We'll talk about this later, good job dude." I gave him a fist bump.

"Anytime man." Ken replied and he accepted it.

Lastly, we talked about increasing our territory for a bit and I assigned Oscar to lead that group. It was only up to my old house though there will be lots of houses to check first. The problem was that the houses on that part were more squeezed together and there was another squatter area that needed to be taken care of. The priority was to build the fence first then clear the area after. I would get Jude to stretch his bones since he would be guarding the group that would make the fence. After a few more questions that were easily answered, we ended the meeting.

As we were cleaning up the items we used, Oscar approached me.

"Kid, you owe me big time." Oscar said with a nasty smile.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" I was confused.

"Hah! You'll see tomorrow, but remember, you owe me." he said as his eyebrows went up and down.

"C'mon old man! You know I need to know this sort of thing before I sleep! You'll keep me awake all night!" I exclaimed as he turned around and started walking.

"Hah! Nevermind that, but yeah, you owe me." he said as he disappeared inside his house.

My scalp started to itch and I started to scratch it furiously.

"This old man, what did he do now?" I asked myself.

I went to my room and Kaley followed from behind.

"Hey, I thought you were gonna sleep with your parents today?" I asked her.

"No, I already did this afternoon with mom. It's really nice having them here. Besides, if we all slept in the same bed, it would be catastrophic since I move a lot." Kaley said, chuckling.

"Really? I never really noticed though; you've never hit me once in your sleep. The only time I remember you moving is when Olivia slept with us when we watched a horror film." I said.

"Hmm, Olivia would always say that I would sometimes punch her..." she trailed, confused.

"Hah! Maybe because you're always hugging me when we sleep? Do you like how I smell or something? Maybe, you're just so in love with me you're not able to subconsciously?" I joked.

Kaley tried to flick my ear with the wound but I immediately avoided it. Her smile when she was a bit angry was a view I couldn't get enough of.

"I'm joking! I'm joking!" I said as she chased me, embarrassed.

We changed to more comfortable clothing after we cleaned the guns that we used earlier.

"Hey, can we watch a movie before we sleep?" Kaley asked.

"Sure, what do you like to watch- wait. I'll just pick randomly… we'll take hours before you pick one." I said then she giggled.

We were sitting on the bed while I was leaning my back to the wall. I was hugging her from behind while she was holding my hand under the blankets. The temperature lowered because of the air conditioner so I hugged her closer. I could smell her hair and I could feel the warmth of her body. It comforted me as I hugged her and I felt a bit drowsy already.

The movie that was played was a classic animation from the great Hayao Miyazaki. I was surprised to learn that this was her first time watching 'Howl's Walking Castle'. Kaley was captivated by how beautiful it was made and she barely spoke since she was so focused into it. The movie finally ended and we laid next to each other to sleep.

"That was really beautiful." Kaley said.

"The person who made it has a lot more movies like that and it's all good." I replied as I hugged her tight.

Kaley smiled then she gave me a quick kiss. We slept soundly while the night quickly passed.

Day 10

I woke up a bit early and Kaley was still sleeping. Her beautiful face was the first thing I saw and I just stared at her for a while. I slowly picked up my phone to take a picture of her and I made sure that the flash was off so she wouldn't wake up.

It was still an hour before 6:00 AM so I went outside to check on the people watching the gate. It was Johnny, Jay, and Matthew hanging around the catwalk. They noticed me walking up the stairs to the catwalk so they greeted me and I simply nodded. I pulled myself up from the usual spot where I always sat down and stretched my body.

"Mornin' kid." Johnny said and Matthew nodded upwards.

"Morning too. How's the watch?" I replied.

"Well, it's okay I guess. We barely use the guns now because of the fence. A quick thrust with a crowbar or something does the job." Johnny said.

"How's your status on the other houses then?" I asked Jay and Johnny.

"Well, it's manageable. We got rooms for everybody and it's more comfortable than the one at Elsewhere. We got lucky in picking a good house. My wife likes the quiet and the sound of water since it calms her down." Jay replied.

"Same with us. Moving away from your home is a very stressful thing to do. I installed some of the panels and the water tanks you brought last time. We can't be too prepared, can we? Thanks kid." Johnny replied as well.

"Hmm, no worries. That's right, we can't be too prepared. How about you then? Slept well?" I asked Matthew.

"I never really get much sleep nowadays. How's my daughter that you took away from me doing?" Matthew grumbled.

"Took away? Hah! She's still sleeping. I took a picture of her though." I said as I showed him my phone.

"What?! Why would you do that?! Are you a creep?! Delete that!" Matthew stood up, pointing at me.

"Nope. I have more but I won't show you." I replied as I immediately pocketed my phone.

The two with us helplessly smiled while Matthew and I were arguing back and forth.

"Matthew, If I may?" Johnny interjected.

"Hmm?" Matthew looked at Johnny.