Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Mr. Garciano let out a huge sigh before he opened his mouth, "I'm just a family man trying to live his best life with his family. That's it…"

I turned to him and discovered that that was really it, no second paragraph, no nothing. I thought for sure he'd have this chapter-long story about himself but even if I appreciated how concise he was, I'm gonna need a little more.

"Umm… Okay? Care to elaborate on that?"

"Should I?"

"Dude. I'm trying to live my best life with everyone else here too but I only have a wife… I technically don't fully understand what a 'family man' is… no offense."

"Hmm… That's fair. It simply means that I'll do anything for them…"

"Oh… And?"

"..."

"..."

"Don't tell me that's it?"

"That's… I thought you'd be able to understand it from that—"

"Do you need a fucking Snicker? A Milk-Dud? A Redbull? Are you saving energy for something? We're not gonna have a fistfight after this, alright? And all I have of you right now are assumptions. We're officially working with each other now so it's a given we'd need to know about each other a little more than you being a little germophobe and for lack of a better word, somewhat of a little bitch."

He suddenly let out a small chuckle, "That's not true at all…"

"Which one?"

"I'm the biggest germophobe out there and I'm also the coward of the country."

"Isn't that a song?"

"You know Kenny Rogers?! Hah! How old are ya? Really? Aren't I double your age?"

"People double my age always refer to me as the 'Kid', you aren't, so—"

"I'm 52, now actually. And I don't want to make it like I'm looking down on you by calling you a child—"

"That's— No, you got it wrong, 'Kid', not 'child'. It's just their form of endearment or something and I really don't mind. And you're really 52? Jesus fucking christ, moisturizers and lotions really do their thing, huh? Is that why you're pale as fuck?"

"I think you're referring to sunblock—"

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"Ah— I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that… They're not the same thing! How could you even say that?!"

"Pfft… Apologies, my bad… I do use lotion from time to time—mostly my hands to remove the calluses…"

"Riiiiight…"

"You— I would've said I use it on my dick from time to time but there's lube now, don't it?! Don't look at me like that! And sometimes, I even dry-stroke it! There! Happy?!"

Mr. Garciano had the shock of his life but his face just warped to absolute goblin-mode, "HAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you! Oh my fucking god, this is so— Pfft— HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Heh, you think I'm embarrassed by admitting it, huh?! It's a very normal thing, alright?"

"I know, I know~ I was your age before— but yeah…" then his face turned solemn once again, "All those things you said about me are true and irrefutable but that's because being a coward was the only thing I could do so that my family could survive. But somehow, my people still stuck with me, even the ones who didn't support me in the last election, because it really was a toss coin most of the time… It's very hard to balance the coin right in the middle or make it land on its side…"

"True—"

"And to my knowledge, you were trying to do the same thing as I but were very successful in almost all of your endeavors…"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want this to be my identity but it seemed like in my pursuit to achieve balance, I've taken an equal number of wins and losses throughout my life… It was mostly losses when everything started but it slowly balanced out when one of your scouting groups managed to come upon our small encampment before. We've grown a lot since then and I have you thank for all of that…"

"I just supplied you with a few pick-me-ups, don't give me all the credit. Where are you going with this?"

"Hmm? Nothing, I'm just venting to you because I need to look strong for my wife… We still need a bit of support from time to time—and I'm just a little envious of you with all your accomplishments. Compared to me—"

I waved him off, "It's because I'm very OP, alright?"

"OP? What—"

"You never played games at all? It's short for overpowered. And don't start comparing me with you, that's a bad way of thinking. If you're gonna compare yourself to someone, compare yourself to yourself yesterday. Look… you were working with a dumbass yesterday but look at you now! Isn't it night and day?! You would've been evading gunfire right about now if— that's a joke, a joke! Don't look at me like that!"

"Then how should I react to that?!"

"You fucked up, alright?! I'm allowed to joke about it! That's just how I am!"

"Suuure…."

"Cool. B-But yeah… granted a little bit of competition is healthy, but there are also bad side effects too, right? Look at being a coward, for example, it has this bad connotation that comes with being called one but you used that to survive this long. But look at being brave, it had all the positives that come with being called one but it could also come hand in hand with being reckless, stupid, etc. and a good number of our brave soldiers died in battle. Who's to say being brave is a good thing anymore? Is being a coward really all that bad?"

"Well… which one are you?"

"Me? I'm a coward—"

"Don't spout bullshit right now—"

"I'm not. Listen. I'm a coward at times and I'm brave as fuck sometimes too. If Kaley's mad? I'm a fucking bitch but if you put me against a thousand deadheads? Easy as pie. We're kinda opposite in that regard because as you said you try to look strong for your wife. I'm the exact opposite. She's the only one I can be weak to. Weird, right?"

"..."

"The thing is, it's like you comparing yourself to me, it's like apples to oranges, boobs to asses, blondes to brunettes to redheads, flight to invisibility, etc. I don't even know where I'm getting at right now but that's the type of conversation we're having if we try comparing ourselves to other people. There are definite truths, sure, but what's the point?"

"I could argue that it depends on the way I'm looking at it. Knowing some of the stuff that I can't do could make me work harder on it or other stuff, right?"

"That's the way to go unless you really wanna feel worse about yourself—because you're a tad pessimistic, no offense, but that line of thinking is where everybody should be at. Not the other way around…"

"So you're saying that we should only look at the positive?"

"Eh~ Depends on what you want to achieve, actually… We've completely derailed this conversation—no, I completely derailed us. My bad—"

"Hah! It made me laugh, that's gotta count for something… but what now? It's almost sunset and I need to head back. As much as I would love to continue this talk, I only have a few moments to distract myself…"

"Right. We'll keep in touch but I'm gonna let Mr. Crisologo heal up a little bit more before questioning him regarding his allies. And then we'll see from that."

"I see. Do believe that he has friends all around the country but a good majority of them would flip just like me given the chance. He's not as powerful as he was compared to back then but there's just this fear that he placed in our heads that makes him do whatever he wants."

"Alright. Comparing again, are we? Thanks for the info and I'm assuming you exceeded your quota of handshakes for the day? I'd gladly offer one but—"

He shook his head as he chuckled, "I'm glad you understand, and even though you look decent… There are just things we c-cannot see that drive me nuts. It's not a you thing but— It's a you thing, sorry…"

"Hah! A simple nod will do."

"Alright."

"Cool."

With that said, Mr. Garciano eventually said his goodbyes while we finished up a few things here with my crew.