Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Moving on from this municipality then to the next, the only places we decided to stop by were this Alfa Mart where we procured a few tanks of gas and random knick-knacks, and this maternity clinic that still had a few boxes of medical supplies lying around. We had to break off from the main road we were using and use this particular backroad to get into a much "safer" area.

We were still a bit far off the Clark International Airport, where Jessica currently was, but it wouldn't hurt to stop by this flight school where Eric and Jane seemed to have been living at for the past few months.

However, it seemed that they might've forgotten to radio in to their people manning one of their checkpoints because all of them suddenly jumped to cover when they witnessed us coming in with several vehicles where a couple had mounted machine guns.

-

*bzzt*

"Wait, stop. They don't know we're coming. Someone ring up either Jane or Eric before we have to pay for their split coffee…"

*bzzt*

-

As soon as I said that, our convoy fully stopped before we tried to communicate that we came in peace, but even though we still couldn't contact either of the two at the moment, Brian made contact with one of their own over here and the matter was quickly resolved.

It was pretty obvious that a few of the guards manning the checkpoint were shaking, not only because they hadn't had their cup of joe yet, but because their first course of action should've been to haul ass instead of standing their ground with their numbers.

They could only buy so much time because they were that close to their outpost and it was much better for them to gather everyone and fight together rather than to jump behind their cars and get hot coffee spilled on their clothes.

But yeah, I did hand over a few items we found along the way—which they greatly appreciated—and they did tell us to avoid using the most direct route to J&E's place because it was rigged with traps.

"Really? That close to your outpost?"

The older guy who had binoculars hanging by his neck answered, "Our defenses still have holes in 'em, that just a little surprise or the ones who managed to sneak in— Oh! Don't turn into the Plaridel St. too in case you come from the other side of the river because you know…"

"Traps?"

"Exactly. Thanks for the food and the refill, alright? If you have any more questions, you can ask Eric— no, Moses directly, or better yet, one of the people you sent over here. They'll tell ya everything."

"Sure, sure…"

With that said, we were then granted safe passage but I still felt like this location of the first checkpoint we came across was too near their outpost—besides the traps set all around—because adding to the point I said earlier, if a group came and had hostile intentions, they should be able to call in the threat so that by the time that group arrives, they were already prepared to "receive" them.

'Just need to remind them later…'

In any case, it didn't even take a couple of songs before we reached this flight school, and looking at it as a whole, it wasn't as large—or even an eight of the size of the NAIA airport—where everything started from our point-of-view.

This small-ish or medium-ish flight school could probably hold an airplane or two at most in its hangars—or its runway could be used for emergency landings—but its main focus was on lighter aircraft used for flight training or something similar in which they had several parked out in the open.

Still, aside from its main selling points, the people assigned to this place used the free space to its full potential—ticking off all the essential facilities and whatnot—without sacrificing what made a flight school a flight school just to have a meta base.

Pilots could come in clutch at the most important moment and even though they would almost always not get picked over doctors, their specific skillset should still be respected and recognized.

'I hope I could run one of those smaller planes later…'

But yeah, as we parked by and connected with one of Brian's "bros" and this Moses fella which had a job similar to Rin, it didn't take long before Jane and Eric came rushing with a panicked expression, scanning their eyes into the group before landing on mine.

"Finally!" I joked as I ignored the obvious "creases" from their clothes.

"WE'RE SORRY!"

I waved them off with a smile, "Nice place. Slept in, huh?"

Jane looked away embarrassedly while Eric scratched the side of his cheek with a goofy smile, "Ahaha—"

Moses cut in while shaking his head, "Excuse me, sir. As I was saying, are you here for an inspection or something similar? It's because I haven't heard of a visit and we should've prepared this place to welcome you."

Jane took a deep breath before she answered for me, "T-That's my bad, Moses… We should've told you— Wait…" then she suddenly turned back to me, "Weren't you guys supposed to come in yesterday?"

I nodded, "Yeah, and I made Vera contact this place and I believe Eric—"

"FUCK!" Eric exclaimed as he slapped his forehead, "That's totally on me, I'm sorry…"

Moses shook his head once again, not even bothering to hide his displeasure, which was totally understandable, "I-In any case, I do apologize on behalf of these two but may I ask to what do we owe the visit?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "It's more of a wellness check with a few umm~ tips— but before that, we cleared up the neighborhood a bit and looted a few places and whatnot so we just came here to give your cut. This is your territory, after all…"

Eric and Jane interjected, "What?/ You really don't have to—"

Moses followed, "You really don't have to, sir… After this embarrassment, we should be the ones giving you stuff, not the other way around."

I waved them off, "It's fine. I'm feeling a little generous today so we got you that truck and some of the shit that's on there—"

"Sir, we really can't accept those—"

"I insist, okay? Besides, I'm gonna ask for a small favor…"

"Anything, sir! Anything within our power, we'll be glad to help you with one of your requests!"

"Y-Yeah!/ We'll help you dude— sir, don't worry about it!"

"For real? Cool. Can I take one of those planes for a spin?"