Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

"You said 'not here', did he die or did he perhaps leave?" I asked.

He scratched his head after he removed his cap and he said, "Uh, no. He did leave in a hurry before it all started. He was frantic to the point that he looked like a madman when he drove outside."

I rubbed my glabella and I scratched my head furiously as I tried to figure out for where he might have gone.

"Did he leave anything behind? A letter or something?" I asked.

"Uhh, none. We still think he might be coming back since most of his valuables are still there though we took all the food and consumables from his house. The luxury items are still there since those have no value now except if this thing got cured immediately." he replied.

"He knows most of the situation inside?" I thought to myself.

"Can I at least check his place to see if there are any clues regarding his whereabouts?" I asked.

His expression remained the same and he picked up his radio once more. He started talking to the person on the other line as we below watched out for any surprises.

"I'm sorry sir but our leaders here said that we're not acc-" he tried to finish his sentence but I interrupted him.

"I get it, stranger danger. I only need to check his place for some sort of clue regarding his whereabouts. I promise I wouldn't do anything and I would leave you guys a gun and a melee weapon just for checking his place. I'll be there for half an hour at most." I tried to negotiate.

His partner watching him tapped him and said to call their 'leaders again'. He picked it up once more and I checked my watch. It's 4:29 PM.

"Uh, sir they said they would need more than that." he said.

"We have a couple of food items here that I would gladly part half on what's in my truck. I'm thinking this is me on the losing side but I really would just check his place to find any clues. If you don't want to have a reasonable argument in why you won't let me inside, we'll just leave right now. I'd have more chances finding my friend outside when I search randomly than having to negotiate with unreasonable people." I said with an annoyance in my tone though I was just pretending.

He picked up his radio once more helplessly and he repeated what I said. After a few moments he walked towards the ladder to go down. The gate is finally opened and I saw their place.

Several large houses are built and is only separated by a grass hedge or wooden fences and all of them is sporting only a single-color profile. Most high-end places are contractually obligated to follow a color scheme so that's why they are all like in the color of beige. I could see a few dozen people outside and there seems to be an auditorium in the far-right side with several chairs and a basketball court next to it.

In the center of the place is a huge garden with different plants though mostly flowers and bushes and a huge fountain sits in the center of it with a sculpture of several mermaids carrying pots where the water flows out. The roads are clear though and clean of any residue of blood except for a truck where I surmised where they have collected the bodies that they have disposed of and sent outside.

They let our vehicles inside for the moment and then we drove in. They guided us towards a house with several supplies that is gathered in their garage and there are several shelves on it and pushcarts where varying supplies are displayed. A guy is holding a clipboard listing everything and when he saw us arrive, he approached us.

"You the guys looking for Roi Solasco?" he asked.

"Yeah. Your guard already said that he went outside. We're just here to take a-" he then interrupted me.

"I know, I know. I'm the one who Charles is speaking to. I'm Andy, and I'm one of the leaders here. Kindly place all the supplies that you will give us though I would like food more than water." He said after squeezing a tiny portion of hand sanitizer and rubbing his hands together.

I let Jared and Juan take care of it while I went to Kris's car.

He rolled up his windows and I rested my arms on it.

"Give me your gun and katana." I said.

"Wait, what?! I thought you would be giving him yours!" he exclaimed but I shushed him.

"I never said that I would give mine. Don't be like this. Gimme." I replied.

"But this is all I have!" he exclaimed silently.

"I know. Don't be hard on yourself. You're slowly killing yourself with that fucking Hi-Point and a fake-ass katana." I said.

"But! I love these things! I would never trade them for anything!" he held onto them tight.

"I'll fucking replace them when we get home! I can give you something much better!" I said, trying to sway his decision.

"Oh, here." he said without a batting an eye.

"This fucker." I thought to myself.

When he handed me the gun and the katana, he was about to give me the extra magazine that he has and the box of ammo but I stopped him.

"Don't give more than what's been promised. That magazine and extra ammo is invaluable. This is enough, thanks." I replied.

I then handed the guy the pistol and the katana from Kris and he handed it to a lady who appears to be his assistant and she went inside to place them. I helped Jared and Juan placing the food items to the pushcarts and when it's finally done, he spoke up.

"Okay, I'll give you an hour to check Roi Solasco's place and after that, I would ask you to leave. Here are the keys. We have the spares for every house here." he replied.

"This makes it easier by a bit." I thought to myself.

We all then drove towards Roi's house and the small gate that he has for his driveway is already open. His garage door is bent and I could see that almost everything of some use aside from the food items that they took has been taken as well.

"Hey dude, why are we looking for clues for his whereabouts? Are you a detective or something?" Earnest asked as he stepped down from the vehicle as well.

"Not as much as a real detective but I'm just hoping we find something. I wouldn't let go of the chance that we could be all together on the compound. I was surprised that he left. I thought he would also come to my place but he went off on his own." I replied.

I took the keys and opened his front door and the place is really ransacked specially the kitchen. I checked each room first and I finally went to his bedroom. Kaley and Earnest followed after me while the rest are either outside or checking the place for any things that they could take. I started on knocking on the walls and Kaley's eyes lit up.

"Hey, you think he has left something here for us?!" she was excited for a treasure hunt so she did the same.

"What?! Let me try too!" Earnest got excited as well.

Knocking noises is what we're hearing in his bedroom so I got annoyed and stopped them.

"At least go in the other rooms to search! I can't discern anything if you're overlapping the sounds with what I'm doing!" I exclaimed.

"Just check for the back of paintings, under the carpets or any bookshelves for any book that might have a hidden compartment. Regarding his personality, he would definitely leave something for us." I added.

I was disappointed on the knocking session since I found nothing so I went to a part of his room that also has different consoles and handhelds. The only thing missing here is his laptop that he asked me before on what kind to buy. I was looking the several CDs in the shelves and I found his PZP from Sunny and I tried to open it. The battery is half-full and there are several games that we have played from back then. I checked the videos and the pictures and any other documents and found nothing. I was about to place it down and I remembered something.

"We used to play 'Take Ken VI' a lot. He never beat me once though." I thought to myself then I had a revelation.

What I did was not open the game itself but the save files.

There are several saves but the ones are left is from the game that we were playing before. I was scrolling to each of them and my stoic expression is slowly forming to a bright smile.

"This motherfucker. He actually left something." I thought to myself.