Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

181 Radio Station - Upgrade(Chapter preview)

I let the others unload everything else while I told Kaley to look for Rin to figure where to put everything else in place. I made my way towards the radio station and Zeus followed after me when I called him over. He excitedly walked a bit more forwards than me, seemingly trying to scout the road before letting me take a single step.

Everyone is busy at work as I scanned around everyone and then I finally reached the radio station.

I opened the doors and I went to their booth and I saw Juan and Earl wearing headsets while an old song is being played. It is the 'Coward of the City' by K. Dodger and it brought me back.

"Hey, Anthony said you were looking for me." I said as I tapped his shoulder.

"Oh, hey. It's not that important but we're just wondering on when we're gonna record the thing we would also broadcast towards the other people who still have access to their radios?" he asked.

"Oh, I see. We could do it now." I replied.

We then set up the equipment needed as I started to speak in the recording device. I first mentioned safety precautions which is also the same thing from the broadcasts every day. I mentioned what we've discovered in fighting and observing the dead specially the special ones and the irregular ones. I mentioned the cult roaming around and several bodies with missing heads or the markings is a telltale sign that they have been there.

However, I didn't say a few things even if I wanted to.

I didn't mention about the situation about the DDR Camps for obvious reasons. That is something we won't have control over yet and the necessary combat power to fight them in case it backfires. I also didn't mention the places we would also be hitting in the future. Resources are finite and I don't want to take care of them when they went to the same place we would be going. We're still relying on the supplies we could get outside since most of the crops are still growing and getting the meat from our animals is out of the question.

"Make sure to store your food in a safe and hidden location and be wary of unknown survivors."

"Aim for the head."

"This broadcast is sponsored by RAID SHADOW LEG..."

"Make sure to cover yourself from head to toe and avoid getting scratched or bitten at all cost. Even accidentally taking in their fluids will grant you their very special membership."

"I'm sorry we can't tell you where we are but if you do stumble upon us, do know that we would react accordingly. We're not bad people but don't give us the reason we might need to use necessary force."

The short recording session ended and Earl brought up another topic.

"I also brought this is when we packed our things." he said as he pointed to a device on the corner.

"What is that? An old walkie?" Juan asked.

"It's a HAM Radio. That thing could reach 20 kilometers minimum and much more if we use repeaters. Even the whole world if the situation is favorable." I replied.

"Like a CB Radio th-" Juan said but Earl interrupted.

"Nope! The CB Radio can only operate on a few fixed channels on that band and is severely limited compared to what a HAM Radio could do." Earl got a bit excited.

I casually tapped a few times in the table we're at and Earl looked at me.

Dash Dot

Dot Dot

Dash Dot Dash Dot

Dot

I repeated it a few times as he attentively listened.

"What is nice?" Earl asked.

"What?" Juan was confused.

"Nice." I said.

"What?" Juan grew even more confused.

"You had the license needed to operate on all frequencies, right? I have the same as well. I haven't brought out mine yet since we could still use our normal tech. Oscar has one too and Matthew only has a CB Radio at his camper." I said to Earl.

He smiled brightly and he nodded. I explained to Juan what we did and basically, you don't have to learn Morse Code to be able to get a license for a HAM Radio but learning it and being proficient in it can allow you to use all of the frequencies available.

"But you have those Sat Phones, right? The one you asked if we have on our stores?" Juan replied.

"Yeah, but the moment the Satellites stopped working we won't be able to use the Sat Phones anymore. With the HAM Radio, even if an EMP hits us, it could still work just as fine." Earl mentions.

"We got a bit off-track now talking about the HAM Radio, what do you want to ask?" I asked him.

"Oh, right *chuckle* I got excited when I learned you have one at your person as well. Do you want me to broadcast it on this thing as well and listen in to other people? It would be great if we could also have another layer of security in doing that, I guess." Earl explained.

"That is actually good. Do that even if we get fox hunted, we could do the same to them." I replied.

"What? What is being fox hunted now?" Juan seems eager to learn the lingo now.

"T-Hunting, Fox Hunting, or Bunny Hunting basically means an activity in tracking or finding the source of a transmission or a hidden one by using different radio direction finding techniques. It's popular among HAM Radio enthusiast but it could be used to track where our HAM Radio is. The only good thing that could come from that is that it could go both ways. If they could track us, we could do the same. We could also employ the same technique when we're going outside if there are any people transmitting from their radios as well." I explained.

"Won't it still be dangerous then?" Juan asked.

"Yeah, but like I said in our recordings, we react accordingly. We just need to be really careful as always though" I replied.

"I'm kinda interested to learn this thing now." Juan said.

"Well Earl is there to teach you everything you need to know. If this thing continued for several years, knowing how to operate this thing is crucial. I think lunch is ready, let's go back now." I said to them.

We walked back to the compound and Juan grabbed one cigarette from his pocket since Earl prohibited him from smoking inside the booth. Zeus happily followed us and we met a few others along the way and we told them it's time to eat lunch.

The huge truck we brought has still a few boxes inside when we came back and we ate our lunch with everybody. It's small patties of hamburgers smothered with gravy, onions, and mushrooms and it was eaten over piping rice. It looks a bit like Salisbury Steak and everyone enjoyed it.

While we're taking a short rest, I called Jared and Lois over and when I told them I would be handing them their new guns. They almost rushed past me heading immediately towards my armory.

I pulled two different sized cases over and I showed them their each respective gun upgrade.

I opened the longer case first and it contains a SIG 716 G2 DMR which is still technically an AR-10 Rifle and I let Jared pick his own attachments for it. It is chambered for the .308 Winchester and it looks very different from the M70 that Jared always carries. It has a 20-round magazine and it is a semi-automatic rifle unlike his old rifle which is bolt-action. The factory scope is still excellent and he only added a suppressor, bipod and a flashlight on it along with the scope. He also added a sling and I gave him a couple of magazines for the 716.

I then opened the much shorter case for Lois and the promised SIG MCX Rattler Canebreak was inside. He caressed it almost uncomfortably then he raised it up like a lost relic. He attached the same things like his brother did except for the bipod. He's getting really excited but I was just smiling cheekily.

"What?" he asked.

"I bet you'll be frequently joining us on a few more runs now. I doubt you'll stay much at home now." I said.

"Crap. It's a trap!" he muttered as he realized what just happened.

"Well, how are you gonna use it if you're always at home? You need to get used to that rifle as well, right?" I said, laughing.

"Well... I guess I could do it. I'll only go in the mornings though! I want to sleep a few hours in the afternoon!" he instantly negotiated.

"Then hand me that gun now since you don't have a safe in your house." I replied.

"Shit! ARGH! Fine! I'll join one more run this afternoon!" he almost fell limply on the floor.

We're happily chatting then the radio buzzed.

*bzzt*

"Boss?"

*bzzt*

"Yeah?"