Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Five humanoid mounds are firmly planted on the floor.

Mounds that has hands flopping around.

They looked like what you see in centers for the morbidly obese patients. All of their bodies are bloated to the point that if you poke them with a stick, they would burst open and anything that might have been inside it would pour towards you. The floor is descending at an angle and there's a small pool of muck that has gathered beneath the huge figures since they are clogging the canal in which some of the wastes are thrown into.

The muck below is so viscous and it leaves an oil-like stain on the hands of the huge figures below every time their hands would touch below. It's like a soup in where you accidentally poured over different shades of green and black food color. Their skin is about the same color scheme as well. Aside from it stretching out to its limit, the color is a mix of everything in the pool and the discolored skin lesions. There are several clumps floating above the surface though on some areas there are bits that are starting to curdle and thicken.

"The fucking shit is that kid?! Why does those look like the game where you shoot them, they explode?! Can we shoot it?!" Oscar exclaimed.

"They're stuck on something, correct?" Tatiana asked.

"If they were any bigger, they would look like Jabbah from Galaxy Wars." Jared chimed.

"Yeah, they are, the good thing is- wait..." I'm talking to them but I stopped halfway.

The figure we were following earlier with my drone stopped at the edge where the small descent is and just stood there for a few moments. The huge figure's heads snapped at it and then their hands started on raising up, trying to reach him but they can't.

What happened next made a few of us grimace.

The figure that is standing still arched its body and started on projectile vomiting everything below him.

"That's fucking disgusting!" Oscar exclaimed.

The huge figures below opened their mouths and they caught what they could and they're eating everything like pig slop. It took the zombie above a few more retches as its bulging stomach has visibly returned to its normal state. It slowly turned around and began walking back in a random direction.

"Are... they... feeding them?" Kaley asked me.

"Kinda?" I replied.

"You don't sound too sure kid." Oscar said.

"Well, they are, obviously, but..." I trailed.

"But what?" Jared asked.

"Which is which then? Or are they both? Are they specials? Irregulars? Both? What do you guys think?" I replied.

The group just looked at me.

"Are the ones with the huge bellies feeding those huge ones with the purpose of fattening them even more or something? If yes, what's the difference between those huge things and the normal ones? They can't be making a zombie burrito now, are they? Those huge ones, are they the ones in control? Why are they there? Why are they acting like little birds getting fed by their mother bird? Who's the actual one in charge?" I started.

"I think those huge ones are the ones leading them." Marvin chimed.

"Well that is the obvious answer but is it though? Sometimes I wish I could see a status window of everything so we wouldn't be figuring things out like this." I said.

"Well... just a guess since the ones in charge wouldn't be doing the hard work... but..." he trailed but can't seem to find an answer.

"I'm not too sure either. We just need to be very cautious. We never know what else they could do. It's already good that we could observe them from this distance. We need to figure everything we could about those things."

"Just one piece of advice kid. We don't have to figure out everything. The solution for those things? Always a bullet between the eyes." Oscar said as he cocks his shotgun.

*ch*chhk**

"Uh, no." I rebutted as he almost fell off.

"I WAS HAVING A MOMENT THERE KID!!! Can't you see I'm about to pose?!" he shouted.

"..." the group.

"The fuck you talking about old man? What is this 'Don't have to figure out everything.' bullshit. You might, but I do. That's why we have scientists, doctors, engineers and everything else. They figure things out and once they do, we gain new understanding on the subject and that makes our life easier. However, you're right about the solution though. It's the only thing we have, for now." I said as I tapped Jared.

I instructed him to just let the drones hover above them and watch them if they would do anything besides flopping on that mess below.

"I wish I could snipe them from this side. Too bad there are many obstacles and I don't have a straight path. The distance is around seven basketball courts and it would be easy if it wasn't dark and they are not on that lowered area." Jared said.

"Well we do it old school. Here's the plan for now... just be ready though." I said as I told them what to do.

The perimeter around the truck is maintained while three groups are divided between me, Kaley, and Tatiana.

Kaley and her group will stay put on the middle passage towards the Public Market, sniping down everything that moves. I didn't make her group enter it since the middle passage has the most blind spots compared to the ones Tatiana and I would be entering. Oscar will be with Jared and my uncle keeping watch on the truck and the feed from the cameras for any sudden occurrences.

I on the other hand will enter the left-most passage, while Tatiana on the right-most passage. Tatiana and I will start to sweep everything from the side first as we slowly move forward, clearing each one we encounter. My path is a bit narrow since vehicles can't enter that passage while on Tatiana's side, that path is where vehicles could enter and even reach the Apartment building and the school behind the Public Market.

Before we entered our passage, I could see several bodies roaming around and I made sure to kill them first in a safe location rather than inside where we don't know the situation yet. Tatiana did the same since I could hear gunshots from her side and Kaley started to do the same as well. I added 14 more bodies towards my kill count and we proceeded when I can't get a clear shot to the remaining ones I could barely see.

Brian and Carlo were in front of me with their shields up while I'm holding my Maxim, shining the flashlight attached to it in every direction. There's a beam of light behind us but it is not enough to illuminate everything. Each body we get close to that isn't moving I sunk my katana into for extra measure. I could hear Brian's irritated huff since we're going at a very slow pace. There're narrow passages towards the other paths that belonged to Tatiana and Kaley and we checked them but never walked past it because we might get clipped by a bullet.

Martin and Sheryl which are behind me also have their own flashlights, acting as a secondary filter on the chance I miss something.

We get to the center of the Public Market and the smell has gotten more horrible. It could almost bypass the masks that we're wearing and some of us even started to lightly cough. I could see a glimpse of one of the heads of the huge figures at the end of the Public Market.

"Can't snipe it with all the other ones here walking around aimlessly." I thought to myself.

The zombies in the center all snapped their heads towards our direction and they all started to stop what they were doing as they started to head towards us.

*BOOOM*

*BOOOM*

I see a few flashes of light from the other side and the sound of Tatiana's group coming from it. I surmised we all came at the same pace and doing that almost perfectly split the ones approaching us into half. The ones Kaley shot never went for her since the 'gatherers' in the middle would rake them inside to be feasted upon.

"Now slowly retreat while thinning them." I told my group.

The process was going smoothly and I even allowed them to use their guns. A flash of light from our side would equal a hole appearing on the bloody figure's heads. Not all of them are that great at shooting but the distance made up for it. Brian kept on using his axe as he grips it tightly. He would make bold moves but he always goes back when a clump is getting too close for comfort. I could almost sense that he wanted to take the whole thing by himself but he's calculating the risk involved.

"A calculated hothead? Weird combination but okay." I thought to myself.

We're halfway near the entrance where we came from and the bodies are piling the floor.

"This is too easy!" Brian exclaimed.

"Better make them get used to this pattern since we will be doing sorta the same thing when we hit the City Hall." I thought to myself.

"KID!" I heard from the earpiece.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"HURRY THAT SHIT UP!!!" Oscar said.

"Why?" I replied.

"THE HUGE ONES AT THE BACK STOOD UP!!! THE HUGE ONES AT THE BACK STOOD UP!!! GET OVER HERE ALREADY AND HURRY THE FUCK UP!!!" Oscar exclaimed.

Everyone heard what Oscar said and even the gunshots from the other side stopped as well.