Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I started to laugh at his outburst but I could still see him showing concern with his expression.

"Dude! I'm serious here! I have no idea where to start with this improvised bulletproof thing! I'm gonna use the best materials here and just pile it all several inches thick if that's what it takes! It won't go through as long as it's thick enough, right?! Why did I even volunteer?! Shit!" he exclaimed.

"Hah! Come with me then. I'm not too sure either but we have a place we could start with. We already know the materials he used before and we pretty much have everything here to experiment. We'd need to build on his idea first and proceed with trial and error. If we make something really good we could use it for future projects." I replied.

"Shit dude, I thought we'd go into this blind. Hah! Where are we going?" he asked.

"In my room it's better to show you a few videos so you'd have a general idea." I replied.

I led him to my room while Kaley went to her parent's house to check on them. I turned my laptop on and started to play one of the videos.

"What are we watching dude?" he asked.

"What? You don't know this guy?" I replied then the video started.

"Okay Demolitia! Today we're gonna know if a boyfriend could stop a .50 cal!" the voice said.

*CH-CHHCK*

*Slugs rolling over*

*GUNSHOTS*

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! The fuck is this guy up to?!" he started to laugh.

Raphael got engrossed in watching each of the videos and I accompanied him on watching everything that has to do with making improvised bulletproof armor. There's a few more videos from other people and he started to write down things on a piece of paper. He's really great at making things and all that's needed to be done is an introduction.

"What?! That piece of crap actually stopped that?! Well, materials that are too hard will sometimes be too brittle... softer ones would do the trick sometimes..."

"Oh..."

"Oh!"

"Interesting~"

"If I start with a metal sheet then add..."

"Could I even weld those two together? Hmm..."

"What?! FlexSea-"

He started to talk to himself out loud as he tries to figure out what he wanted to use to make the armor plating for the Komatsu.

"Hold up, dude. One question." he looked at me.

"Shoot." I replied.

"Before I start to plan what I'm gonna use, what guns would you be using? Are you gonna use that big sniper thingy he uses? I think I won't be able to make something to stop that unless we have Titanium that is several inches thick." he asked.

"Oh, hahahaha! No, we're not using the Barrett for that but the jeep we got from the camp has that Browning M2 attached to it. However, it would also be far from where you're supposed to be. As long as it could stop a .308, you're good. Add to that only a few people would be using that round and there would be a very low chance to hit in the same spot consecutively." I replied.

"Can you show me what that .308 you're talking about looks like?" he said.

"Sure." I said then I opened my armory.

I showed him the round and he started to ask about the different cartridges. He asked about how fast each bullet travels, stopping power, penetrating power, and etc. We spent a bit of time discussing things and I showed him the different cartridges as examples.

"The fuck?! This bullet from the Barrett is fucking huge!" he exclaimed when he saw the boxes that contained several pieces.

"Why are you looking at that? The bullets on this pile here are what we would be using not that on the other side. Let's start on making a small plate first so we could shoot it and try if what we're gonna make could stop it." I replied.

"That sounds great. We should test what we make first. We could theorize and make computations all day but a physical test could give us the answer too, much faster if we're lucky." he said.

A huge smile is plastered on his face and he seemed excited to work on a new project. We got a fuck ton of resources to blow through so we started to make several plate designs. A metal sheet was always the first thing up front and several materials would be in the back. It could be anything from a piece of tile, cement, steel, ceramic, kevlar, Plexiglass, FlexTape, cast iron, and etc. but we made sure it is even all throughout so there would be no weak spots.

Anthony and my uncle are busy making the fences for the other entrances so we two are the only ones working on it. We made several 5-inch square plates one after the other inside the workshop. We copied the existing design first to check them as well before we proceeded with our own.

We tried using different materials on top of each other and I prepared the guns for use to test the ones that are finished first.

We first started on using a .22 Long Rifle cartridge first and we slowly moved up until the plate we made had a bullet hole from a failed attempt. The pistol rounds are easy enough to block but when we started to get into the rifle rounds, things started to get a tad difficult for the design we wanted. Making it thick as much as possible is the way to go if you want nothing to pass through but we wanted to find the sweet spot where it would be easy to make and not as thick, yet, it could stop the bullets with ease.

*BSSHEW*

"Shit. It went through."

*BSSHEW*

"...again."

*BSSHEW*

"Fucking shit!"

*BSSHEW*

"O-oh! We did-"

"That's a .223 you used. Is it the heat dude? We're not up to the .308 yet."

"SHUT UP! AHHHHHHHHHH~!!!"

*BSSHEW*

"Try again. Could you at least hit the target?"

"Then why did you make me shoot it then?!"

"Comedy."

"Fuck you!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

*BSSHEW*

"Dammit!"

"Let's take a break for a few. I think the other plates next for testing needed to dry first." I said after several failed attempts.

"Well we're slowly inching there. If we replaced..." Raphael said.

"Hmm, it's gonna be a bit complicated to make it once we start to mold it around the Komatsu but I think it could still be done. We could always make several pieces and stick them together instead of a huge piece to cover it." I replied.

Some of what we made had materials that needed to dry first before we got to shoot at it so we started to draw the blueprint in how we wanted the Komatsu to look like. It included where the ports for some of the weapons from the inside would be placed as well as the cameras and monitors to see where he would be going.

The cameras outside would be covered with Lexan, a material used for windshields, visors, and etc. but is also used for making bulletproof glass. It is stronger than Plexiglass and it is more inclined to bend rather than to crack. In case things go wrong and the cameras were somehow blown off, there's always the drones to see from above and radios would be used to communicate.

"Dude, do you have chainsaws perhaps?" he asked.

"Hmm? Yeah, we have several in fact." I replied.

"Oh! Can I put it inside the Ko-" I cut him off.

"No. It only looks cool in film dude! That would be fucking messy getting every bits of flesh spraying out and you forgot to take into account that they're still wearing clothes. What if it started to tangle, huh?" I interrupted him.

"Fuck. I forgot about that. Oh! I saw a flamethr-" I cut him off again.

"Dude! We're not gonna make that thing you saw in Battlebots! We'd have more problems if we set those things on fire! How long do you think the flames would start to burn through their brains before it started a swarm of flaming sprinters burning the whole city?" I said.

"WHY IS IT THAT THE TWO FUCKING THINGS I WANTED TO USE IN THE APOCALYPSE FUCKING USELESS~?!" he exclaimed facing the sky.

"Well after this, in the future, you could start to invent weapons that are more effective and still practical." I said, chuckling.

"Well if you start to stop on piling work on me I could start to plan one! *chuckle* Just kidding. How about you? You're sure of what you're planning on doing? That's the most dangerous thing out of all the jobs dude." Raphael replied.

"But it would be so cool!" I cheekily said.

"..." he was speechless.

"What?" I asked.

"Be serious dude! I'd be in an armored bulldozer and you'll be in-" I cut him off.

"I'll be fine. It really is dangerous considering what everybody else would be doing but I'd never risk myself if I'm not sure I could pull it off, trust me." I replied but he still gave me a worried expression.

Aside from preparing the vehicle itself, I gave the manual of how to operate the Komatsu to Raphael. He needed to familiarize himself with the controls and other things too so our plan could work smoothly.

Several days have passed.

I've spent less time going outside to gather resources since we needed to finish up a lot of projects inside the compound. I've let Tatiana and Kaley go to scavenging runs while Darelle and Trisha would occasionally do recon outside to check for any changes. Their numbers are continually growing while we make progress with all the preparations needed.

A few projects needed to be set in place outside as well but it needed to be installed on the day we're going to hit the People's Park, South Supermarket, and the City Hall hard. When I informed the DDR Camp and Woodlands of my plan to reclaim those places, a few people voiced their concerns but the rewards I promised to share and we would be getting swayed some of the people hesitating.

A few more things popped up in the days that have passed but the primary focus is to put the plan into motion.

All the things needed are prepared and the people coming with us are carefully chosen. I've run everyone through each scenario and I made them memorize everything before we went with the plan.

Communication is key.

I've made them repeat the plan to me several times until they grew tired of hearing it and saying it over and over. I equipped everyone with proper equipment and made sure that they know how to operate the tools that we would be using.

"Everyone in position?" I asked through my earpiece.