Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The people around me can't seem to find the correct expression to wear on their faces since it is almost constantly changing every time I open my mouth. I could see the SuperCobra hovering for a moment as it slowly turned around and attempted to go back. However…

*bzzt*

"Just kidding, come here. Don't waste gas for nothing. Land it on the top of the hospital building which is second highest. Tell Micah on the radio when she comes to land the S-76 on the main building."

*bzzt*

*bzzt*

"R-roger sir..."

*bzzt*

They made another turn and it seemed that they hesitated to proceed in case I changed my mind again for another time. We didn't wait for them to land and we drove the Military Truck towards the pile of dead bodies that Jared was the culprit of. The sun's brightness is slowly fading away though it's enough for us to drive there, loot the bodies, loot the gas station, and drive back. If we still have time during that small run, we'd do a few things with the time that we have.

Kaley was the one who assumed Jared's position from the top of the truck since he's still on the roof with Nikolas. I handed her my Tavor so she could also familiarise herself with it while Tatiana and I will use our bladed weapons to carve a path. Marlon, Cruz, and Mando were the only ones with us but it's enough for the small mob of the dead we're coming for.

*BSSHEW* *BSSHEW*

*BSSHEW*

*BSSHEW* *BSSHEW* *BSSHEW*

Kaley quickly killed a few that are chasing us from the back. They're moving with a bit of speed so we didn't take our chances.

The moment we parked in front of the bloody figures, some of them stopped feasting on the gang members still bleeding out. Some of them are not wearing any clothing for their upper body which makes gorging into them much easier for the dead. There were actually some of them that are still alive but they are missing chunks of flesh from different places on their bodies. One of them saw us and tried to relay a message but it didn't manage to since the one feasting on it took a huge bite off its throat.

He simply gargled his own blood and died staring at us.

"Let's be quick. Make less noise as possible and only fire a shot when you're in bind." I said as I killed the person staring at us before it turned.

They all nodded as we slowly advanced. Bodies would drop after one full swing of our blades and we're finished after a short while.

"One, two, three… seven… thirteen..." I started to mutter while counting the ones decorated with bright handkerchiefs and baggy clothing.

"What are you doing sir?" Cruz asked.

"Making sure that all of them are here. A few of them are actually alive when we got here and some might've slipped past Jared." I replied.

"Well, are they all here?" Kaley asked.

"Yeah." I said with a somber expression.

"And why are you looking like that?" Kaley asked, confused.

"Well, if all of them would be stupid like this, I'd rather have one manage to go back and inform his other members. We'd save the trouble of watching out for them day and night if we kill all of them. We'd have more resources for ourselves too if that happens." I replied.

"Hmm, they did burn a few stores where we could find something useful." Kaley nodded.

It's a good thing that the fires didn't spread as much as it should be since that is another damn thing to worry about. It was easily put out by the fire extinguishers we found lying around in the hospital and in the guardhouse and there's always one or two in gasoline stations.

The bodies littering the pavement were moved to the sidewalk after looting each one of them and we also found different kinds of melee weapons on their person. Most of them were small folding knives and a few machetes but there's a few aluminum bats that were dented all over.

For the guns that they're carrying, I took it to myself to also give them to Iskoh along with the pile I brought since it's much worse than what I imagined. The only saving grace from those guns is I found seven rounds of .22 caliber, three rounds of 9mm, and a couple of shells which I handed to Tatiana. The casings littering the ground didn't escape me since I also picked them up.

We're about to leave them and just burn them after we're done with the gas station but I remembered that Jared said something when we're chattering on the radio earlier.

"...they're taking selfies..." I thought to myself.

"Hey, you guys see any phones in their pockets when we're checking them?" I asked the group about to head to the gas station.

"Umm, Cruz, you saw anything? I only saw rings and other knock-off jewelry from some of them..." Mando replied.

"I thought I saw one but it's a case for sunglasses..." Cruz trailed.

"Let me check them again." Tatiana went back.

Kaley and I decided to shine our flashlights on the road to see if by some chance it was thrown off or something.

"Why are you looking for their phones, sir?" Marlon asked.

"Jared said that they were taking selfies earlier, we might find their group's exact location if we scan through their photos." I replied and they gave pensive expressions.

"That's actually a great ide-" Crus said but Tatiana took our attention.

"Found it! Found a couple of them but one must be out of battery. We can find a charger at this gas station, correct?" Tatiana said.

"Yeah, good job. Can you check the photos to see some clues?" I asked then she started rifling through the files.

Her thumb is now swiping sideways but she suddenly grimaced.

"What?" Kaley asked.

Tatiana's eyebrow is twitching nonstop and everyone grew curious.

"What is it? Let me." I said as I took the phone.

I almost barfed.

Dick pic, dick pic, dick pic, group dick pic, dick pic again, close up dick pick, sleeping dick pic, squatting dick pic, working out dick pic, and it goes on and on.

If it wasn't for me waiting for the photos and pimpled dicks to change so I could find more information, I would've placed it under the truck to be rolled over. However, after rifling through 357 pictures, all of them were dick pics. I checked the video files and aside from several XXX videos, all of them were the same guy that accidentally captured a video instead of capturing another one of his own junk.

Everyone's watching me slowly release a deadly aura but Kaley started to hold her laughter.

"You think this is funny?" I'm pretty annoyed from the meat scepter collage.

"Do you know what's gonna happen to you?" Kaley's face is starting to redden from holding herself.

"What?" I asked, still annoyed.

"You have photographic memory, right? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You'll remember that for the rest of your life!" Kaley dropped the bomb on me.

I'm like a fucking statue for several seconds.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!!!" I shouted in my head.

Everyone around me started to die laughing and it actually attracted several dead bodies from the immediate vicinity. I was the only one who noticed so I quickly pulled my pistol and dropped each one of them while they're still laughing. I aimed for small gaps near their bodies that got them startled and they all shut the fuck up at the same time.

However, after that display, they're still smirking from what Kaley said earlier.

"DAMMIT!!!" I shouted in my head once more.

I marched begrudgingly towards the gas station and they soon followed.

"I'll get her back later..." I thought to myself.

All of the food items aside from a few candy bars were already gone from this place and I surmised they found the liquor they used for molotovs from the back of the cashier since the glass case they were in has fresh stains of blood. I really thought we'd find more food from this place but there's none even if we checked the back of the store. However, there's still a few useful things we could use ourselves or a few luxury items like cigarettes we could trade for inside.

There's this small display case near the cashier which contains a few over-the-counter drugs. There's also a few clean bandages, rubbing alcohol, betadine, cotton balls, band aids, and a bottle of painkillers in the medicine cabinet inside the employee's restroom. I found a generic charger that fits the phone we've found since the charger I brought for mine isn't the same type as it was. I took all the packs of batteries hanging from one of the shelves and some of the flashlights as well.

I started to chuckle when I squatted down and found out several rolls of duct tape untouched by anyone who looted this place. If they only knew the applications they could make of use of such a simple thing, they would be banging their heads off when they do.

We all took several more items but we never forgot about filling up the tank of our truck full and the other containers we brought with us. There's also several LPGs on the side and we took everything else before we went back to our place. It's already sundown and the moon is slowly rising from the other side. Everyone is gathered at the guardhouse near the entrance. We don't have a permanent place to store everything we've brought here yet so we just unloaded them where we're at.

Micah arrived half an hour later with a few soldiers that's supposed to accompany her. She landed my S-76 atop the main building as I instructed and it was a smooth landing. However, she seemed displeased by her chaperones and she can't seem to shake them off.

Our bags are intact and nothing seems to be missing from it after checking it. Oscar's shockwave is still at the sidestraps and it doesn't seem that it was fiddled with.

"They're all there don't worry." Micah chuckled.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing them. What happened back there?" I asked.

"Hmm, I think it's best to see for yourself tomorrow. I'm not too sure about what happened but it happened..." Micah shrugged.

I looked at Avalos and Honassan and they seem to have the same answer.

"Well, that's one cliffhanger to keep me up a few hours. Have you guys eaten yet? I've brought extra MREs, it's not as good as what my aunt cooks but its still good. I've eaten this flavor for weeks when I'm too lazy to cook." I said, smiling.

"I'm still full from earlier though... and I'm in a bit of a diet..." Micah trailed and a few seems to be in agreement but Tatiana wants to eat now.

"Well, then some of you help me set the tents up while some of you, Tatiana, prepare the meals. Does that sound fine?" I said, smiling.

"Sure, it's one thing I could prepare with confidence." she chuckled.

We then set up the tents and we gave one of them with a few tarps for Mike and a few soldiers that would be accompanying him below. We started eating happily inside our own tents that are facing each other. The mesh-like opening is the only one zipped shut so we could still barely see each other while we're chatting and laughing.

The cold air blew in our direction and several exclaims of it being cold came out from everyone present. If you'd look up, the moon is shining brightly accompanied by the stars that serves as our light temporarily.

We're still chatting with everyone then I felt my hand being guided to someplace I'm really familiar with.