Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Oscar was about to attack me but he stopped in place and yawned instead.

"Fucking shit, what sorcery is this?!" Oscar said after rubbing his eyes after yawning.

"Hah! I don't know old man, they call it echophenomena or something." I replied.

"Are you really gonna sleep again?" Kaley asked me.

"If I could sleep all day, I would. However, I need to check what this old man did while we're in the City of Manila. I hope you didn't cut corners old man!" I said then looked back at Oscar.

"As if! Instead of Rin telling you what happened in the meetings, let's go for a small tour. Hand me the keys and at least let me drive that Charger!" Oscar opened his palm and I threw him the keys.

Like an excited kid, he ran towards the driver's seat and I rode shotgun. Kaley, Rin, and Tatiana were at the back smiling at Oscar's jubilant expression. The moment he revved the engine, he actually cried tears of joy. He's humming while tapping his finger on the steering wheel and he's in his own world. We left everyone in the DDR Camp first and Oscar drove the Charger towards Woodlands.

On the way there, I noticed like the gate I saw yesterday, the gates that lead to the highway and Elsewhere were now solid. Guards are always posted with rifles and there's a platform where they could see over on the other side. It's not just a single solid gate but there's a chain-link fence after it to serve as a small checkpoint in case for people entering and exiting.

"If unc and the rest have time, I'd like them to replace the chain-link fence with a solid one as well. I want the two-gate system like we did before at our compound. It's gonna take up resources but it would be well worth it in the future." I said.

"Sure, I'll tell him later when we get back." Rin replied.

"After that, I'd like them to install ladders at the side of those walls where the gates were welded on. Just leave a huge allowance after the inner gate is built. Tell them to check the structural integrity of the roofs that are using metal sheets. If they could reinforce them or something that would be great. The platforms near the gates are a great idea but if we want to have greater vision from the things outside, some of our soldiers need to be on the rooftops. They don't need to remove the platforms since we'd still need them." I added.

"Sure, I'll add that too. Anything else?" Rin started writing in her notebook.

"None for now, I'll tell you if I have another idea." I replied.

We finally reached Woodlands and someone opened the gate for us. It was actually Mr. Gabriel and he was surprised to see our faces. He looks more energetic the few times I've seen him compared to when he's still living with his ex-wife.

"Oh! Good morning! Welcome back! We're still here when you guys arrived. Well, don't let me keep you here, we have breakfast at the usual spot." he smiled at us.

"Thank you, we just ate before we sent the president off." I replied.

"Oh. I see, I see. Well, call for me if you need anything. If you're looking for Damian, he's in the greenhouses. They're checking on Amanda and Charlotte's project. I think they're watering it with the same thing they made before." he said after waving us goodbye.

Oscar started to drive inside and I looked at him.

"Project? What project?" I asked him.

"Uhh- Rin! What do you call that whatchamacallit that those two made? It has to do with worms or something." Oscar said.

"Oh! Umm- Vermi… Vermicomposting? Am I saying that right?" Rin answered, half sure after flipping through her notebook.

"Oh. That's actually a great idea." I replied.

"What?" Tatiana asked Kaley.

"Don't look at me. I don't know either." Kaley replied.

"It's a term for making compost using worms." I replied.

"W-what? Worms? Really?" Kaley asked.

"Well, let me explain. We're always separating our organic waste from inorganic, right? We have the inorganic ones recycled while the organic ones are used for compost. If we use worms, wait- did they make the worm bins already?" I looked back at Rin.

"Umm, yes. I saw them talking to your uncle a few days ago and Ken said you have a design for a good one from the drives. They made a few and they asked for EM-1s and Molasses to make the mixture they're talking about." Rin answered.

"Wait, you need to wait for seven days to actually use it. Did they use them already?" I asked.

"Oh, they just made a few extra. From the place Oscar's group found the EM-1s, there's a few bottles that are already mixed and ready for use. Also-" but Oscar cut her off.

"We're here. Just ask them, I'm not too sure what they made either." Oscar said as he turned off the engine.

We exited the vehicle and we found Amanda and Charlotte busy with work. Arthur and Chris were assisting them for anything and they made an upwards nod when they saw us walking towards them.

"Sky, do you know what they're making? I still can't understand how worms could make growing crops easier..." Chris whispered to me.

"Why are you whispering? Can't you just ask Charlotte?" I replied.

"I did..." he replied.

"And?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I didn't get it..." he replied, dejected.

"Will it make a difference if I'm the one who explained it?" I asked.

"If you have a better explanation..." he shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you saying I can't explain things?!" Charlotte suddenly exploded.

"N-no! It's me! There's something wrong with me! I just don't want to bother you..." Chris quickly went on the defensive.

I was taken aback but Kaley looked at me and I immediately understood. Amanda has the same expression as Charlotte everytime Arthur moves a muscle.

"Oh, medium-rare season." I thought to myself.

"Okay, think of it like this… On our compost back home, we'd wait for a time before the organic materials inside break down completely before we could use them. If we use worms along with that organic mixture they made, it would speed up the process several times and more efficiently. Once they eat through it, it would pass through their digestive systems and then it would become what they call worm castings." I started.

"Worm castings?" he tilted his head.

"Well in other words, worm poop." I replied quickly and a few listening were taken aback.

"Worm poop?!" he exclaimed.

"Well, we're not eating it like that. You all have the wrong idea. Those 'poop' I'm talking about enhances the quality of the compost so we'd have better yields." I explained.

"But we're using some stuff too like those mixtures to feed them. Is that alright resource-wise?" Rin asked.

"Well we're not only getting the effect of having better yields from their castings, we could acquire a few more things from having those worm bins present. For example, the excess fluid from those bins could be drained and it could be used as feed for our plants." I answered.

"Oh, so that's why there's a spigot under there..." Chris nodded a few times.

"Is that it?" Rin asked.

"Well, we only have a few bins here. In the future, the worms would also reproduce and we could make more bins. However, aside from making use of their castings, we could also make use of the worms too. We could use the worms as food for our poultry animals or for our fishes. Doing that could allow us to have another source of food for them, not just our feeds." I explained.

"Oh! We could use them as bait too when we fish!" Chris added.

"Yep, that too." I nodded.

I looked at their work and a smile is plastered on my face. Unc and the rest actually made the design for the bins larger than what's in my drives though it still works as intended. There's eight sections in each bin that are stacked on top of each other and it could easily be removed like drawers. There's enough space for the worms to receive oxygen and it's located where the temperature is just right. It's also away from the small cages where some of the poultry animals at Woodlands were located in case they start to feast on them.

The thing I noticed though is that we have two different kinds of worms in separate bins. They're African Night Crawlers and Red Wigglers.

"Hey, where did you manage to get this much worms though?" I asked.

"Umm, Oscar found them on their run. I asked if there's a chance they could find some and they did..." Charlotte sheepishly said.

"Where did you find this much old man? Did you bring a group with several shovels?" I asked, half joking.

"Well, Mark told me that Borris might have something like this in his place. His setup is different from what they did but that's where we got them. We took a few supplies in exchange for those and a few chickens. He gave us a lot so I gave him a few magazines worth of bullets for the gun you gave him before." Oscar explained.

"Oh, he's still alive and kicking eh? How's his place now? Still hidden from the world?" I asked.

"Uh, kid. Actually..." he trailed with a serious look on his face.

"What? Don't leave me hanging here, I'm the only one allowed to have cliffhangers!" I smirked as everyone almost facepalmed.

"Well, your cousin Cyrill is actually living there with him." Oscar said.

The people around us chattering that knew the situation about my estranged cousin became quiet. They all watched what I'm gonna do next but it was far from what they expected. I just acted like it was nothing and it really was.

"Oh, did uncle Zardon see him?" I asked.

"Yeah. Your uncle acted like he never existed. Well, your cousin or ex-cousin did the same thing. Nothing happened between them but he asked for you though." Oscar replied.

"Really? Did he say anything in particular?" I looked at him.