Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

A small controlled fire was started and we stared at the burning bodies for a moment. We could hear the crackles from the fire and we could see some of the small spiders turning into what looks like ignited matchsticks. We're quite close to the Meycauayan DDR Camp and I bet they would be able to see the billowing smoke that's coming from our direction.

"Let's go." I said to my group, still staring at the burning corpses.

They all looked at me and rode the Raptor a few moments later.

We reached the camp after a time and it still looks decent for the most part. A few fences were erected and the entrance inside has been reinforced. The first thing I saw though is that some of the able-bodied civilians were now carrying guns and have been taking turns with the soldiers. They saw us coming in and I saw Benjamin wearing his combat gear though he's sporting civilian clothing underneath. He still has his dog tag around his neck and his boots that is a little worse for wear. His head perked up and he stood up and approached us.

"Good to see you sir, is there anything I could help you with?" he asked.

"Yeah, where's Rico? Tell him I'm here about Oscar's idea of finding a way for your people." I replied.

Benjamin looked back and told one of the civilians smoking a cigarette to go fetch Rico. The person left the shotgun he was carrying at the table and he briskly walked away.

"Not even batteries for the radios?" I asked Benjamin.

"Uhh, it's been a hard couple of weeks. We have a few though we're still charging them and we try to preserve them as much as possible." he scratched his head.

"I see, just take good care of your electronic devices and don't throw them away. Well, if you would just give it to me." I smiled.

"Hmm! Sure, I'll tell it to- oh, he's here." Benjamin chuckled but he saw Rico coming towards us. He made a small salute but Rico waved him off.

"C'mon man, a simple nod is fine. Even our president is just giving us fistbumps." Rico said while an unlit cigarette is in between his fingers.

I greeted him and he gave out a faint smile when he saw me. I went straight to the point about my plan in scouting my old highschool first and attempting to move there after. He was adamant of abandoning this place for another so we agreed on keeping the hospital as an outpost since it's still a valuable facility to have control with. We decided on making most of the residents inside their camp move towards the highschool and I assured him that I'll assign a few of my own people to help them with rebuilding. I finally took six of his people and they're riding another pickup truck that they themselves have secured.

Benjamin was one of the six and he's with three soldiers and two civilians. They're wearing a mix and match of protective gear and firearms though what I've noticed is that they're carrying a small knife with a handheld weapon that has a good range in close quarters.

They're driving behind us and we went further in towards the Bulacan Area.

We passed by a few more looted stores and buildings and a bridge that's smeared with viscous and concerning amounts of blood. A few bodies were dangling on the side and I maneuvered us through some of the dead in front of us.

"Bro, I'm thinking… How about we bring a .22 like the one my little brother used to bring?" Jared suggested.

"Why? You don't like your AR-10 anymore? I'd be happy to switch it for you." I chuckled.

"What? No way! I'm just thinking that there's times that we're just clearing those normal ones where I even had to use my gun to thin out a clump. A .22 could still kill them if we have good shot placement so it wouldn't hurt to bring one when we're on runs like this." Jared explained.

"Yeah, I'm just kidding. I know what you mean. We should've done that today, now that I think about it. I'm used to you and Kaley looking out from the truck but we got Alexei too." I replied.

We passed more buildings with broken down gates and shattered windows and I turned right on a traffic light where an 8 Twelve that had been looted was located. We passed by a building where several jewelry stores were located and on the other side of it was a terminal with a few abandoned tricycles lying around. Driving forward, we passed by high walls where fancy gates were erected though we couldn't see through the other side since it's solid. A few of them were open though and we could already imagine what had happened inside.

We finally made a left turn and we only need to pass a few more houses and we're there.

As we're driving, we encountered concrete barriers blocking us towards the pathway to my old school. Nikolas and Alexei jumped down from the back of the Raptor and they started to move the concrete barriers to the side. The people behind us jumped down as well but they started to kill a few that got attracted to our direction. I've never heard a gunshot firing and it was all quiet.

"Benjamin, stay with your group here to guard this entryway. Use this radio if you notice anything concerning and don't try to do it all by yourselves. Kill anything that wanders to your side while you're waiting for us. Don't worry about firing your guns but be smart about it. We'll head a bit forwards and I'll radio in if you are to follow us, understood?" I said as I gave him one of our radios.

He nodded with everyone else and they slowly backed their truck to face the other side.

Nikolas tapped the roof of the Raptor and we drove a bit forwards. The road curves to the right and the huge gate of my school comes into view.

The huge gate is about 10 feet high and there's a smaller gate to the side. There's a small slit covered by a small plate that could easily be slid to the other direction. There's a few dead heads banging their hands on the gate and one missing half its body is trying to squeeze itself in the small space beneath the gate. I guess it's barely succeeding but it needs to crush its chest cavity to go all the way inside.

There's a little alley to the right side of the gate that leads to a dead end where rows of houses right next to each other are located. A few moments after observing them, I noticed that the banging sounds coming from the gate does not match the number of hands we're currently seeing. I just concluded that there's a number of them on the other side and they're just perpetually attracting one another.

"You know the drill." I said to my group as I stepped outside.

"Yeah." they all replied.

"It's in the toolbox at the back." I innocently said.

Groans and eye-rolls followed but I feel energized after saying that.

There's not much of them here so I drew my katana to start the small clearing process. I inched closer and closer to the ones banging on the gate and it seemed that they still hadn't noticed me. I signalled for my team to just be on the ready since I'm about to try something.

I held my katana with both hands and I slashed horizontally.

The back of their heads got nicked by a sufficient amount and three of them fell backwards while still in the process of winding their hands. Blood started to pour out from the cut but it takes time because of how sticky it was.

Two on each side noticed me when their comrades fell and they slowly pivoted their body towards my direction.

I slashed downwards to the one on my right and my blade entered a few inches to the side from the top of its head. A sizable chunk of it with its left ear flopped to the ground first before its whole body followed. The one on my left, missing half its jaw, took a step towards me but I simply took a step back. It tripped and fell due to the one missing half its body and it fell headfirst then I heard a small crack. It's barely moving its hand so I simply stabbed down to make sure and I wiped my blade clean with a spare cloth.

I called them over to help me drag the bodies to the side and we could still hear the gate getting banged up.

I saw Jared looking for a chair to use as a small platform to check on the situation from the other side. They watched him patiently but I went back to the Raptor to retrieve a small case. I turned around to see Jared about to tell them what he saw but he saw me looking at him while smirking. He just mouthed 'motherfucker' before shaking his head. The rest were confused but they turned around and started to chuckle.

*whrrrrrrrr*

"We have our drones now, remember?" I said as it flew over their heads.

I was faintly smiling but my expression changed immediately when I saw the situation inside.