Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Cynthia and I were enjoying the conversation that we were having and we even dragged Kaley and Tatiana since the two were so silent. We even put up a board to explain to the two the nature of the book and the treasure that they were trying to obtain. I was certain that Tatiana was up to something earlier but blood was slowly spurting out of her when Cynthia and I started geeking out. Kaley on the other hand, put on some clothes first while we're setting up the board earlier. Tatiana was about to short circuit while Kaley was trying her best to remember everything. However, Kaley was emanating an aura towards Cynthia.

The time we have was cut short when one of Mr. Cuervo's people knocked on the door to inform us that the feast was already prepared after a miscalculated delay. The feast would start in a few minutes and they were informing us in advance. They asked us to wear something nice and we could choose from the clothes inside the closet. However, Cynthia said that her clothing was in the other room so she took Tatiana with her though Tatiana was dreading to wear dresses again. Before leaving, she held the door and looked back.

"Talk to you later?" Cynthia asked, holding the door.

"Yep. I'll introduce you to some novels later if you're interested." I waved at them goodbye.

"Sure! Thanks for the copies again!" Cynthia dragged Tatiana away.

The door was eventually closed and Kaley was pouting when I saw her.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm jealous." she admitted.

"What?! I thought your name was Kaley? Hello Jealous, I'm Sky." I said with a straight face.

I thought she was gonna attack me or something but she just stared at me.

"Hey, I'm sorry for being unreasonable earlier. I was just… a bit overwhelmed that's all, with all that's happening here. But thank you for trying to cheer me up, even the headbutt... it worked." Kaley said as she sat on the bed.

"Well, it's hard when you could understand people to the degree that you and your mom could." I replied.

She faintly smiled as she looked down.

"You understand them to a degree that you can't get mad at them for doing something you don't like because you know how their mind works. Wait- well, not getting mad can't be attributed to you but you understand my point, right? I think you already know how to solve it." I chuckled.

She nodded a few times.

"Now that you're back, I think, I'll apologize for always thinking that you're always at your 100% emotionally. I had my times like that too, more than you I might say. Let's just say I'm more experienced navigating through the chaos because I've been there a lot of times already." I concluded.

"Thank you..." she started to smile.

"Wanna see what they have over there? I bet a few of the guys were about to finish up. What do you say?" I slowly stretched my body.

Kaley nodded and we opened the closet.

The number of high-quality suits and dresses inside their guest room alone was staggering. Even the shoes and other accessories were not only high-quality but also fucking expensive. I could only imagine what Mr. Cuervo would be wearing.

"Hey, are we bringing our guns? I could strap it on my leg, how about you?" Kaley asked.

"You think something's going down?" I asked.

"Just being sure..." she trailed.

"Good answer. Of course, we always have one ready." I replied.

I wore an all-black, sleek 2-piece suit that matched with the shoes, the watch, and the cufflink I picked for myself. They prepared different varieties and sizes so I easily found the right one. Kaley came out wearing a dress that complimented the suit I was wearing. It was also sleek and black that matched with the high-heels and jewelry she was wearing. Instead of strapping her gun to her leg, she just placed it inside a purse that she found in the closet. I on the other hand simply appendix-carried my gun.

What surprised me was that my wakizashi and katana were cleaned thoroughly. I checked them properly and each part was perfectly fitted and the oil was even the right amount I usually place.

"You're welcome." Kaley said.

"Wow, where did you find the tools?" I asked.

"I just asked if they have tools for cleaning swords and they brought me a set. Turns out, Mr. Cuervo has a collection of not just guns but also swords. They even offered to help earlier when you were asleep but I did it myself." Kaley proudly said.

"Can we just skip the feast and I take you here right now?" I said as I kissed her.

"Hmm? I thought you said you were sore?" Kaley replied while raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm hard too." I cheekily said.

"Oh god! Hahahaha!" Kaley started laughing but she leaned over to me.

We were hugging each other when we heard a knock on the door. Kaley just mouthed 'later' before she took my hand and we opened the door.

We were greeted by a butler and he made a small bow before guiding us to their dining area. Several round tables were present with fancy decorations. Everyone was standing by the side of the tables though a few chairs were placed near the walls. We saw that Tatiana, Cynthia, Ilya, and Irene were already there with the other guests like Ben and Jerry. Tatiana and Ilya were looking so uncomfortable and the same could be said for Irene. Cynthia was hiding her phone underneath the table and the other guests were just simply chattering with each other. Jared and the rest of our group were outside in the yard partying and the ones invited to this dining area were the ones Mr. Cuervo requested personally.

We were guided to our spot and the only ones not present were Mr. Cuervo and his wife. A few servants were approaching the other guests as if they were taking their orders. They finally approached us and they started asking us for our drink of choice and it felt like they have everything. Kaley chose for us and Cynthia immediately tried to get my attention.

"Hey! You two look great!" Cynthia tapped me.

"Thanks, you too. Tell me, how hard was it to convince Tatiana to wear a dress?" I chuckled when I heard Tatiana groan.

"Ugh! I had to made a lot of promises just for her to agree! Did you know..." Cynthia started telling me her trials and tribulations while Kaley and I started laughing.

"How about you Ilya?" I tried to get his attention.

Ilya kept on adjusting his tie and he can't seem to find the right way to lean on the table.

"Hey coach, can I just go outside? I really hate fancy gatherings like these..." Ilya whispered to me.

"Me too bud but we have to power through this." I whispered as well.

"This is harder than the matches. We didn't even get to fight!" Ilya asked for a drink.

"Mr. Cuervo has a gym downstairs. You could ask to use it after this?" Cynthia added.

"He does? Now we're talking." Ilya became energized.

"Uhh, no we're not. I'm injured." I broke his bubble.

"What?! What happened?" Ilya was upset.

"Kaley happened. If you managed to receive more than five kicks from her, I'll just admit that you're better than me, is that okay?" I lied so Kaley could practice with him. Cynthia and Tatiana just smiled when Ilya immediately agreed.

"I'll receive ten to prove a point." Ilya muttered.

"Your funeral." I thought to myself.

We continued on talking to pass the time and we even mingled with some of the guests. We found out that some of them were past winners and they were simply invited back just to watch the games. I received a few praises and I managed to fish out a little information while we're talking with them. I found out about their general location and their situation in this apocalypse. I still didn't divulge that we're looking for the people that killed Lester's relatives since I was still making sure that they were not the ones who did it themselves. I was vague as possible and I was slowly anchoring the conversation to that place to get some sort of reaction.

In the end, still no clue.

I then told Ilya to tell me if he could recognize some of them but so far, they were all unfamiliar to him. Same as earlier, we didn't tell them that we're looking for two more members of Tatiana's team because they'll immediately know that we were the ones sending out feelers every single day. However, what I mentioned was that we've been hearing the feelers ourselves and we were trying to keep an eye out. Things just got a bit dicey when they asked about Ilya and Tatiana because they've been calling Ilya 'Vladimir' and if that wasn't sounding Russian, nothing would. Even Tatiana's name was a common Russian name and it would be difficult to get through that hurdle.

We managed to lie our way through by saying that Ilya used to an MMA fighter abroad. He retired because he was diagnosed with being punch drunk so he used all his money to buy land here and even managed to score a local wife. The lie was perfect because he won several matches, tanned all over because of daily farm-work, and Irene told them about his wife.

Tatiana's 'backstory' was a little~ different.

"I'm a mail-order bride." Tatiana confidently said.