Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Tatiana was wearing a lace dress with the color of her eyes. Its sleeves were up to her wrists and she's also wearing lace gloves with the same color. It reached above her knees and it outlined her body perfectly. She was even wearing luxurious earrings in which I surmised that came from Cynthia. Cynthia was wearing almost the same dress but her back was exposed and the sleeves were only up to her shoulders.

However, that was not the focus at the moment.

We almost lost it when Tatiana suddenly answered. The wine I was drinking almost came up to my nose and Kaley quickly turned around to hide her reaction. Ilya and the rest of the guests present stared in shock from Tatiana's statement but after a few moments, Tatiana started laughing.

"I'm just joking! Lighten up! We're here to have fun, correct?" Tatiana was brightly smiling while everyone's expressions slowly returned to normal.

In this country, mail-order brides used to be a normal thing but it was banned and deemed to be illegal now the same as in Russia and a few countries. However, the term was the only thing abolished and it still continued up to this day since the demand was still high even if it was illegal. It was a way for women here to find a rich and foreign husband to have a better life or move up on the social ladder.

"Well, what's your real story? You already know that I used to be a real estate agent, it's only fair, right?" a guy wearing a dress shirt with a vest asked. His name was Brian and he's a good friend of Mr. Cuervo.

"Does it even matter anymore? It's pretty boring in dwelling on past lives." Tatiana smiled.

"It's not boring, it's fun." a woman wearing a simple yellow dress added. She was Mary, Brian's partner.

The small talk started to bore me but I still listened to their random stories. It's because sometimes people would blurt out or say important stuff in the open if they were intoxicated and having a good time. I decided to let Tatiana pick her own backstory herself. In the end, she decided that she was my security detail. I had no choice but to nod and smile while Kaley started to lose air by trying to keep herself from laughing.

Mr. Cuervo and his wife finally arrived.

He was wearing a white three-piece suit with gold trim on the sleeves, collar, and on the buttons. His beautiful wife was wearing a dress with the same color scheme and she accompanied it with a blazer that complimented her whole outfit.

"Friends, families, and champions, I apologize for being late because we didn't think that the games would finish this early! I stumbled by having the schedule moved early! Our champion this time was so formidable!" Mr. Cuervo smiled as he looked at me.

A few laughs and applause followed then he continued.

"Believe it or not, I thought I was looking at myself when I was still at that age!" Mr. Cuervo exclaimed but a snort quickly followed.

"When you were his age, you were still busy courting me in the streets! Don't lie to our guests!" Mrs. Cuervo interjected and everyone laughed.

"Aiyayai~ Veronica! Don't tell them our secret love story! I might court you again here if you do! Don't try me, I will!" Mr. Cuervo raised his hands in disbelief though he's smiling.

"Alright, I'll stop Marco Antonio. We might take four years before you even start to speak to me..." Mrs. Cuervo giggled.

"Dios mio~ Veronica~ Where's our food! Please serve us before my secret courting techniques to woo my wife gets revealed to the public! Martinez! Please tell them to hurry a bi- Oh! They're here~ Vamonos! Vamonos! Let's eat first before we discuss our important matters!" Mr. Cuervo told us to sit on our tables while the food was being served.

I was surprised to see delicacies with this amount being served to his guests because even I would only serve this much when we accomplished something substantial at home. It was like dining in a fancy restaurant like the world never ended. I saw Kaley and she's looking at me and it seemed that we share the same thoughts. Tatiana, on the other hand, was the first to devour everything on her path and we're lucky a lot was served on our table. They had probably caught wind of Tatiana's eating habits when she was first invited by Mrs. Cuervo inside this house.

I could already feel the fatigue leaving my body when I tasted food that cooked to perfection. I was eating a tomahawk steak and it was cooked to the right temperature and the seasoning was just the right amount. The potato puree at the side was also magical with the poached lobster tail with olive oil. Aside from those, we were also served traditional Mole, Enchiladas, Tamales, and a mouth-watering Chiles en Nogada. It was Poblano chilies filled with Picadillo topped with a walnut-based cream sauce, pomegranate, and parsley. Tatiana already ate three of those.

While we're still eating, I just noticed that we were the ones on the table which was the farthest to Mr. Cuervo. I saw Brian and Mary talking about something that must be important and Mr. Cuervo was listening intently. They shook hands after a few minutes and the couple went back to their designated table. The people talking with him rotated until we're the last ones left. I was waiting for the call from his butler but we were never called to speak to him.

The feast continued for a few more minutes before all of his guests bid their goodbyes. Even Mrs. Cuervo excused herself after a short whisper from her husband. The only ones left inside this dining area were my group including Irene, Ben and Jerry, and Mr. Cuervo himself. Jerry whispered a few things to Mr. Cuervo before he looked at me, signaling me to come to Mr. Cuervo's table by myself.

I stood up and slowly walked to his table while my katana was at my right hand to show friendly intentions. I was delighted that he knows the meaning of it because he smiled and nodded at the same time. It was a basic rule in being a guest in someone's home while carrying a weapon like mine. However, in the end, it's just rules made for a real samurai.

That rule doesn't apply to me but I performed it for him to think that I follow this rule. This rule was just made while assuming that all samurai were right-handed because by placing your katana on your right side, you were telling people that you do not intend to use your weapon. Expanding on that, a right-handed person could draw their katana faster if they were drawing it from the left side of their body. That was why placing it on your right could tell them your good intentions.

"Mr. Cuervo." I gave him a nod.

"Mr. Ishiyama, please sit." Mr. Cuervo said.

"Thank you for allowing me to speak to you privately." I said.

"No, no. no. Don't thank me, thank yourself. I give my champions extra- ah~ what's this… let's just say consideration. What do you need? Trust me, everything we talk about stays here. You have my word as a man." Mr. Cuervo assured me.

"I think it's safe to assume that you know everything that happens in this area, right?" I started.

"Of course. Well, my influence has thinned ever since a lot of my people died due to this Muerto thing but it's safe to say I still have some pull. Those people earlier were some of my associates and I stand above them." he replied.

"Great. I want to know if you have any idea about an attack on a small family with two little kids? We went here hoping we could provide some closure to the man they left behind. It has already been a while since it happened and we just discovered their bodies earlier this afternoon." I said.

"Hmm, and where did this happen?" he asked me.

"It happened near the small elementary school that used to be a small DDR Camp." I replied.

"If that was the case, there's a high possibility that it could be one of my people. Have you taken a look around and saw all of them? Does anyone seem familiar?" he said.

"We walked around but we didn't recognize anyone except for the ones that came last which were your drivers." I replied.

"Then I suggest you ask someone to meet with them and have a look personally." he replied.

"You're just gonna let us have them if we confirmed it was them?" I asked.

"No." he replied.

"Why not?!" Irene suddenly interjected.

"I'm not talking to you I'm talking to him." Mr. Cuervo looked at Irene momentarily before looking back at me.

"Please ask me her question so I could answer you." he said.

"Could you tell us why not?" I asked for Irene.

"I have my own rules to follow. It happened outside so a much higher rule superseded mine. I think you know what that is, right? Being the champion and all." he said.

I thought for a moment and said, "Laws of the jungle."

He clapped his hands twice before smiling brightly and he said, "That's right! This place right here is bound by my rules but the outside is not! The outside is bound by something greater than what I could possibly have control over now and that's the law of the jungle! We're not even sure if my people were really the ones who did it but anything they do outside is not my concern. The strongest survive and those people were killed because they were weak and it's their fault. I apologize for my harsh words but it's the truth. If they were killed here, it would be another story but rules are rules. I just hope that this thing ends quickly so my influence could extend that far once more. For now, if you want, you could check my people again if they look familiar."

Irene grew upset but Jerry tried to calm her down. I looked at my group and they were looking at Mr. Cuervo differently now because his demeanor changed when he started talking about rules. He seemed to be very approachable earlier but now his expression has a tinge of something we couldn't quite give a proper name yet.

"Permission to speak." Tatiana said.

"Granted. I like you, you know how rules work!" Mr. Cuervo smiled while twirling his mustache.

"Hypothetically speaking, if we managed to ID them as one of your people, if we somehow saw them outside and we killed them, that's their fault, correct?" Tatiana said with a smile.

Mr. Cuervo suddenly stood up after slamming the table hard.

"That's right! You get what I mean! I now know why my wife likes you! As long as the rules were followed, there would be no hard feelings for me. It would even be the exact opposite, I got your backs if the rules were followed to the dot!" Mr. Cuervo grew excited.

"And if we go back here next time, and their friends tried to avenge them while were still inside, they're the ones at fault, correct? They could only avenge them when we're outside as well, correct?" Tatiana said.

"Yes! Yes! That's correct! You're all getting it! This is great!" Mr. Cuervo grew much more excited.

"Question, why did you made a deal with Kaley earlier so she could give me my wakizashi? Are there exceptions to the rules?" I tried to confirm a few things.

"Ah, the rules for the games are not yet perfect because we always modify them depending on the circumstances but the one we discussed earlier is already ironclad and cannot be changed." Mr. Cuervo replied.