Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Ilya was just wearing shorts and his muscled body was on display. He started warming up but when he started to sweat a bit, I approached him.

"How about that bet earlier? Want to receive a few kicks from Kaley?" I said, grinning.

"Oh, right. I forgot about those. Still injured?" Ilya asked.

"I'm around 70% now." I lied.

"Really? Shit, okay. Let's see her kicks then but let's not do that bet. I'll just fight you when you're ready." Ilya replied.

"What? Don't be too generous. How about this, if you survive a 100 kicks, I'll leave half of the winnings from the games to you. Sounds good?" I said.

"What?! You're fucking serious… wait- what's the kick though? I'm not gonna get kicked in the balls, right? I'd die from just one." Ilya said.

"What are you talking about? We're not Shaolin Monks, I'd die from a flick. Try to receive a few first but guard or try to counter after it gets monotonous." I replied.

"Sure, where's Kaley?" Ilya agreed.

We saw Kaley grinning like a mad dog just listening in our conversation. She was slowly producing an aura of her own and Ilya almost shuddered just from looking at her expression.

Twenty-Seven kicks later…

Ilya was down on the ground convulsing with a horrifying footmark on his abdomen and a few partial bruises on his arms. Kaley was silently mulling over what she produced but she already left Ilya and practicing on the punching bags. I had to drag him to the side and I gave him a dose of painkillers.

"So, wanna spar now?" I said cheekily.

Ilya choked and now he was in the same state as Tatiana on the side. Tatiana was doing fine now but she decided to not overexert herself. I was surprised by Cynthia because she was the one who drank a lot but she could move just fine.

"Maybe the amount Tatiana ate earlier added to why she can't move." I thought to myself.

We continued our workout and when we finished, we saw Mr. Cuervo with a couple of people carrying what seemed to be the PCs of his two kids.

"Hermano! Awake this early and training eh? Magnifico, I'll wait for you to finish down in my room so you could place those mods in these PCs, okay?" Mr. Cuervo was smiling.

"We just finished, let's all come down then?" I replied.

"Ah, I see. Wonderful. By the way, I've already told my people to load all your winnings on your trucks but I've ordered them to attach a trailer to the Tacoma because some of them were too big. Don't worry about anything, they'll be all there." Mr. Cuervo said.

"You attached a trailer? Are our winnings really that great?" I asked.

"Hah! Hermano, you just bet everything you have on yourself and you won with the greatest odds possible. No one would be attending my games if it wasn't lucrative at all." he replied.

"Won't you lose resources like that?" I asked.

"Lose? Hah! This place is like Vegas. Just the amount we get from the percentages on the bets is enough to keep us afloat. All this time, we've just been gaining and gaining from the people coming to us." he replied.

"For how long though? I guess I'll just get what I could while it still pays out that much. I'm sure he would know the limit. He just needs to do what we agreed upon previously." I thought to myself.

We entered his personal room once more and his people bid their goodbyes. I started working on the two other PCs while Tatiana and Cynthia showered again. Ilya was ecstatic to see this place for the first time and he helped himself to the leftovers of our breakfast. Mr. Cuervo brought a video camera to record me on how to install and troubleshoot the mods so he could do it by himself in the future. While it was installing, Cynthia and Tatiana finished showering so Kaley and I showered next. Ilya was the last one to shower because he was still eating when Kaley and I came out. While I made coffee for everyone, Mr. Cuervo spoke up.

"Hermano, I've decided on what to do." he said with a serious expression.

"Oh, that soon? You still have a lot of time." I replied.

"I need to ask for another favor though." he replied.

"Hmm? Sure, as long as you make sure we do it when the time comes." I said.

"What are you two talking about?" Kaley asked.

"Can we talk about it in front of them?" Mr. Cuervo said.

I looked at the four first before I said, "Yeah, I trust them."

"What's going on?" Cynthia asked.

Tatiana and Ilya were wearing solemn expressions when they felt the atmosphere changed.

"Well, Mr. Cuervo and I decided to do something very important in a month. We've made a deal with ourselves and I gave him some time." I said.

"What deal is it?" Tatiana asked.

Mr. Cuervo and I looked at each other first before we told them what happened here between us yesterday. They were surprised about what happened but they lost it when we told them about our past. Kaley, Tatiana, and Ilya were shocked to know Mr. Cuervo's past but Tatiana, Ilya, and Cynthia were more shocked when they learned about mine. Kaley was wearing a solemn expression while Cynthia was silently crying. Tatiana can't stop looking at my expression even after I finished telling it while Ilya was sighing heavily and started day drinking.

"That's rough coach. You sure that you two are good?" Ilya asked.

Mr. Cuervo and I assured them.

"Well, what's this plan you two are talking about?" Ilya asked.

"Completely getting myself out. Mexicans don't flip but 25% of me says otherwise. I'm doing this for myself and my family. I have a choice for myself now and the situation we're having right now allows it." Mr. Cuervo replied.

"And how do you two intend to accomplish that?" Tatiana asked.

"Okay, here me out..." I started.

My words were inaudible from an outside perspective but the people who could hear it was giving me serious expressions. This is a plan that would involve a few but skilled people but the number of people that would get affected after this plan was carried out would affect not just this whole place but the whole city.

"How will you manage to do that first?" Tatiana asked.

"Well, we need to advertise, obviously. Well, we already did most of it so that's not a problem anymore." I replied.

"That's right. We just need to make sure the advertisement reaches the correct people." Mr. Cuervo said.

"Just tell me when we'll come back here. The timing had to be right on the money." I replied.

"Hold on a sec, what do you mean by advertising and you two said you'd already done it?" Kaley asked.

"Well, the games would be the medium. It was never as exciting as what happened last night and I received a few things from this hermano. Everyone would be excited to attend the next one where our champions would appear and we need to fucking sell it. Showing them the footage from yesterday and the ones I got from your city would be attracting flies with a huge pile of shit." Mr. Cuervo replied.

"What? I thought everyone just comes?" Tatiana asked.

"Not everyone does, that's why we need the advertisement to reach everyone. We'll decide on the time and all the past champions would be present to duke it out. That includes you two." Mr. Cuervo looked at Tatiana and Cynthia.

"Why haven't you decided on the time yet?" Kaley asked.

"Because of back home. We still have a lot on our plate back home and the real threat we're facing is still present. We're just doing this selfishly for ourselves but like we said, if we do this successfully, everyone would be affected for the better. We also have the other project for our other associates." I replied.

"But how about the threat here?" Cynthia asked.

"Well, your brother is always sending teams to collect bodies so on the off chance one of them turns into something different, it would still be stuck inside with a noose made of chains. He's been doing it for a while so, in a sense, you're clearing a thousand or more bodies a week." I explained.

"So… you guys are leaving soon?" Cynthia said with a somber expression but Mr. Cuervo looked like he was about to say something but he stopped.

"Yeah, maybe later this afternoon after we're done helping with Irene's place. I was supposed to help them with their situation there but we accidentally ended up here." I replied.

"Excuse me but I have a question, in the off chance your group stumble to my place, will you attack us?" Ilya asked.

"No, that's already been taken care of. Your 'coach' just sweetened it up for me." Mr. Cuervo replied.

"What did you agree on?" Ilya looked at me.

"Well, you like fighting so much, I told him that your place would gain protection if you participate every week. He'd also bring a few of his soldiers to your place to help with anything as long as you do that." I replied.

"If you want, you could bring anyone you like over here and live luxuriously. I could give you a house or have the same guest room and all the facilities are available to you." Mr. Cuervo added.

"That protection, I thought everyone outside is fair game?" Tatiana asked.

"It still is. Besides, we don't just mercilessly kill everyone. Once my soldiers see familiar faces, they wouldn't attack needlessly until provoked. We're not savages, we're functioning savages." Mr. Cuervo replied.

"Okay, I agree with that but I might need you to hold that offer for the house for a while." Ilya said.

"Sure vato." Mr. Cuervo shrugged his shoulders.

"Then it's set. What is the favor you're asking me about earlier?" I looked at Mr. Cuervo.

"Ah, I almost forgot. It's about Cynthia." he replied.

"About me?" Cynthia was surprised.

"I need you to bring her with you." Mr. Cuervo said.