Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Our little gun class continued because the two tried to shoot with their other hand but failed miserably. Well, it was their first time so it was understandable. Mr. Cuervo brought a couple of cans of ammo and he asked us to help with reloading some of the magazines so they could practice. However, I stopped him before we continued.

"What? What's wrong hermano?" Mr. Cuervo looked at me.

"Do you have a different caliber to use or something a little more… less? That's .50 AE bullets you know. I know you're fucking rich but those are still expensive and they would run out sooner than you think." I advised.

"Oh, right. I have a fuck ton of them though. How about a .450 Marlin?"

"No."

".454 Casull?"

"No."

".45-70 government?"

"You also have a Magnum Research BFR?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"What?! Then how about a .460 S&W Magnum?"

"No."

".480 Ruger?"

"No."

".500 S&W Magnum?"

"Fuck no."

".600 Nitro Express?"

"What?! You even have that?! No! Try something like a 9mm or a .45 ACP."

"What?! Those tiny fucking bullets? I'm a man-" I cut him off.

"I use fucking 9mm." I said with an annoyed tone.

"Oh- I didn't mean to hermano I-" I cut him off again.

"I don't know why you're bent on using high caliber rounds but you need to tone down this machismo thing you got going on. Even a .22 could kill anyone as long as you do it right." I said.

He was giving me a pensive expression and he finally decided to switch with his engraved silver Colt 1911.

"Of course… I apologize on his behalf, Mr. Browning..." I thought to myself.

They continued to practice and he let Ilya borrow his gold AK-47. Ilya was cackling laughing the whole time he was using it and even Tatiana declined even if she was a bit excited to try it. I taught them as much as I could not only on pistols given the time frame.

When we got to rifles, I almost lost it when Mr. Cuervo brought out his AR-15 under the table. Kaley was also surprised but it seemed that she wasn't interested.

It was an AR-15 but the upper receiver is different.

More than different.

It was belt-fed. It was using the Fightlite MCR AR Upper.

Not gonna lie, I was ecstatic when I saw it but bringing a fuck ton of linked rounds would be too heavy on the arms if you're waving it around for a time. I saw Mr. Cuervo looking at me, waiting if I would comment on it but his mustache was quivering with excitement.

"What do you think hermano? Manly eh? This 5.56s here is 500 in total!" he proudly lifted it up.

"Well, if you don't want to reload, that's the way to go..." I replied helplessly.

I was already impressed that he pulled out something chambered in 5.56 and not something like a .338 Lapua Magnum or a .50 BMG so I let the matter go this time. Despite the things they need to know more about guns and how to operate them, he could shoot and handle recoil well. Kaley was giving pointers from her own experience to Cynthia and we spent the rest of our time here right until noon. I shot a few rounds myself and I picked up all of the casings littered on the floor after.

Cynthia was about to excuse herself and was about to ask Kaley and Tatiana to accompany her in packing all of her stuff. She already packed her guns here though Mr. Cuervo added a few more to bring with her before she went up. He placed a few more handguns inside her case and brought out several cans of different kinds of ammo for her to bring back to my place. When we were cleaning up, Mr. Cuervo also excused himself so that he could bring his kids and his wife here for lunch. I asked him if I should prepare something but he declined and told me to just wait here because his wife would be cooking.

Ilya and I were the only ones left.

"Hey, you're really letting me stay here?" Ilya asked.

"Yeah, still doubting me after all this time? I already told you it's your choice, right?" I chuckled.

"Nikolas and Alexei don't agree with you." he replied.

"I don't have a better word for this but the president will be handing your team over to me. He got a lot on his hands and the situation about foreign dignitaries is not so good over there. Your whole team would be in my place eventually, even your team leader Artem. Tell me, what's he like?" I said.

"Oh, Artem huh? Well, he's kinda like you in a sense." he replied.

"Really? Well, they said that too when I asked them. Guess I'll be meeting another unicorn." I replied.

"A what? A unicorn?" he was confused.

"It's a metaphor. Unicorns aren't exactly common you see?" I replied.

"Oh. Well, if we're talking about similarities again, let's just say people tend to gather towards him, like you. To be honest, I was sure that I want to stay here with Aurora but now I'm thinking if we should move here or to your own place instead." Ilya looked at me.

"Really? What made your mind waver?" I asked.

"Well, part of me wanted to encounter more of those things and especially those specials you were talking about to not lose my edge while another wanted me to keep Aurora close and safe at all costs. The only thing keeping me here is that Aurora doesn't want to leave her place and I still wanted to kill the people who escaped me before. I also want to be with my team but I need to do what I have to do here first. They couldn't be too far and there's also the chance that Alexander or Kuzma would encounter them and finish the job for me. It's just hard to know if they're still alive or not." Ilya replied.

"We could arrange that in the future but you have your responsibility here for the moment. You need to be here every week and Irene's place should be the meeting point in case Vera managed to find out where they are. Don't worry, I'll ask Irene to change your job description for something proper and I'll hand you a Sat Phone so you could contact us whenever. The land you got here to take care of animals and grow crops is nothing to sneeze at. How much more when you start to expand? That's one of the advantages of being in the provinces. I need you here to make it work and you'll be the bridge to this place, Irene's place, and ours back home. Besides, I'll be leaving you a few goodies before we go back." I said.

"Goodies?" Ilya asked.

"All our winnings. I can't take all of them back, can't I? Besides, I need space for the guinea pigs I'll be buying off your wife. Unlike the prizes we won, I could make those animals multiply indefinitely." I chuckled.

"You're joking." Ilya can't seem to believe me.

"No, I'm Sky." I chuckled but all I received was head shakes.

"But… but that's all yours." he replied.

"Well, I'm giving it to you. One benefit of owning something allows you to give it to someone else. Don't worry, I'll pick a few things that catch my eye and I'll give you the rest, okay?" I said.

"Thanks, coach!" Ilya finally let out a smile and he gave me a handshake.

Time eventually passed and instead of them going down here, we were called up to eat at their dining table. A nice spread was once again presented and the rest of my team including Irene's group was present, for the most part. Jared, Ed, Edd, and Eddy's eyes were still bloodshot and they seemed to have just taken a quick shower to repress their hangover. I saw Mr. Cuervo's kids and they were looking at me with excitement when their dad told them I did something special with the game they like to play.

We eventually finished eating and I brought his kids down to see what I did. They couldn't stop thanking me and their faces were like Mr. Cuervo when I first installed it. Even his wife thanked me for seeing her boys smiling like that.

Mr. Cuervo offered another handshake but it turned into a bro hug. He was smiling and nodding when he was looking at me and we finally bid each other goodbye.

"See you later hermano." Mr. Cuervo said.

"See you later too, hermano." I replied and he chuckled.

We loaded the truck with Cynthia's belongings and another pickup would be coming with us with six of Mr. Cuervo's people that included Enrique. They have guns of their own and their belongings were also there.

"Hey vato! You thought I would die that easy, eh? Hah! I've been through worse ese~! I'll be coming with you! Hahahaha!!!" Enrique exclaimed.

"Hah! No, you won't. Even if you try." Tatiana chuckled.

Enrique was left with a questioning gaze when we drove outside. Irene's truck and our Tacoma were filled to the brim with supplies not to mention the trailer attached to the back of it. The people Mr. Cuervo picked listened to Irene's orders when we reached our place and they were tasked with guarding the perimeter and other miscellaneous work.

The only people pissed when we got back were Nikolas and Alexei.

When Tatiana and Ilya told them the story about where we came from, they couldn't help but shout in regret. They wished that they've defended themselves better from Ilya when a fight occurred at Aurora's house.

We started to unload the truck and Irene can't thank me enough when she learned that I would be only taking a few items from the pile that we won from the games.

The winnings were mostly food items and a few luxury items but the number of guns and medical supply was also nothing to sneeze at. Most of them were hunting rifles, handguns, and shotguns but there were several hundred rounds for different calibers each, and the guns were more than a couple dozen. We even got back my trauma kit and what came back with it was more than double than what I brought.

"So, what would you be taking? You can pick anything, it's all yours for starters." Irene said.

"Nothing much just this bottle." I replied as I pulled out a fancy case.

"You're serious?" Ilya asked.

"Yeah, this thing costs $2250+ you know?" I replied with a smile.

It's the bottle of Jose Cuervo that Enrique mentioned. The 250th-anniversary bottle of Jose Cuervo.