Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

After I said Parallax, the four were still staring at me blankly or with a smile saying that they didn't understand anything.

"O-Ok… Parallax… what is it?" Olivia asked, fidgeting.

"I told you guys we should do it in the actual class, heh. Well, let's just say that you four got a little~ heads-up compared to everybody that will be joining in the future. To put it simply, it is a phenomenon when the target and the reticle are on the different planes within the scope. You'll notice it if we start looking at targets at long range and the reticle starts to move away from the target you're aiming at."

"Then what do we need to do?" Chris asked.

"Well, we'll need to make some adjustments so it wouldn't happen. I guess we'll be doing two more things instead of one to be completely done. Well, it depends if you want to go through with the second adjustment." I replied.

"Y-Yes… I mean… how?" Chris almost hit his head on the table from not asking specifically.

"Hey! You said we need to do one final thing! Why did it suddenly become two?!" Olivia pouted.

"Heh, gotcha didn't I?!" I chuckled.

"..." everyone else.

"What we need to do first is adjust the reticle for our eyes specifically. Remember what the Ocular Bell is?" I started.

"It's the one at the back!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Hah! Five points for Hufflepuff! Hahaha, you don't need to shout but I like the enthusiasm." I said then Olivia blushed from embarrassment.

"I got excited! What do you want me to do?!" her embarrassment was shortlived as she started shouting lively.

"Anyway, listen up. There's a locking ring after it and what I want you all to do is to turn it all the way to the other side. After that, get behind your rifle again and look at the reticle." I instructed them as I made their rifles face the white wall.

"Okay, then what?" Rin asked.

"Close your eyes again and turn the ocular bell twice and look at the reticle again. If it is, turn it a couple more times until it doesn't get clearer. What I need you to do after that is to turn it back on the clearest one and instead of turning it a couple of times, do minute adjustments until it's crisp. Once it is, that means you've adjusted the reticle for your eyes specifically." I explained and they started doing what I said.

"Okay, I think I'm good. What's the last one?" Cynthia asked.

"Well the last one is pretty easy, it's adjusting the knob on the left side of your scopes. It's the adjustment for the parallax and you could mess with it in the future on targets from varying distances. It's the same thing with the first thing I told you to do but this time, set it to infinity first. Keep adjusting it until the reticle is clear and the reticle doesn't move off target even if you move your eye around a bit while looking through the scope. It's just an easy way to adjust it but once you practice with it a lot, you'll know how much to turn the knob without putting it into infinity first." I concluded.

"So, we're ready to shoot with it now?" Olivia asked.

"Technically, yes." I replied.

"What?! There's more?!" Olivia was starting to get overwhelmed.

"You could shoot it right now but learning to shoot far is more than just configuring your rifle for yourself. Like our normal classes, we need to learn the fundamentals, understand what is MOA and Mils, study shooting positions, sighting the rifle, wind estimation and compensation, shooting angles, and so much more. There's a lot to learn but if you're really willing to, these things would just pass by like a breeze and you'll just find yourself shooting 800 yards like it's nothing." I explained then the look on their faces told me that they had enough for today.

"Heh, if you're looking like that, let's continue cleaning the guns and help Kaley and Tatiana. Remember, it's complicated but it's not that hard. We don't know, you might be able to hit farther than what I did before." I chuckled as I sat down next to Kaley. I put my gloves on and I continued cleaning the gun I left on the table.

"Could we really do that?" Chris asked.

"You won't know if you'll stop in the beginning, right? I'm gonna be honest and it would take time to reach my level but we wouldn't be always shooting targets that far. However, if we needed to, we would be able to. Shooting at the range of 800-1200 meters is already fucking good so set that as your goal in the meantime." I replied.

The four were looking at me solemnly but it soon turned into a faint smile. They took their seats and they started from where they've left off after tidying up the rifles they configured.

"I want them all to get good but my best bet is on Rin. She's finicky like me and that helped me a lot in my experience. Hmm, Olivia might take from Kaley and Matthew too, we'll never know." I thought to myself.

Time passed quickly and my armory got even crowded when Jared and Lois returned from clearing PNHS. Lois came in looking for Olivia while Jared came with Alex.

"Bro, what's with the rifles here? Oh! You've already taught them how to configure it eh? I guess I'll drop by on your class to flex a bit. Alex, want to try long shooting? It's kinda boring at first but the moment you hit far targets, it's fucking awesome." Jared looked back at Alex.

"Sure, where do I need to start? Dad wanted me to use his shotgun but I want to use a rifle as well." Alex replied and I even high-fived her.

"Good, I like you already. Dude, let her use your old M70." I said to Jared.

"Oh, it's in my house. Let me get it for a sec. Wait here, I won't be long." Jared said as he sprinted downstairs.

The moment Jared ran down, the girls started teasing Alex.

"It all worked out in the end, huh?" Kaley chuckled.

"Told you." Tatiana added.

Instead of getting embarrassed and shrinking down, Alex just smiled brightly and we started conversing with one another. She also offered her help to clean the guns the same with Lois when he saw Olivia cleaning a few pistols.

"You guys cleared it?" I asked Lois.

"Yep, there's not much inside because of the times we went back to that path from towing the vehicles on the bridge. It took longer to scout the place compared to clearing it fully. A few soldiers from the DDR Camp are now camped inside after locking the gates." Lois reported.

"How many?" I asked.

"About a dozen? Oh yeah, Oscar asked Lawrence to stay in that place for now so someone could be watching from up above. We left them supplies and Oscar said we'll decide who'll go and live in that outpost tomorrow. Kaley's mom said it would be better to ask for volunteers first." Lois replied.

"I see, that's good. Thanks." I replied.

Jared came back after a few moments carrying the case where his M70 was placed. When he handed it to her, it was fucking perfect. No adjustments were needed to be done. However, the four I taught earlier was looking at Alex like they wanted to kill her.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?" Alex asked, confused.

"Do you know that we spent a lot of time to configure ours?!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Hah! I remember the first time I configured mine. It was fucking hell I tell ya." Jared was laughing.

"Yeah! I'm still fuzzy from it and I just fo-" I interrupted Chris.

"What did you say?" I said with a devilish look.

"I'm still… fuzzy?" Chris was sweating bullets.

"Okay, to learn something quicker, what do we need to do?" I asked everyone.

"Oh no..." Olivia and Cynthia felt dread.

"C'mon! It's a question easy enough to answer!" I was grinning.

"Repetition." Kaley answered, chuckling.

"You too, Alex. Grab a wrench and disassemble Jared's M70. The four already configured theirs earlier so they'll be able to teach you how to do it so it wouldn't be 'fuzzy' anymore." I said then the three glared at Chris.

"I'm sorry!" Chris exclaimed.

Jared was now the one overlooking over them while they repeated the same process without my help. I discovered that Jared was letting them commit mistakes and would tell them after they're done. It was not a fun process for the five but it's effective to drill in their heads the correct process to mount the scopes.

Cynthia and Rin were the ones to finish correctly so they continued to help us with cleaning the guns.

Alex, Chris, and Olivia finished soon but Olivia removed the scope from her rifle again. Everyone inside was surprised but I was already hiding a smile when she said that she wanted to try again without supervision. It didn't take long before Chris followed her and even Charlotte and Lois were dragged with them. Rin wanted to do the same but she chose to help us with cleaning the guns like Cynthia, Alex, and Jared.

We eventually finished everything we needed to do and seeing every gun without a speck of dirt or grime made me smile.

We tidied up all the tools we used and we went down with everyone. We ate dinner and the meeting followed soon after.

The report Oscar gave me was the same as Lois said to me earlier. Most of what was discussed in the meeting was the number of people and equipment we would be sending to our new outpost. It was easily decided and a good mix of people will be sent there along with the volunteers.

The new outpost was closer compared to my old high school so a fair number volunteered. However, some of the volunteers only volunteered their time in the morning to help but they requested to still be picked up before sunset.

We reached a compromise and we decided on the schedule for some of them but we will hand a few bonuses on the ones that would stay permanently by means of comfort and safety. It got confrontational last time so we decided to do something which was a little different. Surprisingly, more decided to volunteer though we would balance it out with soldiers.

On Vera's task of making contact with the Intercity, it was easily done and a meeting was set for tomorrow. We would be bringing guns, ammo, and a few luxury items to exchange for sacks and sacks of rice.

The usual items were discussed and we finally ended the meeting.

A couple of hours passed by doing my daily workout and I entered my room fresh from the shower. Kaley and the rest followed behind me and we decided to smash, literally.

They were about to give me another 'present' but they were the ones who were surprised when I pulled out a device and plugged it on my TV. I placed an old cartridge from 1999 to that device and their expressions were priceless when I handed them the controllers.

The device was my old Nintendo 64.