Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I started shouting Jomarro's name as I briskly walked towards his office. Mike and the other laborers on the other hand were chuckling because I was doing something that Jomarro fucking disliked.

He doesn't want his time eating disrupted by anything, fucking anything.

Kaley and the others with me except Unc Zardon didn't know that particular bit and they were showing confused expressions as to why I was making a ruckus and as to why I was doing it.

"JOMARRO~!!! IT'S YOUR FAVORITE CUSTOMER~!!! JOMARRO~!!!"

It didn't even take a minute before the door to his office busted open and a huge guy with a pot belly, bald head, dirty face, and hands covered in grease came out huffing with veins popping out of his forehead. His shirt was stained with the food he was eating and the side of his shirt had stains because of wiping his greasy hands with it when he decided to do something while eating.

In short, a six-foot slob came out, raging that his meal got interrupted. We locked eyes then his eyes turned bloodshot.

"YOUUUUUUUUU~!!!" Jomarro shouted as he threw the leg he was eating like a tomahawk.

However, I cranked that Soulja Boy and avoided it.

"..." everyone else.

"You're still eating this much you big fucker?! I thought you've slimmed back to XXXL by now!" I shouted after watching his annoyed face.

"THE FUCK DO I CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU SAY?! I'M EATING WITH MY FAMILY YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!" Jomarro pointed his finger at me furiously.

"What?! You got hitched you big fuck?! When?!" I was gobsmacked.

"The fuck are you talking about?! I only have one family! Well, they grew by a few recently!" Jomarro scoffed and the realization hit.

"Kaley!" I quickly turned around and grabbed her hand. Kaley was surprised but I dragged her with me towards Jomarro's office.

"THE FUCK TOLD YOU THAT YOU COULD ENTER?! HUH?!" Jomarro tried to block the door and with his huge body, he could. However, I have already prepared my counterattack.

"KRONOS!!! RHEA!!! I'M HERE!!!" I shouted then dread showed on Jomarro's face.

All of a sudden, a Black Labrador Retriever and a Golden Retriever pushed Jomarro off his door so the two could tackle me down. Their noses were sniffing me while they're giving me endless kisses. I tried to hug them both but they were going wild when they saw me.

"Wha- Are they?!" Kaley's face let out a bright smile as she didn't give a fuck as I fall on my back, getting kissed by two large dogs that looked similarly like Zeus.

"Yes, they are Zeus' parents. Jomarro gave me Zeus when he was still a little pupper- Kronos! Wait! Rhea~ Yeah, yeah, I'll pat your head too! Just let me get up! Kro-" I suddenly met the creatures I wouldn't be able to be violent with.

"Oh~ Hello~!" Kaley crouched down to ruffle their heads and the two didn't mind.

"Hey! Those two are still eating! Tell them to go back here since they won't listen to me when you're here! Rhea needs to feed the little ones too!" Jomarro was scratching his head.

It took a few moments but I guided Kronos and Rhea towards Jomarro's office with Kaley and the rest. The moment we entered, I felt really nostalgic when I saw six little pups silently sleeping in the corner a couple of years ago. I couldn't even explain properly how Kaley looked at this moment.

Rhea excitedly pulled on my clothes so she could let me see her puppies that were only a few weeks old. She started barking at me, telling me to pick one of them up while Kronos was nudging me with his snoot, telling me to do the same thing. I picked one up that had just woken up and was in the process of yawning.

Ignoring the puppy's breath, I held her with my arms and it started to snuggle as Zeus did before when I first picked him up. However, I glanced at Kaley and I almost burst out laughing from the look she was giving me.

"Here you go, you should've told me you wanted to hold her." I chuckled.

Kaley said nothing but she almost melted when it licked her hand and started to sleep.

I turned around and I saw Jomarro eating once more while continuing a movie he was watching on his little DVD player. I shook my head and I let him finish eating first while Tatiana and Mikhail picked up the little puppies as well.

It didn't take long before Kaley tapped me with a desperate look.

"W-We're keeping o-one, right?! Right?! No- I- We're keeping two!" Kaley silently shouted.

"Yeah, of course. I'll trade a couple of Maxims for it." I replied.

"What? Our pistols? Isn't that a little too expensive? Are you sure?" Kaley whispered and the two behind me nodded.

"What? I said 'Maxims', not our 'Maxim 9s' I'd choose a different gun if he wanted a gun for his puppies. I've really taken a liking to our Maxim 9s so I wouldn't trade them even if we need to clean them more thoroughly compared to our other ones." I chuckled then Kaley tilted her head.

We saw Jomarro clearing his table and taking care of the bowls his dogs used. He drank a glass of water and then he sat down on his office chair.

"Okay you little shit, how can we help each other?" Jomarro said while using a toothpick.

"I want a couple of your puppies, a male and a female. I'll take the one on Kaley's arms and the black one on Tatiana's shoulder." I started.

"Sure, the price is a machine gun." Jomarro said without emotion.

"Heh, I have a couple of Maxim magazines with a great centerfold. If you'd also give me the brown one on Mikhail's arms, I'd throw in one in mint condition plus two more from Playboy." I stared back at him seriously.

"Deal." Jomarro immediately shook my hand.

"Wut?" the three behind me were shocked.

"Okay, what else?" Jomarro said as he brought out a little cage for the three to be put inside.

"I want half of the imported rice you have from Thailand. How many do you have? I saw around 400 on a stack over there but I know you have more storage areas around. Elaine's not here too so she's probably in one of them." I replied.

"The fuck? I could only give you 20."

"Mike already said he'd give me 30."

"What?!"

"Then if we combine the two offers, 30 plus 20 is 50. However, 50 is still too little for me."

"THE FUCK IS- HOLD THE FUCK UP!!!"

"But I want 100 initially but I'm a generous man so let's meet in the middle. Let's go with 75, okay?"

"THIS IS NOT THE PUPPIES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT!!! D'YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THEY'RE WORTH NOW?! IT'S TEN TIMES COMPARED TO BEFORE AND ALL OF OUR MONEY'S FUCKING WORTHLESS RIGHT NOW!!!"

"You take a card?"

"WHAT?!"

"You said you don't take cash, how about a check? I could write you one? I'll give a generous tip too."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Why do I feel like I've seen this scene before..." Tatiana trailed helplessly.

"Me too..." Kaley had the same expression.

"Shh… be quiet… this show's funny..." Mikhail whispered.

"There they go again, heh." Unc Zardon chuckled.

"The world ended and they're still the same when doing business..." Mike said.

"THE FUCK YOU LITTLE SHIT HOW THE FUCK DID WE REACH 300?! WE'RE ONLY TALKING ABOUT 75!!!" Jomarro roared.

"What do you mean? We agreed with 75% of them, right? You have 400 sacks, and 75% is equals to 300 sacks, deal? Just throw in the rest with Japanese rice or Vietnam rice and I'm good." I said innocently.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME KID, I'M NOT JOKING AROUND ANYMORE!!!"

"I'm serious as well. Mike said that if I have the right items, I could trade for anything."

"Cheh, you're right about that but I still haven't seen what you could give me."

"You're still doubting me, after all these years?"

"Heh, I only trust money, kid." Jomarro scoffed.

"Didn't you say that money's worthless earlier? Does that mean you trust no one now?"

"That's the way to go now, right? Well, aside from Mike, Elaine, and my other fucking workers. Shit, I don't trust those soldiers that came through this place when it hit. I've never been home and I was lucky Kronos and Rhea were here. It hurts me to say this but I don't think I would be able to go home and fetch them by myself." Jomarro's face turned solemn.

"About our deal..." I trailed.

"CAN'T YOU JUST FUCKING LAY OFF WITH THAT SHIT YOUR DAD ALWAYS DOES?!"

"No, I'm serious this time. Here's the deal I think we should both agree to immediately." my face turned serious.

"What? This better be good or I'll kick you out my store!" Jomarro pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"How long do you think this Intercity could last?" I started.

"..." Jomarro was silent.

"A year? A couple? Maybe five? What do you think?"

"What are you getting into? Trying to scare me, kid?"

"Not exactly but I'm giving you the facts. This place is only secure as long as you have those thousands of stacks in your store. The moment those are gone, it would be a different ballgame. What I'm proposing to you is to close this store and place all of your stuff inside your trucks." I replied.

"Are you telling me to fucking bug-out? Where the fuck would I even go? Did you forget I have dogs and I have people? This place is fucking secure and even if I don't trust those soldiers, they're keeping the order here while all the owners provide them food. It's really simple but it's working for us and the others." Jomarro said with a frown.

"Quite the opposite actually, you're bugging in." I chuckled.

"What?" Jomarro was confused.

"You're taking everyone and everything you own to my place. It's safer there, you'd get to see Zeus too. My offer you declined before still stands." I replied with a smile.