Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Oscar began to speak and what he told me was that the owners of Angelica and J & E wanted a partnership but they do not want to move to our place.

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"How do they plan to make it work then? It's great and all that they were the ones to approach us for help but them staying here is a problem for them, not for us."

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"Emily from J & E would like our guns in exchange for their rice and a few things."

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"Few things? Like what?"

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"It's her parents. They're really old and she wants them to have a nice place to stay before... you know… They have beds in their office and whatnot but it's not exactly what we call comfortable, right? I'm thinking we could let them occupy a private room in the hospital so they would be taken care of by the medical staff we have back home."

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"Yeah, I was told that Earnest was doing a great job taking care of the elderly back home. Well, the others are doing great as well but he seems to be the favorite."

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"Heh, your little friend's like a kid when he shaves, that's why. He lost some weight but his cheeks stayed the same. The elderly likes to pinch them and he would always tell me they were doing it constantly while he's present. Anyway, I've already called back home to let them know we'll be coming back tomorrow. Let's make sure we're going home tomorrow and not like the excursions you do when you leave, okay?"

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"Heh, as long as nothing too serious happens. Hey, don't forget to tell me about what Angelica proposed. We only talked about J & E, remember?"

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"Fucking shit, I almost forgot. Angelica's proposal is a little different. She wanted to be a broker or middle-man of some sort. She knows that we drove for a few hours just to reach this place and we visited each store to check on their goods."

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"Let me guess, she wanted to give us information regarding the other stores while we give her the information on what we would be bringing each time we get here? I'm also guessing she'd get a small cut each time she does the work for us so she'd get supplies not just for trading her products but for the service she's providing as well."

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"Motherfucker, why don't I just let you figure out everything on your own eh? Well yeah, that's the gist of it. So, what do you think about it?"

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"It's a great idea if we wanted to save time. I'll discuss a bit more about her terms when I get back but I wanted to know about the items you secured for us. You started trading for other items, right?"

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"Hehehehe~"

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"The fuck was with that laugh? How many people did you hoodwink this time?"

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"Hah! It's called finessing I tell ya, like what you always call it. It's their fault they fell victim to my silver tongue. Well, truth be told, I'm not as knowledgable about rice as you but I know guns a fair bit compared to the others here know next to nothing. Those guns you polished sold like fucking hotcakes even if the bullets are fucking steel-cased. Bringing a few of them helped a lot because they taught that was all we had to trade."

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"Oh yeah? Tell me what you got from them."

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"This is gonna make you fucking excited. I got a fucking~ lot of brass casings for 5.56s and 9mms and the rest were assorted casings. I showed them one of the ingots your uncle melted before so they thought we have a blacksmith or something. The immediate metal scrap they have in the vicinity were those brass casings so a frenzy almost happened when they started picking them all up. Well, not all of them were brass casings but if we sort through all the scrap metal, we'll find more casings. I can't just say we make bullets, right kid?"

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"Yeah, that's good. If we're out of space on the truck, we could leave the other scraps on Jomarro's store temporarily. That's all you got?"

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"Of course not! A few shoppers discovered we're trading anything useful for guns so I received a number of offers for them. I got a few dozen chickens, eggs, and feed from one other guy and he said he'll be back tomorrow to trade for more. He said he'll bring more so I'm guessing he's in a poultry farm or something. Another guy came up with several car batteries that are brand new so I traded him a shotty with a few power tools we have extra. He gave also gave me a new set of tires so I handed him a few rounds."

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"Wait a sec, how about the medical supplies we brought for trade? You didn't forget about them, right?"

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"Yeah, I got loose rounds for antibiotics, bandages, alcohol, and vitamins but the thing that got swarmed was the comforters, pillows, hammocks, and the folding beds. I think they're good on medical supplies because there's still a lot remaining compared to the guns and items for comfort. Shit, I'm kinda sleepy now so see for yourself tomorrow what we have left and what we got. Lois wrote a few items he wanted to get but I told him to wait for you tomorrow."

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"Okay old man, see you tomorrow."

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We ended the call then I asked Kaley to come with me to do rounds around the house.

Aside from the windows and doors boarded with wooden planks, we also covered them with dark fabric so that any sort of light coming out would be reduced to the minimum or none at all. Besides, unless the ones trying to peek inside were in a much-elevated position, they wouldn't be able to see anything.

We found out that Jomarro and Jared were at the roof casually chatting about their rifles while Tatiana and Mikhail were on the first floor, having a snack, lighted by a hooded lantern. They were eating potato chips and each bite they made would scrunch, slightly distorting the quietness of the night.

Tatiana saw us and she offered us a bite while slightly grinning.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Kaley asked while taking a piece.

"The two of us were just talking about something fun." Tatiana replied as she ate a mouthful.

"Fun? Let's hear it." I was curious.

"Well boss, truth be told, this thing would last a few years at the minimum, right?" Mikhail said.

"Unless something like a miracle happens or everyone dies, it would." I replied.

"Stop being so morbid!" Kaley elbowed me as she sat down next to Tatiana.

"I'm not! I'm just stating every possible scenario!" I chuckled as I laid my head on her lap. Kaley started to caress my hair then Tatiana spoke up.

"Hmm, we were talking about making this country our permanent address if this thing would take longer than it should. Even if it's over and all and everything is back to normal, I'm thinking of staying here permanently." Tatiana said.

"Are you serious?! That's great!" Kaley was ecstatic.

"Are you on the same boat Mikhail?" I asked.

"I want to stay here as well but hopefully my brother Nikolas would have the same idea. We really don't have anything back home aside from ourselves so staying here where it feels 'warm' is a great idea." Mikhail replied.

"That's great, what do you think you two would be doing if you're not allowed to be soldiers for example?" Kaley said, leaning to Tatiana's shoulder slightly.

"Ohoh! This was something we always talk about! In my case, I could be either a PE Teacher or a mechanic. I'm naturally strong so I want to be able to teach others when they're still young that there are other ways to achieve strength. I just added the mechanic because I'm really fascinated by the in and outs of a vehicle. That's me, getting an answer from her is impossible though." Mikhail chuckled, looking at Tatiana.

"Me? It's just that I wouldn't want anything to be different. I really wanted to be a soldier from the get-go. Well, if I could be a high-ranking officer, that would be better, correct?" Tatiana said.

"Just think about something else for fun! Being a high-ranking officer doesn't count! I think that's not a good answer if we're talking about hypotheticals! It should not be related to what your job used to be." Kaley nudged Tatiana multiple times and she got annoyed.

"Then what do you want to be then?! You keep on pressing me for answers but you haven't given one yourself!" Tatiana lightly returned Kaley's elbows.

"Me? Hmm… I really wanted to be a professional dancer when I was little and it just ended up as a hobby. Other than that, I kinda like to know a bit of everything now like Sky. How about you?" Kaley smiled at me.

"Heh, I used to sell rice while being a prepper so if I'm not allowed to do any of those I'd want to be something I haven't touched on much. Well, a scientist could be fun?" I answered.

"Oh~ that would suit you. What would you want to figure out first if you were one then? Aside from the cure because it's obvious." Kaley asked.

I was deep in thought but I had an idea. I said, "Oh! That's easy. I have a lot of things I want to figure out but I want to make Zeus live forever or longer than normal."

The room was silent for a moment but Kaley suddenly hammered her fist on my chest. It wasn't hard but it was enough to make me cough a few times.

"You!" Kaley was about to cry.

"What? Everyone wanted that! Even that guy from Florida kidnapped a scientist to make his dog live forever! Well, he didn't succeed but I bet everyone wanted the same! I would've kidnapped a scientist too if they could do it!" I retorted, chuckling.