Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I was really happy that Zeus was able to remember all of the tricks I've been trying to teach him. As much as possible, I would like to be able to get him to recognize my cues even if I was not able to train him every day. Well, now that we have more guardians by our side, I would like it if they could be trained as well.

There may be a time that I would need his help outside so it would be better to get him ready for anything that might come.

"Good thing Jomarro is here with us now." I thought to myself.

The man finally noticed me as well and he approached me.

"Shit, I didn't think the place you have reclaimed would be this big. You're also in command with the DDR Camp here? If I didn't think you were overconfident that time, I would've already moved here when you first told me of this shit happening. Anyway, I think my dogs love this place as well so I guess I'm staying here for the long run." Jomarro said to me.

"Hmm, that's good to hear. Did you find a place to stay yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, I looked around and figured I'll stay right next to the house where this Jay? I don't know, I couldn't make out the name entirely but he owned this Boxer named Dozer. It's pretty quiet there too and I picked a normal house with a little backyard." Jomarro replied, petting Zeus that was not leaving my side.

"That place? I for sure thought you'd pick the biggest house. The Pineda Residence right after the Elementary school is the biggest one in here." I suggested.

"Hah! Fuck that place. I won't live where those creepy eye zombies used to live at. I almost picked that place but the people here told me the story. The rest of my workers could live anywhere I want because I'd officially retire being a rice dealer today. I'd do a few things around here but I'd leave that part of my life in the past. I might work with that Derek guy or something… Wait- well not until we've hauled everything I owned in the Intercity obviously..." Jomarro stretched his arms around.

"Just make up your mind, will you?" I chuckled.

Kaley excused herself because she wanted to talk to her mom for a bit so I came to my room by myself. I laid my weapons inside the armory before I just sat down in my chair while looking at the ceiling.

"Things have been more or less going in the right direction..." I thought to myself as I picked up my Sat Phone.

I dialed a certain number but even after several tries, no one was still picking up.

"A lot less in this matter though… I just thought… Just be alive even if you all weren't here… That's all that matters..." I was wearing a frustrated look but I took a deep breath to calm myself.

I threw myself in the bed and I decided to take a short nap. I just woke up when I felt a presence in my feet and it was just Kaley trying to untie my shoes. She saw me notice her and she just gave me a caring smile. She already changed clothes though she decided to claim my hoodie for herself.

"You're tired, aren't you? You rarely fall asleep with your gear on." Kaley said as she pulled my right shoe.

"A little, yes. Thank you." I replied as I started to remove my gloves.

"I already picked clothes for you to change into. The food is almost ready too so we should go down soon." Kaley said as she pulled the other shoe off.

However, I saw Kaley jumping up in the air and it was too late to react. I was in mid-sentence when she landed.

"Okay, I'll- GACHK!!! Kaley?! The fuck?!" I coughed air as Kaley jumped to body slam me.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! I just felt like doing it, sorry~ Ow~ I shouldn't have done that, I think I landed on your elbow…"

"You want to go this route, eh?"

"Hmm?"

"Counter-attack!!!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! NO~ It tickles!!! STOP~!!!" Kaley gave me a hug right after she landed on me but I started to blow raspberries on her neck.

Kaley was trying to get out of my grasp but I rolled her over and held her in place. She tried to fight back but I was overpowering her. It only took a short while before we stopped though I continued to hug her while our faces were close to each other. We could feel each other's breaths and I felt warm while in her embrace.

"Hey… Sky… We should..." Kaley whispered.

"Five more minutes..." I grumbled, half-joking.

"Hmm, let's make it ten minutes. Five minutes is too short." Kaley chuckled as she hugged me even tighter.

The allotted time we gave each other was not followed because we both unknowingly took a nap. We were just woken up by Tatiana, Rin, and Cynthia after more than half an hour. I quickly grabbed my change of clothes so we could eat dinner.

We eventually went down while the food was being placed on the tables.

Aunt Sharon and the rest prepared a vegetable soup with a clear stock paired with fried patties mostly made with mashed beans. Flour, eggs, and bread crumbs were added for the beans to take shape and they made different dipping sauces that were sweet, sour, or spicy. Our cooked rice today was soft and fragrant because we were trying to use them first because they would go bad earlier than the long-grained rice from imports.

I looked at Jomarro and he seemed to be enjoying the food that was prepared.

"He sure does eat a lot and it's great that he wasn't a picky eater. We'll get him in his old body soon enough. I guess I'll give him to Mikhail later. He'll definitely hate me for starting him on his path this early." I thought to myself.

I started the meeting and I officially introduced Jomarro to the rest of my group. Well, I didn't forget about Kronos, Rhea, and their puppies but they didn't need to be introduced again because their presence was immediately known when they arrived.

As our meetings go, we report everything to the dot, and any problems were discussed and tackled by everyone.

"Kid, until that Mauricio guy asks for you, I think I'll handle the trips for the rest of Jomarro's rice in the Intercity. It's stupid for us two to be on the same team. I know you'll miss me but it's for the better. You have more things on your plate than mine so I'll handle this stuff. You still haven't made progress on the notebooks, right?" Oscar said after I finished my report.

"I actually made a little headway but the ones easily deciphered were the ones where their inventory was listed and the list of deliveries made and by which people who did the said deliveries. However, on the ones where his handwriting was a little bit better, I think I have an inkling of what it is." I replied.

"Hmm? When did you have the time to do that?" Oscar asked.

"Heh, you'll sometimes notice me just staring in the distance, right? My head runs nonstop and let's just say in those times, I'm on my mind palace." I shrugged my shoulders, chuckling.

"Wait, what did you have an inkling on?" Johnny chimed.

"When the mass was happening before, I noticed that their cult leader changed everything from that book to his own version. I have a few more notebooks to go through that needs a closer inspection but it's only a matter of time to figure out everything out." I replied.

The next item that was discussed in our meeting was the assessment of the newcomers.

In random periods, a lone individual, a family, or a group would stumble across our home base. The first thing they needed to do to be allowed entry was to surrender all of their weapons and have all their luggage searched thoroughly at the gate. After that, we let them fill out a form and get all of their information from that or from IDs they still might have on their person.

We then run them through our database for any matches and see if they have existing records for crimes committed against this country and its people.

Regardless of the result, we would give them temporary residence after having a talk with Kaley's mom, Marisha, with several armed guards and Matthew. People would definitely undergo changes in their psyche and it would be dangerous if we let a serial killer inside. This process was not 100% reliable because people could make mistakes but so far, Marisha's judgment was always spot on.

If Marisha deemed one unfit for this place, I would trust her judgment and act on it depending on the person. We have rarely let go of people because the ones that set alarms on Marisha's head and were considered highly dangerous were immediately taken care of. This assessment would take days depending on the person and they would still need to be with close supervision from the soldiers.

It was a dangerous job but having everyone armed served as a deterrent for anyone to even try their funny business.

This time, I was looking at the approval form of Gemma and Joseph for their assessment. They were part of the group who tried to rob and kill us before but they decided to come back with us when I decided to spare them with a few others. We discovered that they were just being manipulated by their crooked leader and even when I told them that their freedom would be severely restricted if they come back with us, they still agreed with the harsh conditions.

"You sure about this?" I looked at Marisha after scanning through the form.

Marisha nodded so I signed the form and gave it back to her.

"You're doubting my wife, kid?" Matthew scoffed.

"Heh. She married you, that's why I have my reservations." I jabbed back, trying to tick him off.

"THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME?!" Matthew exploded while Marisha was dying laughing.

Then chaos almost ensued.

I suddenly had another body guard aside from Tatiana just because I gave him his favorite gun. Giving Mikhail a PKM worked wonders for me because it was like I finished a quest that would increase his favorability towards me straight to the max level.

Tatiana was strong herself but Mikhail was on a whole other league if we were comparing muscle strength alone.

When Matthew stood up, Mikhail just held Matthew's shoulders and he easily sat him back down like a puppy.

"Mr. Matthew, please calm down. We're all friends here, aren't we?" Mikhail said with a smile.