Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

An item, let's just say a bottle of water could be valued differently by different people. It could be worthless to someone that owns a freshwater lake or worth its weight in gold to someone dying of dehydration.

Trading items with people could be a whole lot easier and the returns could be greater if you have the right kind of item to trade with. However, there were some cases when there was an item being traded that both of you had more or less of equal worth to the item being traded with.

That was when negotiations start. Which I fuckin hate if I do it with the wrong people or for lack of a better term, dumbasses.

Some merchants are extremely shrewd when it comes to negotiations. A negotiation could take time and it would always eat away at your patience more so if you were negotiating with someone we identified as a dumbass. Having a few years of experience dealing with different kinds of people made me able to identify someone that wanted a fair trade or wanted to have a bigger slice of the cake.

However, that shouldn't be taken literally.

In reality, a 'fair' trade was the most unusual thing. It was almost the same as a good trade but it was slightly different.

A 'good' trade meant that after the negotiations are over, both parties should be contented with the outcome, could walk away happy, and possibly made a new friend, which could mean more business opportunities in the future. I discovered that it didn't matter how much someone paid for an item but what mattered was that person was happy paying this much for the item that they wanted. The same thing would apply if the roles were reversed.

A 'fair' trade was like, "Eh~ that's okay, I guess."

A 'bad' trade on the other hand was something like trading in several games in mint condition in GameHalt but only receiving a few cents plus maybe a store credit in return.

This was one of the reasons that people should communicate better with one another while not being a dumbass.

From my brief talk with Mauricio, we traded information about the things that we wanted from each other. We both got what we wanted as we shook hands to seal the deal. However, he was surprised when I only took the free Colt Python with the several guns and cartridges that he had a fewer number of. I traded them with the guns he had a lot of bullets on hand and he decided to lessen the price of some of the items we traded.

Mauricio didn't voice his opinion but his expression revealed what he was thinking.

"You're not the only shop here, right?" I chuckled.

"Oh, that is true. Well, in any case, I have a lot of sacks of rice fresh from the mill. If I could interest you with them?" Mauricio let out a faint smile.

"That sounds great but I'm looking for imported ones. You know, for their shelf-life." I replied, smiling.

"Hahaha, can't fool a like-minded person eh? I also have them on lockdown myself. It's all in storage and all my people are eating are the freshly milled ones 'cause you know, shelf-life." Mauricio added.

"He seemed really different the last time I was here..." I thought to myself.

"Hah! The fucking key to rationing food is rotation you dumb fucks. Anyone would lose their head if all that's left is those hard ones. I like them in fried rice but fucking eating them steamed like you guys cook is hard on my teeth." Oscar cackled.

"Ah, that is true." Mauricio nodded a few times.

"Anyway, I'll send the 8-wheeler here to bring the items I promised. We'd just take a look around the other shops for anything we might find." I added.

"I see. My wife and I are cooking lunch for my people and adding in a few more wouldn't hurt. If your group could come, I would like to invite you all for a simple meal. I'd like to get to know my future business partners." Mauricio said with a smile.

My group then turned to me.

"You know what, my wife and I could cook a fair bit as well. Why don't we help you?" I offered help to see what his 'new' wife was in person. Kaley was too late to react when a round of teasing came.

"That's a great idea, come. I think she's still preparing the ingredients. We have a few helpers but it's better to always taste them before serving, right?" Mauricio gave a smile.

"Yes, we should always do that. Tatiana, you're in charge of Oscar. If he gets near any car part and starts offering prices for another V8, tie him up inside his SUV, okay?" I looked back at my group though Oscar started losing it. I briefly had eye contact with Jared and Lois and they know what to do while Kaley and I were away.

We were then invited inside his office and the initial area was the place where most deals were done with customers. He guided us to the 2nd floor and Kaley and I were surprised at what we witnessed.

It was like a small home.

There was a small couch in the living room and there were a few closed doors to the side. Classical music was playing on their CD Radio and our eyes slowly shifted to the kitchen area where a lady was peeling potatoes with two other helpers.

"Must be her." I thought to myself.

She was wearing simple clothes with an apron and her hair was parted in the middle. She had a petite figure but she looked a few years younger compared to Mauricio. She seemed to be in her early 40s but what caught my attention was how she was peeling the potatoes themselves.

"Wait..." I focused on her eyes and on her hands.

"Maui?" the lady spoke as she turned her head towards us. She had a very high and sweet voice.

"Yes, it's me." Mauricio smiled.

"You brought soldiers? Wait… they're kinda different..." the lady tilted her head and we saw her troubled gaze.

"Acid burns..." I thought to myself.

Mauricio saw our solemn expressions but he didn't address it. He walked towards her before introducing us.

"Cathy, they're our new friends- wait, let me say business partner just to be a little safe. Could you two come a little closer so she could see you two?" Mauricio waved us over.

Cathy took our hands and we let her slowly caress our faces.

"So you're Sky and she's Kaley, nice to meet you two. Maui called me Cathy but my real name's Catherine. He must be getting revenge on me for giving him his own nickname, hahaha..." Cathy chuckled.

"Is that so… what are you cooking then? From the looks of the ingredients, beef curry with carrots and potatoes? There's a lot of spices here so… Well, we offered our help because we just closed a great deal." I laid down my rifle and Kaley did as well.

"Oh! That's great, could you please check if I peeled them all off? As you can see, it's a little hard for me… I'll taste the sauce here if it needs a little more spices." Cathy gave a bright smile as she let us help her.

"Cathy I forgot to tell you, we'd be cooking for a few more people, not just them." Mauricio reminded her.

"How many?" Cathy tilted her head.

"We are a few dozen but I think six more including us would be okay since we also brought some food." I replied.

"Oh, that's okay then. I still haven't put in the beef in the pressure cooker." Cathy gave another smile.

Mauricio handed us our aprons as he put one himself. We wore them over our vests and we washed our hands first. We helped them cook and the flavors she produced with the spices were mouth-watering. The aroma itself was intoxicating and I couldn't help but taste it even before it was fully cooked.

"This is really good. You placed..." I started reciting every ingredient I tasted.

"Wow… you said them all. That's my great-great grandma's recipe… she had a cookbook she made herself and it was always passed on to later generations. I'm glad you liked it..." Cathy was melancholic.

"Oh~ something like an inheritance then?" Kaley chimed.

"Yes, it's all in that little chest over there. They're really old and yellow so please be gentle with them." Cathy commented.

I made sure that my hands were clean and dry before I even attempted to open the wooden box open. There were easily a few dozen recipes available and I burned them inside my head. However, I still wanted to taste it firsthand because even if you have the right ingredients and you know the procedures, it could vary from person to person.

It took us a while before we finished cooking.

"Let's eat! Oh, what happened to your eyes?" Tatiana suddenly popped out from nowhere.