Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Kaley and I went into panic mode and Tatiana realized that she misspoke. She rarely made a mistake and maybe the food that sent her here made her short-circuit. When the three of us looked at Cathy, she was just looking on the ground with a bitter expression. However, Mauricio was wearing a difficult expression. His eyes turned cold the moment he saw Cathy looking down but he took a deep breath and approached her.

"I deeply apologize. It was my fault for speaking without thinking." Tatiana immediately apologized.

"N-No… it's okay… it's been fairly recent since I became l-like this… I'm still getting used to it but I'm doing okay now. I was just surprised, that's all..." Cathy waved her hands, telling Tatiana not to worry about it.

"..." Mauricio was rubbing Cathy's back.

"Excuse me but we have real doctors in my place. I don't know much about… partial blindness from what I think is due to acid burns or what exactly your condition is but it wouldn't hurt to have someone take a look at it. All the facilities in my place are still working and maybe they could figure out a treatment." I decided to offer help.

"Y-You do?!" Cathy was about to cry as she hugged Mauricio tight.

"I couldn't promise anything but if you want, you and Mauricio could come back with us and have you looked at. It would depend mostly on what happened after the accident. Can I get more information? I'm not an expert but it would be better to recall everything that happened so we could take the necessary steps. Did this happen when it hit or before?" I started.

"It happened just a month ago. That bitch splashed her with something. We thought it was just an accident before but it was deliberate considering what happened before. I was away when it happened but I was told she was given first-aid." Mauricio answered.

"That fucking Karen?" I thought to myself.

"Umm- my e-eyes really felt like it was burning and I couldn't open them. I was alone for a while but I just felt a few people dragging me near a faucet and I heard them telling me that they needed to flush my eyes with water. It just hurt a lot but we have no one here to check on me. It took maybe 30 minutes before they stopped with making the water flow on my head then to my eyes. I still couldn't open my e-eyes after that but when I did… I..." Cathy stopped talking as tears fell on the side of her cheeks.

"I see, do you have any idea what kind of substance was splashed on her? Did it come with a bottle at least?" I asked.

"I don't really know. It could be bleach or any other cleaning products lying around this place." Mauricio replied.

"Cathy, could you remember what it smelled like? Does it smell like bleach, ammonia, battery acid, vinegar, fertilizer, or nail polish remover? Something along those lines." I turned to Cathy.

"Umm, I- think it smells like a-acetone? The one in those small white bottles?" Cathy answered.

"Nail polish remover then. Yep, that's the correct word as well." I nodded a few times.

"Nail polish? Hmm..." Mauricio became silent.

"Will there be any difference at all if a different substance is used?" Cathy asked.

"Well, here's a bit of a lesson. There are three types of chemical burns: Alkali, Acid, and Irritant. I could go with the exact measurements but it all boils down to the pH scale. If you're sure that what has been splashed on your eyes was acetone, it could be categorized as an acid burn." I started.

"And an acid burn is? It still sounds as grim as the other two." Mauricio asked.

"It's not as severe as Alkali burns but it is still dangerous. This kind of chemical burn doesn't penetrate easily into the eye. Furth-" then Mauricio interrupted me.

"Doesn't penetrate easily? But this already happened, how is that not as serious as the first one?" Mauricio was wearing a difficult expression.

"Calm down. As Cathy said earlier, she was alone for a while so it meant that the acetone lingered for a time and that's why it caused vision loss. Now, this is where it gets tricky..." I trailed.

"Tricky?" the two looked at me seriously.

"This is the part where I don't know much. It would depend on how much damage was done in your eyes if an eye transplant is still possible." I replied.

"W-Wait… eye transplant?!" everyone exclaimed.

"As we all know, it's not like in the movies where anyone could simply take an eye out and shove it inside a person's eye socket, no. What our doctors could do as of now is more like a corneal transplant. It involves replacing the- well, the damaged cornea, the clear front layer of our eye with a new one from a donor. That is as much as I know from reading random books and shit but-" I was once again interrupted by Mauricio.

"N-No, Mr. Ishiyama that's already enough good news for one day. One more and I'll think I'm dreaming. We'll come with you after we eat with everybody, the food is getting cold." Mauricio gave a bright smile.

"W-Wait- you still have something to do later, right? I could wait for a few more h-hours… I have to prepare us a bag too..." Cathy was already crying.

Then the loud Texan showed up.

"The fuck is everyone crying here?! You cut a sack of onions or some shit? At least have them… them… kid, what the fuck do you call those shit in a bowl where it's soft like a soup?" Oscar's entrance lighted everyone's expression up.

Jared, Lois, and Mikhail came with him and they brought the food we also prepared for ourselves. Everything was placed at their dining table and everyone had a nice meal. They discovered what we talked about earlier and Oscar told them a few reminders.

"It's a particularly safe operation but your eyesight would still be a bit blurry in the early weeks. You could do normal tasks maybe in a month but you should always have a talk with your ophthalmologist. Also..." Oscar explained a few more things.

"..." everyone else besides me.

"What?" Oscar was confused.

"I sometimes forget that you also have medical training… it's different from what combat medics are trained for but still..." Jared chuckled.

"Bah! Fuck all of you! This curry is really~ fucking good. Lemme have another serving!" Oscar bellowed.

It didn't take long before some of the people that Mauricio was waiting for arrived. Not everyone from his list came and some people that were shopowners here also didn't bother to come. Since the number was already adequate, everyone gathered inside his office. It was a little cramped but I was introduced to new people and some people that I remember from coming to this place last time.

I became the representative of my group but the rest of them were just upstairs.

"So, now that everyone was introduced. I would like to start our meeting." Mauricio started. He was giving off a different vibe compared to when we were all with Cathy. The cold eyes weren't present but his presence was almost commanding.

"Can I say something first?" a bald guy named Jason that came from a few barangays over.

"Yes, you may-" Mauricio didn't even finish his sentence when Jason put his feet over the coffee table.

"Mauricio, the fuck are these other people in here? I tho-" Jason was about to talk trash then a woman named Mel wearing soft armor and had short hair interrupted him.

"Jason? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to take care of those fucking chickens in your little coop? Why don't you drop your supplies here so the people with the funds to trade properly could have more space?" Mel scoffed.

"Jesus Christ, can we have a proper meeting and let these two animal fuckers take a hike? It smells like chicken and cow shit over here. Mau, I just sent you the sacks yesterday, right? Are they all done milling? I could grab a few so I could cook some at home." a built guy named Noah was already shaking his head.

"THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME?!" the two 'animal fuckers' according to Noah bellowed.

The other representatives were all sorts of confused or fed up but someone's voice the followed made everyone pipe down.

"People, we're all here to talk about what we could do to help each other but most importantly, what we could do to this place. This place has walls high enough to protect us from the dead and this place was the closest place each one of us could meet face to face. Granted I'm one of the outliers because I came from another province but I came first than all of you fuckers. If you keep on blabbering bullshit like little kids, we wouldn't get anything done." Jessica, a tall woman with a commanding voice spoke out.

"Yes, that's right!"

"Could we please get anything done?"

"Do we have snacks?"

"Fucking glutton."

"Who's that kid next to Mauricio? Is he a soldier? Me likey~"

"Your late-ass wouldn't be able to know. He's one of the top players from what I've heard."

"Well, shit. That kid? First time I've seen him."

It was about to go downhill once more but Jessica slammed the table to get everyone's attention.

"I've talked with Mauricio before, I'm in." Jessica stated.