Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The surroundings had never been so quiet when we witnessed a corpse with half of its head missing, continuing to move a few feet, then plopping dead where what it should have done the moment I lopped its head off, not when it reached the pile of the dead that did the same thing.

The first one to move was Oscar and he decided to pull on its shirt before throwing it back a few feet. A few had the same idea with the other corpses as they also lifted them up and threw it back to see what would happen next. Mikhail even threw a few that walked past the pile just so we would have more of a comparison.

Everyone was observing the rotting corpses to see what hey would do but after a full five minutes, after they took a step back, we were essentially click baited. It was a good idea to try it but this time, it just added more to our confusion. However even if it wasn't the one to answer our questions, by process of elimination, we would eventually discover it if we try all the options.

"What the fuck is going on..."

"It should've worked, right?"

"Can we try..."

"Wait."

"A few more are incoming, wait a sec."

I was still thinking of other things to do when I heard a few people muttering. There was another batch of the dead incoming and we were on a guessing game to figure out which one would plop right at their favorite spot.

However, I drew my Taurus TX22 and I started punching holes in the heads of the ones that were coming. I had all the time in the world so my shots always reached the small spot right between their eyes. The deadheads that we deemed the normal ones immediately dropped lifelessly but the ones we were waiting for continued moving.

My head was itching, the same with everyone else, trying to figure out their behavioral patterns so I took another step forward. I was gripping my katana once more but I kicked one back to see what it would do first. Its body offered little to no resistance as it tumbled down but it slowly stood up to head in the same direction.

It was moving ever so slowly when I decided to let it pass through. To my surprise, the first one I encountered never went for me and was actually heading in a set direction. I signaled my group to be ready just in case it does something else as I went for something that might give me a clue.

It was the part of the head I lopped off from the first one. I only paid heed to it in case I might step on it accidentally but I need to gather any other information that I could. It seemed that all of them were hell-bent on forming a pile so I literally went to take a look at what was inside its head.

I flipped it over using the tip of my katana and the remaining black goop just spilled out.

"Wait a sec..." I trailed as I searched for the rest of its body.

My group was watching me curiously as I shone a flashlight on the body which belonged to the head I flipped over. My brows scrunched even more as I recalled everything that happened when I lopped half of its head off.

Blood would always follow the path my blade passed but something vital was missing from this corpse.

It explained a few things but it fucking raised a lot more fucking questions.

"The ones on the pile… crack their heads open..." I said loud enough for everyone to hear.

They threw curious glances once more but Mikhail's fire axe was one of the weapons suited for the job. He positioned himself properly and started swinging down on the heads one after the other. I let them discover what I found by themselves because I wanted to hear their own ideas.

I failed to notice beforehand because I needed to apply force just to pierce their skulls. If I thrust it slowly, I would've just nicked their skin and did nothing significant.

While he was doing that, I faced the area where the rest of them were coming from. As Ferdinand said, they were trickling in at a moderate pace so I walked a few steps forward. A quick distinction I noticed was that the normal ones would immediately turn and head for me while the others wouldn't. I dealt with them quickly as I tried to confirm another one of my theories.

There was another one that walked right past me so I chopped its legs off one by one. It fell down and started crawling but I chopped its arms off next.

It tried to move its head but it completely stopped after trying over and over.

To confirm my earlier discovery, I removed part of its head to see what was inside, or what wasn't.

I was wearing a solemn expression when I saw it the second time. Aside from the goop that leaked out, there was nothing else inside.

It was hollow.

I tried scraping the insides with the tip of my blade but there was nothing else to find. I had some doubts earlier because it might've flown in a different direction but this time, I was sure that its brain either melted into that thick goop or something else entirely.

When I looked back at my group, their expressions were varying from confusion, fear, and disgust.

They met eyes with me and I was sure that more than a thousand questions were running through their head.

"This shit doesn't make sense kid." Oscar commented as he joined me.

"This whole shit doesn't, even the first ones." I replied.

"No, what I meant was-" Oscar looked at me like an idiot but I interrupted him.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. There are creatures without a brain or even a CNS completely but this is totally different. The more we know the less we understand. They're not as dangerous but in the right circumstances..." I didn't finish my sentence because Oscar already understood what I was going for.

"Avalos and Honassan might make another trip back. We need to document this and bring a few bodies back to Rod's scientists at least. I might take my sleeping tablets because a lot of questions are running through my head right now." Oscar crouched down to take a closer look.

"Yeah, I'm not even sure what their purpose is. Is it just to walk around and die in that spot? Are they just puppets? Are they already dead and just being controlled? Maybe at the end of their lifespan? If so, all of them at the same time? Did something just scooped their brain out or did it fucking turn to that slime? Also-" I narrated everything inside my head but Oscar stopped me.

"Sheesh, kid. Don't fucking add any more in my head. I'm old. It would take longer for me to sleep don't cha' know? So, what do we do now?" Oscar asked.

I deeply sighed before we documented everything and took samples. It was fairly easy to obtain them and store them. However, the trickle stopped trickling after a while but our soldiers would now have another thing to look out for. It might happen anywhere and anytime and we need to make sure we do the necessary precautions.

I was adamant about doing it in front of Mauricio and Jessica but Oscar already dropped the bomb on Mauricio and Cathy.

Well, I got the pleasure of telling it to Jessica, Eric, and Jane when they asked why we were doing what we were doing. That was the time when they discovered another thing I valued aside from obtaining information, keeping said information to oneself. I was sure that they have secrets of their own but I was sure I would know a few more of them soon.

It took us a bit of time but we eventually finished it and most of my group went back with us to the compound while Jared and Lois stayed back for a while to see if a few would eventually find their way to the same spot they gathered in.

Mauricio tucked Cathy in bed first before he joined a few of us sitting by the pool area. Jessica and Mauricio tried to ask for more information about our connection to the president but we told them just enough and what would affect them.

"Now you know why I said that I would have future use of your airport. We were working on a sea route to this island group but we still need an air route. I planned on clearing the one on Pasay City since it is closer but we need to keep our options open." I said to Jessica.

"I see, this is more than what I thought it was. Okay, I decided to have my airport open for our allies' use especially the president but I want to have more soldiers and guns sent to my place for security reasons obviously. The only thing of value I could think of trading with you two is the jet fuel we have collected at the airport but don't worry because I'm sure it's enough for several trips. We have a few pilots on our camp but we never touched on the planes because we were not sure if there was still any place to go to. Are you guys okay with that?" Jessica proposed a deal.