Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The three of us started to have another meeting late at night but a few people were still present like Oscar, Eric, and Jane. Zeus was by my side but I don't know why he was persisting on staying with me even if his eyes were falling off. His head was resting on my lap as I was caressing his head lightly.

"I'm okay with that but I would ask for volunteers first before I send them to your place. I'll make sure at least 10 of them are bonafide soldiers because I'm planning on sending people that have a wider skillset." I replied.

"Wider skillset?" Eric asked.

"First and foremost someone with medical know-how and someone that knows how to operate a HAM Radio. A doctor is self-explanatory but a HAM Operator is something your place needs. I did tell you that I want to exchange information but I want it continuously happening and I want the information I receive is the latest. All I want to know is the threat status of deadheads and human hostiles at your place and maybe a heads-up on other items we could trade with each other." I explained.

"Wait a sec. Why am I not in the loop? The treatment Cathy would be receiving is something I don't even know how much to pay for but at least let me handle the soldiers and even a portion of the guns to be sent to Jessica's place." Mauricio chimed.

"You could do that but I want the same things from you. What I'm talking about is information about what I talked about earlier and a heads-up is something of value popped up. Don't worry, this is not gonna be a one-way communication because I would also be sending updates of this place's situation about the same things. I know we still have a few things we couldn't share but I want to be able to exchange information on the things that we could." I replied.

"I agree with that but tell me a few things on your wishlist so I could hold onto it if I stumble upon it on my runs." Jessica nodded.

"I agree as well but I have one more thing to request from you." Mauricio looked at me.

"That is?" I looked back.

"I want to have a helicopter on-call in case of emergencies. The Intercity is secure but I want to have options in case my people and I needed some help in evacuating if the road is untraversable. We could say that I already owe you a lot of things for Cathy's treatment but I want to treat each emergency call as one favor you could request of me so we could put a value on it. I wouldn't have much use on jet fuel because I don't own a helicopter and none in my group knows how to operate one. However, by doing this, we could all benefit from it one way or the other." Mauricio explained another deal.

"I agree with that but I also have a condition of mine before we all hit the hay." I replied.

The two looked at me so I opened my mouth.

"Jessica, I want my people that would be sent to you treated the same way you treat your own. Even if they would be in your place, they belong to no one and they could go whenever they want. I hope you know what I meant by that because good people are very difficult to find." I started.

"I understand." Jessica wore a pensive expression.

"And how about me?" Mauricio asked.

"I don't want to call you out on this because this is how you are but if we're doing something together, I want a heads-up on your decision before we execute a plan together. We operate in the same headspace but I need time to think of a plan before actually doing it. Things could go wrong from an abrupt decision though I only request you do this if you're working with other people. However, I would like it if you apply it to yourself too." I said sincerely.

"Alright, I could do that..." Mauricio nodded a few times.

We three stood up then we shook hands.

We shared a short moment but it was ruined by Oscar snoring his ass out. Eric and Jane were holding their laughter but I was already facepalming.

"He's 'old' he said. He's 'takes a lot longer to sleep' he said." I said with a sarcastic tone.

The rest of the people left in the pool were chuckling but I tried to wake him up. There were a few ways to do it but I know just the trick.

"O SAY CAN YOU SEE~" I sang his national anthem.

It was fucking instant.

Oscar stood up in attention and he removed his hat, arm on his chest.

"BY THE DAWN'S EARLY- Wha- The fuck am I- what?" Oscar was confused.

Everyone started laughing but I soon explained to him what happened. He scratched his head in embarrassment but he soon went with Mauricio back to his house. Jessica and her group excused themselves and it was this time that Jared and Lois came back.

"So, what happened?" I asked.

"They never came back." Lois replied.

"If we're not going someplace else tomorrow, I suggest we check the other roads bro." Jared suggested.

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking of doing tomorrow. I bet this is not an isolated case so there could be more of their kind present in other areas." I added.

The two then excused themselves but I also discovered that Zeus was fast asleep. I lifted him towards his bed and I tucked him in with his blanket.

"Goodnight buddy..." I saw him yawn once before placing his paw on my hand. I covered it with the blanket as I waited for him to fall asleep.

It didn't take long so I headed upstairs.

I reached my room and I saw Kaley and the rest busy with cleaning the rest of the guns we left out yesterday. They have made some progress and the report on the guns Rin omitted from the meeting was placed on my table with a towel and a change of clothes that Kaley probably prepared for me.

"Hey, we started without you. Most of the handguns are done though." Kaley and the rest greeted me.

"Oh, thanks. For this too. I'll be back in a few." I said as I lifted the towel and the change of clothes.

"No problem, take your time." Kaley replied.

I took my gear off first before I headed to the shower. A took a quick one before I dipped myself in the hot tub. It was nice to soak myself in warm water after a good day's work but I missed the hot springs I used to go to, especially the naturally formed ones. It would hit differently and I would sleep through everything even if I set up an alarm.

I didn't soak for too much because there were still a lot of things to do. I joined them at the table as I put on my gloves and goggles then I sat next to Kaley.

The system was to check each component first before separating the faulty ones. After that, we clean them, apply necessary lubrication, replace parts if some were removed, assembling it back, then updating the record in our inventory. Their base parts are mainly recorded and any sort of attachment added was in a separate list.

Aside from doing maintenance on the guns, there was also the issue of the handloads that were made poorly. I would need to teach Rin about it tomorrow and I might even include melting the projectiles and casting them into new ones as another lesson. We'd lose some of the materials but doing that could ease my mind about reusing them.

"Cynthia, did you already call your brother about the new one we discovered?" I asked.

"Oh, ah- yes, I already did. Thank you." Cynthia replied.

"Hey, it's in the report I made but we still need to tumble other casings because a lot came the other day. We were done with the 9mms, .45 ACPs, .38 Specials, 5.56s, and a few more but there's a few random casings we're planning to finish up tomorrow." Rin chimed.

"I see, thanks. I might teach you how to cast projectiles tomorrow but maybe we'll do it in the afternoon." I opened up another topic.

"Oh, are we finally gonna use the cupcakes your uncle makes in his spare time?" Rin asked.

"What? Oh, right. We'll use them first." I replied.

We continued cleaning the guns while making light conversation. However, because it was already late, everyone decided to continue cleaning the guns for tomorrow and get some well-deserved rest.

"Hey, can we watch a movie before we sleep?" Tatiana requested, looking at me.

"Uh-huh..." Kaley trailed, looking at her.

"W-What?" Tatiana looked at Kaley before looking back at me.

"My eyes are up here, you know?" I raised one of my eyebrows, faintly smiling.