Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Looking at the wall of the dead closely and with the drone, it looked more like a tall speedbump compared to a wall made of bricks. It was maybe because they couldn't line themselves properly because from what we've observed from last night, once they reach the pile or destination, they would just plop on the ground dead.

This phenomenon was something we had no idea for how it happened so finding more information about it was the best course of action.

Mikhail and Ibarra pulled out a couple of bodies and dragged them a few feet away from the wall. After that, they swung their weapons down to chop half of their heads off. As expected, it was hollow and a black viscous substance was the only thing that was left inside.

"Same thing as yesterday..." Kaley mentioned.

"Let's start clearing them all." Mikhail said as he pulled another one to a safe distance.

"This would take some time sir." Ibarra added.

"We need to call another group to help us clear them all and bring back a few bodies for comparison." I said as I pulled out my radio.

Last night, we made sure that the ones we encountered last night were properly dealt with. The only ones that weren't burned to cinders were the samples that we collected but their heads were cracked open and their limbs were dismembered. It was done so any sort of movement while inside our premises would be fucking impossible.

This time, since we have a lot more to go through, I decided to bring back two bodies that would be left whole. They would be placed inside secure rooms for observation and more data gathering. We wouldn't try and operate with them per se but finding out more distinctions so we could fight them better would be a huge boon.

They were doing nothing now but the sentries we encountered that were guiding a few hundred of the dead was one of the evidence that just proved that they could evolve or mutate into something different.

It didn't take long before Mark and Marvin's group came into view.

"Here's what we'll do. We already prepared two bodies and we covered and secured them with tarps. Mark, bring them back to the DDR Camp and tell the soldiers there to keep them in the same place we stored the others. After that, come back here with your group and help Marvin clear this wall." I said.

"Sure, we'll be back in a few." Mark replied.

My group got to work but even if the wall were just dead bodies on top of one another, they didn't take their chances. I asked them to bring rakes and skid steers to pull the bodies out because our earlier method of just using our hands with thick work gloves was dangerous. Not only that, those gloves would get stained with their fluids, and keeping close proximity with something that may or may not be alive was dangerous.

The system was to pull a body, dismember their limbs, and make separate fires to chuck them in. Throwing in a molotov cocktail and hoping to burn them all on the spot they were in was a bad idea because it was hugging the other buildings and the fire wouldn't reach the ones buried deep. Dismembering their limbs was just an extra added step but no one voiced their opinion about it.

I was watching each body that was being pulled and I noticed that some of them were starting to meld into each other. This occurrence was more apparent the lower the bodies were pulled so my initial conclusion was because of their fluids drying up and acting as glue to hold themselves together. However, the weight of the ones above that was applying pressure could also maybe one other reason.

When Mark and the rest of his group arrived, our progress of clearing the wall became much faster. If we continue going at this pace, we would all be done here in a few minutes.

"Are you guys good here? If so, I could take my group somewhere else to look for more of these walls. If we found more, we'll start to do the same process of clearing them but we'll call you over. I bet there's more of these things around blocking other passages." I asked the groups.

"Uh, sure Boss. Where are you headed next?" Mark asked.

"We've been driving mainly on the main road but we're checking a couple of blocks around on some passages like this one. We're right by the edge of Dalandanan, the barangay next to ours, but we'll keep going forward until we reach the turn in Malinta, the barangay where our City Hall is, that would lead us to another barangay, which is Rincon, then we'll drive straight where Dong and Jay's group were clearing the barangays that would lead to the outpost where Lawrence is." I explained.

"Oh, okay Boss." Mark nodded then Marvin agreed as well.

"That's too many barangays in one sentence..." Mikhail commented.

"Are we doing the same thing tomorrow sir?" Ibarra asked.

"Yeah, if things go smoothly. We'll be extending a bit more right until the place we found you. We now have another thing to do aside from simply clearing them and opening up a path to Iskoh's location so we'd discuss more in a meeting later." I replied and waited for Ibarra's reaction.

Everyone that belonged in a clearing group and the people that came with me to the City of Malabon knew of Ibarra's story so a few heads turned in his direction. His gaze just went down for a moment before he looked back at me and nodded a few times. I just noticed now that he was wearing two sets of dog tags so he probably had someone from the military that was quite close to him that died in that place.

"Good thing we brought each one back..." I thought to myself.

"Boss, that's roughly two and a half barangays, right? If we find the same things, we'd be done by 1:00 PM? Can't we do the whole route at least?" Mikhail interjected.

"Actually, I'm doing a little something this afternoon." I replied.

"We could continue without you bro. We don't need you anyway, heh." Jared chuckled.

"Oh~ Is that so~ I guess I'll be taki-" I motioned with my hand then Jared exploded.

"I'M JOKING! I'M JOKING BRO! Take as much time as you want because we wouldn't be anywhere without you, your holiness." Jared held his guns tight.

"Heh, joking aside, if you five want to do it then either bring more members or just come with Mark or Marvin's group. You'd be able to do more things that way." I replied.

"That sounds good." Mikhail added.

"Hmm, I actually have an appointment with Daisy when we come back. I just talked to her this morning since I know we'd be done after lunch." Tatiana interjected.

Most of the groups were wondering about what that appointment was about and only Kaley, me, and Tatiana herself knew the reason why.

We soon said our goodbyes then we proceeded to take the route we talked about.

Most of the dead we would encounter was coming from this side of the road because our outpost from the other side was doing a great job of clearing the dead on their end. Not only that, we still had no idea if there were other groups living on this side of the road. The only information we have was from the other survivors that managed to stumble onto our base. However, they were still information that needed to be confirmed.

Turning on one corner, we reached a block where a school and a factory for manufacturing plastic were located. There wasn't much to see aside from the dead approaching us when they heard us coming.

The clusters were carefully taken care of and I noticed something from one of my members.

Ibarra hasn't fired a single shot.

He had the rifle and the pistol I gave him but it was securely sticking on his body. His hands were holding the knife and the machete I gave him and they never left his hands. There wasn't a special technique he was using because all he was doing was stabbing straight into their skull with the knife or a quick chop and pull with the machete.

I first thought he was just following our lead earlier when we went melee but even when I drew my gun to thin out a cluster, he still proceeded with using his melee weapons. It was good for saving bullets and he was careful about just going melee but this behavior baffled me. I myself would've tried shooting once or twice especially if I had a new gun on my hands.

"Ibarra..." I waved him over while Mikhail and Jared were hauling the bodies.

"Sir?" Ibarra asked.

"You could shoot those guns, okay? I gave them to you for a reason." I reminded him.

"O-Okay sir… I will if I-"

"Nope, fuck it. Shoot that one missing an ear."

"Umm..."

"You can't?"

"I could but-"

"But what?"

"Umm… the bullets… I-"

"You have 360 rounds of 5.56s on you and 34 rounds of 9mm, not to mention 2 frag grenades are on your chest rig. Are you bad at shooting or something?"

"No, I-"

"Then shoot that one with the missing ear."

"Okay, Sir."

Ibarra sheathed his melee weapons then he raised his rifle. My group and I watched him carefully as he flicked the safety off. He took a few seconds looking at the sights before he fired a shot.

It was a good 90 yards and he nailed it with one try. It wasn't a long shot per se but he could do better than most people at that distance.

Ibarra closed the dust cover and then he flicked the safety back on.

"That wasn't bad, was it?" I chuckled.

"No, Sir. I'm just wondering why you asked me to do that." Ibarra said.

"Oh, I'm just a curious guy. I for sure thought you can't shoot or something. I guess I'm reading too many novels… Oh, don't forget to pick up any casings you use or see lying on the ground." I said as I scratched my head, chuckling.

Kaley was also looking at him and based on her expression, everything that Ibarra said was genuine.

After that, Jared asked him to fire longer shots then we discovered that he was somewhat above average in shooting skill. However, he just wanted to stick with using his melee weapons as much as possible even if I told him I could make bullets.

"I guess everyone got a little something going on..." I smiled inwardly.