Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

"Anyway, you could keep going melee if you wanted to but find the right balance, okay? It's good to save on bullets but using them also gives us more time to do other stuff." I said to Ibarra after we cleared that block.

"Okay, Sir. Understood." Ibarra replied.

"Bro." Jared called out to me.

"Yeah?" I looked back at him filling his used magazine to the brim.

"This Humvee is cool and all but I'd still prefer we use the Raptor. I'd like to be in the back so I could easily shoot a few down while we're driving around." Jared replied.

"I agree as well. We keep using the sunroof but it isn't enough for us two." Kaley added.

"Then we'll switch next time or bring both. I just wanted to check if other walls exist so we might need to bring an extra vehicle and people tomorrow." I replied.

We drove back to the main road and we continued to look for our objectives. We immediately noticed a pile on top of one another from a gasoline station but upon checking their heads, they weren't the hollow ones. We performed the same procedure of taking care of the cleared ones and we left the gas station quickly after.

Time spent inside our vehicles wasn't wasted because aside from shooting down the dead from the windows or through the sunroof, we were replenishing used mags and wiping down the muck from our melee weapons. Sometimes when we were about to park, we would attract the dead with our horn so we wouldn't need to attract them and would just need to kill them after making a complete stop.

"Hey Boss, I spotted something near that chapel and bakery. The one with the red roof." Mikhail pointed to the left.

"Yeah, that seems to be one." I replied as I turned the vehicle in that direction.

The moment we stopped, Mikhail and Tatiana sprung into action while Ibarra fanned to the side to check the other passage for threats. I followed his lead while holding my katana and scabbard.

Ibarra swung deep into an elderly's head and he kicked it back so he could pull his machete out. A small student wearing his school uniform was approaching our side but a quick flourish removed his scalp from the rest of his body. I held my left hand holding the scabbard to stall one sluggishly approaching me then Ibarra finished it off by stabbing it on the side of its head.

A decapitated head suddenly flew in the air and it was Mikhail's doing. He held his fire axe with both hands and swung violently to the last one that was following us. By his side was Tatiana that brought down several times his number. They were surgically stabbed in the eye sockets so bringing them down required less movement and power.

"Leave a few for the rest of us, sheesh." Jared joked then Kaley chuckled.

To leave space for Kaley and so he could have a better vantage point, Jared climbed over the roof of Tatiana's Humvee. He was always on sprinter duty aside from Kaley who was on cluster duty. They were free to fire whenever they could and each gunshot was always equal to a deadhead being free by the shackles of undeath.

The area we stopped by was filled with several automotive shops and a few eateries right next to each other. There were small and medium-sized houses a bit further in but there was a mass of them still getting held up by a huge gate belonging to the chapel in question. Their hands were sticking out, trying to grab anything that came close. However, the wall we discovered was between that chapel and the bakery.

The only thing different about this wall was that it wasn't blocking a passage, unlike the one we encountered earlier. It was just placed right next to an existing wall and it wasn't causing anyone trouble. Instead, the mass gathering at the chapel was the one that needed more attention.

The gate holding them up was slightly swaying and time could only tell how much they could be left alone. It wasn't safe trying to pick them off by simply stabbing their heads from the other side of the gate because the moment it falls down, there would be a lot more trouble due to their numbers.

"Jared, hover the drone above them and estimate how many of them are inside. After that, try to lure as much of them to the back so the gate could have some breathing room." I said as I wiped my blade with a spare cloth.

Mikhail and Ibarra started to drag the bodies we took down to a corner to be burned later when Jared was handed the drone by Kaley. Tatiana was floating around the perimeter and she was watching out for any threats while Jared was busy.

The drone started hovering in place and then it entered the area of the chapel.

I was looking through the paired display and the number of them inside was something else. It could be comparable to a small herd but judging from the state of the bodies inside, it could be a few weeks when they all turned. Deadheads of varying ages were present and most of the small ones were still confined within the chapel itself.

It was readily apparent because the blood staining the glass windows were only up to a certain height. Not only that, little decaying and discolored fingers started rising up when the figures inside heard the drone coming close. The main objective for this day was to clear the walls of the undead but taking care of these kinds of messes was also important.

Jared slowly scooted by the edge of the herd on the other side and he patiently waited until the first one got attracted to the noise produced by the drone. Slowly but surely, a good portion of the undead was leaving the area where the gate was, and sluggishly following the drone with their hands raised up. Even the swaying of the gate lessened by a significant amount so the option of clearing them up close would be available after a few more tests.

Well, the fucking loophole was to hug the walls to the side and reach around to stab them in their heads. Easily enough, a scene that could be stretched out by several episodes from a TV show was finished in less than an hour. The chapel was used as an

-

*bzzt*

"Hey, you guys could come here. We're at the corner of FIlamina and Sapphire St."

*bzzt*

-

Mark and Marvin's group were soon called because their assignment was just to clear the bodies on the streets in the immediate vicinity after they were done burning the wall from earlier.

We started hauling the bodies outside of the chapel as Mikhail and Ibarra started to burn them. Jared stayed on the Humvee while Kaley and Tatiana followed me inside the church to search for supplies. This was the first building we tried to search for supplies because this was the first time we have been to this place and there were no markings placed on them.

We discovered that this place was one of those small-time religions not as well-known to the general public. It seemed that they gathered their people here to use that chapel as an evacuation area but they weren't accepting any people that aren't following their religion.

"How did you know that?" Tatiana asked.

"Oh, I just read it from their journal. Unless the person wanting to come inside was willing to be baptized, they wouldn't be allowed in." I replied as I handed Kaley the journal.

"Hmm~ *rifles through pages* I think their storage area is also the head's quarters?" Kaley added.

"How convenient." I chuckled.

Aside from the chapel, there were small tents placed around the area and a few small apartments all inside the confines of their walls. It seemed that they were a little territorial about their people and most of them were required to stay in their pseudo-chapel/compound.

When we found their storage area, there was a lone figure hanging on the ceiling with a rope tied to its neck. It was still in the state of undeath and I let Kaley end its life. She also shot the rope so we could drag it outside with the rest of its followers.

However, Jared had an idea that he wanted to try out.

The rest of my group outside were still burning the bodies from this chapel and he asked them the spray cans they have on their vehicles they were using for the houses they managed to clear out.

"What are we doing with this again?" Mark asked.

"Let's leave a dozen or so with their right arm chopped off and spray their whole body so we could have some sort of marking system. We would obviously bring a sample from this pile back home but I wanted to know if they could still move or be controlled after reaching this place. It's only been a day since we last saw them so we should try a few more things with them. Right bro?" Jared started and I nodded.

"What would that achieve?" Marvin added.

"We have no way to differentiate them aside from breaking their heads open so painting their clothes with paint and just chopping their right arm off could let us identify them if they could somehow move from place to place. Whether they do or do not is one step for us to know more about them. If you have more ideas, you could tell me." Jared explained.

Well, I also had an idea.