Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

My goal for today was to make 500 bullets each for the ones we would always use. It didn't necessarily mean that we would reload all of them in one go but keeping a few projectiles ready for the actual thing was also good because our stock of lead ingots was steadily increasing.

It was mainly because of our scavengers securing lead scrap and from the operation to clear the vehicles strewn about the roads.

Being able to cast a lot of projectiles needed a steady supply of lead scrap. It could come from any source and the wheel weights taken from the vehicles that were already unusable was one of them. Aside from those, I already had a hook-up from several ranges, boating scrapyards, junk shops, transfer stations, and etc. from before this shit started. Having a scanner of sorts helped with sorting them out from the usable ones to the unusable ones.

"Hey..." Rin approached me with a disgruntled expression.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"I need a tip."

"Just the tip?" I chuckled then I saw Ibarra losing composure for a moment.

'I just found your weakness boi~' I laughed inwardly.

"I'm gonna hit you, please don't joke with me right now." Rin replied.

"Yes, master… I do apologize..." I started to dogeza.

"Hngh~ please just tell me how you do it! I'm starting to have headaches!" Rin exclaimed.

"Just do it!" I said as I did the infamous pose from Shia.

"Oh! I think I did one like Sky did!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Rin almost broke her neck as she violently turned around.

"Ummm… I think so, see?" Cynthia pointed at one bullet sitting snugly on the soft towel.

"It does look better than the ones we've made so far." Ibarra added.

I stood up and looked at it closely and it was just as Cynthia declared. However, when Rin asked her to make another one, she didn't succeed. Consistency on each and every action was the key to doing it and it would be a difficult feat to achieve the sweet spot for more than several hundred pours.

"Try and remember the sensation when you did it. If it feels off, remember that sensation as well. You'd eventually get the feel for it the more you continue with pouring them. That's what I did in my case and I managed to make high-quality projectiles. That's the tip I could give you three but I don't know if it would work in your cases as well. But yeah, Cynthia, great work." I smiled.

"Thank you!" Cynthia returned a bright smile.

I turned to Rin and she started to jot down each and every information she could jot down and it was a funny sight. I used to be the same way but sometimes, instinctually doing it could work as well.

"Hmm, we still got a lot of hours left so continue doing your thing but don't get upset if I chuck them back. Remember, we're going for quality, if it reached the standard one, fine, if it didn't, we'll make it so, okay? After that, we'll start powder-coating them." I explained.

"What's powder-coating again?" Ibarra asked.

"Coating bullets in powder is essentially… coating them in powder…" I replied.

"..." Ibarra was speechless.

"Well, you'll see the whole process later. The end result is the one I've shown you earlier." I chuckled.

"Yes, sir..." Ibarra continued to practice pouring.

Time continued to pass and I eventually reached my personal goal of reaching 500 bullets of 9mm. I set them aside for cleaning later and then I pulled out a different sized mold for casting out .45 ACPs. It was essentially the same process for each type of bullet but there were some added intricacies when casting rifle projectiles. However, I continued to cast pistol projectiles until I reach my personal goal.

'I could've gotten several achievements already...' I chuckled inwardly.

Rin and Ibarra finally lucked out on making perfect ones and they celebrated with Cynthia. However, she made sure to record everything that they did so she could try and recreate the same situation when she achieved to make the perfect one.

"I'll get it consistent soon..." Rin said with enthusiasm.

The two beside her just gave a faint smile because of how motivated Rin became when she managed to succeed with one.

"I-Ibarra, can you get us some water from Auntie Sharon's house? I'm k-kinda parched." Rin asked him.

"Hmm? Okay, I'll ask for some." Ibarra complied as he removed his gloves.

As soon as he left, Rin approached me, holding out the perfect bullet she made.

"Yeah?" I looked back at her.

"Anything you want to say?" Rin said with a different tone.

"It's perfect, yep." I replied.

"Hngh~ nevermind..." Rin walked back dejectedly to Cynthia who was shooting a confused expression towards me.

'What did I do? Oh!' I was deep in thought but I had a revelation.

"Rin, good job!" I gave her a thumbs up.

"You look weird in that costume!" Rin exclaimed.

"Oh~ Is that so? We're going this route, eh? Fine, you have a success rate of less than 1%! Mada Mada Dane~" I retorted.

Instant knockout.

When Ibarra arrived with a pitcher of cold water, he was afraid that Rin received the same fate of being dehydrated because she was almost lifeless, staring into the distance like a hermit. Any sort of cheering Cynthia did had no effect and I almost felt bad. Well, almost.

'Hmph! That's what you get for dissing ze captain.' I chuckled inwardly.

It only took a minute before she recovered from the blow but she was more fired up. She wanted to prove me wrong so bad she continued to make pseudo-perfect ones with great consistency. It was impressive work but she still had a long way to go.

The perfect bullets that were perfectly lined up next to me made her lose the anger she was feeling towards me because it was enough to be placed in a subreddit or a compilation of extremely satisfying videos.

"So, you've been making this for several years already?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah, that's why it always comes out perfect." I replied.

"It's surprisingly therapeutic though, aside from the heat." Cynthia chuckled.

"Okay, if you guys could turn the furnace you're using for a moment, I'll show you how to powder them." I stood up, picking up a tray of 9mms that contained 100 pieces.

They followed suit and I showed them a tumbler for coating the bullets I made. I placed 100 at a time and an ample amount of powder so it could spread evenly and the overall diameter wouldn't be affected as much.

"Is the color supposed to be like that?" Rin asked.

"Hmm? Oh, it doesn't. It's just for aesthetics or for identifying them at a glance more easily. Okay, bring out the other tumblers and do the same measurements I did. Be quick, it only needs a minute or two to shake them here." I replied.

"Okay, but what happens after this?" Ibarra asked.

"After this, we just strain them to remove the excess paint with a sifter so we could place them all into the oven. Quick!" I replied as they sprang into action.

As they were setting up the second tumbler, I was already placing the bullets on a heat-safe tray after placing them through a sifter. I made sure to place them neatly before plugging in the dedicated ovens for the powdered bullets. The oven I have could hold 5 trays that could hold exactly 100 rounds each so I started another batch for tumbling the bullets, the same exact value for each caliber that I made personally.

After we were done tumbling them, I placed each tray inside the oven while setting it on the appropriate temperature and for around 20 minutes.

"Kindly bring the .45 ACPs over. They're next." I asked Ibarra.

"Can we paint them blue?" Cynthia asked.

"Sure, no problem. Is that your favorite color?" I chuckled.

"Yep, it would be nice to see them like that." Cynthia replied.

"Then we'll do the 5.7s green!" Rin added.

"How about you?" I looked at Ibarra.

"Oh, I like the orange-ness of the 9mms you're doing right now." Ibarra replied.

"Wait, you have different kinds of blue here..." Cynthia saw my collection.

"Yeah, just pick one." I replied.

"U-Umm, Ibarra, can you get me some juice? I t-think the water is not doing it for me..." Cynthia embarrassingly asked Ibarra for a favor.

"Juice? Okay, I'll ask for some..." Ibarra looked at Cynthia weirdly and it seemed he figured out what she was trying to imply. However, Ibarra still went to Aunt Sharon's house to get some so we could talk privately.

"Okay, what is it now?" I was confused by their actions.

"It's a little embarrassing..." Cynthia replied.

"What? Picking blue? What kind of blue is it?" I continued to get confused.

"You know… for guys that can't… I don't know what type of blue is it but that's the color I like… Unfortunately… it's the same color as that… I- I'm not implying that you- no- it's impossible for you to need it but- I'm just saying that- oh my god- why am I- it's just like that blue, OKAY?!" Cynthia couldn't look me in the eye as she started to get flustered even more.

"What are you talking about?" Rin was confused.

"For guys… that c-can't? You mean- oh. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! OUT OF ALL THE BLUE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, THAT'S THE BLUE YOU WANTED TO GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" I started to lose it as I figured it out.

"W-What is it?!" RIn was fucking confused.