Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The rest of my group on the roof took cover while I continued to observe them. Aside from that, Vera turned her radio equipment on to see if she could somehow listen in to their conversations if they ever brought a radio with them. However, looking at their activities for a few moments indicated that they were hard-pressed to collect fuel and not headed for the DDR Camp we were trying to occupy.

It could be said that depending on the circumstances if they're heading for the equipment available in the DDR Camp, I could've made some sort of deal but we've already invested a lot of resources to get to this point. However, if they agree to have a lesser amount, I would agree to have the resources split with us.

At the same exact moment, Vera managed to listen in to their conversation just by tuning in to the right channel. They seem to just be using simple radio equipment so it was quite easy to tap into their conversation.

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*bzzt*

[You guys found more fuel?]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Yeah, there's plenty here but you gotta see the Monumento Circle.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Hmm? What about it?]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[It must be the doing of the ones forming walls but this looks like a maze of some sort.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[What do you mean?]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[They're zigzagging and shit due to the walls.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[What? Grab a picture or something. Do you think you guys could drive through that place?]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[I already took a picture but driving through that place is impossible. We'd have to go around the backroads to check for a perfect spot unless we find construction equipment to push them aside.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Shit. We already had enough trouble clearing those slurpers from our place but I guess there's more there, huh?]

*bzzt*

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'Slurpers? I guess they're talking about the ones latched under the train station.' I thought to myself as the rest of my group looked at each other. My group was quietly listening in to their conversation while I was trying my best to not point my binoculars in a certain direction that would give away a glint that could potentially reveal our location.

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*bzzt*

[It would be hard in that area when they start to jump down.]

*bzzt*

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'Jump down? Those fuckers could jump down? That means that they could… shit, this is bad news.' I thought to myself then I looked at everyone in my group to check if they were hearing the same thing I was hearing.

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*bzzt*

[Can you guys get to all four gas stations?]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[We could only get to three but our containers are almost full on the second one. We might come back here later.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Okay, but make sure to take every last drop. We could trade it for medicine, ammo, or even an appointment with their doctor.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Gotcha. We'll be coming back in a few hours. We'd still be going around so we'll take a while.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Yeah, just stay safe, alright?]

*bzzt*

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We never heard much after that but we discovered that they were also checking in with another group checking for more items or resources that they could bring back for trading. The same with our group, they were looking for essential items but their primary concern was medicine and ammunition. They seemed to be doing okay with regards to food and maybe even fuel but they continued to siphon every last bit of fuel from the gas stations, including the vehicles that they encounter.

I was concerned with the guy looking around with his binoculars because it would be an unknown encounter once they spot us and all the preparation we did for tomorrow would be ruined. I wanted no contact as much as possible for now because a lot was at stake with all the equipment lying around in this DDR Camp.

'C'mon, just leave already...' I thought to myself.

After a while, they packed up and left but remembering from their conversation, they would be coming back in this area after a few hours which could mean that they were living close to or even exactly at Quezon City.

"Are they gone?" Kaley asked.

"Yeah, you guys heard everything, right?" I replied.

"Could they be with the people from the helicopter?" Jared asked.

"I'm not sure. I've heard people claiming that they came from Quezon City but they seemed to be stemming from different groups… it's like they don't have a collected group like ours. More like different people belonging in different factions." Vera answered.

"You guys also heard what they mentioned about the… the slurpers… right? I need to find a better name for those..." I trailed, shaking my head.

"Yeah, they said that they could jump down. What would they look like though? They're almost congealed, right?" Lois replied.

"Don't mind what they would look like. Those things being able to jump down means that..." I trailed, waiting for them to answer.

"They… they could relocate?" Kaley answered, half-sure.

"Yeah, I thought they were just stuck there but we need to know what are the requirements to be met for them to do that. Do we need to just simply attack them or are there other means? Are there more in remote locations aside from that train station? However, it's a good thing that there are still groups in that city, not just one where the helicopter came from." I replied.

"How so?" Vera asked.

"That just means that city isn't overrun yet. Quezon City has the highest population density among all the other cities in our region and it was even safe to say that it had fallen early faster than where Iskoh was at. Iskoh just managed to survived and cut his losses while that place could be considered open to whoever that could claim it." I explained.

"Then what are we gonna do for now?"

I heard Matthew's voice and we saw him came up with Mikhail and Ibarra from below. They were slightly covered with wood bits and it seemed they have reinforced the barricades they did below and some other things to keep us safer.

"Nothing, for now. Unless we establish a proper connection with them, we wouldn't be able to do anything. Besides, we still have a lot on our plate and we need to map out this area properly. We need to prep the area around the DDR Camp so we could have a smoother operation tomorrow once Avalos and Honassan come back." I explained.

"What are we gonna do when they come back? You never explained much on how are we gonna get in that place in one piece." Matthew continued to ask questions.

"It'll be better to explain it in detail once they get here so I wouldn't repeat myself. Where's the other drone? I'll fly it closer to the blindspots inside. Jared, watch out for ferals, Lois, keep watch on the other side of the road in case they come again, and the rest, you guys should..." I gave out instructions as I took out a drone for my use.

'I need to find the proper point of entry and the places to watch out for...' I thought to myself as I shot down a few glass windows so my drone could gain entry.

Lois already flew his drone around last time but it was mostly an aerial view from above. What I needed to have now was a view from each room, corridor, walkways, and etc. as much as possible from the batteries left from the drones. We brought three this time around and I have three at my disposal to get to places we haven't been before.

Most of the things I've discovered inside the buildings especially the frontal were the soldier's barracks but dead civilians along with dead soldiers filled the corridors. The amount Kaley and I killed last time was only a small part of what was inside the rooms. I still needed to check the main area and the back area but I wanted to make sure where each item was placed.

I expanded our internal map of the DDR Camp while the rest of my group continued to polish up the walls we made by making the end of the funnels narrower while making the pathways larger. In a sense, the funnels were starting to look like meat sausages linked together.

I was focused on maneuvering the drone to avoid the dead inside the corridors while the others were piling down bodies one after the other. They started aiming for the other side of the road which proved a little difficult because the distance was much farther and the angle they would be shooting at.

"Can we move to another location? Maybe that mall over there bro? I bet we'd have a better time shooting over there." Lois suggested.

"Not yet, we'll wait for the other group to arrive and leave once more before we leave so at least they'd have left with an image of our helicopter still in this love hotel." I replied.

"Huh? Why?" Lois asked for an explanation.

"If they come back and notice that our helicopter is not here anymore, they might push for clearing out the walls we made to investigate and they will surely stumble upon this DDR Camp. That would be a day's worth of trouble and a lot of resources wasted if they managed to reclaim this place for themselves without us having a share. Let's at least wait for a few more hours and just clear the dead from other street corners if you're having trouble shooting them. I still have a lot of battery life left to so be patient." I explained.