Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I heard Jared's voice from my earpiece then I looked around to check on the several dumpsters all around us. I spotted several behind the barracks and a couple by the main entrance but there were a lot more dumpsters to pinpoint which one he was telling me to check. They also came in different shapes, colors, and sizes so I had to call him back for an inquiry.

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*bzzt*

"Hey, be a little specific. Which one is it?"

*bzzt*

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[Ah- sorry. The one after you go inside the fence that leads to the hospital. The one right behind the hospital that's kinda rusted and that's almost… leaking.]

*bzzt*

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"What? Let us clear a space first."

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Gotcha. I'll shoot on a few on my end.]

*bzzt*

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My group took a few minutes to nick or puncture the heads of the ones that were coming towards us. Several suppressed gunshots came from the other side of this university and it seemed like Artem's group was facing a lot more than expected. Aside from that, I could also hear a few isolated shots coming from the roof where Jared and the others were and they seemed to be shooting at different targets scattered about.

The moment my group cleared an area by the spot we were in, I called over Marvin's group to move the chokepoint. It was because once we cleared the hospital by the corner, we would gradually clear everything around, eventually meeting Artem's group. To make things fair, they would start to move around once I gave the signal but they were free to take down anything that came toward their spot.

"I'm opening it now!" Ibarra exclaimed.

"Go ahead!" I shouted back, tightening the grip on my katana and pistol.

The rest of my group got ready as well because there were still a lot of rotting deadheads from the other side of the inner fence.

As soon as the gates were opened, they started tripping over each other. It was almost a pile-up the way their bodies fell on top of each other, making the clearing process much easier.

The ones at the bottom were getting squished as what remained from their flopping skin was now sticking on the pavement. The ones in the middle were getting squished as well but their discolored insides and viscous fluids were falling onto the ones below. A few managed to walk over the ones that fell but most of them would plummet down when they were going downhill.

I started to stab down on the heads right in front of me and their wilting bodies offered little to no resistance. The tip of my blade was stained with brain matter but the ones coming from the hospital side continued to spill out.

"Kite around, don't advance! Kaley, thin the ones on clumps! Ibarra, fan to the side!" I reminded my group as we continued to stab and step back after each kill.

All we could hear aside from my orders were the whirring sound of the drones, chatter from the radio, growls from the deadheads, bodies getting decimated, and guns being fired.

The moment we cleared everything from the hospital side, the first thing we did after piling the bodies on the side was to check on the dumpster Jared told us about.

"It really is leaking..." Katya muttered.

The dumpster really was leaking out different colored fluids but they were all in the shade of brown, green, and black. However, not only was it 'leaking', the surface of the dumpster was slightly 'moving'.

We could already imagine what was inside that dumpster but like any other person, we needed to confirm it.

I almost threw up the moment I opened the rusted lid.

"I could fucking taste it just by the smell! FUCK!!!" Matthew bellowed.

Several bodies of different forms were carelessly thrown in the dumpster and it smelled worse than just being fucking ripe. Words couldn't begin to describe the smell and the ones behind me retched as well.

I flipped the lid fully so I could check what the fuck was causing that horrible smell.

'Fuckinh shit...' I thought to myself, covering my nose.

The ones below were starting to turn into goop while the ones on the surface had little thread-like and juicy worms moving into different directions, either going in and out of their rotting bodies or just basking on the sun.

I couldn't figure out if they were killed either by a stab wound on the head or by large rats that were decaying right inside their skulls that maybe took several nibbles on their brains. Only the worms and the flies buzzing around were happily engorging themselves while the goop below was slowly flowing out from the little holes from the rusted parts of the dumpster.

'They didn't burn some of them… Hmm...' I thought to myself as I flipped to the channel Artem was on.

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*bzzt*

"Artem."

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[Da?]

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"Move around the cafeteria and the gymnasium and try to reach the maintenance area where a few broken-down vehicles are located. Check the places behind it where the ground is not concrete and see if there are graves."

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Graves? We'll go but I thought you checked them before?]

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"I don't know, the ones roaming around could've easily knocked down a few pegs or something. There's more we could see if it's up close rather than just through a screen."

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[Da, I understand. You're really thorough, aren't you?]

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"We should all be thorough. You could go about it slowly or bring another squad with you to hasten the process. We're meeting in the middle anyway so best make use of the time we have on our hands."

*bzzt*

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[My group can handle it. We're just gonna use a bit more ammo. Is that okay?]

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*bzzt*

"Okay, I'll trust you."

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Thanks.]

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The hospital was shaped like a short rectangle and it had four floors all in all. I could've landed our helicopter at this place before but since it has undergone a few renovations like putting several panels and water tanks on the roof, it wasn't possible at this moment. Aside from the roof, its windows were also barricaded with wooden planks and the entrance was well fortified. However, it was wide open when we came upon it and several bodies were strewn on the marble floors.

"How did this place get overrun?" Matthew muttered.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Kaley asked.

"This place is just… too defensible… even with the number of the dead outside." Matthew replied.

"We'll figure it out once we cleared this whole place. For now, a few ideas are already inside my head." I chimed.

"Are we going in now?" Tatiana asked.

"Guard the entrance for a bit because we need to go around and make sure there are no blind spots where the dead could come through. Also, we need to check for other passages like the fire exit on the other side I spotted when I flew the drone here." I replied, assigning a few to stay with Tatiana and the rest.

The scan was quick and it was the same situation all around and we discovered that the fire exits were accessible. However, we would need to clear a few more bodies that got stuck between the rails or the door itself so we could have another point of entry to clear this whole hospital.

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*bzzt*

"Tatiana."

*bzzt*

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[Yeah?]

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"Start from the entrance then curve to the left and back. We'll come from the right since we'll be coming from the fire exits. We'd be a little late since we'll clear the whole stairs but don't overextend to the second floor if you manage to clear this floor ahead of us."

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Okay, both sides as always.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

"Huh?"

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Not important, haha.]

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"Ah- not on the- nevermind. See you on the other side. Lois, go ahead of them to check for threats."

*bzzt*

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[Okay bro.]

*bzzt*

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I was with Kaley, Matthew, and Ibarra and we first lured the ones on the fire exit towards us. Matthew and Kaley were standing right behind Ibarra and me as we cut down the ones approaching us. I just pushed my blade a few inches inside their eye socket before pulling out and stabbing onto another figure as soon as the first one fell down.

Ibarra was doing the same as me but he had more range because of the weapon he was using. His spear could reach farther but I could maneuver around more easily because of the length of my blade. Aside from that, I also had a free hand that could either hold my scabbard or a pistol which made up for the lack of reach compared to his spear.

We killed each one that came for us until we reached the rooftop.

That was when we heard the water tanks let out dull thuds from the inside.