Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Olivia continued as she ran up to me, "ARE YOU SAYING THAT WE WON'T SEE THEM ANYMORE?! HUH?! IS THAT IT?! YOU— Y-YOU—"

She was very close to bursting into tears but Kaley hugged her from the side before she started bawling. However, Kaley tried to wipe the tears off of her sister's face using her sleeves but it seemed like she also needed to wipe her own.

Call it a coincidence but when Olivia saw that Kaley's sleeve had more than one wet spot due to it getting used to dry tears, she tried her best to hold her tears back. There was just a moment of silence after that before Kaley leaned slightly to the side to see Olivia's face.

"Olivia, listen. He's just looking out, okay? For both of us. And what's wrong with that? Hmm? You see, you don't know but I'm always keeping a picture of us—with mom and dad, obviously—and since I got a new one, why don't you keep the one in my wallet instead?"

At this moment, Kaley pulled out a small picture of them when they were much younger and it just made Olivia tear up even more. After that, the two hugged each other as tight as they could and despite that, the picture Olivia had was still being handled gently. It didn't take long before Olivia secured their photo in her wallet then she turned to me, almost avoiding eye contact.

"U-U-Umm… I'm— I-I-I'm sorry for… f-for yelling at you a-and u-umm… thanks… for l-looking out… for u-us—"

It was supposed to be a touching moment and it was actually wholesome but being me, I started to get uncomfortable so I patted her head to tick her off and I said with a straight face, "No worries, little one—"

"WHA— I'M NOT A CHILD, YOU KNOW—"

Kaley interjected, "Olivia! Can you keep your voice down!"

Olivia's face flushed but I didn't know whether she was ticked off or from embarrassment, "But he— I-I'm sorry, okay?! Hmrghmm… Hey!" she suddenly took a picture of me as I turned to her and she just let out a cheeky smile after quickly pocketing her phone.

"Okay?" I just looked at her weirdly before I turned to Kaley, "So, are you done packing yet? What did you bring?"

Kaley tilted her head slightly before she opened her mouth, "Okay, I think I got them all but I prioritized the essentials. I brought clothes enough for a couple of weeks, a few blankets, most of our canned food, all of our candy bars, a pack of coffee and tea, a gallon of water, my M70, a box of .308s, the pistol you gave me, two flashlights, a pack of batteries, personal hygiene products, my laptop, my phone, my chargers, my wallet, and my keys to this home. Oh! Before we leave, I'll leave a bunch of supplies in the compartment where my M70 was as you said."

"That's good, and you?" I nodded approvingly then I turned to Olivia.

"Oh! Umm~ I also packed more clothes, my phone, my charger, my pocket wifi, some snacks, our album, some of the things that sis also brought, all of the things in the medicine cabinets, and this!" Olivia raised her hand and she was holding a taser.

*KRRRRR* *KRRRRR*

Olivia tested it a few times and she was grinning as she looked at me, "Cool, right? Dad gave this to me!"

I raised an eyebrow as I faintly smiled, "It's cool but don't try and use that on those things, okay? Keep close to me or your sister and we'll handle it, deal?"

"Oh, okay! I sure will."

Kaley interjected, "Hey. Did I miss anything? I just packed what I thought was important."

I mulled over the things they said that they brought before I opened my mouth, "Right, we still have a bit of time so we should also bring the frozen products and other food items that might spoil from your pantry or your refrigerator. And since we're leaving your house in the meantime, we need to shut off the electricity with the main switch. The last thing we want is your house burning down and your parents not finding the things we left them."

Kaley nodded pensively before she had a thought, "Oh! Right, speaking of electricity, we have a generator at the back. I think we might have a few containers of gasoline too…"

"Where is it?"

"C'mon, follow me."

Kaley guided me to the back of their house and I saw a heavy-duty generator with three gasoline containers right behind it. It looked like it got used every now and then but it was kept in good condition.

"What do you think?"

"This looks good but we have something better at home. I think we should leave this here but we should take two of the three containers here and leave one for your parents. It seems that it still had some in the tank so it could last a while. C'mon, let's start with the food items first and then your bags."

"Okay."

We wasted no time getting everything ready by the door and once everything was done, I went outside to check on our ambulance. I remembered that we just rode in the front without checking the back so I took the keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door behind.

Once I did, I was shaking my head in amusement because it felt like I hit the lottery.

'We could use all of this…'

With a quick scan, I saw a stretcher, a wheelchair, an oxygen tank, a few IV drips, a defibrillator, an assortment of medicine, and a bunch of medical tools and supplies you'd find in an emergency vehicle.

After that, I looked around the area and I discovered that there were still people outside, lounging around and still unaware of what might happen. If this was a few years ago, I would've tried to give them a warning or a helping hand but I just shook my head and called for the two so we could transfer everything from the house to the back of the ambulance.

It didn't take a lot of time hauling bag after bag but as we were about to finish, I heard the sound of a door slowly creaking open.

I quickly followed the source but as my head snapped to the direction it came from, all I saw was a man from the adjacent house, moving as if he had a shot too many. He looked like he was about to trip on himself but I couldn't quite make out all of his features.

As Olivia was approaching me with another bag, I pointed to the man that just reached the sidewalk.

"Recognize that guy?"

Olivia turned her head to where I was pointing "Hmmm~ I think… Is he— I can't quite—" but since she also couldn't make out the features of the person I was pointing at, she started to take a few steps forward more than I was comfortable with.

"Wait, don't come near him."

"I was just—"

"Olivia—"

"Oh! He came from that house, right? I think that's Mr. Tan. I didn't know he drinks though… Well, after Mrs. Tan just… you know…"

"Huh?"

"Right, I also saw him earlier, trying to pull the homeless guy off of Mrs. Tan but I think he got punched or something. I dunno, I saw him getting bandaged by one of the medics— D'you want to talk to him? Wait a sec—"

Olivia was already several steps away from me as she tried to figure out who this "Mr. Tan" was but even before she turned around to call for the figure, "Mr. Tan" just violently turned his neck towards Olivia before hobbling toward her with speed.

His arm just flailed around as he made way for Olivia but the moment the bandage on his arm came loose, it just revealed a discolored arm, leaking pus and blood with dark lines protruding mostly from the scratched area.

'SHIT!' I shouted in my head as I hurried to draw my pistol.

At this moment, I was still at the back, behind one of the doors of the ambulance while Kaley had just stepped outside of their house carrying the last few bags. Olivia was right in the center of where I, Kaley, and "Mr. Tan" were currently standing but it'll only be a few seconds before the latter arrives at its destination.

From my position, I couldn't get a proper firing line due to the ambulance door and Olivia being obstructions and all I could do was get at an angle where the door wasn't blocking me from "Mr. Tan" while simultaneously decreasing the chance of grazing Olivia when I opened fire.

It only took a second before I managed to get the figure in my sights but before I could even pull the trigger,

*BANG*

I saw a bright flash of light before it got followed by a loud bang.

The next thing I saw was "Mr. Tan" on the ground, sprawled sideways and bleeding out while Olivia had ducked down and clutched her ears. To my left, in Kaley's hands, instead of the last set of bags to be brought to the ambulance was the gun I handed to her earlier.

Smoke was still coming out of the barrel when Kaley rushed to Olivia's side but I saw the figure she just shot twitch and roll over before it tried to get up.

'It's still alive…'

I immediately ran forward, past Kaley and Olivia with my gun in my hand to finish it, and I got to see its features up close and personal.

Its right cheek got torn from a bullet grazing it and blood continuously flowed from its mouth, painting the grass a touch of red. Part of its jaw was missing and I could see well past its molars because what's left of its cheek flap was hanging down for all the world to see. Speaking of sight, its right eye was bloodshot and its iris was starting to deform from the perfect circle.

Furthermore, the black lines were present on the rest of its body but most of them were centered around the wound it sustained earlier.

With that said, a few residents who heard the shot went outside and some who were already outside let out screams or hurriedly went back to their houses. However, the ones who stayed behind saw "Mr. Tan" get shot in the face before it tried to stand up at a weird angle and tried to sink its teeth and its claws in my body.

"HE'S GONNA—"

"WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT! WATCH OUT!"

"I CAN'T WATCH THIS—"

Their screams were for naught because I quickly stepped back but the muzzle of my gun was already pointed between its eyes. Fortunately, the distance was much, much shorter and there were no obstacles to keep me from missing my shot

*BANG*

Another flash of light followed by a loud bang occurred once I pulled the trigger, and I saw how the bullet entered the center of its forehead and exited the back, causing bits of blood and brain matter to follow after it. Its head blew back from the impact before it stopped moving and all that was left was my ears ringing and the stares of everyone that witnessed what just happened.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT HAPPENED— DID HE KILL MR. TAN?!"

"I thought he was a paramedic?"

"HE DID WHAT?!"

"He killed Mr. Tan."

"WHAT?!"

"No! I think Mr. Tan tried to attack Olivia from next door."

"How could Mr. Tan move like that though, he's over 80, right?"

"I don't know, I saw him get shot earlier by Kaley, then he stood up again."

"WHAT?! FOR REAL?!"

"Saw that too... It's like the movies."

"You mean Mr. Tan is a zombie? Stop kidding yourself."

"Well, how do you explain the homeless guy who attacked Mrs. Tan earlier?"

"..."

"I'm going to call the cops."

"I'm going to gather my things and move out. It's going to be dangerous here if what you're saying is real."

The residents started to talk among themselves and when I turned around, I saw Kaley guiding Olivia through the vehicle's passenger side. She glanced at me briefly but she was trying to calm Olivia down. The crowd outside was getting larger as more people came out so I decided to handle the situation.

I raised the badge I took from the guard at the airport to pretend I was law enforcement.

"LISTEN UP! If you don't already know, there's a series of violent crimes being reported all around but the government is doing its best to maintain order. This is one of them. Something's causing people to act violently towards others and that was one of the few we met today. If you need to know more, better to turn on the news, radio, or even take to social media to get a clear view of what's happening."

I continued, "It's advised to gather all of your supplies, secure your home, and wait for further orders. If you see a person exhibiting strange behavior, do not let them in. Make sure you guarantee the safety of you and those close to you as well but most importantly, everyone should try to stay calm. This thing will be over soon and we would appreciate your cooperation."

As soon as I said that, I almost cringed since I just paraphrased what a security detail from the movies would say to civilians but that was the best I could do for them.

It would be better to not have everyone fall into a panic because it would be much trouble if they do. I just hoped that everyone adopts a clear state of mind and prepares for the worst. I could only help people as much and I couldn't take everyone in.

Before I entered the vehicle, I sighed before I grabbed the mic from the ambulance, "One last thing, if you have to defend yourself: aim for the head."

'It's up to yourselves if you can survive this thing.'

Once I said that, a lot of people gave me confused looks. Some of them understood what I was talking about while a few gave me looks of wanting to come with us. I shook my head and simply entered the vehicle and made sure to lock it down. Olivia seemed to be doing okay but Kaley was still hugging her tight. I proceeded to go back where we had driven from and a few flicks of the siren got us through smoothly and quickly down the road.

It seemed that it hasn't spread much in this area and most of it started from the direction where the airport was. Each radio station was saying the same thing and even the music channels got taken over by the news channels.

"I hope mom and dad are okay..." Olivia muttered.

Time continued to pass and we arrived at the intersection from where Oscar broke off.

On the right side of the intersection, you could see small shops right next to a gated community where the guard stationed in front was looking at his phone with a scrunched eyebrow. On the left side, more stores were scattered about and a fuel station was present—where one of my cousins was currently employed. Right behind it was a terminal where tricycles were waiting for passengers but a few of them were glued to the TV, watching the news which was inaudible from our side.

After that, we passed by the public market where one of my shops was located and I made a mental note to grab everything from there later and close it. We passed by a few more stores and a few more houses then I made a right turn after passing an elementary school. From this street, mostly houses of varying sizes could be seen compared to actual stores but after passing through a few stalls where people would sell homemade refreshments, we finally managed to reach my home.