Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

506 Carwash - Petals - We'll head there as well...(Chapter preview)

I was looking at everyone's faces when I said the word 'carwash' and they all almost short-circuited. They thought I was joking at first because of the look I was giving them but I was dead serious that we needed to use the facilities in this establishment.

"What? Look at our ride, it needs a scrub or two!" I commented and they soon nodded a few times in understanding while Mikhail and a few others started to laugh heartily.

"I was confused at first but it all came together..." Jay chuckled as it came full circle.

"Well, we need to check the water here is running or they still had some left and maybe get ahold of a generator or a battery for the compressor. We could clean it by hand but it would take longer." I said to the group.

We soon made a proper perimeter and parked the other two vehicles a certain way. After that, we made sure that the carwash was deadhead-free but luckily, there were just four or five inside. I took care of it as fast as I could and I noticed that Kaley was glancing at my katana.

"Yeah?" I addressed it as I drew my katana when the rest were hauling the bodies out.

"Is it, okay? You just threw it at the back, right?" Kaley replied, leaning in to take a closer look.

"Yeah, it wouldn't easily dent or something. All the time since I had it, I kept on cleaning it and checking it for chips and such after each use but it could actually take a beating. Well, I wouldn't put it under a stress test but it's ductile enough even for rougher uses. The only thing I wanted for it now is another deep clean."

"Oh~ so this other one's the same?"

"Yep."

"So..."

"Hmm?"

"Tatiana would sometimes have classes with handheld weapons and you rarely got to teach a class. I would sometimes do the same-"

"You're getting bored then?"

"Ah- no, I just… look."

Kaley and I were just the only ones in the office of the carwash and she quickly drew her wakizashi. She just as easily performed the basic movements first before she attempted the flower pattern I showed her before. It actually formed the right shape but on the second time she did it, she added her own touches and made the turns sharper.

I was sure that I was wearing a stupefied face when she suddenly swung down. I didn't bother to dodge but the blade was a few centimeters forward than what it usually should have been. My smile grew even wider as I took my wakizashi from her hand and pushed her against the wall.

"W-What are y-you- We're still outsi-"

I was looking directly into Kaley's eyes as I slowly slid her wakizashi back in place. After that, I then I stepped back and watched her reaction. She was so flustered at what I did but she soon huffed and glared at me. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle but it ticked her off even more.

"Stop grinning! D-Did I d-do it right or w-what?"

"You did great, adding into account you're doing other stuff as well. Does your hand hurt or what? How many times do you have to do it before it… stings or something?"

"Hmm? My hand? Sting?"

"Yeah, doing the second one with the sharper petals."

"I… I don't think so… Umm, when I'm practicing I could feel it sting but I never counted..."

"Hmm..."

"W-Why? Something wrong?"

"Try doing it more then- wait, no. Let's just stop ourselves for now."

"Huh? Why?"

"Just trust me. It would be bad to test your limits outside. I'll be making you do a different set of movements and… let's just say there's a reason why the first pattern I showed you didn't involve abrupt turns like that."

"Why?"

"Got you curious eh? Heh, we'll just see later."

"Why?! Just give me a simple answer and don't leave me hanging~"

"Nah~ It'll ruin the surprise~"

Kaley jumped on my back to get me encumbered but when I started to calculate how much she weighed, I almost had to fight for my life just to get away. In the end, we just got called by the rest of my team as we started to give our Raptor a deep cleaning. A few volunteered to help us but I waved them down and just asked them to keep the road clear of the deadheads passing through.

Before we got to start, Jay approached me.

"Hey, can I check that pet store?" Jay asked, pointing his rifle down.

"Sure, your dog got problems? Did you have Derek check him?" I replied.

"Oh, no. Dozer's doing fine. Derek just mentioned that if we could loot a few places for animals like their antibiotics and such… it would be greatly appreciated. Also, Oscar mentioned to get all the fish antibiotics we could. He said survivalists would hoard them back at his place before he moved here since it's cheaper." Jay explained.

"Huh? Does that really work? Isn't it unsafe to take meds intended for fish?" Kaley chimed in.

"It's not prescribed by the FDA but people really are taking them in place of the approved ones. It's unregulated and not proven to be safe for consumption of humans but I've heard of it still being done because of how cheaper it is compared to the ones approved. It's like a 3rd of the price in the US last time I checked. It could be a problem with their healthcare system that drove some people to do that but we'll never know for sure." I explained, checking the pressure of the water.

"So, it works?" Jay asked.

"I guess so? Well, we still got a fuck ton for humans back at home. We'll start worrying about taking them when we even start to run out. I guess I'll take one for the team to test it if I ever got sick and that's all we got left." I concluded.

We started washing my Raptor by setting the power of the water spray to low. We needed to careful about blood droplets spraying into the air and getting into our system so, we would just increase the pressure once we removed all manner of the sticky and disgusting bits on my Raptor. At the same time, we were wearing our face shields which were usually stored away but we continued cleaning our vehicle meticulously.

"Do it well that we'd be confident to eat off of it!" I instructed.

"U-Umm, why are we vacuuming it now?!"

"Yes."

"And waxing it?!"

"Yes."

"What's that?!"

"Yes."

"Don't 'Yes.' us! What the fuck is that bro?!"

"A fogging machine."

"What?!"

"A FOGGING MACHINE!!!"

"THE FUCK ARE WE USING IT FOR?!"

"Yes."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!!!"

"Pfft! It's for disinfecting the inside, see the solution I put in before? If we're gonna clean it, we go all the way! The tools and supplies are here, the fuck are we not using it?"

"It's already past noon bro! Oscar and the president is already waiting!"

"Fuck."

"I told you!"

"No, I forgot to bring the other deodorizer. It's on the cabinet by the-"

"Bro! Be serious!"

"I am!"

"They could be fuming right now!"

"Eh~ Just call them and just say we ran into a little accident then we ended up in a carwash. They'll understand."

"Bro~~~!"

"Sir, I think we really do need to hurry..."

Jared and Ibarra were starting to lose their heads while the rest of my team were losing it just watching the three of us go back and forth. Add to that, I even started doing the same thing for the Hilux and the Humvee we brought. They had no choice to agree to my whims as Artem and Jay actually cleaned their own vehicles.

I couldn't explain Jared and Ibarra's expression when we were the ones standing guard with our shiny Raptor while the rest were cleaning their vehicles.

"I'm gonna call them! Don't stop me!" Jared started to snitch.

"Sure~ Go ahead~ You think I'm scared?" I taunted him even more.

*bzzt*

"Hello? Oscar? This is Jared."

*bzzt*

[Eh? Jared? The fuck are you guys taking so long? We just took a break on the Centennial Park he told us to avoid. Turns out, it's actually abandoned pretty recently. It had all the signs and shit but anyway, where are you now? You should at least be halfway.]

*bzzt*

"Not even a quarter..."

*bzzt*

[WHAT?! PUT THE FUCKING KID ON!!! KID~!!!]

*bzzt*

"I told you bro!" Jared passed me the radio.

"Cheh, you're worrying too much." I said, rolling my eyes and shaking my head.

*bzzt*

"Yo."

*bzzt*

[DON'T FUCKING 'YO' ME!!! THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR TEAM?!]

*bzzt*