Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

As soon as those words came out of my mouth, the place was dead silent and everyone's eyes were fixated on us. Despite that, Morales just gave me a solemn expression but his eyebrow twitched for a brief moment. No one was moving a muscle, but the silence was broken by the president roaring in laughter.

"HAAAAAAA~!!! HAHAHAHA~!!! THAT'S WHY I LOVE THIS FUCKING PLACE! I REALLY LIKE YOU, YOU SON A BITCH! MORALES! THE FUCK ARE YOU JUST STARING AT THE KID FOR?! ARE YOU GONNA ACCEPT OR WHAT?!" Rod started goading Morales into accepting my challenge.

"Sir, the harbor still isn't-" Morales turned to the president respectfully but he was immediately cut off.

"You uptight, son of a bitch. Don't know the word 'delegate', huh? It's just for a night and-"

"But sir-"

"It's an order. I'm being serious here, you two need to sort your differences out. Well, the kid is fighting but I hope there's a substitution. It's bad to have bad blood between people that are supposed to work together. Is a switch possible?" Rod turned to me then glanced at Artem.

"I dunno, you up for it?" I turned to Artem as well, waiting for his decision.

"Da, it's much obliged." Artem's expression changed as he looked at Morales staring at him.

"Then it's done. I'll be the ref and we'll have a proper match. Wanna have a bet on it?" I stood between the two then I turned to the president.

"What do you want then?" Rod immediately replied, smiling.

"I want one of the small ships you used to get here and half of the fuel you have here that could run it."

"Hah! That's very steep, kid. You're talking like you've already won."

"Let's just say luck has been pretty much on my side. Also, I trust my guy that he could beat your guy."

"Hmph! You're asking for something I couldn't simply give away."

"Why's that?"

"Heh, that ship belongs to Iskoh."

"Hah! That makes it better then! Let's include him in the bet and I'm gonna ask for more favors."

"I'm telling you, kid. Morales is not a pushover and you better put something to the table."

"Sure, if you owe me a favor plus that small ship and the fuel it uses, I'll give Iskoh everything that we took from the DDR Camp in Monumento plus several thousand rounds for 5.56, 9mm, and .45 ACP, and... half of Artem's team and Mark's team to be sent to his place. Doing that could make our current problem of establishing proper comms and a safe land route faster if Iskoh has my people on his side."

"I'll talk to him first, and me?"

"I'll give support to Morales' 'city' by arming all of his soldiers with the same equipment I'm using plus a bonus especially for him. Aside from that, I'll give him half of the military vehicles we have modified back home, give him good deals on trades, and you get to fly home with my Charger and my Hayabusa."

"Just for a favor eh? What's this about a favor though? How far could it go?"

"There will come a time that you will decide on something and I will disagree with you. I'd like to use that favor so you'd change your mind no matter what. I want you to give your word on that and if you wanted, we could scratch what I would be giving you and wager a favor as well."

"What if that time comes and I don't change my mind?" Rod looked at me with a solemn expression.

"I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to kill you." I replied without blinking.

If me telling Morales earlier that I'd lay his ass out made the surroundings go quiet, telling the president face to face that I'll kill was on a different level of quietness. The silence was deafening and we could almost hear our own heart beating. It was at this moment that Morales almost charged at me but Rod just stared him down.

Just behind the president were Oscar and Matthew and how I wish I took a picture to immortalize that moment.

"We're just having a talk. If he's gonna kill me, he would've done so several times without any of you stopping him." Rod looked at each of his soldiers.

"BUT SIR!" Morales protested, glaring at me.

"You've got balls, kid. Huge ones. Don't worry, I'll keep my word. I hope you keep yours too when the time comes when I win because I'll also kill you if you don't honor your word. Let's shake on it." Rod said as he offered his hand.

"Sure, a favor as well. Mine's not worth as much as yours but you asked for it." I replied, returning his handshake.

"Heh, don't think too little of yourself."

The wager was finally set and after a while, the soldiers that Morales sent to clear the schools came back. Smoke was just billowing at the place they were in and they soon left us to head for the carwash. I discovered that they were more inclined to just take the equipment instead of just cleaning their vehicles there.

'Now it makes sense...'

Mark and his team stayed with us while Jay and his team drove back home with the supplies they gathered with Unc Zardon and Dong's group. However, one of the trucks we brought were driven by Morales' soldiers so we could exchange it with the items we talked about earlier. They would just unload everything from the truck, replace it with the items I would be picking, then my team would just stop by the harbor to drive it back home.

"Boss, you really wagered us..." Mark was pale, the same with the rest of his team.

"Half of us too!" Katya exclaimed.

"The fuck were you thinking bro! That's the president!" Jared was sweating bullets.

"What? We'd just be a city apart! Heh, you guys think we'll lose then?" I chuckled as I turned to face Artem who was quiet after everything that happened earlier.

"I'm not losing any more of my team because of that guy. I'll go all out, trust me. Besides, it's my lucky day because we got something tremendous just from beating up a high-ranking officer. Doing that back home just earns you an execution." Artem was actually excited.

"Just be fucking careful. He holds back a lot but he's also strong. The president wouldn't agree to my wager if he thinks that Morales doesn't have a chance."

"I won't lose to that guy, not easily." Artem replied, cracking his fingers.

"What I meant by being fucking careful is not to overdo it. Throw everything you got but don't kill him. This fight is about clearing the air because of the mistakes that were made, not revenge… Well, earning a fuckton of rewards in one go as well."

"Da, I understand. Odnako, I could fight you after him as well."

It became quiet once more the moment Artem offered me a challenge but it wasn't as tense compared to earlier. This time, there was more anticipation and excitement coming from our own teams because our supposed fight yesterday was interrupted by Oscar spiking his drink.

'He's fucking resilient, I'll give him that. I would always wake up the next day after accidentally drinking those… Well, I need to warn him about that in the future...'

"It depends, I don't want to bully you after you're exhausted. I might teach a solo class later too so we'll get there when we get there." I replied, giving a cheeky smile as I glanced at Kaley.

'I almost forgot I promised to teach her something...'

After a while of setting up, we drove towards the bridge to clear a path because the president's convoy already made a path for us from the way they came from. Our goal for today was just to explore the city more and kill the dead as much as possible. The convoy even caught up to us, joining us while driving side by side but there was tension in the air.

A large majority of the soldiers with us were on Morales' side but a few were neutral and actually rooting for Artem. The fight later seemed to be all in our minds and everyone was a little distracted, making our progress even slower. Everyone kept talking about it and even small betting pools were established along with even smaller fights.

That was when it got even more interesting.

"That's the grand final, we have to have a few opening fights or something..."

"You think 30-rounds of 5.56s are enough? For betting?"

"I'll bet two bottles of whiskey for that."

"You fucking serious?"

"I am, we have a lot of ammo but alcohol? That's gold, man. Fucking liquid gold."

"We really should bring in more people on the fun."

"There's the other camp in his place, right? Let's just invite them when we get there."

That was when I decided to join in with the conversation.

"How about I set you up with my own equipment, your own house, your own vehicle, and etc. at my place and all you have to do is beat me. How does that sound?" I suggested another event, speaking just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"With me?" A well-built soldier excitedly pointed to himself.

"Nah, to anyone. I'll take anyone on until the two are ready but you got to bring what you were originally planning to bet. I'll add it to what I would be giving to the winner so the winner takes all of it once he beat me."

"Deal!" almost half of the convoy roared.

'Suckers!'