Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

We waited for a few moments but there was no immediate reply.

My group took the time to replenish our spent mags and wipe our blades while Jose continued to try and contact Morales. Jose just kept a stoic look while waiting for a reply but a few of his younger soldiers were showing worry. Despite that, he kept on repeating the same phrase each time he raised his radio to talk into it.

'He wouldn't just croak, would he?'

After a couple of minutes, everyone in close proximity heard Morales' voice.

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*bzzt*

[Copy, what's it about Jose?]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

"It's already a few hours past noon, you done or what?"

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Yeah, just tying up some loose ends. I just decided to be a little bit lenient for a change.]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

"Hmm? Really? We'll be coming then, we're pretty close to where you are."

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[The kid and his team with you?]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

"Yeah, we've been going around doing our own thing together. We found a few useful things but I think we should avail of some of their services."

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[What are you talking about? Anyway, bring them along. I'll call a few more people back at the harbor to drive here as well. Don't ask much now, you'll get to see it when you arrive.]

*bzzt*

-

'See it?'

Their short conversation ended and we soon took to our vehicles and drove along the path where about a dozen fish ponds and fishing areas were right next to each other. They came in different shapes and sizes but the dead were the ones that were currently wading and floating inside them. A few submerged bodies had bloated up inside and the texture of their flesh was already deteriorating.

The smell was so much worse when a mishap in these ponds happen wherein all the fishes die and rot and I couldn't believe that I would be yearning for that fucking smell instead. It made a few sick to their stomach and the masks we were wearing weren't helping much.

The only way to remedy the situation right now was to just drive faster and just clear the whole place when we got the time.

"We're here." Jose declared, jumping down from their truck.

"The people here before have done some work..." I commented.

After the soldiers watching the destroyed gate let us in, we got a better view of the place we were supposed to take over. It had similarities with the harbor but this place was more tailored for commercial use. Several docking areas were spread throughout as a few fishing boats were still intact and few warehouses were fortified not to mention the main office where Morales might be currently in.

Even the walls surrounding the area were brought up to a certain height to keep the dead away and there were platforms so the people on guard duty could have a better vantage point.

Aside from that, on a corner to the right was a pumping station for ethanol but I doubt we would be able to get an amount that could last for a while. A few more places where business was supposed to be transacted were repurposed to suit this place's needs and the only thing missing from this place was supplies and a new gate to keep the dead away. A simple one could be made in a day and I think I know why Morales wanted to have a few soldiers come in as well.

'A new outpost as easy as that, eh? Can't complain though, we'll have both sides of the city with soldiers once they get this place up and running. Clearing the whole city would just take some time...'

After a short while, a soldier came out of a warehouse and waved us over, telling us to come inside. I made my group either stay put or explore this port but Artem decided to come with me and Jose. Once we came inside, 23 people were huddled in a circle and guarded by several soldiers. They were in a state of distress and they were nothing like the prisoners held at the harbor. Their clothes were dirty and bloodstained but they had no open wounds of any sort.

Aside from that, a few fresh corpses with stab wounds in the head were right by Morales' feet. I was about to tell Morales about how 'lenient' he was but I noticed faint dark lines visible from the corpses' limbs even if there were no bite marks visible. Taking a closer look, it seemed like they weren't beaten to death or had their necks broken in two places making the notion of Morales going wild improbable.

'Hmm...'

"Just in time, do you recognize a few of them?" Morales turned to me with a solemn expression.

I scanned through the prisoners' faces then I shook my head, "No, I might need to check the drives first. I flipped through a few hard copies but they aren't one of them."

"No luck, eh? I got some news for you three."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Jose interjected.

"The fuckers left more surprises. They got Aurelio, Valencia, Reyes, Bautista, Cruz, Ramos, Gonzales, and Valdez, careless mistake." Morales said as he laid down their dog tags.

"Wai- the fuck? They did this?" Jose flared up as he glared at the people huddled together.

"No, they're victims as well relatively speaking. We're just waiting it out and that's why we're taking so long." Morales calmed Jose down.

"Waiting it out?" Artem added, curious.

Morales glanced at Artem for a brief moment before he took a deep sigh, "The water is tainted, badly. A few of our guys were careless to fill their metal canisters from the faucets here and they didn't see the color of the water they're drinking. We just heard a gunshot then we witnessed Bautista feasting on Aurelio while a few were just starting to show symptoms. Ramos just killed himself as soon as we learned that the water tanks had several bodies swimming in it while a few waited it out before… you know. The rest… needed some help."

"Fucking shit..." I muttered before I immediately contacted my group.

As soon as I made sure everyone got the piece of news, I turned to Morales once more.

"How fast did they turn?"

"With Bautista, give or take two hours while the rest just started to show symptoms. I don't know about Ramos because he went early but we're constantly checking everyone's temperatures. A few of them showed symptoms a bit late so we're monitoring everyone present. In the meantime, we're just waiting for you to arrive so we could start with getting more information. We don't know when the water tank has been played with so it's better to extract every bit of info you could before they all turn or not. We don't know who's gonna show symptoms next so we're kinda in a time crunch in this quarantine of sorts." Morales explained.

"You haven't started questioning them?"

"If I do, I might just start killing all of them. This is me being lenient. It's hard, I tell you."

I began to scratch my head as the group of people huddled in the center of the warehouse looked at me like I was the one supposed to save them. Little did they know that everything still banks on whether they took a sip of water that came from the water tank or not. They could luckily be holding onto a separate bottle of their own but only time could tell.

"Give me a room and 30 minutes then. I might need some power too so I could start checking the files on the drives."

"Yeah, the main office is good for that. Do you want me to bring them all in there or do you have something else in mind?"

"Yeah, bring them one by one after hosing them down and giving them a change of clothes."

"Hmm, we'll do that then."

Copying and merging the files into one single file correctly would take some time but I started to skim some of them while taking note of the identifying number I gave them plus the portrait they had on hand. I managed to fish out their correct identities and learn a bit about their life before everything went to shit whether I would consider letting them live or not. However, I would also take into account the information they have for me and I would take everything into account.

After a while, a woman by the name of Donnabelle Arizala came with a clean look and I offered her a seat. She was in her 30s, single, had a menial office job in the government, and she used to live in Tangos South based on the photocopied ID I found in one of her files.

"Name?"

"Umm- E-E-Estrella Domingo."

"You're doing this now?"

"Huh?"