Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The reference obviously went over Morales' head as he answered, "I'd like both but I'm leaning on defense."

"Leaning on defense? That's the premise here but if you have any ideas of yours, you could talk to Raphael, our chief engineer."

Morales' interest got piqued hard, "Chief engineer?"

"You already know we modify cars, right? It's only obvious we give that title to someone."

"So you're saying you have more people that do that kind of work?"

"That's the only way we could work on a lot of them given the time that we have. Remember the vehicles we got from your city? They are now in a queue to make everything… for this time."

"What are they working on currently?"

"I think it would be better if you talk to them, they would work on it even after sunset. Come with me."

I led Morales out of my compound and straight to Anthony's house outside so he could see the stuff they were working on currently. Muffled sounds of the stereo and metal grinding on metal could be heard while several lamps were on, illuminating most of Anthony's workshop. Raphael, Unc Zeidrick, other people, and surprisingly, Chris and Lois were present, learning the ropes of being a grease monkey.

They were working on a design for a Honda Civic to have a modification for its front bumper to carry a medium-sized 'rammer' in the shape of the front of the car, extending until the fenders and the hood. Aside from that, they were doing the same thing on the back of the car and on the fenders by the wheels to cover everything nicely. It was also done to distribute the weight evenly so it wouldn't be too front-heavy.

"So, it's like the flares but more extended?" Chris asked Raphael.

Raphael raised his mask, "It's not 'like' a fender flare, it's 'a' fender flare. We just made something custom taking into account how the wheels turn."

"What if we need to change the tires then? I personally think it's too much," Lois interjected.

"In an emergency situation?" Raphael replied.

"Of course, why else would we change a tire?"

"We already installed tubeless tires, right?" Chris added.

"Well, he said that they still go flat, right?" Lois turned to Raphael once more.

"Highly unlikely but still a possibility."

"See?" Lois turned to Chris, widening his eyes.

"I-"

Before Chris answered, I interjected, "If you're gonna have accidents on the road, make sure you take down everything around you first before working on your vehicle. If you can't do that, you could stay inside and wait for help, ditch the car, or divide your force to take care of the problem. Just rip it off with a crowbar and don't worry about the extended flares. I think it has its own purpose, right?"

Raphael nodded, "It's for the bits and chunks going inside the gaps, one of the things that might cause an accident. Doing these kinds of things negates accidents from happening and that's why we always check our vehicles when we go out. The only way we'd have an accident is not from faulty machinery, only outside forces. But yeah, they're called accidents for a reason and we're just trying to solve each one of them. The fuck are you doing here anyway?"

"Heh, am I not welcome here? This place isn't even your house, it's Anthony's house."

"Oh~ I came here invited, you just barged in. Technically both of you are trespassing."

Unc Zeidrick cackled from the back, "Shoot them then!"

Chris, Lois, and Anthony started laughing but Morales kept the same expression all throughout the conversation.

I chuckled, "Well, technically, I got my hands on all the deeds from this city. Technically, I own everything here."

"Ah-"

Anthony just shook his head laughing and said, "You're always welcome here. Anyway, what's the occasion?"

"Morales here wants a custom job. Morales?"

"Yes, one or two trucks as a start would be ideal. We could discuss payment now or-"

Raphael cut him off, "Payment could be discussed later and with that dude over there. What do you have in mind? I want something exciting because we've been doing the same shit for some of the vehicles here. I want to start on something fresh. Give me something great and I might put you up in the queue."

'Morales and exciting don't particularly go well together...'

"Hmm."

"We're waiting~"

After a moment, Morales pulled out his radio and contacted Jose. As soon as Jose connected, Morales handed his radio to Raphael.

Everyone else present saw Raphael's face morph to different expressions of bliss and Lois had to drop a wrench on his foot to bring him back to reality. However, he immediately shook Morales' hands and went on his own to write up a new design for what I surmised an M35 2.5-ton 6x6 Cargo Truck.

'The deuce and a half...'

I could see Morales' faint smile hidden in the corner of his mouth as he looked over the rough draft and he thanked Jose before putting his radio down.

Chris asked, "Why does it say a deuce and a half?"

"It's just a nickname for it. See here, it's a two and half-ton truck, if you form your fingers like these… it's called a deuce and then add half..." Raphael demonstrated with his fingers.

"Wait a sec..." Lois trailed.

"Hmm?"

"That doesn't make sense..."

"Huh?"

"Half of a deuce is a finger, that doesn't make sense to be called a deuce and a half if a deuce and a half means three, not two and a half, you get me?"

"Ohhhh..." Chris nodded a few times.

"IT'S NOT HALVING THE DEUCE!!! JUST SEPARATE THEM!!! DEUCE. MEANS. TWO. AND. THE. HALF. MEANS. HALF. OF. ONE. NOT. THE. DEUCE. ITSELF!!!" Raphael exploded.

"But- why would-"

"Look, I- I don't give a fuck. It's just called like that, let it go..."

'Lois does have a point, albeit small. Heh...'

We eventually left their workshop and Morales excused himself to go to the DDR Camp while Lois and Chris followed me back. Morales would be staying guard and catching up with some of the soldiers he was familiar with while I changed my clothes and headed for the gym with the two. Walking upstairs, we could hear the faint sound of the music blasting and groans of people slamming the ground. Tatiana was giving everyone else pointers and she continued to be unstoppable.

"Wanna have a go?" Chris taunted Lois.

"Ha. Ha. No." Lois flat out refused, heading for the elliptical.

"C'mon, you're beating me at shooting practice, let me beat you in something at least!"

"So you want to beat me senseless, that's just bullying!"

"It's training! It's training! You could always hit back! I-"

Before Chris said more, Russel pulled him with a grin, "Finally. Come here you sack of shit. It's time for payback!"

Tatiana gave them some room as she became the referee and as soon as the bell rang, the two went for each other's throats. It was a fair match-up but Chris had the slight edge with his speed compared to Russel's raw power. Chris was already showing signs of using his footwork more fluidly but Russel was unrelenting. From what I was seeing, Chris worked hard to fix his glaring weakness while Russel kept on sharpening his strengths.

In the end, even with the disadvantage, Russel downed Chris on the third round with a left body blow. Everyone had a limit and this time, Chris ran out of places to keep his distance and got nailed. Russel kept on rushing him despite eating some headshots but the end result was important. If this was a fight outside, Russel would've returned the blows he received several times over.

"5-5." Russel offered his hand to Chris.

"4-5. Stop cheating. I got downed, not lose a portion of my memories." Chris grinned as he stood up.

"Shit, tomorrow then!"

"Sure."

The two rested on the bench by the door and before I even got to the treadmill, I caught Bing from the corner of my eye, heading in my direction. His face already told me what he wanted and I took it as an opportunity to teach Chris a new thing he could improve upon.

"Bing, I-"

"What? Excuse me, I'm gonna get some water..."

"..."

"What? Need something?"

"You aren't gonna ask for a spar? We always do those, right?"

"Eh~ I don't feel like it. I just got bodied by Tatiana twice already..."

"Sure… have a rest..."

I fell victim to one of the classic blunders and I was looking for a victim while Bing was silently sipping his water behind me. We already came late and some of them were either in the middle of their workout or healing by the bench after a spar. However, there was always this blonde-haired woman ready to go whenever. She never left the place she was in and she was looking at me the whole time, gloves on and hand by her waist.

"You gonna come over here or I'll drag you? You want a fight, correct?"