Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

We were only a couple of meters away from the Beetle when it mowed everything but a quick glance could tell that it was empty. Despite that, it continued on mowing dead bodies until it got stuck in a small pile of corpses by the entrance. It couldn't accelerate anymore because of the chunks, bits, and even the nasty clothes that got stuck from under it but it managed to give us some wiggle room.

With that said, we used that small opening to give each other a lot of space while putting down anything that shouldn't be moving.

"GO! GO! GO! IBARRA, BRING THE REAR!"

"ROGER!"

I went ahead of everybody as I swung my blade vertically, cutting an undead toddler in half. My blade went in through its soft and rotting flesh before I twisted my grip and made my blade exit through its ruptured abdomen. My blade was stained once more but I didn't stop until I cut down a mascot not wearing its headpiece. Its face was all chewed up so I released its head from its body to match the headpiece by the table.

As soon as its head rolled over, I dodged a crooked claw aiming for me before lopping it off with the rest of its body. It was an undead security guard or maybe a male stripper because he was wearing pants that were made of fishnets. Nevertheless, my blade cut through its scalp, making sure that it would be put to rest. I kicked its body towards a group of civilians, knocking them over and making them easy targets.

I cut down almost three dozen deadheads when I met with a familiar figure right in the middle of the mall.

Tatiana had already gone down from the escalator, leaving a pile of bodies either with a stab wound or a bullet hole. I saw Kaley in the middle of the escalator once more and she was aiming at the ones coming from Tatiana's back. She just gave me a simple nod before aiming down at a mall cop dragging along a broken-down segway scooter. Its bulging stomach was chewed up like an apple and it fell down with one shot.

How I wish the ones we put down would just despawn and leave a small loot box because even if we restarted at a different area, the bodies we piled by the escalator were still present.

"GO AROUND THE OPPOSITE SIDE! MIKHAIL! HOLD THE ENTRANCE WITH IBARRA AND MARINA!"

"HOW ABOUT YOU?!"

"JUST DO IT!"

Tatiana and I would be much better to circle around and kite the dead by ourselves because we were more familiar with each other's movements. Aside from that, Tatiana was only one of the few that could keep up with me while Kaley was stone cold with sending bullets our way. I was sure that she could do it with any other person besides us but the ones she would be sending it on would have trouble moving instead.

It was a division of labor that could only work if you completely trust the person and vice versa.

We just arrived at a clothing store but all sorts of deadheads came pouring out of it. I pulled my Maxim 9 to take care of them while Tatiana put down the ones approaching from behind. Once we were clear in the neck of the woods, we went back the same route so that Kaley could give us eyes from above. We could only see so much from all the chaos and having an extra set of eyes was crucial.

"THERE! THOSE BENCHES! QUICK!"

We ran towards a set of benches forming a square where a small fake garden was right in the middle. A few bodies have already melded in the benches themselves so we bored a few holes in their heads before we kited the dead around them. The number of the dead pouring out from the stalls and the entrance significantly lessened after a few minutes but we still got a lot more to go through.

After a short while, the lights and the other facilities inside the small started turning on and the only one I could think of that could do that was Artem's team. They actually went ahead to the basement and found a way to make the generators work. However, I could still hear gunshots coming from the opposite side of the mall and that led me to think that they split their forces even more to accomplish the task.

-

*bzzt*

[SAY THANKS TO ME~ BOGDAN! I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[STOP CELEBRATING AND HELP US! YOU'RE BEETLE STUNT DIDN'T WORK AS EXPECTED!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Ah, I was hoping you'd save me. I'm stuck in here.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[WHAT?!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[I just rushed inside and killed a few as I got here. A ton of them are banging against the door but I barricaded it with a few cabinets. There are no windows so...]

*bzzt*

-

My group almost fell over but I talked through my earpiece.

-

*bzzt*

"Good job. We'll get there in a few."

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Ah! You heard me! Take your time! I brought a few smokes with me.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[YOU MOTHERFUCKER! YOU'RE CHILLING THERE WHILE WE'RE TAKING DOWN THE ONES COMING FROM THE BASEMENT, THE BACK ENTRANCE, AND THE FIRST FLOOR!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Just hold it down and we'll come soon! The ones from the main entrance got slower so we'll be close!"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[WE GOT IT! STEFAN IS JUST LOSING HIS SHIT! DON'T MIND, DON'T MIND!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[ARTEM! I'M NOT LIKE YOU! I GET TIRED, YOU PSYCHO!]

*bzzt*

-

A lot of yelling came from the other side just when I thought they got it together. However, what they were doing was still working so we continued on what we were doing. After a time, Kaley even walked down and joined the two of us while the other three started putting down bodies outside. A few stragglers were now walking inside the first floor and Artem's group already took care of their problem once we managed to reach them.

They left a ton of bodies in their wake and it seemed like Artem let loose. His uniform was covered with splatter while his wrists and hands were covered in blood. Looking at the handles of his firearms, it seemed like he didn't fire a single shot and just opted for his machete and his knife. However, the grenades by his pouch were spent, leading me to believe that he was the one responsible for the several explosions at their side.

I handed Artem a spare cloth to clean most of the grime on him while Kaley offered a set of wet wipes and some rubbing alcohol. He offered the items to his team first but everyone just glared at him and forced him to use them first. It was because he looked like he dipped his arms in murky waters and left them to dry. He wanted to scratch his head after reaching for his now bloodied hot pockets and he just looked at me after sighing heavily.

"Hey, ah... spasiba! No- ah, thanks!"

"You're welcome. I think water is running in one of the stores. Don't drink it though just in case it's contaminated. Just use it to rinse or something."

"Da, da. Don't worry about me. That's Katya's job."

Katya immediately interjected, "Who worries about you? Can I hear that again?"

"Hah! You always worry about me! You're like my mother! Wait- or my sister!"

'Ouch. That should fucking hurt.'

Katya looked like her spirit departed as Natasha tried to shake her in place. We finally had a small breather and Jared informed me that our clearing group was only a few blocks away. We could start burning bodies on our side and it would hasten the process altogether while I send a group to start scavenging anything we could scrounge from this place. However, it seemed like everyone have forgotten someone that risked his life to turn the power on.

-

*bzzt*

[GUYS? BOSS? ARTEM? HELLO? HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~???]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

"Ah."

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[WHAT THE FUCK?! DID YOU ALL JUST FORGOT ABOUT ME?! YOU SAID YOU'D COME IN A FEW!!!]

*bzzt*

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*bzzt*

[Ah…]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[THAT'S YOU ARTEM, AREN'T YOU?! YOU EVEN FORGOT ABOUT ME! HOW COULD YOU! THIS WAS OUR PLAN FROM THE START! I'D RUSH OVER HERE THEN YOU'LL COME BACK FOR ME! I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Ah...]

*bzzt*

-

Bogdan started to lose his mind as everyone didn't have a proper reason as to why we forgot about him. We unmotivatedly cleared everything that was clawing at the entrance of where he was and it was done in a few minutes. After that, we took down a few more deadheads stuck in their own vehicles but we found more items that we could use in their person.

When we got to Bogdan, the motherfucker actually named the dead bodies he put down inside the room with the generators and he actually shed a tear when we started burning them. However, a couple bottles of some expensive liquor cheered him up but he wouldn't leave a single inch away from us.