Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

My group and I drove a few meters down Araneta Avenue to reach our destination. The insurance companies we were looking at were just small offices spread throughout this area along with the other buildings meant for supporting the LTO. With that said, we have a stretch of road filled with the dead to take care of so we went back to business.

It was a bad idea to direct the dead to ourselves but to draw them out of their hiding places while in the safety of our vehicle, I made Ibarra press onto the horn for tens of seconds without letting go. My group was watching both ends of the road and we could clearly see how all of the rotting heads turned in our direction the moment they heard us.

Different faces with different areas where they got ridden with bites were coming for us with wobbled steps for the most part. Kaley started thinning them down with her rifle but the moment Jared started firing incessantly, we knew that specials have joined the party.

A regular deadhead was just running past a fire hydrant when it was smashed down before it even managed to take a single step. Its torso was violently lodged into the fire hydrant before it started stomping on its head and that was when several bullets nicked parts of its shoulder, neck, and face.

It stumbled down a few times but it started to run around where there were obstructions, away from our line of sight.

Jared was shooting the ones further back and once I got a closer look, I instantly discovered that some of them were quadruped and moving in erratic patterns while the other group was gunning straight for us. Furthermore, the former was indiscriminate in their killings as they would swipe down on the ones in front of them, even if it was one of their own while the latter would just push everything aside to get to their targets.

They just let out a gurgling scream before running straight for us with a deranged expression, joining the sprinters that Kaley was taking down one after the other. I started shooting at them as well but we only managed to take down three ferals and twelve sprinters before they were dangerously close. More than a dozen of them remained and they would reach us in a matter of seconds.

We had to keep some distance because fighting a small herd of ferals with a mix of sprinters and regular deadheads was fucking suicide.

"IBARRA! REVERSE AND HEAD BACK TO MANGO ROAD!"

"JUST THERE?!"

"JUST DO IT!"

We could've easily made some distance if Ibarra floored it but the goal wasn't to run but to kill every single one of them.

The issue that we noticed long before was that their hearing and their sight were still functional to a degree but the problem was that ferals and irregular sprinters could fucking respond and act defensively against them. Most of them would just approach anything that they see or hear but the ones we were facing right now were moving like they were painted in blue and were about to be executed.

I needed to do a little experiment to see how fast they react and how long they retain information about things once they lose sight of their target even momentarily and vice versa.

It was barely a few seconds when we turned to the right but I have already fished out a couple of grenades and was about to pull their pins out. Four sprinters immediately made their way and one of them slammed onto a bolted-on trash can before two ferals came into view. One of them had the ability to properly slow down and turn while the other rolled and slammed onto a car before lunging straight into the same direction.

My group was already shooting at them as they tried to zigzag but I suddenly threw a grenade with the pin still on it.

The feral and a couple of sprinters at the front actively avoided it as the feral slowed down and swerved to the side while the other two just turned slightly to change directions. However, once I threw the grenade with the fucking pin out, they just did nothing and just ran past it for a few seconds before getting blown to bits with the rest of the specials behind them.

Everything happened while we were still in transit but my group who were at the back saw everything clearly. The result of what happened made us learn more about them but we needed to do the same thing a few more times, also with different variables, before we decide that we could use that against them or share the information. A few ferals that were still further back survived but they were quickly shot down once they slowed from the explosions.

A lone sprinter came through the smoke but I easily took it down with a couple of shots from my TX-22. It rolled down and fell a few inches from my Raptor before I told Ibarra to drive around the block to reach our earlier destination. Most of the dead would be gathered to where we were currently so it was best to avoid the place most of them would be gathering for the moment, keeping distance just in case another pack came running.

We took a wide turn to Kasoy Road and to Lapu-Lapu Road before turning once more to the right to reach Caimito Road. We drove for two additional blocks to reach one of the emission centers which was directly next to one of the insurance companies I wanted my team to give a quick search for their hard drives.

The bodies we took down earlier were also by this spot and we were seeing the back of the heads since they were still heading for the explosions. With that said, a few that heard us turned around and they were met with a speeding bullet heading for their skulls. A few quick pops filled the air while the rest of my group started to pull the bodies to the side.

Jared waved me over, "We're not burning them, bro? We could already make a few piles just from this side."

"Nah, we'll just call over some people from the group clearing the bodies over on Oscar's side once we're done."

"Okay, bro. We'll wait outside while you guys are busy."

"Sure."

It was easy enough to get inside the insurance companies since most of them weren't as established compared to the ones further in Quezon City. Each place only had 3-5 hard drives at most and I was already thinking that we wouldn't be as lucky if we ever start searching through the hundreds of files they had on record. However, it was already plenty enough to have a partial list of the people living in the vicinity.

Our detour became a mix of killing the dead and looking for information since the spot we were in had more undead bodies lurking in the shadows. Kaley and Jared were kept busy with Ibarra on my Raptor but the items we were uncovering weren't much to look at even if they were valuable.

An occasional knife or an expensive watch on a deadhead would sometimes cheer them up but unless we find something good, the overall mood would take a small hit. Glancing around, I just found the solution.

I tapped on the roof of my Raptor, "Ibarra, drive over there."

"The parish?"

"No, the one right across it."

"That place?"

"Yep."

"Are you sure? Wait- how in the hell is that placed over there?"

"Heh. Just drive, man."

"Sure..."

My group was initially confused but they grew even more confused once they discovered that a strip club was right in front of a fancy church.

It would've been funnier if the strip club was right behind the church, but the number of parked vehicles being greater in the strip club was more than a win. I could only imagine the poor sods getting bitten while still having a boner but the sights weren't the main concern.

The issue was that Bing used to work in this place as a bouncer before moving much closer to home. I wasn't actively looking for this place but since we were here already, it wouldn't hurt to bring a few things before going home. The graffiti on the walls were already enticing and discovering that one of them had Bing's resemblance, we just closed the gate after entering to ensure none would escape us.

After close to two hours of putting down half-naked zombies with nipple tassels, visitors with half their pants down, bouncers that were stuck on the door, and bartenders which were kinda hotter than the strippers themselves when they were still alive, we were smiling from ear to ear once we discovered the amount of untouched alcohol in their warehouse. Pallets and pallets of beer were present with fucktons of hard liquor.

I chuckled and said, "Wait, lemme give someone a call."