Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Harold and everyone's curiosity got piqued when I mentioned that I want him to look out for someone I know that might be in his area. It wasn't a secret in its entirety but I still haven't had the chance to look for that person actively.

I started, "Names won't do you any good but you'd see him wearing an eyepatch even if he could see from both of his eyes clearly. It would be better to approach him discreetly instead of openly by slipping a paper with my name on it or something similar."

Harold tilted his head, "What? What kind of person does that?"

I chuckled, "He's a friend. All I ask is you don't spook him. He could be alone, in the camps, in other groups, or might be already in your fold."

"Hmm, just an eyepatch? What if by some chance he's not wearing it anymore?"

"Trust me, he'll be wearing one at all times. Worst comes to worst, he's wearing heavily tinted glasses on one side or a spare rolled-up handkerchief. If you want to ask, it's his rule he set in himself just in case he needs to shoot when it gets dark instantly."

Kaley interjected, "Is that the one you and Oscar talked about last time? You know, the owner of a gun store?"

I replied, "Yep, that's the guy."

Harold asked, "Owner? Gun store? Then why is he so slippery? If he owns a shop, he should've people skills or something."

"That's true… but like I said, he's the owner. I never said anything about him being the guy in the front. He'd do sales from time to time but- nevermind..."

Morales interjected, "Are you about to say something?"

'Cheh, I almost told them his talents lie on acquiring more guns from his connections. I'm not sure if his connections are still around but he'd be definitely pressed by the army to reveal them. It's not like all of them are from legal channels...'

I just waved them off, "Not important... I just wanted to say that he'd sometimes go by Benjie, Riley, or Tony but he's good with keeping his poker face. Anyway, let's just say that he's a lot like me. Having people skills is one thing but knowing what the customer wants and needs without giving out a bright smile or performance is another. Anyway, Morales, you do have something for us, right?"

Morales cleared his throat before he stood up, "Yeah, I wanted to give everyone here a rundown about my designated area."

"Go on..."

"Sure. My soldiers have blockaded the entrances to my city from the Bulacan Area and the City of Malabon except for Valenzuela City which will never happen because your group is right on it. Guards are obviously posted in those areas but our daily jobs have been putting down the dead and paving our way towards the City of Manila. With that said, we mainly get our supplies from scavenging runs and fishing. However..."

"Hmm?"

"I'll admit that my soldiers are more skilled with dealing with the dead compared to hooking some fish in their mouths or netting a bunch at a time. In all honesty, your uncle has brought the greatest haul we ever laid our eyes on even if all of them are eels. Furthermore, I heard you've started breeding them and we're looking forward to another fishing trip led by your uncle. Some of my soldiers are ready to learn from him and he's always welcome to commandeer our fishing boats."

I turned to Unc Zeidrick, "Unc, I think you're the one that should answer this."

Unc Zeidrick instantly answered, "Eh~ Depends when I feel like it. I still haven't tasted the barbecued eel with that special sauce you promised."

"Ah… a-anyway. U-Unc… if you'd make your fishing trips regular, how often can you do it? I know you still have your job here working with Raphael and Anthony so it's best to hear your decision on it."

"You'll make me those eels or not?"

"Unc..."

"Kid, I hate getting delayed promises. If you tell me something that you'd do on that day, you fucking do it on that day. No excuses."

Half my group was chuckling but Unc Zeidrick was fucking serious about his eels, "Fine. I'll make a batch tomorrow night and we'll have it with beer."

"You sure?"

"Yup."

"Really sure?"

"Yes!"

"With the sauce?"

"Yup..."

Unc Zeidrick's eyes instantly lit up, "It's a deal then! Morales, we could fish two-to-three times a month… four if I'm not too busy. We'll split what we get evenly but I get the first pick of a handful of fish that we caught. Anyway, I'd teach anyone that wanted to learn and we'll do everything my way. It'll sometimes span a few days and we'd sometimes go at night."

Morales replied as he nodded a few times, "That sounds agreeable. We'll do the same thing as last time but do give me a call first."

"Sure, sure."

I asked, "Anything else you'd want to say, Morales?"

"Yeah. The city my group is at is built to be more focused on fishing and whatnot but I'd like to have a test run of those indoor gardens you have with the hydroponics system. However, I'd also like to grow root crops in my place but the land and location is the issue."

I suddenly had an idea, "Oh! Morales, have you heard about potato boxes?"

"What?"

"Potato boxes or spud boxes."

"I heard you the first time. I'm asking what are they."

"Ah… Well, it's a way to have around 100 pounds give or take of potatoes in a few square feet by using wood from pallet boxes or something similar. In short, it's making the potatoes to umm… stretch upwards as it grows. I think we have built a few of those in the past month but I could show you or your people how to make and maintain them."

"A few square feet? How few are we talking?"

"Hmm~ Around four square feet? Wait, I'm sure. It depends but I'm recommending something in that dimension. Don't worry, you could make more of them and just place them in a good spot where people wouldn't bother it. Oh! I'll also send in a few sacks of potting soil, compost, and mulch to get you started."

"Hmm, so what'll be the damage for that?"

"Heh, are you fucking serious?"

"Excuse me?"

"We're a fucking team. Just keep sending Unc Zeidrick and the people he came with back here safe and sound to enjoy the fish that they will hopefully bring a fuck ton back. Other than that, if you fish something good that you have no use for, give me a call and I'll take it off your hands."

Morales let out a faint smile, "Hmm. Sounds overly generous. Just give us a call if you need anything from me. There's nothing wrong with a few extra hands as we've discussed last time."

"Sure, sounds fair to me."

Harold interjected, "Hey, kid. That potato box or whatever… is that also included in the files that you'd be sharing with us? You know… the diagrams, instructions, and etc..."

I chuckled, "Yeah, everything's there. Don't worry, it's not as complex as compared to setting up a hydroponics system. You'd just need a few pieces of wood, some screws, a drill, and the other organic stuff."

We talked about a few more things but we eventually ended the meeting. With that said, I left the hard drives we collected to Ken so he could retrieve everything from them but I left Rin in charge of organizing all of them. She would take a while in doing that but she could arrange everything according to my taste.

Time continued to pass until we were in the gym with everybody but as discussed earlier this morning, I had to coach someone. However, the person in question wasn't cooperating one bit and we could start with the attire he… or they came up in. Not only was I so fucking embarrassed being right next to a guy wearing Joji's Pink Guy costume, but the whole squad also came in solidarity.

Matthew, Oscar, Johnny, Bogdan, Stefan, Bing, Allan, and Russel straight up caused chaos when they came to the gym.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! ARE THEY MAJIN BUU OR PATRICK?!"

"I'm gonna puke..."

"My eyes are over here, perverts!"

"Kid, I think I could get used to this. I'll wear this tomorrow!"

"Me too, brotha!"

"We definitely didn't drink a few swigs before coming up here."

"Definitely."

"Mine's so loose."

"It's because you have a 1-inch dick!"

"WHAT?! I'M A GROWER, DAMMIT!"

"Sure, sure… of course~"

"MY EYES~ MY EYES~"

No one was able to do their workouts properly and Kaley started puking blood the moment she saw her dad in the attire. She wanted to attack them but the visual horror was too much for a human to handle.