Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

From a week and a couple of days before, we started a little something called a small trading hub. Even if we share our resources in a pool, they would sometimes not be what they wanted or needed anymore along with their personal items. Furthermore, items acquired from runs could be random and the recipient of such gifts might have a different opinion about it.

With this trading hub, they would be able to freely trade it with anything as long as both parties agree. People from our outposts have set up their stalls as well so we had a variety to choose from.

This was something being done commonly but the only difference this time was that we have a place to conduct it. It was located in our DDR Camp because not only the number of soldiers present could provide ample security, it would be better to do these trades in one centralized space.

Kaley chuckled with a questioning gaze, "Shopping? Now?"

Tatiana shrugged with a faint smile, "They're open all day, correct? We could just browse around for anything! C'mon! It's gonna be a change of pace! We don't even need to buy anything! Let's just have a nice evening walk before you know~ fucking each other's brains out!"

Kaley turned to me after shaking her head, "What do you think? I'm almost done with mine. I think it's nice to have a walk every now and then… you know… just for kicks and not looking for deadheads to put down..."

"Sure. I'm already done though..."

"Wha-"

"Heh. I could talk and do this shit at the same time. You could blindfold me too and I'll have a decent chance of not messing up a few simple things."

"Show off… Wait a sec. I'll be don-"

"No worries. Pass me that bolt carrier, I'll give you a hand."

I helped Kaley with cleaning her rifle while Tatiana continued to ogle at us while smiling cheekily. I tried to make her help us a bit but she would purposefully make things harder for us by making everything sexual. I had to tie her up eventually and even if she created weird noises from being bound, it was better compared to her lubricating something else than our equipment.

"All done!"

"Yep. Let's go! I'll bring our car so we'd have a place to put them in."

"Guys! You have to untie me! Hey!"

We only took a few minutes before heading straight for the DDR Camp and most of what I brought were items for comfort. They were the items that could sell like hotcakes and I wouldn't even need to do some sales talk. They were comprised of bars of chocolate, a jar of candies, a few bottles of wine, electronic devices, cigarettes, canned goods, and etc.

Surprisingly enough, there were still a lot of people inside and they gave us a warm welcome when we arrived.

"Boss!"

"Good eve! Good eve! Care for some warm socks? I found a bunch in one of the warehouses we visited! I took it as my cut but it seemed people want them too! Feel it! It's really good!"

"Canned Bread! Canned Bread!"

"Wut?"

"I got some dried fish here! I made them myself! The fish came from the port!"

"I got a few pints of Oscar's Moonshine! Come get it while it lasts!"

"Fuck that shit! I was hungover for three days! And I only took a sip! A SIP!"

"Psh! Weak. It's not- BLEURGHHHH~~~"

"HAHAHAHAHA!!! SERVES YOU RIGHT!!!"

The three of us passed through our 'locals' and instantly made our way to the stalls that had items that we may or may not have in this place. It could be a wide range of items and one of them immediately caught my eye.

One of the people from our Meycauayan outpost greeted us, "Good eve, boss! Did something catch your eye? I could give you a fair price! You know we can't upcharge you, right? Heh, just kidding! Just pick one and give me something that feels fair for it! I'll give it to you no questions asked!"

My eyes shot up as I smiled, "Really? I won't be polit- Erm… Let's see~ These watches, how many do you have in stock?"

"Oh~ Those things! They have GPS, timers, Bluetooth, and a lot more stuff! They're scratchproof, waterproof, and any kind of proof that isn't too extreme! They could also run indefinitely as long as you don't rough it up too much. Okay… Lemme… Hmm~ I still have seven in my stash but I'm pretty sure I could get one or two when I get back or have someone to bring it here when I restock."

"That's all?"

The guy scratched his head embarrassedly, "Yeah… it's just that it's gotten popular back home almost everyone had the same model or something that's kinda similar. I guess I could talk to the owners about trading them with-"

"Nah, that's fine. These seven are enough. How about two cases of beer, a box of cigarettes, and three bars of chocolates?"

"WHAT?!"

"Too few?"

"THAT'S ALREADY- Umm… Erm… I'll take them all but I'll throw in some throwing knives for you. They're only three pieces but it's better for throwing compared to our K-Bar knives. They're lighter too and you could just slip them in anywhere."

I nodded in approval, "Thanks! Can I ask something?"

"Yeah?"

"You guys are running a garage/chop shop, right?"

"Yes, why? Are you looking for something? I could put out a request?"

"Nice. It's nothing urgent but I'd like to have the airbags from the vehicles you're about to chop up. You guys have them somewhere, right?"

He tilted his head from my inquiry, "Airbags? Umm… Yeah~ I think we have them in storage. I could send up a few here tomorrow if you want?"

I waved him off, "Like I said, it's not urgent. Just collect a lot of them and maybe deliver them here once you got past 100 pieces. I'll trade in one of our cars here or something you guys might not have at your place."

"Really? That's great! If I may, what are you gonna do with them?"

"Eh~ I'm not sure if it'll really work but I'll show you firsthand once we make a prototype, sounds good?"

"Fuck yeah! That'll be awesome!"

After a few more minutes of talking, we shook hands and completed the trade before checking the other stalls present. However, I almost had to tie Tatiana once more because she came back with canned bread and she was eating them straight from the can.

"Tatiana..."

"What? I got curious! It's good in a weird way!"

"Sure… You'll pay for that later..."

"Ohoho~ then I'll pay you double for it 'later'... hahaha!"

"Just ask me before buying another one!"

Kaley waved me over, "Hey! Come here! Take a look at what she got over here!"

"Coming!"

At one corner of our trading hub, Kaley was happily glancing the items over a stall that had handcrafted bracelets made with colored string. They came in a variety of colors and surprisingly, one portion of them were made with actual paracord and can be undone with a simple pull.

The older lady greeted us with a warm smile, "Welcome! I made the ones made with paracord while my children made the other ones with color! You could give us a request too and we could make something with the colors that you'd like. I'm sure the paracord on your knives could already work well so I'm guessing you're here for something nice and quirky! Oh! You could also give me anything for them! They're really not picky about stuff but please, not liquor and cigarettes for obvious reasons!"

Kaley was already holding a few colored pieces that were matching, "See? They look nice, right?! Let's buy one for us and we'll have something for everyone too! It's not too bad, right?!"

I almost forced out a smile but I figured it wouldn't hurt as much and I couldn't possibly say no for something so trivial, "Just pick us something in black and I'll let you handle the rest!"

"Really? How about this black one with a silver trim?! Hmm?!"

"Get something you like too! As long as it's cool!"

Kaley followed my suggestion, "Okay! This one then!"

I turned to the older lady, "Mrs. Perez, how do a few chocolate bars and this jar of candies sound? I could add a couple of handhelds if you'd like?"

She waved me off, "None of those gaming devices, please. Your offer is already good but if you'd like to offer more, I suggest asking for more books for my children to read."

"Then we'll be on the lookout for those and we'll send you a copy. Thanks!"

"Thank you too. I thought I won't be able to sell much of these! They'll be thrilled once I get home! Thank you again!"

We went around for a few more items but all that happened after that were casual conversations with everyone that's left. After a time, we eventually bid our goodbyes and went back.

However, we went for a short pit stop.