Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I pulled out a knife and started carving out its face and head flap off, and I found the projectiles and bits of fragment either stuck into the outer shell of its thick skull or inside the skin itself. They almost punctured through and if we continued to aim for its head, the several cracks present would've let a bullet pass like shooting through the damaged areas of a ceramic plate.

'So we just need a higher caliber projectile or just a lot more bullets… Can a .308 or a 6.5 Creedmoor do it?'

Once I saw enough, I called down to send a group to retrieve the parts of this hulking figure and Kristoff's body. With that said, Mikhail was trying to piece back Kristoff's body that was snapped in two and Natasha was carrying what was left of his gear and his dog tag.

Everyone else in their team was wearing complex expressions and I decided to give them a little bit of time.

Artem approached me with a solemn expression, "I need a moment with my team about Kristoff but could you check on Tatiana's injuries? She… doesn't want us to touch her… Maybe… maybe she'll let you… you know..."

I nodded slightly before saying, "Sure, I'll try."

"Thank you." Artem put his hand over my shoulder for a moment before he turned around and walked back to where his team was.

Tatiana wasn't the only one over there and she was just standing by the edge of the collapsed wall. She was clutching her right arm and her cheek needs to be cleaned and the bleeding needs to be stopped.

I slowly approached her from behind but before I managed to place my hand over her shoulder, she immediately reacted as she stepped away and threw me a hateful glare. However, once she saw it was me, her expression immediately changed and she gave me a tight hug with her left arm.

Tatiana's body was trembling all over and she would wince from the pain coming from her right arm.

"Hey… I need to check that arm and clean up that cheek first..."

"..."

"Tatiana?"

It was then that I heard a short sniffle before she started crying silently. Tears started flowing down her cheeks and it turned crimson when it flowed down her right side.

I slowly exhaled before I wiped the tears off her face, "Let's go to that room to the right. I'll call Kaley over too."

Tatiana just nodded before I guided her to one of the few clean rooms available and she just started bawling when I closed the door. She was clenching her fists so hard, even if her right arm was injured, she just bore through the pain. She looked more angry at herself than sad at the death of Kristoff but I tried to calm her down so I could properly treat her.

I just looked over solemnly before I reached for the straps of her chest rig, "Don't put too much pressure on that arm… I'm gonna remove this too to check--"

"Ah! Shit..." Tatiana winced from the pain.

"Sorry, you flew earlier and landed badly. I'll--"

"I'm here! I brought some stuff too… Are you okay?" Kaley opened the door and walked inside with a somber expression.

Tatiana instantly wiped her tears when Kaley arrived but I didn't put it to mind. I eventually removed all of her gear and I asked for permission to lift up her shirt.

"You've seen me naked, you idiot. Just lift it up and-- Ah! Siii… that fucking hurts..."

Kaley leaned over to take a closer look, "You've definitely broken a rib or two..."

I sighed as I looked at the bruised area, "Where's the stethos-- oh, here it is. Lemme put it right here~"

Tatiana winced once more, "Ah! It's like taking a knee from Ilya. Shit!"

"Sorry, I'm just--"

"Just hurry it up! We still need to clear that--"

I almost smacked her in the head, "Clear what? You're subbing out! We're gonna drive you home to get an X-Ray and a scan."

"What?! I'M NOT SUBBING- AH! FUCK! It fucking hurts!"

Kaley glared at Tatiana, "You almost died! And this, this could kill you!"

"Are you serious? I've broken bones before and--"

I shook my head as I cut her off, "I know you're angry but you need to get checked by our doctors. I could only do so much but you've broken your ribs around the middle of your ribcage. Worst case scenario, the jagged parts that are protruding from the fracture could puncture your lung and you'd need surgery to remove blood and air in them."

'It doesn't look like it's fractured though… but she really needs to sub out… for a while...'

"Surgery?! For this?! I can--" Tatiana winced once more.

"Stop fucking moving! I told you to--"

We were still in the middle of arguing when gunfire erupted.

I grabbed my rifle before I left Tatiana in Kaley's care but as soon as I opened the door, I saw Natasha sitting down and crying near Kristoff's body while Ibarra was keeping a close watch. Kristoff was now inside a body bag but it was still unzipped near his face and Natasha wouldn't let our guys carry him down.

However, Artem and everyone else was fucking missing.

I muttered, "Don't tell me..."

Natasha turned to me before turning to the last building, "They went over there..."

I started shaking my head from the revelation but there was no stopping them now. I bet Tatiana was also raring to go fuck up some deadheads but Kaley wasn't enough to keep her down even with the injuries.

I just picked up my radio and broadcasted at their frequency.

-

*bzzt*

"Artem, I'll need to drive Tatiana home. She'll need an X-Ray and maybe a CT scan or an MRI but she's good. She'll be away for a while but she only needs to rest and heal for a few weeks. I'll bring Kristoff with us but I'll need all of you to make sure you come back in the same state I left you or I'll fuck you all up myself. Understand?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Da. Take Natasha too. She's hurt differently.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Gotcha."

*bzzt*

-

After a while, I called a roaming group to meet us in middle to be an escort and we left the medical center in Artem's care. Mark and his team stayed behind with Jared and Unc Zardon's bodyguards though Ibarra decided to drive for us.

Tatiana needed some violent convincing to get to my Raptor earlier but she just piped down when I carried a zipped-up body bag and placed it on the truck bed.

'I'll contact someone from the crematorium later...'

Ibarra used the same roads back but he opted to avoid the streets which were prone to a lot of speedbumps and chances of deadheads getting funneled in. The drive to meet up with our escort was so silent right until they contacted us.

-

*bzzt*

[Sir, we're by the sports outlet by the corner.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Gotcha. We're close."

*bzzt*

-

Tatiana muttered, "You should've been there Natasha… If I were you, I'd want to--"

Kaley cut her off, "Tatiana. Not now… please."

The drive became silent once more and all we could hear aside from the engine was Natasha sobbing incessantly. She already stopped crying when she got in earlier but Tatiana's statement just made her cry once more.

'Just one of those times that doing nothing is the best course of action...'

We encountered a few roadblocks on the way back but we made it safe and sound. We dropped Kristoff's body in the crematorium with Natasha though Ibarra asked if he could stay behind. I just nodded in kind and got on the driver's seat then we went back to our place.

I called over a doctor to check on Tatiana and they were more than accommodating to treat someone. It was bad juju for medical professionals to say that the business was slow but they were also itching to do things they've trained for. The ortho department would see some action for themselves but they had no idea who they were trying to keep still.

"I'd need to be able to move as I do tomorrow. What should I--"

"Ma'am! Please keep still! We're doing the--"

"Then do it faster! I send you guys patients every time, can you cut me some slack here?"

"Patients? Who-- Ah… Well Ma'am, those breaks were clean… yours… not so much… Your right arm is broken in two places and your ribs in the middle of your ribcage have a hairline fracture. Moving as you do tomorrow or even the next few weeks will be impossible."

"WHAT?! FEW WEEKS?!"

"A month or two to be safe--"

"WHEN DID WE GET INTO MONTHS?! I--"

"Ma'am! Stop moving! We could only do this faster if you don't move! We'll need to restart the scan again..."

"We already did the X-Ray why do I have to get scanned like this?"

"X-Rays could only do about 75% of the work-- Using this scanner can reveal everything the X-Ray might've miss--"

"Then why didn't we do this the first place?!"

"STOP! MOVING!"

"Can I still have sex?"

"Wha-- Umm… as long as it's not… rigorous..."

"Haa? Isn't that how we're supposed to have sex? Rigorously? What are you gonna say next? I'm not allowed to exercise?"

"That would be the case, yes. Any form of strenuous movement is forbidden until I say so. You need to uh… relax and let yourself heal for the time being or else-- CAN YOU NOT FUCKING MOVE?! THIS IS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN! IF YOU MOVE TOO MUCH, WE'LL NOT BE ABLE TO SCAN YOU! LIKE SO! IF YOU MOVE TOO MUCH WHEN I TOLD YOU NOT TO, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO HEAL FASTER! CAN'T YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND THAT?!"

"Geez, calm down. You're making this shit longer than it's supposed to be."

"..."

The scan was eventually completed but the doctor who gave her the scan was banging his head on the table even if it was already finished. Despite that, he found no more hidden injuries aside from the ones we already knew and saw from the X-Rays.

After confirming things, Tatiana's arm was reset and it was put on a cast then it was placed on a sling. She was given pain meds and a few more prescriptions to help with the healing but the best thing she could do right now was to accept the fact that she needed some rest so she could come back on the saddle as fast as possible.

We thanked the doctor that treated her but I had to give him an Ibuprofen because he did bang his head a lot. He was so lost and confused when we left him and we eventually drove back to the compound.