Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The four of us went down to lock up the enclosure of the unfinished construction project first while Artem and the rest of his team started circling around the perimeter, taking down anything that wasn't supposed to be moving. There haven't been any guns fired yet and everyone's been going at it as quietly as possible.

From the enclosure, there were three entrances that needed to be chained up and locked with a padlock, and we just managed to secure the first one. It was like the first level of any game and all I had to do was roll the fence to the other side and lock it. My teammates were watching my back and they didn't even do much because we stopped right at the first gate.

We didn't waste time waiting for the stragglers to come for us since we jumped back to the Raptor and drove for the second entrance.

As soon as we did, I jumped down with my katana drawn and slashed down to a deadhead wearing a reflective vest. My blade chopped down until it reached its sorry neck but I pulled it up before going for another unsuspecting victim. I just flicked my wrist and my blade went from ear to ear before its head slid off, rendering it unable to wear a hat anymore.

Mikhail followed right after I took down another stumbling deadhead and as soon as he ran up to one wearing a construction uniform, he swung from below with the hammer side, making its jaw force its way up into the rest of its skull before shattering them into pieces. I was surprised it didn't fly a few feet back but I noticed that Mikhail was stepping on its right foot.

The sound it created was so wrong and satisfying at the same time and Mikhail swung for the second time, decapitating another one wearing a construction uniform.

'Well, that's one way to avoid their helmet...'

With that said, Kaley and Cynthia followed after us but they fanned to the side with Mikhail so I could safely secure the second entrance. It was the same rolling fence as the first one and it was secured without much obstructions. However, I started noticing something peculiar with the deadheads coming from the construction site since they would almost always have the same type of injury.

I called out to Lois, "Hey! Seen anything yet?!"

"It's about the same but the truck mixer seemed to have been used!"

"Used? Mixer? Did it pour concrete somewhere?"

"Yeah! Right at the center! A lot of deadheads are stuck in it too!"

'So, that's why...'

I didn't pay much attention to the ones I put down but the one Mikhail just killed was de-gloved up to its elbows, only sporting bits of its rotten flesh covered by sand, dirt, or cement powder. Furthermore, the ones I saw coming from the inner area of the construction site were way worse. It would be fairly easy to miss but seeing a bunch of them at once would make one think of the cause.

"Okay, I'm done here! Jump back in and--"

As soon as I turned around, a crooked figure just jumped over the fenced gate and over me, and it charged straight for our vehicle.

Its head was much lower than its shoulders but its arms were covered in blocks of cement. There were a few cracks here and let's just say it just gained a certain affinity to elements from the earth. However, its balance was so fucked, it was getting pulled towards its cemented fists, like a first time dog owner walking a dog a few sizes bigger than them.

It's just that it swung overhead, straight for my precious Raptor.

"Watch the truck--"

I was about to cut its legs off but before it managed to slam its fists on our hood, Jared lodged a bullet between its glassy eyes. However, I almost jumped up in fright when the gate behind me rattled so much and I could see a dozen silhouettes through the thin tarp covering it. I took a few steps back and I got ready for a few more that were about to come.

However, Jared stood up on the roof of the truck, "That's just the one, bro. Easy pickings from here. I have eyes on everything."

"Okay," I just drew my knife to start stabbing but Cynthia already made her way past everyone.

"Let me."

Cynthia's rapier was the right tool for the job and it easily pierced through the shuffling heads trying to bite something their decaying teeth couldn't go through. I did help with a few on the opposite side she started in to quicken the job then we jumped on the Raptor once more. It was a touch-and-go with our little operation but I would like it if our means of transport would stay intact.

As soon as we came upon the final entrance, everything else that got disturbed inside was now trying to straddle up to us. Even with a suppressed shot, the noise was enough to travel a few feet and wake up or lure the deadheads sleeping or wandering inside the premises.

Almost all of them looked like they just pulled themselves out of quick-drying cement and a select few paid more than the outer layer covering the rest of their bodies just to get out. There was one who got almost all of its right arm ripped off but there was a little nub it could still wiggle around. However, that little nub of bone would still turn anyone even if it made a little cut.

There was also one who possibly fell flat on its stomach when the mixer had just poured cement because it would be a fine display for an anatomy class if it wasn't trying to bite our heads off.

Cynthia turned to me, "Are we still gonna keep them here? They might… you know..."

I nodded, "Yeah, we should--"

I was still in mid-sentence when someone next to me unloaded everything in her mag and took down everything in front of us in just a few seconds. We were right next to each other and the brass casings just hit me on the side but she was already changing mags once I turned to her.

Kaley muttered, "Whew… I'm still getting used to the reset..."

"That's… that's 25 rounds of .308 right there..."

"Geez~ You're too stingy with .308s and you don't even bat an eye if I use 100 5.56s..."

"Ah-- Sure… As long as you're getting used to it more and more..."

Cynthia interjected while laughing awkwardly, "Are w-we gonna lock this down, now? The rest are too far--"

Jared just let out a light chuckle before jumping down from the Raptor's roof because he just took down three deadheads on the far end from where we were in quick succession. Lois wasn't able to compete with his older brother because he was stuck with drone duty, but Jared couldn't help but keep leering on me because he was still jealous of Kaley using The Reaper.

Even if his prized SCAR was still his favorite rifle, Kaley didn't do as much begging to get an upgrade. Well, I easily gave Jared his old 716 from Sig before but he seemed to have forgotten already.

Nevertheless, handing out two high-caliber rifles to these two wasn't a wrong choice. They were easily among the best of our long-shooters or snipers and something would always plop down each time they pulled their trigger.

With that said, we changed our plan completely as we made this enclosure to be the first one to be completely cleared of deadheads.

It was because this place was big enough to house a few trucks we would send on the way and we could just use this place as a restocking point or a gathering area before driving back to the compound. We could just dump everything we would potentially gather from the outlets outside instead of hauling them in the vehicles we brought that weren't enough to contain even a tenth of the resources available.

I pulled out my radio and called Artem's team.

-

*bzzt*

"Hey, change of plans. Come over here first and I need to specifically speak to Bogdan."

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Da, talking.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"I'll put you to work."

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[What kind of work?]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"I'll need you to blow something up to see what's underneath it. You're the demolition guy, right?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Hah! That puts a smile on my face! I always have a few sticks of dynamite here but I'd need a drill or something bigger to bore a hole to put them in so I could arm them properly.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"We're in the enclosure. You know, the unfinished condominium? I'll shave my head if we couldn't find something you could use."

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Da! That's good, that's good.]

*bzzt*

-

After a short while, they came in looking curiously at the corpses we put down but Bogdan was already twirling the sticks of dynamite on his hands. Artem and his team went ahead and cleared a path for us right until we got to the area where the large mixer poured over a large batch of cement into a large hole that was supposed to be a basement and an area where pipes would run through.

The hard cement looked like swiss cheese right now because of the holes made by the deadheads that were partially covered and pulled themselves out. However, there were still a few that haven't managed to pull themselves out but what we did to help them was push in a sharp blade right into their exposed orifices.

Bogdan didn't even need to bore a hole into the cement flooring as he just dropped a couple of dynamites in the deeper holes available before telling us to get cover.

"I'm gonna arm them soon! Clear away a few more feet!"

As soon as he took cover himself, he pressed the detonator and a loud explosion just erupted before dust, pieces of flesh, and debris came flying all over. The place we took cover was far enough that the things the flew out didn't even stain our boots and our demolition guy did an awesome job.

Bogdan was brightly smiling with his successful work but his celebration was cut short.

One after another, crooked arms and blown-up fingers came into view and they were moving like worms sprinkled with salt. They were flailing their fucked up limbs all over as they tried to crawl up, but each of us just pulled a grenade from our pouches and chucked it inside the huge hole Bogdan made.

Several explosions followed and it was quiet for a few seconds.

'This isn't a fucking cutscene... Get fucked.'