Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Marcus shook his head before beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and he almost faltered when he lost feeling in his legs. He looked like a hundred thoughts were rushing through his head and he would overload the moment I piled on. However, he kept himself together before wearing a bitter look on his face, and he just looked at me before opening his mouth.

"S-So… w-what are we gonna do? Are we--"

"I'll tell the older ones like Sheila but we spare the younger ones for now. They're gonna be their younger siblings' parents now but we'll still provide support."

"W-What about-- Where are they gonna stay? Mary and I too, are we--"

"If you wouldn't mind bunking with Mary, we'll give you a house. If not, I could assign both of you somewhere close to where the kids will be living from now on. The two of you will help Marisha for taking care of them and I hope we'll benefit from each other. If you have any personal belongings or relatives on Iskoh's base, we could also bring them here for your convenience."

Marcus wiped the sweat off of his face, "I… I'm living alone… Mary-- Mary, she has family on the other side… a brother and a sister, Joseph and Esther… if I remember correctly."

I nodded, "Okay, where's Mary now? Can you tell her the news and I'll contact Iskoh about our new changes? Wait-- you're fine with this arrangement, right?"

"N-No problem… I could be anywhere you want me to be… it's..."

"Hmm?"

"It's just so unfortunate… I just wish what most of us thought could be wrong… I was thinking about it a lot and knowing about this now… I just don't know what to think at this moment..."

"You're not alone. Let's just do the best we could… We'll follow after you in a bit. Make sure the younger ones are someplace else when I break the news… Wait, just call me when they're ready."

"O-Okay, sir..."

We just exchanged a short nod before Marcus turned around and walked back to the DDR Camp, but I started to touch the bodycam located on my chest rig once again. I wanted to review it once before using it as some sort of brutal evidence but instead of walking straight back to my house, I took a detour and went for Ken's room.

'Better not bother the ones at my house...'

I knocked a few times on his door, "You awake, dude?"

"It's open! Just come in!"

Once I opened the door, I was greeted by rows and rows of monitors mounted on his walls and different sets of cables running through the floor. It still had his own 'style' of chaotic decorations and I just found a place to sit on before taking the bodycam off of my chest rig.

"Can you check this for me?"

"Is this yours? Why--"

"Just run it please? Pull the footage from four days ago."

Ken caught my bodycam as I threw it overhead and he just hooked it on his computer. He weaved through the different video files available before he picked one that was on the day that I mentioned.

"Just a-- here? This one?"

"No, a further back. Look for the one where I rode my car."

"Okay… here? You're still at the DDR Camp in this place though... Is this okay?"

"Yeah. Just play it on twice the speed. We'll just skip a few bits I could remember."

"Done. What are you looking for then?"

"Myself."

Ken just gave me a puzzled look before he watched the footage with me and it was just senseless driving from the start. I wasn't even talking for the first few parts but we just saw myself stopping for a horde on the way.

We watched myself took care of a few hundred deadheads that just rushed for me but I took every single one of them with my knife and my katana.

"Jesus, dude."

"..."

"Is that really you?"

"..."

"It is you, you lined them up before burning them..."

The footage continued until I reached Iskoh's place but that was when I made Ken play the video at normal speed.

Ken was glancing at me a few times but the moment 'it' started, his eyes were just glued to the screen. The two of us watched everything that I did to those monsters and the bits that I didn't recall finally completed the whole scenario.

It wasn't that I took three days to kill a bunch of fucked-up people, I took less than a few hours to make them beg for their lives. I killed a few almost immediately to set an example and the rest just spilled everything before I gave them hell.

The last two days were just days where I just watched them plead for a quick death but I just watched them die until one of them turned.

Everything else was pretty self-explanatory and I just stopped the video right when I was about to open the door.

It was just quiet for a few moments before Ken broke the silence.

"Damn, dude. I'll suck your dick if I was into sucking dick. Jesus, you fucked up those guys really fucking good."

"You aren't afraid of me?"

"What? Fuck, no. Why? You fucking love me and I'm not into little kids. Why would I be afraid of you?"

"Hmm, even if I tell you that from the time I rode my car and the time I paused that video that I wasn't aware if I did that?"

"What? That's even crazier! Dude! You're the fucking edgelord of all fucking edgelords!"

'This guy...'

My face just brightened up a little before I chuckled, "Heh. Thanks, dude. See you in a bit."

"Okay, dude. I'll just--"

I cut him off before I left his room, "Oh, if you make another cinematic of me fucking doing shit with music in the background, I'll replace all of this shit with a typewriter."

"Wha-- C'mon! I already thought of something to run in the background!"

"NO FUCKING CINEMATICS!"

"How about a voiceover? I can make you read some lines--"

"DAMMIT, KEN!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! GOT 'EM! Just kidding, man. I'll just put this thing in our archives. Good luck with whatever you gotta do with that!"

"Sure..."

Time went on until I was face-to-face with Sheila and two more teens almost at the same age as her. The two of them were a boy and a girl by the name of Ethan and Melanie, but the two of them were the ones abused by their parents openly. They were easier to talk to compared to Sheila but their heads were already wired in a different way.

With that said, Marisha, Marcus, and Mary were present when I gave the three the news and it went just as expected.

It was first opened up by shock, followed by denial, and an almost immediate violent reaction.

"YOU FUCKING KILLED MY MOM?!"

Ethan shouted at the top of his lungs before he climbed the table and jumped at me. At almost the exact same time, Melanie grabbed her mug and threw it in the direction of my face. Sheila was the only one who sought Marisha's side because she was smart enough to know that things were about to get fucking ugly.

Before that mug hit my face, I swiped it off of my direction before I grabbed Ethan's collar and redirected him to the table. His body spun the opposite way before his back slammed on the table, but his nails started to claw on my arms when I was trying to hold him down.

I instantly felt the stinging pain of nails digging into my arm but I was still holding tightly onto his collar before I used it to choke himself.

He was only a few seconds away before getting knocked out but before Melanie managed to get in the way, Marcus managed to get ahold of her. However, he ate nails, elbows, and a headbutt in the process.

Marisha was just about to call for the guards close by when I decided to let out copious amounts of killing intent.

It only took a second before it filled the whole room and their bodies started to tremble when the temperature dropped several degrees. Ethan was the lucky one because he already passed out but the ones that were in my presence had a hard time breathing.

Melanie and Marcus fell to the ground while Marisha, Mary, and Sheila were stuck in their seats. Everyone else had sweat running down their backs and I quickly withdrew it after a few seconds.

Ethan woke up in a few moments but he gave everyone a puzzled look when everyone was looking at me differently. However, some people were just hard-asses.

"F-FUCKING LET GO! I'M-- GHCK! ARCK!"

I applied more pressure after letting go earlier, "You wanna have a go, right? Right now, we're having a go. I'm still in the middle of explaining things and you fucking lunged at me. Do you--"

"MY MOM DID NOTHING WRONG! MY MOM DID-- YOU FUCKING KILLED HER! YOU FUCKING KILLED HER! SHE JUST LOVES US, THAT'S ALL! HOW CAN YOU--"

"Love? Sure, if you call that love… but it isn't. That is what your parents have been telling you the whole time but as everyone else sees it, you got taken advantage of. It sucks but--"

"HOW DARE YOU TELL ME HOW SHOULD I LIVE, HUH?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT?! IT JUST STAYS IN THE FAMILY, THAT'S ALL! I CAN STILL HAVE MY GIRLFRIEND AND DO IT--"

"Girlfriend? Who?"

"S-She's… she didn't make it… I lost her when it started... After that... it's just us and nothing else..."

Ethan was still had his fists clenched the whole time but his voice started to tremble when he talked about someone else close to him that he lost. I glanced at Marisha and Ethan seemed to be telling the truth, but it wasn't the point of this talk we were having with them.

With enough time, I'm sure Marisha could get through to them but time just wasn't on our side. We could keep them here for as long as wanted but like with Amy, it'll only take a bit of thinking before they figured everything out.

That would just lead to the trust Marisha built up with them to crumble and bringing it up to the way it was would be several times harder.

Sometimes, being brutally upfront about it was better.

"I'm sorry to hear that but whatever bullshit your parents told you is wrong. Did you even see Amy's condition? Your parents did that. That's why those people came into your house and did what they did. Granted they missed half of what they were supposed to take care of but I guess we're sharing responsibilities now."

"Y-You're l-lying..."

"I'm not. But if you only listen to what your parents are telling you, then I gotta make you-- both of you watch something. Pardon the blood and the gore but I think that this is the only way to get through to you."

"W-What are you--"

"I'm gonna play something for both of you and this will tell you what they really think of you. You said love, right? Let's see if you'll change your mind after this..."

I brought up a laptop with the footage from my bodycam and I played it without editing parts they shouldn't see.

I gave Amy the whole truth so why shouldn't I be upfront with them?