Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

As I got a look around, almost everyone present was starting to turn their heads towards us. And if I'm not fucking crazy, they seemed to be gathering their members and they were starting to envelop the two of us in their 'turf'. Despite that, Mikhail and I were still sticking our heads out like meerkats, trying to look for the vehicle in question.

The two of us were walking casually, carefully checking and admiring each vehicle we passed by, and I even took note of some of the upgrades or attachments they had on their own.

The usual ones were simple reinforcements on the windshield, windows, and the front and rear bumpers, but we saw vehicles with spiked hubcaps, a mounted harpoon, a sound system probably for attracting herds, and a few more with dangling chains with hooks attached on the end.

Some of them weren't even cleaned properly and it was an outbreak waiting to happen with one wrong move.

However, all of them seemed to be familiar with their own contraptions so we'll leave it at that.

With that said, we already spotted a Humvee parked right next to the biggest tent in the enclosure but Mikhail and I used the longest route so we could get more info on this part of the enclosure.

It really seemed to be this 'Billiard' Gang's area because they were occupying a third of it.

We definitely got their attention when we were walking around their turf but the only thing I'm wondering about was why they weren't doing anything about it already. Granted they were trying to encircle from a fair distance but they weren't barring us from going anywhere we wanted to.

It could be a half-assed intimidation tactic but I was beginning to see members that were double-digits among the mix.

'The numbers were 34, 68, 419, 16, 223, and 41… that's 68 right there…'

I was looking at a guy that was half-naked, pissing on top of a truck while holding a bottle of whiskey. His tattoo was on the side of his neck but his expression didn't change even if saw us passing by. He was still mid-way through pissing when he took another swig from his bottle and scratched the back of his neck.

He was one of few that didn't give a fuck if there were strangers on their turf, and he just disappeared from view after I saw him pull out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes.

After we got a complete tour of their territory, Mikhail and I just went straight for Kuzma's Humvee. I already got an internal map about their current situation– except for the tents that were closed up, so we decided to not waste any more time.

However, when we were right in front of the vehicle in question, that was when a few 'triple-digits' decided to step up.

There were five of them in total and their facial expression told me that they wanted to be a fucking nuisance. The guy in front was skillfully playing with his butterfly knife and he was staring at us with a mischievous smile.

"Hey~ Had a nice look around?"

I let out a faint smile, "Kinda. We're looking for the Humvee my friend here just won and we got lost. That's all…"

"'Got lost', huh? I'm sorry, if you asked us for it, we would've shown you the way. I thought this thing was already eye-catching but I guess it wasn't. You guys wouldn't have to pay extra."

I chuckled, "'Extra', huh? For what?"

"You see, we keep everything in our territory really~~~ safe and secure. A few hundred men and women guarding 'your' vehicle here? That's gonna cost ya. If you didn't dilly-dally when you two came– walking around like you own the place, this wouldn't have happened."

"Oh~ I understand now. Hundred, eh? I thought I saw a few dozen but nevermind that. So, what's it gonna take?"

"Hmm~ I dunno, with various maintenance costs, gas, parking fees, and overtime pay and all that… How about three gold coins total? Whaddaya know? You got exactly three! How lucky!"

As soon as he said that, each and every one of them started chuckling and whispering to each other while he kept looking at me with this nasty merchant-y smile. He soon extended his hand forward while the four behind him started laughing, but to his, his cohorts, and Mikhail's surprise, I actually pulled out the two coins in my pocket.

Furthermore, I even turned to Mikhail to ask for his coin but him knowing me all this time– more than this fucking three-digit dregs that were trying to swindle us using bullshit reasons, he already knew that I was up to something. He just 'sighed' heavily for effect before he handed me his coin reluctantly.

The guy never looked so happy, "Amazing! Never in my life have I met such outstanding people!"

I was just about to hand him our coins when I stopped mid-way and looked at him like he was the biggest idiot, "Ah– Tss~ I kinda changed my mind though, sorry. We'll be keeping our coins and~ we'll take back our Humvee. Also, you're gonna give us that pickup with the mounted harpoons."

The people jeering at us went completely silent while I casually threw Mikhail his coin back.

"W-What's the– are you screwing with me?!"

I chuckled as I pocketed my coins, "Not at all. Furthermore, you're gonna give me and my friend here a sincere apology before I knock the teeth of your mouth. Also, you're gonna bring number 1 or number 0 here– sorry, I've seen that reveal too many times, to see if his fucking gang is just a bunch of fucking swindlers that don't have a fucking idea what respect is."

"WHA- W-WHAT ARE YOU– DO YOU WANT TO DIE, HUH?!"

"Well, I don't want to live forever and ever. At some point, sure."

The guy I was talking to was just shaking in anger while everyone else lost the ability to speak, but I casually pulled out my radio for a little clarification on the rules. I dialed the fucking head honcho and I jauntily waited for him to answer.

-

*bzzt*

[What is it, Hermano? I'm kinda in the middle of a few last-minute preparations here.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"This won't take long. I just wanna ask for a little clarification about your rules."

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Yeah? What do you wanna know?]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Thou shall not kill, right?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Yes, I very much prefer to have returning customers. Wait– W-Why are you asking me?]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Nothing, I'm just gonna send a few dozen injured your way in a minute or two."

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[H-Hermano?! What are you–]

*bzzt*

-

Mr. Cuervo wasn't able to finish his whole sentence when I ended the call.

The fucking atmosphere was just so fucking dense– I could lick it, and each member of this gang was ready to pounce at us at a moment's notice. Even Mikhail turned around so we'd have each other's backs while I started to smile devilishly as I cracked my knuckles.

The guy I was facing was about to burst a vein in his forehead as he was breathing heavily and staring at me like he'd eat me whole, but he was the first victim I put down.

Right as he was about to lunge at me, he fucking deepthroated my boot before he fell down with his front teeth and the rest of his molars, and it just became an all-out brawl.

I shouted at the top of my lungs, "SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE, YOU FUCKING NORMIE!"

"YOU'RE CRAZY, YOU FUCKING WEEB!"

I just laughed out loud before I jumped on top of Kuzma's Humvee so I could at least lessen the number of people coming at me at the same time. Mikhail had the same idea as he just took down the first guy that came at him by slapping the shit out of him before running forward, shoving down and trampling everyone that tried to come at him.

He found himself in between two vehicles and he was already smashing a few heads through the windows or through the grated windshields available.

We made space for ourselves because we wouldn't be able to fight in sync out of the blue.

With that said, the first order of business was stomping down on the sorry hands of the stupid fucks who tried to climb to the roof I was on, but I had to stop for a second because I sent my right heel to number 299's jaw before kicking number 117 off of my hill.

"THIS IS SPARTA, BITCH!"

The guy fell headfirst toward his bald counterparts but I was starting to fight gangbangers left, right, and center.

I had to lean towards the guy on my left to dodge the elbow coming from my right, but the moment he tried to grab onto me, I whipped my head back to hit his nose before I kicked back to hit his shin.

It was easy enough to trip him down but the two other guys coming for me were making me lose a lot of ground to work with. They used the moment I took care of their guy to invade my space and I was only occupying a third of the space I was in earlier.

Before I got swarmed by the crowd, I made a short running start before jumping at the vehicle right next to me and doing the same thing over and over until they were only coming from one side. However, some of their members that were chilling had to join the fight because they were on the losing end even if they had the home court and the numbers advantage.

I was switching between running away and holding my ground, and I would find myself on top of their vehicles but they were wary of carelessly climbing up because of their members' broken fingers. I may have stomped on a lot of them but it's nothing that a splint or two couldn't handle.

However, they didn't remain idiots for long because they started to throw beer bottles in my direction.

It would've been their perfect strategy but the ones under me got showered by glass shards because I kept smashing each bottle that came into my direction. I had to use my sheathed katana– mainly the scabbard for obvious reasons but not only did that make the terrain difficult to traverse, but the ruckus we were making was also aggressively attracting a large crowd.

I started running once more but I had to slide and duck because number 445 just got thrown by Mikhail and we were back to back once more.

"FUCKING SHIT! YOU SHOULD'VE TAKEN ME LAST TIME! THIS SHIT IS INSANE!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET!"