Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I took another sip of my drink before opening my mouth.

"A few nights before, I felt something looking at me so I used the scope to get a better look. I did not just look at the window I felt the 'eyes' from but I checked everything as far as that scope could let me."

"And?"

"Well… aside from finding nothing, all of them had no light source available… not even a small lick of fire from a candle or a lantern. They could be following the same protocol with our lights but on other times I've checked, there wasn't even any sort of movement or any slip up of some sort. It's either they were really good at keeping a low profile or they're walking around at night with NVGs on."

"Wait… didn't we pass by them once? Did you--"

"Yeah, I took a quick look as we passed by them but all I discovered from that quick drive-by was that aside from all of their vehicles missing, the exhaust fan installed on one of the walls facing our way wasn't working anymore. It could be that some people have broken inside their home and stayed there for a bit or something entirely different..."

Olivia started to shake while holding her plate, "W-W-What if it's a g-ghost or something?"

I almost rolled my eyes as I shook my head, "Sorry, but I don't believe in ghosts. Everything has a scientific explanation, everything... even this thing that we are facing right now. If this is actually a supernatural phenomenon which I believe is highly unlikely, we're all fucked."

Kaley nudged me with her elbow, "What if it's a special zombie? Like… I don't know… just for example a flying one?"

I nodded before I thought for a bit, "Hmm~ That's possible but still slightly unlikely. So far, what we've seen from the 'special' ones is still possible with a human body. Growing extra appendages like wings would be improbable because once a creature enters the state of undeath, it would be impossible to 'create' something from a body that's decomposing. We'd need to learn more about this virus-- or whatever it is to make a proper assumption."

Everyone listening in nodded pensively but Johnny looked at me deeply before asking a question.

"How do you know all this?"

I faintly smiled, "Oh, it's just a simple conclusion based on my observation. Anyway, I think we really should drop by that house later."

"Damn kid, we really should be sending you to work with the scientists in Davao, you might be the one to solve this thing," Oscar said.

I smiled and finished my cup of chocolate/coffee, "Hah! There are more things that they know that I don't. I just remember stuff to the dot and that's it."

"Don't downplay your head, kid. If you wanted to, you could've been one."

"Heh. Too late now, eh?"

Kaley interjected, "Well, if it was you... What would you do to fix this thing?"

"Me? Hmm~ If I have the knowledge to do something like that, with our current technology, I could say that the way is to not create a shot that would cure us. Looking at it now, it feels like a cure-all would be extremely difficult to make given the different strains it could morph into. Hmm… I think I'll just make some sort of vaccine that even if we get bitten or infected, we'd still be fine or the symptoms or the effects could be lowered to the minimum, avoiding actual death. That'll give us time to make an actual cure-all."

Johnny's eyebrows scrunched, "Isn't that a cure then?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "The term 'cure' is too broad or too weird to be given actual meaning. Let's just say that a 'cure' will just remove the virus outright while a 'vaccine' will grant us immunity to it."

"What difference does it make?"

"Hmm, I haven't shown you the files from our first meeting before. The earliest one I found about this thing is from 3 years ago. It didn't even look like what we have now and that means that this virus that we have is 'evolving' to a different one eventually. Back to the cure and vaccine talk... If we cure someone of it, what if the person got infected again with a different strand? The vaccine I want to make, if I could, should also evolve with time with the virus.

"W-Wait, you lost me there. I thought we were trying to get rid of this thing, why are we trying to live with it now?"

"Think about it. In a few years' time, we won't know what it'll be like. Better make something that would grow with it to contain it than make a cure over and over for a different type. How exhausting would it be to make something specifically for an individual if we could make something that'll work on everybody? However, that needed a lot of time so we first stick with something that could give us exactly that."

Russel started groaning from behind, "My head. Oh, my little head..."

"What? You didn't get that?"

"I didn't follow too..."

"It is quite easy… I think..."

Johnny cleared his throat, "Don't even think hard about something you can't even get your hands on… Our roles are different from the scientists… It's all just speculation and waiting at this point..."

I waved them off, "That's right. Anyway… we've been talking for a while. Let's just resume this later so we could do some rounds."

After some time, we geared up and we brought the truck out once more. Almost all of us were at the back of the truck though Mark and Dong would sometimes ride in the front with Unc Zardon.

With that said, we went back to the pharmacy we opened up yesterday to completely sweep it will all of the available medicine and other supplies they still had in stock. We brought extra bags to carry all of them so that we could organize them much better instead of piling them over each other like last time.

It went far easier than I thought and we loaded everything at the back once more.

Unc Zardon asked, "Where do we go next? We're hoarding medicine so why don't we go to Mercury Drug? It's just outside the highway."

I nodded, "Yeah, that'll be a good idea. It hasn't been looted yet last time we checked. Puregold on the other hand was left open and chances are, we'd spend more time taking down the undead compared to getting more supplies for us. Let's just prioritize the places that haven't been touched yet."

Kaley interjected, "Why didn't they go to this drugstore though? It has plenty of medicine and has some food inside. If it was me, I'd head for this place first."

Tatiana nodded, "Me too."

I pointed at an appliance store across the street, "Look at that place. Most of the people prioritized stealing the most valuable TVs and stuff and although some of them did loot some food, most people here would forget about medicine."

"Why? I'm confused."

"Well… they didn't think that they would need it until they needed to. It could be different from your side of the world but in this place, barely anyone gets their regular checkups or sets up doctor's appointments. Well, that's for the people who are less fortunate."

"Isn't that--"

"Irresponsible? Of course. Just don't forget that you're in a third-world country. The only time people seek some sort of professional help is when they couldn't take it anymore and when the OTC Drugs they were taking aren't working. Once they do, what ailed them would've progressed had become a whole lot worse and the medicine they needed to buy would be much more expensive if they just scheduled an appointment at their earliest convenience."

Tatiana looked at me solemnly, "That's unfortunate… What OTC Drugs are you talking about?"

I shrugged my shoulders before I got a little too excited, "You know, the generic and unbranded ones but-- Oh! Have you heard of Vick's Vaporub?!"

"Oh my god!" Kaley exclaimed.

Jared started chortling, "Nice one, bro."

Everyone else started giving the same reaction while Tatiana was left confused.

"Vick's Vaporub? What's that? Is that a cure-all of some sort?"

I continued chuckling from nostalgia, "No, it's not a cure-all but it's treated like one. Actually, it's just a menthol ointment most parents here use just to heal almost everything. Do you have a cold? Use Vick's. Fever? Still Vick's! Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was already tried to cure this thing or used as an ingredient."

Everyone continued smirking and chuckling at the thought and Tatiana was just smiling with a serene expression as we continued to drive outside.

After a short while, we backed into the parking area of Mercury Drug and we cleared a small area of undead crawlers with crooked limbs and discolored skin.

It was easy enough to put them down with our handheld weapons and we didn't need to fire a single shot so as to not attract more in the immediate vicinity. Suppressors could only do so much but they could also function as a protection for our ears. With that said, I let my group take care of the remaining deadheads while I started to pick the locks so we could gain entry.

'Easy peasy...'

I didn't take much of our time picking them and once we raised the roll-ups, there was a fucking treasure trove of resources right in front of us. It was almost as if it closed the moment Lois and I left the place.

"Kaley, come with me!"

"S-Sure!"

With that said, I made Unc Zardon, Mark, and Tatiana guard the entrance and our vehicle while I made Jared and Dong scour aisle after aisle. Each of us were driving a pushcart but Kaley and I went over the counter to grab all of the medicinal supplies. Our eyes were almost bloodshot because of all the items right in front of us but we heard a slight chuckle when Dong found another bag of 'water'.

Dong just put it back after raising it once, "Nope. Not today..."

From behind the counter, Kaley and I grabbed antibiotics, painkillers, antiseptics, and every medicine a normal person couldn't even pronounce clearly. We filled our bags first before we threw everything in the pushcarts but there were boxes we could also place them in. This place was still full after the first trip and we made six whole trips just to fill our truck to the brim.

Kaley pulled on my sleeves, "Should we leave a few for other people?"

I was against it at first but I decided to be a little generous, "Hmm~ That's okay but we only leave the ones that are easily recognizable. Even if we leave something that needs a prescription, they wouldn't even know what's it for and how to properly take it."

"That's fine… thank you," Kaley said as she set aside a small box with easily recognizable OTC Drugs.

After a while, we pulled down on the roll-ups and we took five more trips just to almost clean out the remaining supplies, excluding the box Kaley set aside. All in all, the containers of the food items were what made the trips increase in number. Almost all of them could be fit inside a box but some of them were in obscure shapes that made stacking them difficult. We had to tie some of them up so they wouldn't fall off once we drove back to the compound.

However, it was not the time to complain.

A good run was a good run.

'I guess the only ones having more trouble than us is Rin, Demi, and Bobby… It'll be time-consuming to tally and organize each and every item we brought back...'

Even if more people were assigned to help Rin with her job, she was still the only one allowed to see our complete lists of guns and any other offensive items. We have three sources of them now since Johnny and his family recently joined us but Oscar and I were sure he wouldn't just leave them hanging around.

With that said, he even asked permission to use my tools and borrow a few construction materials to build a hidden safe where only a few people knew about. However, I mentioned the gun locker we found under the bed of Gilbert's house and he just told me that he'd also make use of it.

'One more trip and we're done...'

On our last drive to Mercury Drug, I noticed the huge gate of a gated community, 'Woodlands', a few meters across the street. It was a huge place that had several dozens of big, uniform houses that were fucking expensive.

'The gate's reinforced with sheet metal and some other stuff but no one's guarding it… I wonder where's the guard I saw from last time...'

I just put it on the back of my mind and we continued to drive back to the compound.

Russel approached us as soon as we parked the truck, "Jesus, there's more?! How did you guys manage to loot that place? It's by the highway, right?"