Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I just looked back to check on everyone's situation after lopping off a rotting head but since I was a little too forward compared to everyone else, something caught my eye.

It could be just a failure in production or something similar but among the doors of the shipping containers that were blown off, one of them—specifically the one on the top to the right—was still sealed shut.

The problem that might come up was that the ones inside it could be on a delayed release but due to the number of lights around the whole area, I could clearly see that the shipping container in question had a hole in the bottom and whatever's inside it had probably plopped down already.

I could only think of such things a few moments at a time because another fucker was gunning for me.

The dumb shit was running on all fours, discolored eyes looking directly at me while its spinal column had already torn through the skin of its back, but the concerning thing was the jagged claws that replaced the rest of its fingers.

Well, it was still its digits but I'd prefer less pointy things that could break open my skin.

Despite that, the proper way to take on such variants was to wait until the moment they strike because that would be the time they'd be the most defenseless.

More times than normal, as soon as they were in striking range, they'd just leap into the air and try to take a chunk off of my neck.

And this time, it was the same exact thing.

The dumb shit tunnel-visioned on my presence as it picked up speed but since no one had the ability to double-jump, I could just calculate where they'd land so I could either jump back at the same time or just sidestep so I could carve a part of their head so they'd stop moving.

My blade was already stained when I entered the top of its head and left through the side of its jaw but I had to skirt through its side to cut through the back of the head of another deadhead.

It came at the right time as Quinn overswung to make head patties but me saving her was all for naught.

I had to duck at the last second because she used the momentum of swinging her huge-ass weapon to deliver a nasty quick towards the one that tried to flank her. Take note, she also changed into high-cut, steel-toed boots that seemed to be also custom-made, so that overhead kick she just did was probably worse than getting kicked by a horse wearing steel horseshoes.

"HAHAHA! SAVING ME SO YOU COULD GET SOME LATER?! YOU WISH!"

I quipped before I pulled away, "I guess you were in and out that time because someone got a lot more than they bargained for and that wasn't me!"

"WHA— FUCK YOU!"

At this point, I turned around once more to see our partners from the Garcia Family doing some honest work by staying between the groups and making sure that the bodies littering the ground were moved elsewhere. Well, all they were doing was simply making another pile of the dead but in our cramped space, it was doing wonders.

However, right when a deadhead 'slipped' past through the gaps between the Alvarez and the Castillo Family's side, the guy from the Garcia family just casually pulled out what seemed to be a set of throwing knives before making one fly with a flick of his fingers.

The knife quickly found its way to the deadhead's eye socket but the guy just glared at the backs of the two families that made a deadhead slip past their defenses before his partner made sure that their first kill in this game wouldn't stand up.

The two just looked at each other then they took a deep breath, and they just continued to act as the support for everyone else in this game.

'Hmm… I'll stay out of that…'

After retreating a few steps back, I noticed that the groups opposite us were making much more headway compared to our group, but I didn't take it to heart.

No one knew how much was still left on the other side and to be completely fair, they had more bodies taking down deadheads and even Tatiana was doing work on their side. On our side, only me, Quinn, and Number 24 were doing work because the pair from the Garcia Family was busy cleaning up after everyone else.

It's just that there was one reason to take into account and that there was a huge blockage by the midpoint.

I was still holding just my katana as I advanced a little too forward and I saw five huge bloaters that were acting like they needed the magic flute to be woken up. Granted they were advancing with their little stubby legs, but their fat that had already drooped down and stretched whatever skin they had left made it look like they were wearing the most fucked up dress one could wear.

A couple of them were even stepping onto themselves—making their advance slower—but there were a few gaps the deadheads behind them could use with a certain toll.

Right when one managed to squeeze through them by pushing through and clawing out whatever fucked up curtain they were up against, one of the bloaters suddenly lowered itself and grabbed onto the trespasser before tearing it from limb to limb.

If grabbing onto it didn't reduce its clavicle into powder, the strength the bloater exhibited was almost comparable to the hulker that killed one of our own.

However, the only thing it could surpass a hulker was its fucking appetite because it didn't take long for it to shove a whole fucking leg in its mouth before throwing in the other one like it was nothing. It wasn't even chewing it as it simply took in everything in one gulp but everyone grimaced when it started feeding on its torso.

Like a fucking oversized burrito, the motherfucker squeezed it until it was 'bite-worthy'—crushing its bones and forcing its flesh to make it look like a fucked up sausage—before shoving it in its mouth and digesting it with its bottomless stomach.

Well, 'bottomless' was a poor choice of words because the one in the center just started to have an accident as its stomach just burst open and everything inside it just spilled out.

The digested parts, torn limbs, and whatever the fuck came out with this viscous fluid that made everything look like it had this chunky film made it even worse than the smell that just wafted over.

At this point, with the help of Quinn and Number 24, we bumped our gears a notch and we started to do the opposite of receiving the deadheads coming for us.

I made use of the wide angle of the curve to see everything much more clearly and we still have a couple of dozen deadheads or so to go through before trying to face up with the great wall.

Despite that, I still opted to just using my katana to prove a point because even if I drew my wakizashi, what I wanted more out of my weapons was the range— and the tool that could do that job was the one I was using currently.

After flicking my katana to the side to get rid of some of the blood staining it, I took two huge steps to slice down and open up a deadhead's skull before I pulled back and stabbed forward to take care of the one right behind it. However, two more deadheads were coming from my left and right so I had to twist my blade before making it exit my flesh scabbard's head and driving it to the left—to behead the one on that side—then quickly using the butt of my handle to redirect my blade quickly to the right.

At this moment, the one in front of me still hadn't fallen but its obstruction was just collateral damage.

Its head got completely lopped off even though it wasn't already involved but the one I cut down from my left fell faster than its head that bounced and rolled over. Furthermore, as I followed through, my blade just easily entered the side of the head to the one on my right, and its milky eye got cut in half before its nose got a new exit hole.

I took down three more deadheads that came after me but to my surprise, one of the bloaters in the midpoint threw its food at me.

What I ducked down to dodge was a forearm missing all its fingers but the shoulder on the other end was still intact. It bounced on the screen behind me before it fell over so I took a few steps back to look forward.

"Jesus fucking christ…"