Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

As soon as Archie's head hit the floor, there was a second— no, three seconds of silence before everyone on the viewing platforms started laughing nonstop. He was later escorted out of the premises but the laughter was still ongoing.

I thought the atmosphere for this game would be serious and tense but since nobody had actually died yet, and the last one went off in such a way, the atmosphere was the complete fucking opposite.

However, Mr. Cuervo decided to up the ante by loading two bullets into the wheel—also in random spots—before placing it in front of the new challenger.

[Don't worry, hermano. I'll double the price for this one.]

The new challenger had already introduced himself beforehand but he looked like he was about to back out even if Mr. Cuervo doubled the prize for a single trigger pull. It was because even if he could take home twice the prize for a single attempt, it meant nothing if his head ate lead for the first shot.

Furthermore, it felt like the first contestants have used all the luck that this game could offer and he would probably be the one to kick things off with an organic firework.

[Mr. Cuervo, I'm sorry—]

[Pick it up, Mando.]

The guy was just about to back out but Mr. Cuervo just let out copious amounts of pressure and it all descended to the guy on the hot seat. Cold sweat just appeared on this Mando guy's forehead and he wasn't able to take a single step back.

The look in Mr. Cuervo's eyes looked like he wanted to see blood and seeing more and more people from the line back out ticked him off. He would always award machismo with gold and women but it felt like his advocacies were being played with.

There was only one edict in Mr. Cuervo's being and it was to live as a man and die as one.

I had my own way of living my life but Mr. Cuervo was definitely living his life the way he wanted to.

With that said, the Mando guy eventually picked up the revolver, spun the wheel, and pointed it at the side of his with his eyes closed shut.

The cameras were pointed right at his face and we saw how he deeply exhaled before he pulled the trigger.

*CLICK*

There was a moment of silence for a few seconds but no one knew how to react. Even Mando who survived the forced participation Mr. Cuervo put on him wasn't even celebrating that he lived or won twice the prizes for one attempt, and he was just looking nervously at Mr. Cuervo.

But as everyone thought Mr. Cuervo would fly off the handle and make him pull the trigger one more time, he never looked so elated as he raised Mando's arm up in the air.

[Hah! We got another winner! Holy shit, everyone's so lucky, huh? Mando, I'm sorry I put you through that but you never felt so alive, right?!]

[Uh— Uh-huh…]

[No need to be so timid! But yeah, you'll receive your reward shortly after so enjoy your win with your family. Congratulations!]

At this moment, the De Leon Family welcomed their own with cheers and applause and Mando got instantly surrounded by liquor and women. He looked like he was still in disbelief that he was alive but his expression quickly changed when one of Mr. Cuervo's entertainers stuck her tongue down his throat.

No one had still died at this point but it came sooner than later.

There were still a few dozen challengers left and the next one came from the Alvarez Family.

He looked like a typical grunt but the bruises on his body told me that he was in a desperate situation. He barely managed to walk up to the stage and Mr. Cuervo was looking with a bit of concern at the state he was in.

[Rough night?]

[Something like that, Mr. Cuervo.]

[Alright, you know how it goes.]

The contestant eventually introduced himself to everybody but when it was his turn to pull the trigger, he didn't even bother to spin the wheel as much—and to top it all off, he pulled the trigger of that revolver as if he had eaten a couple of green mushrooms.

The revolver he had on his hand just went click after click before the one that followed bored a hole in his head and went through the other end. He wouldn't need to worry about his problems anymore but everyone else in the Alvarez Family cheered far harder than anyone else.

It didn't sound like they were cheering because they were enjoying the show—well, they do—but their cheers were celebrating the death of the last contestant. Although it was true that a few of them looked like they were just clapping to avoid sticking out, I'm fucking sure that they weren't happy with their family's actions toward that certain individual.

With that said, I began to closely watch the reaction of the family that the following contestants belong to whether they live or die.

It wasn't a surefire way to get a deeper look at their situation but getting a short glimpse wouldn't hurt.

From the surface, it looked like the Alvarez Family was sending their own people for shits and giggles, the Castillo Family were sending their "sinners" for some sort of "adjudication", the people from the Garcia Family were doing it for bets or wagers within their own circle, the members of the De Leon Family were doing it for whatever reason, and the Cuervo Family were using it to completely erase their debts or show-off.

But like the Rivas Family, none of our own participated in the event. Sure, we placed some courtesy bets among others but actually participating or sending a sacrificial lamb for entertainment was fucking out of the picture. Besides, aside from us that numbered only a few dozen, the Rivas Family had the lowest attendance. I'm sure that they probably had more people in their own territory but that doesn't equate to using their people to test someone's luck.

The thought to me was just asinine.

On that note, if any one of my members tried to join in, I'd break their legs and send them back to our vessel. Well, I'm not completely sure if my Russian friends were cringing at the thought that Mr. Cuervo hosted a game that originated in their homeland, but they seemed to be enjoying the show.

Like clockwork, Tatiana tapped me a couple of times, "You look serious, are you thinking of more loopholes to exploit?"

I shook my head, smiling, "Not at the moment, no."

Tatiana chuckled, "What? Is their pussy so good that you can't stop thinking about it? Unless I'm reading things wrong, you fucked them, right?"

The twins exclaimed at the same time, "We're right here, you know?! We can hear you!"

Quinn chuckled from the side, "Mr. Chocolate Milk was the one to take it, huh? Figures."

Everyone else close except me who was listening to the conversation turned to Quinn, "Who?"

Quinn's face contorted as she roared, "WHO FUCKING TOLD THE REST OF YA TO LISTEN IN?! NO ONE'S STOPPING YOU BUT SHUT UP WHEN YOU'RE NOT IN THE CONVO! But yeah, as I was saying—"

I let out a small chuckle, "You don't want to get started giving each other nicknames, Quinn. I don't have a lot to lose in regards to that…"

"THEN SAY IT! I FUCKING DARE YOU!"

Tatiana and the twins tilted their heads, "Say what?"

I chuckled as I shrugged my shoulders, "Nothing…"

"THAT'S RIGHT—"

"...yet."

"YOU—"

Quinn was this close to giving me a rear naked choke but we heard another gunshot and our attention was brought back to the stage. This time, a woman from the Garcia Family tried to push her luck a little too hard so a .357 lead bullet pushed against her head and went through the other side of her skull.

There were exactly nine bodies that were just left by the stage at the moment but a portion of their heads was still on the stage's floor.

This time, looking at the side of the Garcia Family, a good half of them were distraught while the other half looked like they won the lottery. It was almost the same occurrence whether the result was positive or negative and it felt like this "game" was just a game to them. Granted some of them—like the ones we partnered with on the previous games—were just there to survive, but we couldn't say the same for the rest of their group.

It didn't take long before the rest of the willing participants were only a handful but everyone saw Cynthia walking straight to the stage.

I was just about to look as to where Kaley was but I felt a familiar butt scooting in between me and Ruru.

"Looking for me?"

"Yeah—"

I had a ton of questions I wanted to ask but before I could even ask one of them, Cynthia just straight up sent a right hook to Mr. Cuervo's face before tripping him and pushing him down.

Everyone was so fucking shocked—we could hear a fucking pin drop—though Kaley was the only one shaking her head with amusement. Even the guards of Mr. Cuervo didn't know what to fucking do because Cynthia was a V.V.V.I.F.P. of this fucking place, but then Cynthia shouted at the top of her lungs as she pointed down at Mr. Cuervo.

[GIVE ME MY FUCKING ROOM BACK!]