Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

As soon as those words entered my ears and went straight to my head, I almost felt my soul, life essence, ki, chakra, intent, nen, shinsoo, plot armor, sanity, and everything else intangible leave my body.

Kaley had to catch me as I struggled to stand up and everyone in the know was already dying-laughing.

With that said, Mr. Cuervo couldn't hide the smug smile on his face but he wasn't joking one bit. My face had a huge X mark, along with clips from the last time I was here, was on the big screen, making sure I wouldn't make my way down the play area.

"THIS IS SOME FUCKING BULLSHIT, MR. CUERVO!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

[HAHAHA! I kid you not, Hermano! This is for the best, no? I can't have you taking away the fun from everybody! We all know you're good but we gotta shine the spotlight on someone else too! Listen, take a break, embrace your girl or whatever, take a sip of beer, and enjoy the show! See what the others have to offer…]

'I see…'

At this point, I just shook my head in slight defiance but I understood Mr. Cuervo's intentions. To give the gist of it, everyone knew what I was capable of while I only knew a small bit about everyone else or none at all.

Heeding his words, the first thing I did was sit back in the same spot while I pulled Kaley close. I wrapped my arms around her body—just below her huge chest—as I rested my chin on her right shoulder, looking over the people that would participate in this game.

Some of them were slightly familiar though there were some who just came down for the first time. The weapons on their person didn't particularly stand out but it would always boil down to the person who was wielding them.

However, cheers erupted from our side when two from the De Leon Family came down and they were number 69 and number 420. Their numbers were tattooed on the back of their necks and they were like celebrities from landing on those numbers.

I thought they were fucking memeing but number 69 was wielding a pair of curved, steampunk-style swords while number 420 was just hauling a huge blunt weapon made with scrap materials that were just welded together.

With that said, the game was made to be played with pairs, either from the same family or not, with a 50-player limit. However, it was recommended to have at least a pair from each family participate so our group went with another pair of siblings—which were definitely not the kissing each other or the 'Sweet Home, Alabama' kind—Nikolas and Mikhail.

Nikolas was wielding the good ol' machete and knife combo while Mikhail was equipped with his upgraded King's Weapon. And yeah, it still doesn't come back if thrown but it could now inject gas and open up a wound cavity as large as a basketball.

As each pair came down and got listed, some people from other families or groups tried to pair up with some of us but got politely declined. Tatiana and Cynthia were the popular ones among the girls—the twins included—while Artem and Ilya were the popular ones among the boys. Granted Alexei was also a hot pick but like Jared, he'd shine more if there were more games with guns involved.

'Gun games are kinda cool but I guess people wanted to see more blood and gristle from up close…'

I turned to my group, "We're just gonna send in Nikolas and Mikhail? How about you, Ilya? Jose? Boggy?"

Bogdan almost fell off the viewing platform, "Boggy? Are you talking about me?! Please, don't call me that—"

Marina interjected, "Boggy sounds cute."

"R-Really? You know, you can always come to me when—"

Marina rolled her eyes, "I said it's cute, that's all."

"Why are you so mean to me?!"

"What? I'm not. I just don't want to give you the wrong idea, that's all."

"Hmmrgh… W-Well… Marina sounds hot though?"

"Hah! Are you saying or asking? Nice try though, Boggy—"

"Don't call me Boggy!"

"You don't wanna be cute?"

"I— You— I'm sorry, alright?!"

Ilya tried to cut in, "I sense something happened between you two—"

"Shut up, Ilya!"

Marina chuckled, "Nothing happened, literally."

I whispered to Kaley, "When did we get to this part of the conversation?"

Kaley chuckled as she whispered back, "Shh, this is news to me… I feel like there's more to this…"

"Sure…"

Kaley was just side-eyeing them with a faint smile as I watched the roster get full but to my surprise, Katya actually paired up with Quinn. I thought for sure that we'd see the Tatiana and Quinn combo again but Tatiana opted out and decided to stuff her face with food. In the end, Artem also went down and brought Ilya with him while wearing a disgruntled face so we had a total of five participants from our family.

'Let's see what this game's about…'

[And we're set! We have 50 participants in total and we're closing the registration! Truth be told, I really wanted the kid to participate but it is time to show him what the rest of y'all are capable of. However! I know you're wondering why I required you to form pairs if you're trying to show what you can do, but the reason is already in front of you.]

Footage of the shipping containers was shown on the screen as Mr. Cuervo continued.

[If any of you haven't noticed already, those shipping containers are filled with fucking Muertos and their number exceeds all of us. Our main advantage over them is our capabilities to use tools and our heads while theirs is just sheer number and unending stamina.]

[Granted all of us here could take down one of them just as easily, seeing their numbers meant that the majority of the population had another story. But this is it, it's time we—you 50 people—prove that you're there not because of some dumb luck but because you fought hard to survive and this game is all about fighting hard… for the most part.]

[Again, in those shipping containers are Muertos that numbered a lot more than the head of the Ishiyama Family took down on his debut, making him established in this particular game and that's why I forbade him from participating. But this time, all of you will face the same challenge but all at the same time.]

[Once I give the signal, all the latches will be blown off those doors, opening the floodgates to the largest horde anyone has ever seen. The only rule of this game is to survive but you and your partner could always puss out and climb out of the play area. But to be proclaimed the winner of this game, you and your partner should be standing on a mountain of corpses and unharmed, obviously. But if your partner puss'd out, died, or climbed over the fence, it's an automatic loss even if you were the only one left standing.]

[This game isn't about just surviving and proclaiming that you deserved to be here but also proving that you could protect your own. And on a side note, just to add in a bit of excitement, I will also be participating with Roxanne and Melina.]

At this moment, Mr. Cuervo's swords were brought up with the two's handheld weapons, and I saw them fix themselves so they could move much more freely. Well, Mr. Cuervo only had to remove his coat and fold his sleeves inward before combing his hair while the other two had a full-on change of clothes. Their hairs were tied up tightly as they held what seemed to be a mix of a rapier and a cutlass.

They weren't as decorated as what Mr. Cuervo was holding in his hands but they looked like they had seen a lot of action.

With that said, everyone was eagerly waiting for the doors to blow up and they just came right off the moment the music playing in the background reached its peak.

Almost immediately, bits and pieces of discolored flesh flew outward with the metal bits before their repugnant smell wafted all over the place. I don't know what the fuck those shipping containers were made of but they managed to contain the smell of these fucking deadheads.

As it should, the people selling food lost all their customers and even Tatiana had to stop eating.

The cold wind blowing helped a little bit but it felt like a corpse was picking our nose with its chewed-up and rotting finger. The smell wouldn't fucking go away but it didn't take long before the walking corpses from the shipping containers placed several stacks high started falling on top of one another.

'Is Mr. Cuervo sure this isn't the finale?'

The shipping containers kept vomiting out corpses after corpses but everyone saw a long fucking tongue hook a deadhead in freefall before it brought it over to itself. Furthermore, the sounds of wet stomping, deep growls, and high-pitched screams echoed all around—almost overpowering the music—as more and more deadheads came down and landed on their own brethren.

At this moment, I thought a few would've already forfeited but they couldn't hide the excitement on their face. It could be that the adrenaline junkies had started to participate or Mr. Cuervo's words fired all of them up.

With that said, everyone from the viewing platforms could see how each participant gave each other space as they prepared to receive a horde numbering a few thousand. I don't know how they would manage the space provided for them but it'll be more than a fucking tight fit.