Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Tatiana wouldn't let me take a single step from our spot because she actually wanted a real answer. She was right up in my face, looking me straight in the eye, and clutching the fabric of my shirt.

"Please, I wanted to know…"

I tried to dodge it one more time, "Isn't having those injection axes enough—"

"That's not what we are talking about. I'm—"

"What are we talking about?"

"Don't play dumb! I'm asking if you could do it or not?! Is that hard to answer?! I'm not— I'm not asking if your katana could do it… I wanted to know if YOU could do it. Can you just answer that?"

"..."

"Please, I really wanted to k-know…"

I sighed ever so slightly before I looked at her solemnly, "Answer me one thing first."

"Anything."

"Will you blame me for something if I said yes?"

Tatiana never looked so confused, "W-What are you talking about?"

I pointed at the smiley pin on my vest before I answered, "Are you gonna blame me for this?"

Right at that moment, a solid slap just landed on my face before a backhand landed on the other side. After that, Tatiana's grip on my shirt tightened even more as she tried to push on me.

"No one fucking blames you for that! I'm just asking you because I'm genuinely curious! What's up with you?! Bringing Kristoff out of the blue?! Out of everyone present when that happened, I thought you would be the one who would have a rational understanding of it! Something unexpected happened and we lost someone! End of story!"

"I could've done something—"

"The time for that has passed! Are you still thinking about that even now?!"

"Sometimes, I do. Especially now since we just encountered something similar to that thing…"

"..."

"..."

Tatiana started to scratch her head, "I can't believe you… The mood was pretty great earlier and I feel like shit right now."

"Sorry, I thought… I started overthinking when you asked me that question and we got sidetracked… too sidetracked…"

"Uh-huh…" Tatiana trailed as she finally let go of me.

"My bad…"

"So…"

"Hmm?"

"You didn't admit it directly but you could really do it, huh?"

I almost banged my head on the closest rock as Tatiana asked the same question that got us on a tangent but I shook my head as I finally gave her an honest answer, "It's gonna fucking suck but I think could do it."

'I might dislocate more than my fingers if I go about it carelessly though…'

"You finally— Wait, now why is it gonna fucking suck?" Tatiana went up in my face again.

I started to briskly walk ahead of her, "Not gonna answer that, you only get one question a day~"

"YOU~!!! YOU JUST— DON'T ANSWER A QUESTION AND SAY SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA LEAD TO MORE QUESTIONS!!! ARGH!!!"

"HAHAHAHAH~!!!"

Tatiana and I eventually made it back to our spot and the awards for this game were already being given to the winners while the piles and piles of corpses were being cleared out. It took them a while but there was a special reward for the person that killed the most deadheads.

If it wasn't already obvious, Mikhail rushing to the fray when he heard Quinn asking Artem for "drinks" looked like a max-level warlord joined in a skirmish with all level 1 mobs. He basically took down a minimum of 3 walkers per swing and his kill count just left the others in the dust.

With that said, he was entitled to three coins, a vehicle of his choice, permanent boarding in Cuervo Heights, a "Golden Ticket" for the Pink House, an expensive bottle of alcohol, jewelry, a tailored suit that would be given to him in the following days, and an assortment of guns and ammo.

But to my surprise, Mr. Cuervo also gave him command of a 5-person squad to help with whatever task they were currently in and they weren't the common rabble.

This squad would be a huge help with finding the rest of Artem's team because even if Nikolas and the rest had already located one of them and had a clue as to where the last one was last seen, they'd need more people that knows the area and could offer more than just an extra pair of hands.

At this point in time, it was already way past midnight but everyone was still going at it like it was still 9 PM. The amount of food and drinks served on this game night/wedding was crazy and it felt like it could go on for several days. No one was feeling tired or sleepy one bit but it didn't take long before the last event was announced.

But before that, several grievances were to be addressed.

Everyone knew that the final event would be a tournament-style fight until the victor was decided but now was the time to settle "differences" between each family. The term for it was coined a few chapters— err, a few hours ago and it was called a blood fight.

Essentially, a blood fight entailed a challenge to be issued to a certain individual the challenger had a grievance with and it could end with a few simple bruises or the name of the loser carved on a tombstone.

There were a few exceptions in regards to challenging someone to a fight to the death, mostly, but most of the time, people have done it purely for duking it out with someone and not with any other intent.

It was because it was a little too expensive—most of the time—to challenge someone since the price to pay was a gold coin or something close to its value. It could be anywhere from a fancy vehicle, a brick of coke, to a beautiful virgin, but to put some numbers to it, it could be close to 10,000 vouchers since the winner would take it all—since both parties have to put up—except for the small cut the house would receive.

But sometimes, it could be anywhere from a case of beer to a pack of cigars if both parties wanted to have a go with each other that badly.

However, the person that was challenged could still decline the invite but their reputation would take a huge hit. To my knowledge, a few people had declined but it was because they were too injured or the reason for challenging them was just too fucking stupid.

And yeah, some people could just easily bypass the blood fight by going outside and stabbing each other to death.

In a sense, a blood fight is just a way Mr. Cuervo could bend his own rules and profit from it.

With that said, it seemed like a flood of challenges was being sent to the main house, and Mr. Cuervo's left eyebrow couldn't stop twitching. I saw him turn in my direction as he gave a long sigh and he helplessly spoke on the mic.

[Alright… let's get this first one over with… Number~ 123? Is that right? Uh-huh… you're issuing a challenge to the kid— The head of the Ishiyama Family, is that it? What's your reason?]

At this point, if Quinn's gaze could kill, the guy she was staring down would've breathed his last already but to my surprise, it was the guy who lost almost all of his teeth when he deepthroated my boot. It was the same guy who tried to swindle us when Mikhail and I tried to retrieve Kuzma's vehicle and he was still probably pissed from that incident.

One of Mr. Cuervo's entertainers approached the guy with a mic to speak on and his gummy mouth almost made everyone close to him laugh.

"THAT FUCKER DID THIS TO ME AND I WANT TO DO THE SAME THING TO HIM! MY GIRL KEPT LAUGHING AT ME WHEN I TRY TO MAKE OUT WITH HER AND ITS FUCKING HELL! ALSO, HE TOOK MY TRUCK WITH THE HARPOONS ON IT AND I WANT IT BACK!"

Mr. Cuervo was trying so hard not to laugh, the same as me and everyone else.

[Alright 123, do you have a coin or—]

"I ONLY HAVE 200 VOUCHERS HERE, 2 GLOCKS, 50 ROUNDS OF AMMO, MY GIRL'S NUDES, OUR VIDEOS, MY ROLEX— STOP FUCKING LAUGHING!!! AND UHH… I ALSO HAVE MY OTHER TRUCK WHICH IS A D-MAX! THAT'S ALL I HAVE BUT IF YOU DECLINE ME, YOU'RE A FUCKING PUSSY!"

Mr. Cuervo, Roxanne, and Melina couldn't look more confused and depressed at the same time from hearing Number 123's words, but another series of laughter followed. Even the ones from his fold were laughing at his ass because not only was his reason stupid as hell, the items he wagered weren't enough to make anyone from the opposite side agree to the fight.

[You know, challenging a head is a whole different matter… you know that, right? It's also ten times more expensive. I appreciate the fervor but—]

I cut Mr. Cuervo off as I turned to Number 123, "I'll fight him but you'll die before you get my girl's nudes though. And no offense, I don't wanna see your ugly ass fucking and I don't wanna waste five seconds of my life watching that."

"WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT YOUR GIRL?! I JUST WANNA STICK MY FOOT DOWN YOUR THROAT SO WE'LL BE EVEN AND THEN SOME!!! ARE YOU GONNA FIGHT ME OR WHAT?!"

I don't know why but the vibe of the whole place changed after that short exchange and it didn't take long before the two of us were in the center of the play area. The fight he issued wasn't to the death but the motherfucker dared me to bring my katana so the fight would be "even". I'm even thinking that he already forgot that Mikhail and I trashed their crew barehanded and he wanted to face me with a weapon.

With that said, once the signal was given, I drew my blade ever so slowly before I uttered the word in each syllable…

"Ban. Kai—"

The guy just suddenly dropped his axe and put his hands up, "Fuck that. I give up."

"..."

Silence. Complete and total fucking silence.