Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

With that said, I just drew my katana and I started to dispose of the sentries we placed outside. With a simple flick of the wrist, part of their heads would just plop down on the pavement, staining it with the darkened bits of their blood, flesh, and brain matter.

However, when it was just the last Sentry remaining, instead of killing it like the others, I pulled off the sheet encasing most of its body before I placed it in the middle of the street.

Almost immediately, since it was still facing us, its eyes went wild as it scanned everyone present and it made my cousins take a step back. It even prompted Nicole and Lois to draw their weapons defensively even if we already told them that they had never moved an inch.

I waved them off, "Easy, now. I'm still right next to it, okay?"

Nicole spoke up, "S-Sorry, b-but what are you planning to do with it, bro?!"

"I just had an idea," I said as I turned to Jared, "Hey. Cover me, alright?"

Jared simply nodded, "Okay, bro. I'll take it down even if it just moves its pinky."

With that said, I wiped my blade with the sheets available but the Sentry kept looking at everybody, eventually landing on the nearest person in its sights.

"That's so fucking weird…" Lois commented before standing at the same spot Jared was, "So, so fucking weird…"

Jared added, "They're like those statues from the game you used to play… literal sentries…"

As the two were commenting on what the Sentry was doing, I started to walk around the area to attract deadheads that were randomly roaming about.

After a short bit, I came back leading five bloody figures and they were so eager to claw at my throat. However, I started to walk diagonally and avoid the Sentry's line of sight but I was far closer to it than Unc Zardon who was still by the gates and its current 'eye candy'.

And right when the deadheads behind me were slowly inching towards the Sentry, it happened.

I was right around 8-10 feet from the Sentry in question but the zombies that were coming for me took a detour and went for Unc Zardon instead. They were still 20-ish feet away from Unc Zardon while they were around the same distance with me and the Sentry, but they still went for my uncle that was tens of feet farther.

'What the fuck…'

With that said, I quickly sidestepped to get into the line of sight of the Sentry but its eyes split up between me and my uncle.

Almost immediately, the zombies which were trailing behind me but were already straddling towards Unc Zardon split up, and right now, two were coming for my uncle while the rest were coming for me. However, I quickly broke away to see if the ones coming for me would lock in to my uncle once more but they didn't.

I assumed that they were already too close to switching targets but a lot was going through my head right now.

'This is vital information… I don't know the full range of that shit but everyone has to know… I wanted to know more but I can't just bring a special deadhead inside the compound…'

In a short span of a few seconds, I quickly took care of the ones that came for me while Unc and the rest did the same thing on their end. The Sentry between us was still staring at us like it was a gecko but after a short time of considering what to do, I cleanly lopped its head off.

Its head fell first before its body collapsed like its strings got cut off, but since I left its brain untouched, its eyes were still 'alive' and were directly looking at me.

'That's the same feeling alright…'

The group thought I would eventually stab down and end its life but I covered it with the sheet we used to bring them down.

Nicole instantly protested, "W-Wait, don't tell me we're bringing that back?!"

I replied, "Yeah, this is something we might have a use for inside the compound."

"N-No way…"

Lois commented, "It's just a head, right?"

"A head that could lead those things! Didn't you see what just happened?!"

I waved her off, "Relax, I know it's kinda risky but I doubt it could 'lead' anything if it's basically 'head'-folded."

Jared shook his head, "Not funny, bro."

Unc Zardon commented, "It's covered but are you gonna keep it in that rag the whole time?"

"Hmm~ A small aquarium or a jar might suffice but I wish I didn't kill the other six. We might've been able to uncover more of its secrets if we had more samples but this is the best we could do for now."

Dong spoke up, "So, what are we gonna do now?"

"Alright, we haul everything we can in this place first and we could check the nearby houses before we go back. I wish we could cover more ground but we just took a lot of time in this place because the house was a little too big and we encountered these specials. And regarding this head, I'll take responsibility for it."

Everyone nodded but they were all wearing a mix of expressions because some of them just wanted to take care of the Sentry now. However, I already decided against it and I already assumed responsibility for it, so all they could do was put their trust in me and follow what we agreed upon.

With that said, we started to haul everything we marked for repossession, and I got to take a closer look at the last room where the Sentries were found.

It seemed to be the master bedroom but when I checked for another safe, I found nothing. However, there were a lot of fancy clothes and expensive jewelry but there wasn't any gear that could be used to take down zombies.

'Well, she could've taken most of them… I doubt she'll leave a gun here if she didn't have a bunch of them lying around… I'm just wondering where she had gone though…'

I continued to take the essential items that I would come across but I didn't forget to take their cellphones and their laptops. And when I was checking the drawers under their nightstand, I found a bag of weed, some keys, a wallet, and an empty medicine container. I casually picked it up and read the label.

'Hmm… a lot of information left out… I doubt this was prescribed by a doctor… Wait a second…'

I suddenly remembered that the Sentry by the window didn't have any visible bite marks. I wasn't entirely sure because I didn't strip them naked but if the rest were already sporting them, it should be in the same state.

'More questions than answers… One explanation is overdosing on this shit…'

With that said, I placed everything of value in my bag and I did include the bag of weed because it had medical uses and could also be used for bartering.

Turning to another corner, I found another wine rack that had more bottles compared to the one in the kitchen, and not only that, but it also had bottles that were more expensive. However, since we were talking about cylindrical-shaped objects, I found another one in the bathroom right after I took everything from their medicine cabinet but it was made with a different material, and it had this natural… curvature.

'That's bigger than a horse's di– nevermind…'

Long story short, I shook my head and left it alone.

We eventually finished taking items from the Pineda Residence but since we still have space in the truck available, we took what we could from the houses nearby. Those items were usually the essential items we'd pick out first but surprisingly enough, one of them had solar panels installed so I quickly unhooked them and took the batteries and the inverters that came with it.

After that, we drove back and unloaded the items we scavenged, but there were already new people waiting inside the fences Unc Zeidrick built. There were a few familiar faces but there was this one particular guy that was being a little extra.

He was wearing ragged clothing but around his wrist was an expensive gold watch that completely matched the rest of his teeth. His hair was unkempt even though his face was kinda clean but he seemed to be getting avoided by the rest of the people that came with him.

With that said, he quickly sprang up and tried to take my attention when he recognized me coming with a truck of supplies, but I simply disregarded him.

'Out of all the people to survive this thing…'

Everybody who knew him did the same exact thing but I saw Allan wearing an annoyed face while he was standing on top of the catwalk looking at the person in question.

"Hey, Allan. Where's Kaley and the rest?"

Allan sighed before he turned to me, "They're doing one more trip around the block before they take a break."

"I see. And the people here? Did Oscar make them stay put?"

"Yeah, he did. When they arrived, he told them to stay on that side of the fence so you could talk to them first before we let them enter."

"Alright then–"

I was still in mid-conversation with Allan when the same fucking guy interrupted us.

"HEY! HEY! HEY~! DUDE! MY MAN! REMEMBER ME! HEY! IT'S ME! IT'S ME! IT'S ME~! HELLOOO~!!!"

I turned around to look at him with much displeasure but his smile grew wild before he called out to me like we were long-lost relatives.

"WASSUP, MAN! LONG TIME NO SEE! HOW ARE–"

I cut him off as I bellowed, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!"

"Ah– S-Sorry…"

Everyone else got quickly taken aback and the fucking guy I was talking to put his hands up like he never did anything wrong. He even took a few steps back before turning to the group he was with, but they didn't even acknowledge his presence.

Allan spoke up, "Do you know that guy, dude? He kept saying that you were tight and he never stopped yapping about it."

I shook my head, "I know him."

The guy chuckled, "I fucking told ya–"

But I continued, "But we're not fucking tight."

The guy never looked so shocked, "C'mon, man! We've known each other for years! I–" he was still in mid-sentence but he stopped when I turned my head to the direction of the fence.

It was because Kaley and the rest just arrived and even if they didn't come back with more people, their bags were filled to the brim. With that said, Kaley's eyes brightened when we made eye contact and we just curtly waved at each other before I let them in.

She was just about to give me a simple greeting when I checked her body for injuries.

"Wha–"

I even checked the magazines of her guns and pulled out my wakizashi from her hip to see if they were used, and to my relief, they weren't. However, Kaley didn't know whether to be glad or be embarrassed by my actions.

"H-Hey… That's k-kinda embarrassing…"

"Hmm? I'm just checking if–"

Kaley chuckled while she was blushing a little, "Then ask me! We never fired a shot, mind you. We kept everything quiet and the reason that there's no blood on your wakizashi was that I made sure to wipe it clean. Happy now?"

I quipped, "Maybe."

Kaley shook her head, laughing, "You doofus!"

We shared a short moment before we walked over the group keeping quiet, and I quickly scanned each of them with my eyes. There were seven of them all in all, looking at me with varying expressions, but the one I told off earlier was back to being all smiles, chin up like what happened was water under the bridge.

'Same bullshit expression the last time I met him…'

In any case, I started with a simple greeting and they responded in kind. They were a little wary at first but they couldn't hide their displeasure when the same guy almost spoke for them. However, I used to be a close acquaintance with one of them though I doubt he could still remember me.

I turned to Tatiana who was still watching from the back, "Hey, have you checked them for weapons?"

Tatiana nodded, "Yes. That woman over there wearing a cap, Aubrey– she's a security guard or so she says, had two pistols and she surrendered both of them with the extra magazines and ammo she had. The rest had various handheld weapons but they surrendered them too, and Kaley brought them with us after talking with all of them."

'Hmm, and he still passed?'

I simply nodded without showing a lot of expressions, "Okay, that's good. Then…" I trailed before I turned to a guy with a large forehead. He was carrying his daughter in his arms while his wife was closely sticking to his side, and he got startled when I was just staring at him.

"U-Umm, is there a problem, sir?"

I chuckled, "'Sir?' Really? Anthony, tell me you're joking. Good to see your family here."

The guy I referred to as Anthony never looked so confused, "Huh? You k-know me?"

I laughed before I shook my head, "Okay, last try. Gunbound X."

Anthony was just staring blankly for a few moments but even when the realization hit, he was still confused, "H-Hold on… No fucking way… You don't look like– W-Wait a second…"

"Getting warmer."

He was squinting as he was looking at me but his eyes suddenly shot up, "SKY! HOLY FUCKING SHIT!"

I let out a faint smile, "What's up, man?"

Anthony quickly handed over her daughter to his wife before he opted for a handshake. However, it quickly turned into a bro-hug and he looked like all the reservations he had for me disappeared.

"Holy shit, man… Are you– Shit, I didn't even recognize you!"

I chuckled, "Well, it's been close to two decades since we last hung out and I haven't been attending our reunions," I turned to his wife and their kid, "Is this all of you?"

"Ah– Y-Yeah, but that's my dad, Roy, and that's my cousin, Benjie," then he went back to his wife, "And this is my beautiful wife, Laura, and our daughter, Bailey. We just holed up in our house by that smaller compound and your other group here found us. It's… It's really nice to meet you here, dude… You have no idea how relieved I was, everything's fucking falling apart, we almost tried to get into the DDR Camp close by, but I heard it's just too fucking crowded and we might even get split up..."

Anthony relayed a few things they heard but his dad and his cousin still introduced themselves to us. After that, Aubrey followed with a simple introduction and a handshake but when the other guy I was avoiding walked up to me, he didn't need a fucking introduction.

This asshole already fucked up my family in more ways than one, and his name was fucking Diego.

He slid in like he owned the place and he kept wearing this smug look all over, but no one was having any of it. He might've talked his way into getting inside this side of the fence, but this asshole wasn't someone I'm gonna let close with my loved ones again.