Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Rin just blankly stared at me for a few seconds but she bit her lip before she continued to check the other files she hadn't seen yet. She looked apprehensive as she went through the contents of my phone though she kept glancing at me from time to time. She never spoke a word or asked a question during the whole drive back though I was silently watching what she would do.

After a few minutes, we finally neared the compound and she gave my phone back with complex expressions. She was silent for a good while—either taking the information in or still doubting the contents she looked through—but her face almost twisted when she saw the huge gate to my compound.

"Wha— Is that—"

"Here we are, home sweet home."

"I still can't—"

"Rin, listen to me. I could be pulling the most elaborate prank right now but think of it like this: if I really am just pulling your leg, you'd still be paid more, have better living conditions, and have a boss that likes to joke around from time to time. But on the other hand… let's just say that you'd have a better chance of surviving here compared to that creaky old apartment you were staying at. That sounds more than fair, right?"

Rin was looking down as she was lost in her thoughts but she needed to process everything that was happening right in front of her because it was one thing after one thing blowing up in her face. If she didn't take her time, she'd either just get swept up and land on her ass or just implode from her thoughts.

'Technically speaking, I really did kinda kidnap her… But~ from her living conditions, also technically speaking, I saved her— which was a good thing, but through kidnapping— which was a bad thing. That's the law of equivalent exchange— wait, justifying the ends through the means might be more fitting…'

After a short bit, Rin somehow managed to process her thoughts and she turned to me with a solemn expression.

"I… I think that's more than fair, sir. U-Umm… so… if I may ask, you need me as an assistant or for some sort of secretarial job, right?"

I nodded with a smile, "Yeah, something like that. I hired you because I'm gonna be really busy these coming days and I can't do everything at once. With what we both have, I'd be confident in leaving you one of my stations."

"What we both have?" Rin tilted her head, intrigued.

"OCD," I said flatly.

"Ah— Oh…" Rin chuckled for the first time since forever, "Actually, Mrs. Thelma told me I have that—but a milder kind, of course—and that's why she placed me in that position. Some people had it rough but weirdly enough, I don't think what I have is a bad thing…"

"That's a good way of looking at it—and I agree, but it depends on what you have, right?"

"Right…"

"So, we've been here a while now. Wanna head inside?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

Once we drove inside, it was almost like a feeling of déjà vu because of her reaction when she saw the inside of my compound. I parked at the same spot I did and I turned off the engine before I went to the back and handed Rin her duffel bag. However, she saw a couple of plastic bags where one of which contained something that might prompt a huge misunderstanding or just completely destroy my whole career.

"Do you need help—"

I quickly grabbed the bags and put a death grip on them while shaking all over, "Nope! We're good! I'll show you to your room! C'mon!"

Rin just looked at me weirdly before she nodded, "O-Okay, sir…"

The two of us started walking toward my house when Aunt Sharon came out at the right time. Like clockwork, Rin gave her a small bow but surprisingly enough, Aunt Sharon just faintly smiled before returning the same greeting. She didn't tease me or anything like earlier and it made me a little suspicious.

"Hey! After you're done there, bring everyone down to the pool area. I just finished cooking, it's time to eat."

'Lois probably told the story…'

Once I opened the door to my house, I thought Zeus would greet us but he seemed to be preoccupied elsewhere. So, I just gave Rin the same tour and she ended up with the last room in my house just for herself. She almost dropped her jaw for the second time but I let her take in her new room for a few moments. After I gave her the spare keys, I asked her to just unpack later because we were about to eat with everybody below.

"Okay, sir. I'll just change since I'm still wearing my uniform."

"No, problem. I'll be waiting in this room to the left."

"O-Okay, sir."

Rin nodded with a thankful expression before she excused herself and closed the door to her new room while I decided to check on Kaley and Olivia. The door to their room was closed but even though it wasn't locked, I still knocked a few times and waited for them to answer.

I heard a soft voice, "Y-Yes?"

"Hey, time to eat. Are you guys awake?" I said behind the door.

"J-Just a sec…"

I just stood in the same place for a short bit before Kaley opened the door for me but the first thing I noticed was Zeus' fucking face. He looked at me like he needed help but at the same time, he didn't want to wake Olivia who was sleeping soundly but holding him in place. He was whimpering without any sound but I got taken aback when I turned to Kaley.

Her eyes were red and her face was flushed, and she was clutching her phone with one hand. I thought she got woken up from me knocking but it looked like there was a whole other reason.

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah… I just found out that Angel, my coworker, was attacked at their home earlier. The police said that someone under the influence tried to break into their apartment and her boyfriend tried to confront the p-person, b-but…" Kaley said with a tremble in her voice before she continued, "Well… y-you get the idea. She's in the ICU right now but her boyfriend d-didn't make it…."

"Where were they staying?"

"Near the pier. They… I mean Angel… she's gonna turn, right?"

"Yeah… I'm sorry…" I wanted to say more but I couldn't. That was all that came out of me.

The two of us shared a moment of silence but as Kaley came closer and motioned for another hug, the door to the right opened. Rin came out wearing simple clothes and she saw Kaley and me right next to each other though the hug turned into her hands being placed over my shoulder and my arms.

Rin seemed to have thought of something before she quickly bowed and said, "Hello! I'm R-Rin, Mr. Ishiyama's new hire! Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama, thank you for the opportunity—"

I choked almost immediately, "Rin— *cough* *cough* Nope! No! Nada! You g-got it wrong! *flailing spider hands* Cut! Cut! I'm sorry, Kaley— I'm— She's— Ah, shit— FUCK!"

I sweated like my search history got revealed to the public but when I turned my head to look at Kaley's face, it didn't bother her at all. On the contrary, the misunderstanding made her expression improve for the better since she was faintly smiling, and her eyes were even sparkling because of the tears that she had earlier. I was momentarily stunned but I quickly tried to get my bearings.

"I-I'm sorry, sir! I thought you two were—"

I waved her off, "N-No worries, let me introduce you two. Kaley, this is Rin, Rin, this is Kaley. The girl sleeping over there is Olivia, Kaley's sister. Their surname's Payan so don't forget, alright? We know each other from way~ back."

"Woof!" Zeus chimed in.

"Oh, I forgot. That's Zeus," I said as I chuckled.

Rin nodded a few times before another thought seemed to have formed in her head, "Oh, I see. So you guys are just living together at the moment…"

'FUCK! How can she make one misunderstanding after another?! Shit!'

I instantly choked the second time, "Umm, ah… technically speaking, yes we are, but umm—"

Kaley interjected, "Before he makes it worse, let me explain."

Rin was a little embarrassed as she replied, "A-Alright…"

With that said, Kaley gave her a brief explanation of our relationship together and what transpired this morning while Rin told her story of meeting me at their store. I finally managed to breathe easy but I didn't take it to heart and I just waved her off when she tried to apologize.

And after that, we just woke up Olivia and freed Zeus before I introduced them and went down to have some lunch.

When we reached the pool area, more people—family and friends—were present and some of them were helping with bringing out the utensils, the plates, and the food that we'd be eating. I was about to help out too when I heard a loud honk coming from the gate.

I excused myself and ran down to open the gate for them though more quick honks followed. I thought it was Oscar getting impatient or my uncles trying to get everyone's attention but turns out, they arrived at the same time with a few others.

The first in line was our 8-wheeler truck, followed by a tricycle, two motorcycles, Oscar's SUV, and a truck from Wilcon's Depot. I let them in and guided them to the parking area before I walked to my truck.

"Hey, kid. What's up? I see you've arrived."

On the truck were my two uncles, Unc Zardon and Unc Zeidrick. My Unc Zardon was the one who greeted me and he was the one driving the truck. He had a darker skin complexion than Lois and he was a burly man, unlike Unc Zeidrick who was fit and a little shorter than me. I just gave Unc Zardon a nod, the same way Unc Zeidrick did when our eyes met.

After that, I walked a little forward and greeted the person driving the tricycle.

"Glad you could come, Jo. What's up?"

Jo was shaking his head as he looked around, "Hah! What's up? This place is what's up! It's totally fu— totally different from the last time I was working here."

"That is true, heh."

"Can I work here again?"

"Hah! There's no pay though, crisis and all."

"Guess I'll call you Boss again, Boss."

We laughed for a short moment before our expressions turned solemn. However, he offered me a handshake and we shook hands, nodding a few times as I remembered a bit of the past.

Jo was my former employee and he decided to run his own business after saving up. He was fit but on the skinnier side and he had short black hair. He still had his accent because he came from the province but it was more common than anyone would think.

He brought his family with him, specifically his wife, daughter, mother, brother, and sister. His brother, Mario, which we all call 'Dong', was one of my current employees along with Mark, Malong, and Ariel who were also present and brought with them their loved ones and close friends.

I have two other workers that hadn't arrived yet but we decided to haul the supplies off the truck from Wilcon's because the driver was a little impatient. Oscar and Jared came back with a lot of building materials but they also came back with spare solar panels, lights, batteries, inverters, etc.

We all gathered at the pool area and I once again introduced everyone present. However, my employees didn't fucking forget to put me on the spot when they saw me standing next to Kaley. They all acted like their prayers were answered and they even tried to poke her with a stick to see if she was a real human being, but in turn, I gave them a quick pummeling.

Good thing Kaley didn't mind the teasing as much because she just smiled as she shook her head in amusement.

Everything was now prepared and we started to eat. While they were handing the plates, I made sure to give Zeus his food before I started eat. He was happily wharfing them bite after bite so I left him alone before I got food for myself.

I was about to stand at the back of the line when Kaley beckoned me over to the middle, and she gave me an extra plate that she reserved which I happily took. However, Olivia was right behind us, wearing a cheeky smile, and was this close to snapping a picture.

Today, Aunt Sharon cooked a popular Filipino dish that was called Fried Chicken Adobo.

It was a traditional Filipino dish but there were different ways to prepare it.

Our method was to chop the chicken into smaller pieces and season them, before frying them in oil, and while that was happening, we'd prepare the other ingredients. Some of them were chopping an onion and some garlic into much smaller pieces, crushing black pepper but not as thoroughly, and peeling and dicing potatoes into half the size of the chicken we had.

After everything was prepared, we'd start by sautéing the garlic and onions, probably with the same oil we fried the chicken before adding in the crushed pepper and other spices or seasoning for taste.

And right when the garlic and onions were starting to get golden brown, that was when we'd add soy sauce, a bit of water, the potatoes, and then the fried chicken itself. We let it simmer for a bit and after the sauce had reduced and it was to taste, the only thing to do was to turn off the fire and eat it over hot piping rice.

Weirdly, if we had leftovers and reheated them, it would be much tastier. It was because the chicken would be marinated by the sauce as it would start to seep inside the meat.

When I was in front of the trays of food, I gave myself a couple of servings of rice before I grabbed a ladle and poured some sauce over it. After that, I grabbed a few pieces of chicken and potatoes and put them in a bowl before I sat down with Kaley. After everything that happened, this type of food would just make us forget for a short bit and we all just happily ate my aunt's cooking.

While we were eating, I checked my watch and it was 12:30 PM. There was still no emergency broadcast from the government and I assumed they were still trying to contain it as best as they could. However, I shook my head at their actions but I could somehow understand their intention. It's just that something like this would be harder and harder to stop the more time passed, and a single country wouldn't be enough to nip it in the bud.

As I looked at the group of people in front of me, a weight of responsibility was placed on my shoulders. Even though everyone looked like they were just enjoying the food, a thin veil of tension was slowly covering everyone that's present.

Then Kaley nudged me with her elbow and said, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?" I replied before I swallowed another mouthful.

"How did you and Oscar really meet? And how come you've information about what's happening now before everyone else?"