Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The group stared in shock from what I showed them. The mason jar I picked was the perfect size for the head since it was completely upright when placed inside it. Like clockwork, when it was placed in front of the group, its eyes darted around everyone. The way its eyes move made everyone grimace either from disgust or fright. Good thing that I didn't take it out or else they would've heard the squelching sound each time its eyes snapped in a different direction.

I retold the story with the sentries to them and I listened to their opinions.

"Old man, have you called them yet?" I asked.

"They said that they have already dissected each one and now they are lacking whole ones to test what you've witnessed. Now they're trying to find more of them." Oscar replied but his look told me something else.

"What? They didn't notice its eyes? Or is this a 3rd type or an evolution of the still ones?" I thought to myself. I just stared back at Oscar for an instant and maintained the look I had before.

"Too bad I've already killed the other six. Well, we're too far apart for them to pick this up here. The logical choice is to find more there. The thing is, this sentry is by far, more dangerous than the sprinter." I said.

"Hmm? It just guides a few zombies at you right?" Lois asked.

"Yeah. The sprinter is more deadly." Jared added.

"Hear me out, I said by far. It can only guide zombies to a few feet just by looking at you but what if there are sprinters in the mix that are guided? You could be perfectly hidden but just a glance from this thing and you are a target." I explained while I closed the laptop.

"This is just a theory, but what if in the future, the distance that it could cover increases by a mile or more? Ultimately, we don't know 100% of what this kind does. We haven't tried them with sprinters yet so we never know if it works on them. Before, I saw a sprinter lock on our direction when it's still a few meters away. Aside from sound, we also know that they could also sense us from sight even if their eyes are distorted from the ones we have." I added.

"Wait a minute, you said that when that special kind looks at a certain direction, it just goes there? Can't we just place that head facing outside and nothing will come to this place?" Ken asked.

"No, I think it needs to look at a living organism first. When I got in range of the sentry, one of its eyes locked in my direction and a few followed me even when I was out of range from the sentry. The thing is, if the zombie it guided to me got too close, it won't change its direction even if it looked the other way." I explained.

"So, does that mean that we still can't use this head then?" Kaley said.

"Hmm, we're really not sure in what this does completely. I was hoping to do what Ken was thinking but it might be dangerous if we rely on a tool that we don't even know the use of." I said.

"So, we kill it then?" Jared said.

"That's the reasonable solution." Johnny said.

"I really don't want to let go of this thing but we're really not equipped to handle this thing and discover its secrets. If only we had a scientist and a proper lab, we could do our own research here." I said.

"In my opinion, I think we shouldn't research this thing at all." Raphael said.

"But why?" Jared asked.

"Well, this thing caused the deaths of a lot of people, some I know, my point is that I don't want to rely on something that caused this to solve this. It just doesn't feel right." Raphael explained.

"Yeah, you got a point there, but knowing your enemy is half the battle. Granted we don't have the proper equipment to study them, we'll just learn a few of their secrets the hard way." I said.

"But what do we do with the head then?" Jared asked.

"I say we keep it and bring it a few times outside to see what it could do more." Oscar suggested.

"I suggest we dispose of it now since it's dangerous to even have a head here inside our place." Johnny said.

A few other people gave their opinions and I thought of what we should do with this head. I rubbed my glabella while they voiced their concerns and ideas.

"Okay, I've made a decision. We keep this thing but we do not place it here." I said.

"Where would you place it then?" Kaley asked.

"My old house. I'll place this in one of my safes for now and I'll move it tomorrow morning. I'm really curious about what this thing does and I'd like to know more from it through trial and error." I said.

"Might need to check on that guy too. I'm surprised Kaley and the rest didn't drag him here." I thought to myself.

"Wait, you still have access to your old house?" Kaley asked.

"Yeah, we already did some work on it before. Why would I sell it?" I replied.

"Wait. Sky, isn't this thing just a ticking time bomb if we just place this anywhere?" Raphael said.

"There's a workaround for this thing." I replied.

"What?" he asked.

"Heh. How does sight work?" I asked.

"Just fucking tell us the answer kid!" Oscar yelled.

"To see, you need light. If you remove the light completely, we can't see anything. Last time I checked; this thing is still human in its physiology. Even if other animals have ways to manage in the dark, we humans rely on our eyes. A simple solution is just to cover it completely so its eyes won't manage to lock into anyone." I explained.

"How can you be so sure that doing that will keep us safe?" Johnny asked.

"Our people from watch duty. I did say we learn how this thing works the hard way. Besides, I'll put this in my safe covered by layers of cloth just to be sure. Don't forget the distance needed before it starts to guide others towards where it is looking at." I said.

"Alright kid, I agree with that." Johnny replied.

"Kaley, go with this kid tomorrow, okay? Take a break from clearing the dead here and just let Jay's group do it for now. We have a protocol for people coming now so it's fine if you're absent for a day." Oscar said and Kaley nodded.

We concluded the meeting and I went to the gym to do my daily workout with Kaley and Tatiana.

Tatiana was coaching Kaley in some of the exercises and then I noticed her picking up the mitts and pointing at me. She slammed it twice and she smiled.

"I wanna see it up close, your technique." Tatiana said.

"Aren't you training Kaley?" I said while I pulled myself once more from the bar.

"I'm fine Sky, I remember the exercises that she taught me. You could have a go with her, the sparring earlier ended very quickly." Kaley said while she arched her back on the opposite side.

"Okay then, just a 3-minute round then. I have a few more exercises I haven't done yet." I said.

Tatiana raised the mitts and we waited for the timer to beep. Just as I was about to jab, she quickly moved her hand towards my face. I quickly tilted my head to avoid it. Despite that, she grazed my cheek even with the heavy mitts.

"This woman..." I thought to myself.

Tatiana smirked then she placed the mitts in front of me again.

"You're slow." she said.

"Taunting me won't help." I said.

I stopped the up and down motion from my stance then I exhaled slowly. I relaxed my whole body and I started to slowly pace from left to right. My hands were not clenched and they were open inside my boxing gloves.

"Speed huh? Let's change gears for now." I thought to myself.

*swish*

*POP*

My glove hitting the mitt produced a crisp sound and I looked at her with a smirk. Tatiana was surprised because she was too late on moving the mitts before me.

"You're slow." I said her words back at her.

Tatiana smirked once more but her face turned serious. This was not mitt training anymore; it was a battle of reaction time. She placed her hands holding the mitts in different positions but as soon as I was a fraction of a second slower, she would flick her hands towards me as well. I find this exercise fun so I gave it a go. I missed a few times but she never landed a hit on my head since the mitt was heavier than the gloves and I know that she would counter-attack.

We switched equipment and it was finally her turn. Her punches were sharp and quick but what surprised me was the kind of punches that she threw. Sometimes, I would think that her attack was a feint but she would suddenly continue on with it but it would be immediately be followed by another punch by the same hand. It could either be a jab, a hook, or an upper. The first hit will be crisp but the following one would be full power or another feint. She would sometimes feint with her other hand as well and that makes figuring out what punch would come next harder.

"That's interesting." I thought to myself as I focused on her movements.