Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Since it was already a few hours past noon, we decided to stay inside this tailoring workshop for its shade but since the workers seemed eager to make everyone form-fitting clothes and custom leather boots, it was a no-brainer. I did say that we'd stay in this place for more or less a week and we shouldn't explore the whole area in one go.

Furthermore, the way Sebastian was talking with the cadets told me he already had plans for the few days we'd be staying here.

But right as everyone received their new set of clothes, Mauro received a call from his radio that not only brought a smile to his face but also Quinn's right after he told her the news.

"QUINN! THEY'RE HERE!"

"SHUT YOUR TRAP, FOR REAL?!"

"YEAH! THEY BROUGHT THE STUFF!"

"THE FUCK ARE WE DOING HERE FOR? LET'S GO!"

"THEY'RE STILL SETTING UP BY THE GARAGE BUT THEY'LL BE FINISHED THE MOMENT WE ARRIVE!"

These two had never given out so much sibling energy because they were about to commit bloody homicide just from those straps Clyde made for them and now, they never looked so excited from being able to use them together.

As I was told a little bit later, #9 Logan, was ordered by Mauro to bring some of his training equipment but the guy knowing that Quinn was in this place, tossed everything aside to get from point A to point B. He did bring a few people with him for security purposes and whatnot but from what Mauro told me, they also rushed to get in here for the chance of trying out Clyde's leatherworks.

'I guess I'm gonna give it a go too… Haven't tried my one rep max in forever…'

To my surprise, Sebastian also showed excitement from knowing that someone brought over some gym equipment as he turned to the cadets, but it was for a different reason:

"This will be splendid… I can fine-tune the work you will all be doing tomorrow…"

#2 James chimed in, "If we're talking about raw strength, Ruben's gonna come out on top. He has lumberjack genes."

"Oh? You don't say? That's good…"

Ruben never looked so distraught, "W-What are you gonna make me d-do?"

"What else? Lumberjack stuff."

"And us?"

Sebastian let out a weird chuckle, "I already said too much… Let's see what you do now before I reveal it tomorrow. Don't forget, everyone should be awake and ready before 5 AM. I mean it this time."

In any case, it didn't take long before we made our way back to the back of the mansion where the garage was.

Logan and his crew had already finished setting up all of the equipment they brought and he was just wiping them down when we arrived. But yeah, I was just about to head back to our room to change into more appropriate clothes but Mauro and Quinn just took off the unnecessary stuff and went about it barefoot.

A few others had already joined in their warmup but as much as I wanted to get involved, I turned my head around to get a change of clothes and something close to actual lifting shoes.

However, as I was about to do just that, Sebastian approached me with a grin on his face:

"I believe something appropriate was already prepared for all of you in your rooms, Quinn's included… I doubt she'd bother to pick it up but we have some Clyde Taylors in her size up there with yours. It's not as good as actual lifting shoes but it's of the same quality as the ones that had a star logo…"

I chuckled, "You never miss a beat, huh?"

"Well, that's my job… but this time, I'll join in on the lifting session… to provide an example…"

"Oh? We shouldn't dally here then…"

With that said, it didn't take long before I got back with Kaley and the rest wearing appropriate equipment but Quinn and Mauro were still warming up with four fucking plates on each side. Quinn was obviously squatting with a pause at the bottom—to make things more harder, to activate the glutes even more, and most importantly, to make it fucking impressive—while Mauro was doing the same thing on the bench.

Quinn was just using her new lifting belt—with her own lever attached to it, of course, plus her knee sleeves—while Mauro was just wearing the straps without using them on his lifts though he had elbow sleeves on.

But once Quinn was done with her warm-up set, I threw over her pair of Clyde Taylors and she just discovered that almost everyone was watching them lift. And unlike dumb fitness influencers who kept getting dunked on by certain "Swole" guy for getting angry by people glancing at them doing shit for the whole world to see, she didn't mind the looks she was getting as she beckoned me over.

"Hey! Logan just put more pads on the platform over there, wanna pull with me?"

"Aren't you gonna put on those shoes—"

"Nope."

"Let me rephrase. Put the fucking shoes on!"

"Oho~ Beat my PR first then I'll think about it."

"That doesn't seem fair, don't you think?"

"Why? Because you're a man and I'm a woman? Fuck outta here—"

"It adds to the equation but my reason for that is because you got at least 100 pounds on me—"

"HEY! I'M NOT 100 POUNDS— I'm not 100 pounds heavier than you… M-More like 80…"

"My point exactly. And I haven't pulled my one rep max in years. I don't even know what it is right now."

"What was it before?"

"Two hundred twenty-five pounds(102 kgs)?"

Quinn never tried so hard to contain her laughter, "Two plates? No fucking way that's your PR! You have at least four plates from what I've seen. Pull at least that and I'll put on those shoes."

"Fuck it."

"Then it's on—"

But before any of us had the chance to react, Sebastian, who had been missing for a few minutes suddenly dropped in wearing a top-of-the-line powerlifting suit, shoes, belt, straps, etc. from Clyde's leatherworks obviously, and casually took the bar with four plates on Quinn's rack before bringing it over to the deadlift platform like it was nothing.

Everyone was just shocked to fuck, especially the people from the De Leon Family, and the only wish I had at this moment was Sebastian wearing a janitor's uniform instead and kept saying sorry and laughing goofily. Instead, he kept a straight face with a faint smile—as he always did—before glancing at everyone with a wider grin.

As of right now, Sebastian just lit a fire on everyone's asses but I was staring directly at his body.

I couldn't see much from his torso but because he was always wearing something covering his whole body, just seeing his arms and legs was enough to tell me that he went through some type of shit or hellhole to achieve what he had today.

Despite being pale enough to mistake him for a beacon or a vampire, his "sleeper" build was nothing to scoff at even if he had scars that made him look like he jumped into a wood chipper. It didn't make a lot of sense at all because his face and hands looked like he had a fabulous skincare routine while the rest of his body only received detergent and muddy water.

But yeah, Logan was the first one to challenge him to a deadlifting competition but I heard Quinn mutter something under her breath:

"Shit… Who riled up this fucker out of retirement…"

"Retirement?"

"Heh… Haven't seen enough from that?"

At this moment, Logan pushed Sebastian aside before he took to the platform barefoot and raw. He performed a ritual of sorts where he'd spread his arms wide before taking a deep breath and bracing his core then he hinged down in the conventional position and grabbed onto the bar with a mixed grip and let it all fucking rip.

*BANG*

Without issue, Logan cleared a total of eight plates plus the bar, 405 pounds(184 kgs) in one swift movement before slamming it down the platform, making everyone's ears numb from the noise.

"AHHHHHHHHHH! FUCK YEAH!"

Sebastian nodded a few times, "That is impressive… yes…"

Doing that wasn't a simple feat by all means but Logan's confidence was shattered when Sebastian almost copied the same exact movements but from the moment he lifted the bar and put it down, all it produced was this tiny clink that everyone wasn't expecting.

Everyone thought it'd be as noisy as what Logan did but no one thought that the quietness would be music to our ears.

It was one thing to lift the weight in one go but it was much, much different when it's controlled both in the ascent and in the descent in one smooth motion. It couldn't be characterized as a normal deadlift or even an RDL in that regard but one thing's for sure, Sebastian knew how to rip shit up and sew it back.