Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

At this point, it was safe to say that the entire mood or atmosphere had soured but to kick things back into action, since we were cleaning and all, I had to pull out a bit that I used when my group was in the City of Manila.

I grabbed onto this long brush with a mop handle before I started cleaning, "It's a hard knock life…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

I was already getting weird stares but I continued on, "It's a hard knock life, for us~"

"..."

"..."

"Pfft…"

Then Nancy joined me with a huge smile on her face, "IT'S A HARD KNOCK LIFE, FOR US!/ IT'S A HARD KNOCK LIFE~ FOR US!"

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

But before I get hit with something that shouldn't have existed in this setting, imagine half of the group evolving into this routine sing and dance from the 80s while the other half couldn't understand what the fuck we were doing but did it anyway for solidarity.

In any case, it brought the vibes back up to where it was optimal but it ramped up way too hard when Sebastian straight-up set the cabin ablaze.

With the amount of burnable materials in and out of that cabin, it was very easy to light it up even with a perfectly aligned water bottle and sunlight. But yeah, he should've told us he was gonna burn it in the end or this was just a decision at the very last second.

"WHA—"

"SEBASTIAN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I do apologize for wasting everyone's time but I'll make sure to make up for it later. I just thought I'd be able to do something with this place but it should be better if we burn it from the ground up first."

"That— That food you promised later should be top-notch, goddammit!"

"YEAH!"

"Of course, even the wine too— I'll bring out something from my own collection…"

"Again, it's the first time I've heard of this collection of yours!"

With that said, I would've put my foot down any other day from burning down a rustic cabin in the woods but I wouldn't want to be a fucking hypocrite because I also burned down something—my old professor's Adventure—in the heat of the moment.

But yeah, it only took a few moments before the three Gerald, Chris Irvine, and Keith came running with the same sullen expression Sebastian was wearing at the moment.

They couldn't stop watching it burn down in front of their eyes but they started to tear up before maniacally laughing side by side.

Honestly, it was a little unnerving watching them do that but I'm just gonna assume it was their way to put that chapter in their lives to a close.

And yeah, Sebastian would probably tell us the whole story later but I doubt it could fully express what they went through together. Even I pride myself as a pretty decent storyteller but I doubt I could fully put into words what I experienced when I lost my parents because I even needed to seek help from Marisha to remember one of the important parts of it.

Then Sebastian made his way towards me:

"Excuse me, my lord… what do you think though?"

I tilted my head sideways, "Think of what?"

"Ah— I mean, this location… It comes with a great view, solid stone basement that's currently missing a house, right next to farm fresh produce… what do you think? Restoration-wise, I mean."

"W-Who's gonna live here anyway?"

"Umm~ Just take it as a vacation house if ever I was given a day-off or a weekend-off…"

"Are you serious right now?"

"Of course, my lord… I'm open to hear any ideas off the top of your head."

"Alright then… Well~ the first thing I'll do is clear the area around a bit more, some solid fencing, an alarm system, a straight path to Sal's estate, and aside from building a house to your own specifications—which I could also give some input on, why don't you make the basement a panic room of sorts?"

"A panic room?"

"You know, a place where you have everything you'll need to hunker down and be able to defend yourself because I dunno about as to why you'd want to live in isolation from time to time but living alone in the woods up in the mountains is kinda scary. I'm a loner too but with the apocalypse still going on, you gotta stick with people…"

"Hah… Kinda ironic to build the place I so wanted to get out of into a place no one besides myself can get in…"

"Eh~ You can look at it that way but it's making use of what gave you nightmares, nightmares to those who wanted to fuck around with you, in a bad way…"

Sebastian chuckled once again, "That is true…"

"And speaking of a straight path to Sal's estate… this is gonna sound fucking dumb but since we're this high up… how about a zipline?"

"A-A zipline?"

"You know, if there's an emergency, as fast as we can run downhill, nothing beats a zipline or sliding down using a large turtle shell, right?"

"..."

"But yeah, you also have to think about where the zipline will take you because if it goes straight to Sal's mansion, it has to be guarded or really fucking hard to get to. I can't imagine some randoms popping in and using it now, can we?"

"Hmm~ It does pose a great deal of vulnerability, I'm afraid…"

"So… A glider then?"

"Wut—"

"A glider? You know, those things that look like paper airplanes but way~ big, like—"

"M-My lord, I-I do know what a glider is… I-I was just surprised by the sudden jump…"

"..."

"..."

"HAHAHAHAHA! YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH! YOU WENT THERE, HUH?!"

"I HAD TO MY LORD, I HAD TO!"

In any case, Sebastian and I shared a quick moment while everyone either chuckled or shook their heads at what we were talking about.

But if you think about it, the overlook provided in this area was the perfect jump-off to get to Sal's mansion if there was an emergency, and aside from making or acquiring the glider itself, the only thing that was left was an emergency parachute.

I'm 100% sure we were sounding like people who just escaped a mental asylum but you gotta have a little bit of excitement in your life at least once.

And yeah, as we were still discussing the specifics of Sebastian's vacation home, he formally introduced his three personal workers or should I say his blood brothers who walked up to us seeing me talk to their eldest casually.

Gerald was the first one to speak after the brief introduction, "My lord, it seems like our head butler has taken a fancy to you, huh?"

"I do think so too./That sounds about right," Chris Irvine and Keith followed.

Sebastian chuckled, "I do, actually… He has something similar to us and I highly recommend you three to come back to the estate tomorrow—at your earliest convenience, of course—to… you know… trade pointers. So far, we've only traded lifting techniques and I'm just building myself up for that—"

I cut in as I shook my head, "Seriously? You needed a bit of programming for a spar? That's ridiculous—"

"My lord, as much as I try to hide it, I am… not as young as I used to be so a little bit of preparation is needed to give you a challenge… And as evidence to that, you did beat me in a short bout earlier—"

The three couldn't believe their ears, "HUH?!/ NO WAY?!/ SINCE WHEN DO YOU LOSE?!"

Sebastian just chuckled as he waved them off, "I've lost several times against other people. But you three? Never in a million years… And to go back to our previous subject, I'd like you three to also face the lord to see things from a different perspective though to be a little honest, I just want you to tire him out to the best of your measly abilities…"

I interjected while the three looked like they were about to ignore the order of seniority:

"That doesn't seem fair. Why don't I bring out a few of my boys in the mix?"

"Oh? You mean, Sir Isaac, JP, and Seb?"

"Huh? No. I mean Jose, Kuzma, and Mauro—"

"Kuku… Now that doesn't seem fair on my side, my lord! And I don't think the lord, Mauro, would appreciate you calling him your boy…"

"Eh~ He beat me in powerlifting, I beat him in the ring, potato, potato~"

With that said, the five of us shared a maniacal laugh with each other but our time here in the mountains made me forget of someone I should be paying very~ close attention to. Even if he should've been keeping a low profile as he should, I didn't think he'd slip past my radar the past few days.

Thinking about Lopez made me let out a weird expression and Sebastian instantly knew what was up when I started looking around:

"You're looking for Mr. Lopez? Don't worry, he's spending quality time with the madam every single day…"

"WHAT?!"