Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I didn't know whether to feel unsettled or disgusted by the figures marching toward us but these few days of sunshine and rainbows made me forget that we were living in hell. Among the medium-sized herd Logan brought to us were three abnormally looking figures and the first one reminded me of the days when I used to frequent conventions.

It was this plumpy deadhead—that seemed to be a stitcher—who was walking on all fours which had its freakin' tongue wrapped around its neck like a noose while the end was wrapped tightly on the arm of this tall, headless figure behind it, "walking" it like a dog.

The second one was this huge blob that probably did mukbangs in its previous life without throwing everything it ate right after and same as the first one, it was "walking" nine undead toddlers—still attached to its umbilical cords—from its ripped-open stomach.

With each step, bile and several other fluids were spilling out but most of it was "pieces" it wasn't able to digest—no, it could still probably break down some components with its stomach acid but it sure as hell wouldn't provide nutrients and do much to a rotting corpse.

But yeah, the third one was a little tricky because I wasn't sure if they were a pair or if there was a main body because it was this figure giving another one of them a piggyback ride though I couldn't see much of their facial features due to their messy unkempt hair blocking the view.

However, I could definitely see the extra set of feet and arms from the first one's torso not only because I had a clearer view from the chest down but because the place where its core and the rest of its internal organs should be was dangling dawn on its thighs while the extra set of limbs was sitting pretty on its "waist".

And as much as I love to look at them, Kaley took down the one with the leash by punching in a lead projectile through its skull with her rifle but we were in for a surprise when she took down the biggest target right after.

At any time of day, we'd always opt for the easiest shots—and actually, snipers do as well—because taking them down was the goal instead of making the shot as hard as possible by doing tricks and whatnot.

"Uh-oh."

I didn't actually think that aiming for the huge plumper was the issue—much less the thought of it losing its head first than its chunky knees—but as soon as it rolled to the ground, its fucking babies lost all sense of control. And I wasn't talking about the headless stitcher-walker that dropped down after its host got shot down, it was more like accidentally letting go of a husky while the first time they went out.

"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M—"

"DON'T APOLOGIZE, JUST SHOOT!"

Right from the fucking get-go, the blob's babies either straight-up ran headfirst and ripped the umbilical cord off their stomachs—rupturing their insides—as they sprinted at top speed or they tried to chew them off first with their gums, ultimately just ripping them off with the tiny bones jutting out from their little fingers.

But as fast as they looked, they haven't bridged the distance between us with their tiny legs, but their fucking heads were wobbling all over.

And yeah, Tatiana took it upon herself to once again rely on her Benelli M4 loaded with buckshot because she just needed to aim at the area where their heads would be before pulling the trigger and switching targets. Kaley and I did nail a few with her rifle and my pistol but it was like aiming at the most fucked up bobble-head we'd ever seen.

The little buggers never came close but it was always a different thing when babies or even dogs were in the mix.

In any case, the third one didn't put up much of a fight once Kaley put her sights on it because its brain needed to be as small as it could if it was gonna try to survive a shot to the head to somehow miss its Achilles heel. It simply fell the same way as the rest of the dregs did when the rest of our crew marched on them though we did clean up and did our usual routine every encounter.

This usually takes 30 minutes to an hour but unless we were running out of time, we shouldn't be driving into the town where this herd came from with an empty mag or an unchambered barrel.

It was akin to warming up and cooling down before and after a workout to reduce the risk of injury—and in our current situation, it was to 99.9% of the time forgo mishaps or those so-called scripted deaths—because god knows how stupid or unlucky people could be at any given moment. And even though the most prepared and most armed could still get into trouble, I'd rather fail doing just that instead of failing because of not doing something that could've taken a bit of our time.

Ruben and James #2 then approached me while wiping their hands, "Everything's accounted for, sir!/ They'll all burn soon, shall we go now?"

"And the casings?"

James #1 answered, "All counted for too, sir!"

Seb followed, "All guns are locked and loaded and our handhelds were wiped clean… sir."

I nodded before I turned to Megan, "The belt links, did you pick all of them up?"

She nodded as well, "Yep. Every single one as you ordered…"

"You don't sound too happy?"

"Ugh… As fun as it was to fire it, I didn't think I'd have to pick up all of the spent casings and the belt links it needs…"

JP chimed from the back, "You already said what they are… They're 'needed' for the gun to work—"

"Why are you so fussy?! You told me I should fire it, why are you—"

"It's not that, I'm just realizing that the problem I have to now tackle the problems I created for myself when we get back."

Lucas interjected, "What problems?"

"Remember the public market we cleared? That problem."

"Ah~ crap, I did forget about that…"

JP looked more and more fatigued from the way he was thinking of all the shit he had to do, "I'd have to check each one of them, make sure they did the job I assigned them, and give out appropriate punishments for—"

I cut in, "Nah~ You're probably gonna do it once or twice—maybe thrice if you haven't set a proper example."

"What do you mean?"

I chuckled, "I've had plenty of lazy workers before. There's a lazy but effective way to deal with them. You do know how to make your bed or put a cover over the dining tables, right?"

JP shook his head, "Again… What do you mean? Sir."

"What I mean to say is: if there's a crease somewhere, you don't remove the whole sheet or cover and start over but instead, as I said earlier, you pull on the edges once or twice—maybe even thrice if it called for it—and there you go. The initial crease will straighten out, followed by the minor ones that were negligible but let me add one more thing… the moment you pull on it, pull it in a way that sends the message across the other tables or beds. Got it?"

"..."

"JP? Jameson Prometheus—"

"You— I got it, sir. That just made more sense than I thought so it took me a bit to answer…"

"Alright then, shall we?"

With that said, we finally drove into this town that surprisingly enough, had a group of survivors who were actually sending a distress call. Luckily for them, Meg intercepted the message and Jesus made Logan drive by the herd and lure them out, making us take care of the problem and making this town a safer place to live.

They did offer many thanks and a few goods and "services" in exchange but it became an IOU of sorts because we couldn't just take advantage of these people even if we did just save their lives.

On the contrary, we left them a few items to get going and to remain in contact with our group but since Jesus would be the best chance they had out here, he gave them an offer that unfortunately split their group.

What Jesus offered was for them to either find their way to the De Leon Family or to my old university because even though some of them could live on their own, they needed to join a bigger group while those bigger groups needed more hands to keep the status quo. Either place depending on their preferences could be heaven or hell but there were still a few who wanted to stay in their hometown.

We ultimately left the decision to them but half of their group was already packing their bags, but as much as we wanted to help other people, these randoms needed to get to their destinations their own way, and the best chance they had was if they go as a whole… or simply continue what they were doing and live as a smaller group in this area.

It didn't take long before we connected to the route we used last time but seeing the same public market we burned down in the same state as last time—though probably still picked clean of scraps—was making even me a little mad.

'JP will definitely bring the hammer down those assholes… It won't be long now…'