Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Chapter 127: 127

Day 11

I checked my watch and it’s 1:02 AM

I pushed the carts that we brought towards the door while we waited for Oscar, Jared, and Tatiana to come back. Kaley was just staring at me while I swing my legs to the table counter that I sat in. My clothes are bloodstained but you could only see it faintly due to the clothing that I wore and due to the fact that I wiped the bits on my skin when I did my work on the people at the yard.

“Sit here. Why are you staring at me?” I said as I motioned for her to sit next to me.

“Nothing.” she replied as she sits next to me.

“Okay.” I said as she leaned on my shoulder.

We sat there for a while as Tatiana came back first while Oscar and Jared are pushing their own carts towards us. I immediately facepalmed when I saw what the two were carrying on their carts.

“The f.u.c.k is that old man?” I said as I shook my head.

“What? This is all food.” he replied.

“I know. But why in the hell did you two bring a lot of them? It can’t fit the trucks that we have!” I exclaimed.

“Shit! I thought we have the 8-wheeler… I got so used to that thing I brought a lot.” Oscar trailed.

“That was what I was telling you earlier!” Jared said helplessly.

“Are you getting senile old man?” I said jokingly.

“…! Don’t ever say that kid! I’m not! I’m just a bit tired!” he exclaimed but I could sense the worry from his expression.

“Just kidding old man, heh! Let’s go now? Just leave that extra cart there since we would be coming back to this place in the future.” I said while I hopped down from where Kaley and I was sitting on.

I drew my katana as I slowly opened the door. Nothing was in the vicinity though I kept my guard up.

“Kaley, watch us when we load the items in the trucks. I could probably fit a bit more if I was the one loading them.” I said.

“I’ll help her.” Tatiana said as she readied her fire axe.

Kaley drew the wakizashi and the pistol and she stood guard with Tatiana a bit forward.

“I’ll trust you guys yeah?” I said while I pulled the pushcarts off with Jared.

“Sure. You’ll be cooking so I’ll do a great job.” Kaley said.

“Bro! The f.u.c.k?! You’re cooking?! Save me a portion!” Jared exclaimed.

“Kid?! The f.u.c.k are you not telling me you’re cooking?! Make me those hamburgers inside where the meat is inside the bread! What do you call that again… Ah! Beef Wellingtons, right?!” Oscar exclaimed.

“…” I was speechless.

“Is Sky’s cooking really that good?” Tatiana was surprised.

“Yup. Better than mom.” Jared said.

“I’ll tell aunt you said that. You’ll be eating from cans for a few weeks.” I said.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy now!” Jared exclaimed.

The loading of the cargo was uneventful and we successfully finished without any incident. I rode with Kaley while the three are on the Raptor. Oscar drove it forwards while I followed from behind.

We took the normal route in the highway and the whole ride was uneventful as well. We drove past the DDR camp but they never minded us. We made the turn and we eventually reached home. What surprised me was that Matthew is at the gate waiting anxiously. His eyes are bloodshot and he immediately rushed down to open the gate for us.

“THE F.U.C.K DID YOU GUYS GO?!” he bellowed.

“Tying lose ends.” Oscar replied.

“WHAT?!” he was flabbergasted.

“We’ll talk about this later. Everyone is tired.” I said.

“BUT!” he retorted.

“Dad! We’re tired and it’s already past midnight, can you let us have a short rest please?” Kaley said as he relented.

We parked the trucks inside though I took the guns from the truck which I just covered by a blanket from the supermarket. All of the pistols are in my pack but the shotguns and the rifles are covered neatly by the blanket. The shotguns are Mossberg 500s and a Maverick 88 while the rifle is a Ruger 10/22. An M4 was found by Oscar inside the glass office as well along with a couple of assorted handguns though most of them are Hi-Points and a couple of Glocks and Taurus’s.

I brought them inside my armory as Kaley and I cleaned ourselves and headed to our bed for a short rest.

As soon as my head touched the pillow, I was already asleep. I just woke up while Kaley is hugging me from the side. I just stared at her sleeping face for a moment before I got dressed and headed down. Surprisingly, the contents of the trucks that we brought are now empty and I looked at the people at the catwalk. Lois, Mark and Bing are just chatting normally while I started on approaching them. I looked at my watch and it’s 5:52 AM.

“Boss, Arnel said that you guys went out yesterday?” Mark asked.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“With bro?” Lois asked.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“Where?” Bing chimed.

“Let’s talk about it later after we eat. Anything happened when we’re gone?” I said.

“Not much. Just Matthew constantly checking if you guys are back yet.” Lois said.

I looked back and I saw the kids that are staying in the compound approaching us. Aya, Izzy, Cleo, Kimmy, Kenny, and James.

“TIME TO EAT~!” They all shouted.

“Sure, thanks!” I replied with a smile.

“When did that happen?” I asked the three.

“I dunno. First time they did it.” Lois said.

When we headed to the pool area, I could already smell the food. My mouth watered and my stomach grumbled. Kaley caught up although still yawning and jabbed me in the shoulder as we took our seat. We had fried rice mixed with chopped vegetables and scrambled eggs and you could smell the fragrant scent of the toasted garlic on top of it with green onions. The viand is sliced meatloaf which is fried until it was crispy with a side of miso soup. There’s also a thermos pot on the side with hot chocolate and coffee.

We ate merrily and we cleared the table for our morning meeting.

“Alright, let’s start the meeting now. Report?” I said.

“I’ll go first.” Ken said.

“I’ve browsed through the files you gave me and I made digital copies of the files from the academy though it’s only scanned copies for now. There’s a few dozen from that file that matched with the files from the camp. They’re a mix of trainees and officers. The drive from the school also matched a few that are in the camp as well and there are a lot of students and a couple of teachers inside.” Ken said.

“Wait. You said before that some of the people before went outside as well, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, why?” he replied.

“Is there an indication on the file from the camp whether they are still on the camp or not?” I asked.

“Oh! Sorry but there is no indication whatsoever. Just a long list of names and their profiles.” Ken said.

“I see, they should have done something like that. It’s gonna be a headache if we managed to pick from this list but they’re already missing. Anyway, thanks man. Project Fishing will be carried later on.” I said.

“Anytime, the server I will be making could probably extend up to Andrew’s house. If you got the hardware I’m looking for, I could extend it up to the canal system. It’s just a few repeaters that we need.” He replied.

“Yeah, we’ll get to that. The closest shop that could have those is at SM Marilao. Though I would like it if we use cables so that no one would accidentally pick up on our signal. The mobile networks don’t work anymore but people still have their phones on their person like me. It will be a risk if someone picked up on us.” I said.

“Oh, that’s right. Where is SM Marilao? Is that the only place to get what we need?” Ken asked.

“It’s a huge mall at the Bulacan area but probably dangerous. There are small shops around also but we never could be too sure if they have those around. That place is just the safest bet to have it but one of the most dangerous places to look at. There could probably in one of the houses here but I don’t know where exactly they are. I can’t know where something is if I haven’t seen it yet.” I replied.

“I just have good memory, I’m not a seer.” I said to myself.

“That’s fine. This thing is not in a rush so just get them when you can. However, if you could find more drones and other electronic devices, I’d appreciate it.” Ken replied.

“Sure man. I’d keep a lookout.” I said.

“E-Cigs too!” Ken added.

“Sure… though I’ll prioritize the essentials yeah?” I said while shaking my head.

“Hah! Just kidding! That’s too much! You’re too kind!” he replied.

“Jay, how did the cleanup go?” I asked.