Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I drew my katana and I entered first. Almost immediately, a figure was spotted in the short hallway leading to the huge portion of the building. The lights were flickering on and off but the huge windows helped in illuminating the area. However, being that this place had all its doors and windows shut, the smell was fucking horrible.

I slowly crept towards it and I sunk my blade on the back of its head. My blade went in like it was nothing and its slow movements came to a halt.

I slowly laid it down and I looked forward to check the surroundings or if anything heard me. The first floor had a huge hall with several tables and a few rooms on the right side. The left side on the other hand was the part where the huge glass windows were. The stairs to the second floor were located near the front door just by the side of it. I quietly pulled the corpse in the hall we were in first just in case something happened in the open area. The last thing I want was us tripping on it when we start maneuvering around.

"Let's clear this floor first. We'll go room by room; we don't want any surprises if we directly head to our goal." I whispered to my group.

"Do you know the way to this whole place then?" Matthew whispered.

"Yeah, I went here once and I saw the directional map in the portrait just above the glass door." I replied, wiping my katana with a spare cloth.

"Wait, what? Did you just memorize it? How the fuck could you remember that?" Matthew was adamant.

"Yeah. I just did." I replied nonchalantly.

"This place is fucking huge though; you must be kidding. You might remember a few places but not all of it." Matthew was not believing me one bit.

"Heh, only need to see it once." I chuckled.

"Impossible." Matthew insisted.

"Don't taunt him, dad. You've been burned before." Kaley interjected.

"I bet he just trying to make himself look cool..." Matthew trailed.

*twitch*

My eyebrow twitched a few times so I let my tongue out.

"Your plate number on the camper is RTG 239, you have your wife's initials on your Remington 870 just above the handle, you always hold your spoon right between your middle finger and ring finger, and you had a trophy for 3rd place in a 3-Gun Competition back in 2002." I said in a single breath.

"What the fuck?!" Matthew exclaimed.

"Shh! Dad! Be quiet! I told you you'd get burned." Kaley shouted quietly.

"Damn, Boss." Mark was shaking his head in amusement.

"It was 1st place!" Matthew retorted.

"Nope, the 1st place was a medal from 2005." I replied.

"Fuck!" Matthew quietly exclaimed.

"waAerghhChkkKknggAaa..."

I heard a faint snarl from the second floor and I hushed everyone. It disappeared after a while and we slowly headed to where the rooms were. Kaley and Matthew guarded the small hallway that led to where the other rooms were while Mark and I started to open the room that displayed '1 - APPLICANTS'. I looked through the small glass pane just above the knob and found nothing amiss. I turned the knob and slowly opened it as Mark readied his fire axe.

The door creaked but there was nothing inside.

Aside from a pile of paperwork, the only thing worth taking was a small fire extinguisher at the side of a table. There was a body on the floor getting feasted by maggots but it was already taken care of. I checked the hole in its head and I noticed a hole a few inches in diameter wide.

"Sledgehammer? Wait... it's much smaller." I thought to myself.

Mark closed the door after we left the room and then we proceeded to the next room that displayed '2 - RETURNING'. It was in the same condition as the first room and the only difference from this room to the first one that we entered was that there was a TV mounted to the wall. I was checking one of the drawers and I found a small pocket knife. I slid it in one of my pockets and we left the room afterward.

We slowly searched each room and what was left was the bathroom.

*psshew*

I heard Kaley's AR-15 firing and I looked back. Kaley fired a shot to the 2nd floor while her dad was pointing a flashlight at it. We continued towards the bathroom and we found a first-aid kit above the mirror. There were a few packets of hand sanitizers in a corner so I took them as well.

"You guys done?" Kaley asked as we came back to them.

"Yeah, I found a few things. What was the shot earlier?" I asked.

"A zombie was about to walk down the stairs so I shot it. It might stumble on its way down so, you know, the less noise the better. Are we heading up?" Kaley closed the dust cover as she looked at me.

"Yeah, let's head there now. The 2nd floor will have a few more rooms but the equipment area, the armory, and the nurse's office are there." I replied.

"Oh! Will there be guns left?" Kaley asked.

"I hope there's still some left. This place doesn't look like it has been looted so I'm hoping for a few guns and a few hundred ammo left inside." I replied then they got excited at the thought.

We made our way upwards and just as when we were about to reach the 2nd floor, I dropped low and signaled everyone to do the same. I saw something moving in the distance and it would be dangerous to casually stroll in tight spaces.

"What is it?" Matthew asked.

"I spotted eight in the hallway at a corner, not sure if there are more. We should be qui-"

-

*bzzt*

"Bro! We found the admin office; Tatiana is opening it now! We found a lot of stuff too!"

*bzzt*

-

The sound the radio produced made three heads immediately lock in our direction.

"Shit." I clicked my tongue.

"Boss..." Mark threw a worried expression.

"Get ready." I said as I reached for the Tavor on my back.

-

*bzzt*

"Bro? Bro! You there?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Shut up for a moment. You just attracted a few towards us. I told you to radio in if you're done, not when you reach the office... and stop fucking yelling."

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Fuck, my bad."

*bzzt*

-

"Matthew, Mark, just stay put for a while because you don't have suppressors on your guns. Kaley, make every shot count and shoot everything that's moving." I shouted in a whisper.

"Sure." Kaley replied as she raised her rifle.

We flicked the safety off and then I moved forward with my team. Lights and suppressed fire followed as the ones in the immediate vicinity were killed. Kaley and I quickly took down the others that followed after the three but when we moved forward a few steps, we saw more figures crouched down and huddled. Some of them were still gnawing on a figure that was wearing a service uniform but a few were already standing up.

They were all taken care of but a familiar sound echoed.

*tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap*

Suddenly, we heard quick footsteps from the other side of the hallway and Kaley immediately turned her head towards me. We tensed and we pointed our guns from where the sound was coming from. It was about several feet ahead and the sound was getting louder and louder.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Mark exclaimed.

"Don't lose your shit here, them being in an enclosed space helps us too. We have just to shoot forward and if they maneuver, it is hindered by the walls." I spoke to calm them down.

*tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap* *tap*

The sound continued and then one slammed to the wall.

The crunch of bones echoed throughout the hallway. Nasty bits and pieces splattered the wall. It hit the wall so hard, its body got stuck to it and a few of the portraits hung on the wall fell. Blood flew out and it wasn't moving. Its arms were bent backward and they were sticking out while the bone from the elbow was protruding. It didn't break cleanly so the edges were jagged and the skin near it was ripped apart.

"They really couldn't turn that well." I thought to myself.

Then another one followed.

Another body collided hard but it bounced off and fell down twitching. However, its body was in a sorry state after that because even if it was still alive, its body was broken into several places. The walls they were crashing onto got dyed by their blood and the splatter was getting bigger and bigger. A normal zombie came after the second one but it suddenly got caught up by one coming from behind.

Another one crashed to the wall but it survived. Its speed ground to an immediate halt but it was now disoriented and holding its head with its mangled arms. It shook its head violently and it snapped towards us.

*psshew*

I immediately shot that one while Kaley aimed for the one crawling on the ground. They appeared to not be irregulars since they never avoided the bullet, like last first two on the squatter area. The one crawling immediately stopped moving as the shot went through its head and the one slowly gaining speed managed to take a few steps before it nose-dived into the marble flooring.

"I'm sure as hell not gonna wait for them to pile up, this is not a cinematic of a fucking game." I thought to myself.

However, what surprised me was several more sprinters were running straight towards the wall and getting banged up. Bodies followed one after the other and after crashing to the wall, their heads would snap towards us and they would immediately take a running stance.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why are there so fucking many?!" Matthew exclaimed.

"SHOOT!!!" I shouted.

The distance was slowly getting closer so we unloaded everything on them. One was running straight at us while his right side was scraping towards the wall and his arm was getting torn off. Some of them were running where their whole body was tilted forward, while a few were almost skittering about as their hands would flail into different directions. Several zombies would come from that corner and I could still hear the moist tapping sound of the others coming from that side.

The noise confirmed that there was a lot more coming and I regretted what I said about a swarm of sprinters.

"Oh boy. Why did I even say it earlier..." I thought to myself as I fired shot after shot.