Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

As soon as it happened, Russel lashed out, "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT BRO?! I'M GONNA GET FIRED! HEY! STOP! PUT THAT DOWN OR I'LL FUCKING SMACK YOU, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

A little kid went past the crowd carrying a box of candies and he quickly swerved to the side when Russel yelled at him. The kid was about to leave the premises but as soon as Russel was about to chase him, I grabbed his collar and turned him around to face me.

"Dude, didn't you hear the fucking siren and the fucking broadcast?! Code Zulu Alpha is happening you stupid fuck!" I explained.

"WHAT?! I NEED TO GET MOM AND MY LITTLE-" Russel was about to finish his sentence but I interrupted him.

"No need! Your dad already drove there to fetch them, leave everything here and let's fucking go!" I said as I let go of his collar.

I thought he was gonna immediately follow me back but he didn't.

"Wait! Let's grab some things first!" Russel exclaimed as he rushed to the store before I even got the chance to stop him. He was once the guardian of the store but now he turned to something he wished to destroy.

I saw him grab his bag under the counter and he started filling it up with anything he laid his eyes on. As soon as he was done stuffing his pockets, I saw him pull out a shotgun under the desk. What surprised me was that he aimed it overhead.

"Oh boy." I muttered.

*BOOOOOOOM*

Debris and glass fell from where he aimed his shotgun and everyone was on the ground, covering their ears. A few that were just by the entrance scattered and were almost hit by the cars speeding on the highway.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT! EVERYBODY DOWN! DOWN, I SAID! THAT WAS TOO FUCKING LOUD HOLY SHIT!" Russel exclaimed but both of his eyes were closed and I surmised that his ears were ringing.

The shoplifters were throwing him confused glances but they wouldn't even dare to move a muscle in front of that madman.

As soon as Russel got his bearings, he grabbed a basket and filled it up with only potato chips. He even motioned me to help him grab a case of beer. Everyone was still down on the ground while the two of us were looting this store without issue. He had this cheeky smile on his face while we were doing this and even I couldn't help smiling a bit since this escalated too fucking quickly. I grabbed a few more essential items from the store and then we decided to head back. The looters politely stole the items left as soon as we left them on their own.

"Bro! Catch! Let's bring this fucker home!" Russel yelled as he threw me a set of keys and he pointed at the small tanker parked on the side.

"We just shoplifted, open fired a gun, and now we're stealing a fucking vehicle. Can't believe we're doing it this early! Can we just ease on it a little bit?!" I shouted back at him as we hopped inside the tanker.

"You told me it's fucking happening, right?! We'll do this sooner or later so we just fucking do three at the same time! Bro, this shit isn't full yet. Park it to one of those pumps so we could bring it home full!" Russel said as he pointed to one of the areas where the gas pumps were.

As I parked the tanker where he pointed to, he pulled a gas pump and started filling up the tank of the vehicle first before filling up the tanker. I could see the gas gushing out but it wasn't bubbly as I remembered.

"This is gonna take a few minutes, bro. It's half full so maybe 10 minutes tops?" Russel said as he casually opened a bag of potato chips. He offered me some and I took a few pieces.

A few gunshots started to ring out from every direction as we watched people and cars scattered about. No one dared to come close because Russel made a mark inside their heads that he'd just unload on their asses. However, all we could do inside this area was to intimidate people because actually firing a weapon in the pumping stations was wishing for an early New Year.

As soon as we were done, Russel handed me the shotgun, handle first.

"That was fucking exciting bro but please fucking keep that." Russel said.

"Really? I thought you'd keep this for yourself." I replied as I inspected the gun. It needed some cleaning and some polishing but it seemed to be in working condition.

"My hand hurts." Russel muttered as I almost spat out the chips in my mouth.

"Okay, then. I'll trade you for it later." I said as I placed it inside the truck.

"Great! Give me a rocket launcher later, okay?" Russel said while he ate another mouthful.

"..."

"..."

We paused and looked at each other first before we started laughing hysterically. Russel actually choked and good thing I brought a bottle of water. Despite that, he didn't stop talking about an RPG as the ultimate weapon he wished he could lay his hands on.

'Who are you?! Duke Nuke'em?!' I shouted in my head, inwardly chuckling.

After a few minutes, Unc Zeidrick arrived at the gas station and gave us a honk. His wife and daughter were in the backseat and a familiar figure was sitting next to my uncle. It was Ellen, one of our old friends who was an older lady that used to work as a pedicab driver. I noticed a few boxes of different kinds of noodles at the back and it seemed that they took a few things back from the factory.

I waved at them and then Russel pointed at the tanker. Like father, like son, they both gave each other a thumbs up after letting out a cheeky smile. We removed the pump from the tanker and then we followed closely behind. We reached the compound in a short while and everyone was keeping busy.

Everyone had shock after shock when I began to tell the story of how we acquired the small tanker. Russel just stood next to me trying to act out everything I said and he also provided the sound effects as I told the story. They burst into a series of laughter and it did something good for everyone.

From hearing the story, the group's overall demeanor lightened up a bit ever since the broadcast.

'Morale is something to look after too...' I thought to myself.

It was almost dusk before we settled down. The sirens were still blaring every hour and the broadcast was on a loop. Every now and then, the news would cover other cities where DDR Camps were established and a few places already hit.

There was now a DDR Camp near our barangay which was only a few blocks away.

It was located at MNHS, a high school building that was built a few years ago. Right next to it was the Barangay Hall where government officials conduct administrative work but there was also a small clinic inside it because of health programs given for cheap by the government.

Right behind the two buildings was ACE Valenzuela, a huge hospital situated next to the highway. It spanned several floors and it was now part of the three buildings that were now considered as the Malanday DDR Camp.

Ken flew his drone over there and we discovered that it was now being barricaded and there were two medical trailers and three military jeeps stationed inside. They made a checkpoint at the entrance of the basketball court of the high school, where the trailers and the jeeps were parked.

Several soldiers were stationed on different points to improve security and to ensure that the civilians wouldn't do anything stupid. They were armed and in full combat gear while the civilians on the line were just wearing simple clothing. The civilians were clutching their own bags hoping to get inside as soon as possible.

"Hey, span to that side." I said as I tapped Ken's shoulder.

As soon as Ken made the drone hover a few degrees to the right, we saw someone pushing everyone close to him. The line got crooked but it was broken completely by the presence of an infected.

It managed to bring a person down and he started to feast. However, it didn't take long before it fell down from a bullet to the head. The victim that got chewed upon was starting to convulse but it was also shot down without a bat in the eye.

People in which I assumed the friends or relatives of the victim started protesting but they were held at gunpoint and ordered to fall in line. They had no choice but to follow orders or be denied passage because of causing a ruckus. The people that were accepted were huddled in a corner though a few were waiting for their companions to be accepted as well.

'It's gonna be difficult living inside one of those. Well, it's either that or death.' I thought to myself.

I was adamant by their size and number but their reinforcements arrived. Five military trucks full of armed soldiers and equipment and four military jeeps with a .50 Cal attached to it came in a convoy. Their security got tighter than ever and even a fire truck and an ambulance came after a few minutes with a few cars.

I wanted to see more but Ken started to drive the drone back because the batteries were getting low. He said that he had to pack everything in a rush and he forgot to charge them properly.

"Sorry man. I'll drive it around later again if you like." Ken said.

"Don't worry, they won't be going anywhere, anytime soon." I replied.

Ken started to pack his drove when it arrived but I saw Olivia looking curiously. She seemed to be interested in the drone because she struck a conversation with him. They talked for a while and when I saw her again, she had a DSLR camera hanging from her neck. She started taking pictures of everyone and it brought a smile to their faces the way she was making them do different poses.

Everyone seemed to be getting along nicely but I looked at the gate and then to my phone. I just gave a deep sigh and I accepted the situation as it was.

'I guess this is everyone for now. I hope the others are safe.' I thought to myself.

I decide to look for Rin and I discovered that she was still in the process of updating the inventory system she made. I waved her over and she walked towards me after taking one last look at the boxes being brought to the storage areas.

"Anything sir?" Rin asked.

"You need to stop calling me 'sir', call me Sky." I replied.

"Okay S-Sir Sky- umm, I mean S-Sky…" Rin gave an awkward smile.

"That's close, just keep practicing?" I chuckled.

"But S-Sky, your workers are calling you 'Boss', right? Should I tell them to stop too?"

"Well, they've called me 'Boss' for a long time and it just stuck."

"Oh, so can I call you 'Boss', too?"

"..."

"Sir? Umm- I mean, Sky?"

"..."

"D-Did I say something w-wrong?"

"Umm, no. It's fine, go ahead… just call me whatever then..." I felt defeated.

"O-Okay then, Boss Sky, what do you need me for?" Rin said with a straight face.

I just let the naming matter go as I feared it might get worse.

"Okay, I need you to make a list of everyone here as well. After that, ask Oscar to begin giving a simple checkup to everyone. Also, tell Kaley to accompany him because she had medical training before. It would be good if Oscar could teach her what he knows." I started.

"Okay, what else Si- Boss Sky?" Rin almost slipped.

"Haaaa~ Okay, tell Aunt Sharon to get help with preparing dinner for everyone. I would be in my room or in the gym if something comes up. Just knock or use the keys I gave you if my door is locked." I replied.

Rin nodded a few times and I headed straight for my room.

I sat on my $399 gaming chair that could definitely 'do that' and I checked on the news and social media online.