Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I was 100% sure that Arthur would draw his gun but Alex yelling at him made him hesitate.

But before that, while we were exchanging words, I was already closing the distance inch by inch without his notice. The more he yelled at me, the more he took a step forward just to get up in my face. It all worked out for me because being in close proximity with a possible shooter was much better compared to being a few feet away.

Furthermore, Kaley was right next to me and she already had her hand close to her pistol, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. At the same time, Jared was moving in an area where he could shoot without obstructions while Oscar was making everyone take cover. The only thing he didn't account for was Alex because she was much closer to us than he is.

A few moments before Alex started yelling, a short exchange happened.

We were in a staredown as I sunk my thumbs under my belt, "Don't try anything stupid, yeah?"

Arthur scoffed, "Stupid? You think I can't shoot you at this distance?!"

'You should've tried something when I'm still far from you...'

"You can certainly try."

"I will!"

"Then do it."

"I'LL DO IT!!!"

"THEN WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"

"HERE IT IS, YOU STUPID BRAT!!!"

This was at the moment when Arthur drew his gun and he pointed it at me.

"Dad?! DAD!!! NO!!!"

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO SHUT UP?! SHUT UP!!! I CAN'T BELI-"

I cut him off as I raised my hands half-heartedly, "Okay, I'm telling you one last time. Listen to your fucking daughter. You see... if you're gonna point that at someone, make sure that you'll pull the trigger or else-"

"OR ELSE WHAT?! I GOT YOU NOW!!! WHAT CAN YOU DO, HUH?! YOU COULD BE FASTER THAN ME BUT ONCE I PULL THE TRIGGER, YOU'RE DONE!!! HEAR ME?! YOU'RE DONE!!!"

"DAD!!! PUT THAT THING AWAY!!!"

"HOW MANY TIMES WOULD I-"

Alex continued pleading to her dad but once Arthur looked at her, I moved.

"DA-"

It was only a split second but once Arthur looked away, I pulled and twisted his hand then I aimed for his balls. He let out a high-pitched cry before falling on the ground and groaning in pain. I was sure I caught a glimpse of the guys clenching their thighs inward but I was still pissed at the person in front of me.

His gun was on the ground but I just kicked it to the side momentarily.

I would've done more if it was someone else but looking at his state made me think that I've already done enough. I want people to follow me because they wanted to, not because of fear that I might hurt them. However, a little rough nudge here and there would sometimes get me in the right direction.

When I looked around, Jared had already turned around and continued working while Kaley had her pistol drawn, pointing at Arthur. She was breathing heavily as she was frowning but I held her hand and lowered it. She eventually relaxed as everyone breathed a sigh of relief but Alex immediately ran towards her dad.

I thought Alex was gonna tend to him but she sent a devastating slap across his face.

"STUPID!!! I told you he's a good guy, didn't I?! Why do you have to be so stupid?!" Alex screamed while tears were flowing down her face.

I wasn't sure if Arthur heard all that because he was still clutching his groin.

After everything settled, I picked up his Glock 26 and pressed on the mag release. I racked the slide to eject a round that was supposed to be on the chamber but to my surprise, it was empty. The guy was actually carrying a gun without something in the pipe and it was one of the stupidest decisions someone could make.

'It could've ended way worse, you stupid fuck...'

I crouched down in front of him, "Mr. Ramos, let me take the time to tell you that I don't like guns being pointed at me. You're lucky I know your daughter or you won't be breathing right now. I don't like wasting bullets, you see? You mentioned we used our guns to clear them but this thing took down the most biters compared to my pistols."

Arthur was still groaning in pain but he was looking at my boots when I pulled out my wakizashi. I was staring at him dead in the eye and little droplets of sweat were forming on his forehead. He couldn't look at me straight but he suddenly shuddered when we made eye contact. I let a little bit of it slip out but I immediately drew it back before anyone noticed.

"I-I-I'M S-SORRY! I WAS WRONG!!! I'M JUST- I DON'T KNOW! PLEASE! FORGIVE ME I-"

"Shut up."

"Y-Yes..."

"One last chance, okay? However, I'll be repossessing this pistol and all the other guns inside your house. Alex will take me there and she'll tell her mom everything that happened here. One more slip, if you gave my group a look I didn't like, say something that shouldn't be said, or worse, yell at your daughter or even your wife without reason, you'd wish you were dead. Do we understand each other?"

"Y-Yes..."

"As a precaution since I can't just lock you up, I'll leave radios to your daughter and wife. One call from them telling me you're not doing as you're told, I'll fucking nail you from my house with my Barrett M107A1. I'll even load a full mag with black tips so I'll be sure to hit you even if you take cover. I'll just need your exact XYZ coordinates to fuck you up and if that didn't work, I can do personal visits. Are we cool?"

"Y-Yes… we're c-cool… I'm really… I'm just- I don't know why I'm like this..."

Alex interjected, "I'm so sorry for dad, and thank you for not... you know..."

"Was he always like this?"

"No, d-dad suddenly changed after the broadcast aired."

"Okay, we need to head to your house now to place him in some sort of loose house arrest as I take all of his guns. I'll keep them for the moment but I'll make a list of everything I took. Don't worry, I'll give them back to you if I think he's okay."

"S-Sure… Mom might let you keep all of them though..."

"Nah, that'll be too much… let's go."

I let Oscar take care of things while I took Kaley and Jared with me. Alex was the one leading the way while Arthur was closely trailing behind her, in the middle of us three. Right now, his face looked like it was in a much unfavorable state but the damage I've done to his balls would probably remain forever.

As we got closer and closer to their house, Arthur looked paler and paler. I thought I might've done something more to him but the moment their front gate opened, it was clear that he was fucking afraid of his wife. Amanda, his one and only came out and warmly greeted us but Arthur was hiding in a bush and spectacularly failing at it.

"Alex, did something happen? He looks different again but still..."

"Mom… u-umm… Dad happened."

"H-Huh?"

"Dad went out of his way to embarrass himself and he even tried to shoot Sky… Dad's really lucky he's breathing right now but it could've ended way, way worse."

Amanda's face turned darker and darker and Arthur instantly turned into a little ball as he shrunk down. She placed her left hand on her hips and she started berating her in front of us.

"ARTHUR JEFFERSON RAMOS!!! I kept my lid closed after you changed but this is too much! Trying to shoot a person?! Are you out of your mind?! I'm gonna take your guns and throw them away! Handling them is not safe!"

"H-Honey! I could e-explain!"

"EXPLAIN?! HOW COULD YOU EXPLAIN?! I'M THROWING ALL OF THEM IN THE WATER!!!"

"Mom! You're too loud! Sky said that he will keep them for us for the time being! No need to throw them away, they're still valuable..."

"Good! I know where he keeps them and you can take them all! It's the least we can do to apologize. Follow me."

We were led into their home though Arthur still seemed to be in pain. Amanda gave him some painkillers but I doubt that could fix it. It was an unspoken rule but taking a man's guns away from him permanently was a serious blow and that was why I would always say that I would just take them permanently.

After a short while, Amanda led me to Arthur's gun locker while I made Jared and Kaley watch over him with Alex. With that said, we had to come back to the living room because the keys to that locker were always with him. It didn't take long to pry it off of him and once I did, we went back and finally opened his locker.

The locker contained an M1911, a .38 S&W Special, and a Mossberg 930. Furthermore, it had three boxes each of .45 ACPs, 9mms, .38 Specials, and assorted shotgun shells. Several clay targets were also present with a few assorted knives but they looked like they were just for display. Arthur wasn't carrying knives when I took him down and I was sure he wasn't proficient in using them.

Amanda commented, "I think this is all of it? Do you need a bag? I think I know where the big thing he would always bring with him..."

"Please, thank you."

Amanda left for a while and returned with Arthur's own range bag. I placed everything from his locker to his gun bag while Amanda brought another bag that contained his cleaning tools.

"Mrs. Ramos, are you sure that this is all of it? I'm just making sure because I don't want any more accidents. Do you mind if I check the whole place?"

"Hmm… I'm not really sure... He usually just keeps them all there but I wouldn't mind if you check the whole place..."

"Thank you for trusting me. Right, I've already told Alex but I would like you three to come to my place tonight for a little celebration. We'll have a short meeting too and it has got to do about the future of this place. With that said, that's also where I'll give you a separate pack of rations since I've been told you were kinda short in that department."

"Thank you, that's very kind. We'll drop by later and if you don't mind, I'll call Alex over to help you so I could take another look at my stupid husband. I'm really sorry he almost shot you, that's really uncalled for. He wasn't like this at all and I hope you'll forgive him in the future..."

"We've already made a deal with each other, don't worry."

"O-Okay! Thanks again, young man. Alex will come here shortly."

After a while, Alex came looking for me and she guided me to their whole residence. We've checked each shelf, cabinet, toolbox, cupboard, loose outlets, and etc. It didn't take long before I was knocking on their floor tiles but I suddenly heard a dull sound. Alex and I looked at each other excitedly before she ran back and looked for a hammer and a chisel.

"S-Something's hidden there, right?!"

"Yep. Your dad is something else, I tell you. He's being an overprotective asshole but he's way~ beyond the limit. I guess you could say he's evolving, just backwards."

"W-What?"

"Look at this tile, for example, I know it's hidden in plain sight but I could think of several places to hide stuff which is more accessible. What if you're in a hurry or need to keep quiet while retrieving this stuff?"

"R-Right… you could just smash it if you're in a hurry, right?"

"Yeah but… this huge ass tile is in the center of the room… a huge waste to destroy it..."

"Y-Yeah..."

Alex patiently waited for me as I slowly whittled down the cement around the tile to reveal what was hidden underneath. When I finally removed it, we saw a huge bag covered in plastic and I brought it to the living room. Arthur was looking in shock when he saw what I was carrying and he immediately got agitated.

"Hey! That's my bug-out bag!"

"A bug-what bag?" The ones not in the know asked.