Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

The group tensed when the guy approached us.

"That's enough distance!" I shouted as I raised my rifle.

The guy tensed and he put his hands up.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" he exclaimed.

He was 20 meters away from us and he had his hands up in the air. He had a crowbar in his hip and a bag over his shoulder. I noticed a small handle protruding from his hip but looking at him, he had no intention of drawing it against us.

"Don't move! One of us will check you first. Make a sudden move and I'll shoot you in the head, understand?" I said.

"Sure! Sure! Of course! Please! I n-need a place to stay! My place g-got overrun and I had to l-leave!" he exclaimed.

I looked at Tatiana and she went down the truck and slowly approached him.

"Turn around." Tatiana ordered.

The guy complied and Tatiana began to search him. She found a revolver on his back hip and a few portions of food and water in his bag.

"Where'd you come from?" I asked. I approached him while I lowered my gun. Tatiana was holding his gear while the rest were on guard.

"I'm from the block there near the stadium." he replied.

"And you just walked here when you saw us?" I said.

"Y-yeah. I was about to head to the DDR camp for refuge and I saw you guys armed with guns and I thought you must be one of them. It is close if I walk for a while but I think it would be safer if I'm with people." he said.

"We're not. We're just a special unit different from them. What are your plans then? I could drop you off the camps if you want." I said.

"That would be great! T-Thanks! Hold on, do you guys live in a different place then?" he asked curiously.

"We do, but I can't tell you where it is if you're already planning to go to the camps." I explained.

"I'm an office worker, I know it won't help you guys much but I think I'll take my chances with you guys. I think this is a fated meeting and I promise you that I'll do whatever you ask me." he said.

I looked at his eyes, no dilation. Breathing seems to be normal though a bit hurried from being pointed a gun and searched all over. I stared at him for a while then I offered my hand.

"My name's Sky. Come with us then." I said.

"I'm Bobby, nice to meet you guys." he replied.

"We'll do the full introductions later. A few are getting close." I said.

The guys killed a few that got a bit close and we let him ride on the back of the Raptor. As we were boarding it, Kaley exclaimed.

"Sky!" Kaley pointed to a direction a few meters away.

I looked at the direction and I saw another sprinter coming from a curb. It was getting close and its head snapped to our direction when it saw us. It was quickly making its way so I signaled Tatiana.

She looked at me and I said, "Shoot its feet, let's see what else it could do. Use the Magnum rounds for good measure."

She quickly unloaded the slug in the chamber and then she plucked two Magnum rounds from her hip and she slid it below the Benelli M4. She aimed for its feet and then she squeezed the trigger.

*BOOM* *BOOM*

She unloaded two shots quickly towards the sprinter's foot and kneecap then it lost its balance immediately and fell down tumbling in the pavement. It basically lost momentum from its charge and now it was just flailing randomly as a normal one would. I thought we would see more eccentricities but I guess it was still early to differentiate them so I just told them to kill it. Tatiana was about to finish it with a normal slug as it started to crawl towards us but Jared shot it with his M70.

*psshew*

*bolt slide*

It just flopped its head down and was no longer moving. I looked at Bobby gazing at the figure's torn head and limb then he retched at the sight. His food he ate earlier sprayed at the mangled body and it made the scene worse. He almost retched again but he just averted his gaze to not see it.

"What was that?!" Bobby exclaimed as he gave us a look of dread and disgust.

"I'll tell you later, we gotta move now. Unc, let's go to the place in the brochure." I said then I tapped on the roof.

We drove through some of them though we hit a few on the way. Good thing that a bullbar is installed in this Raptor. I just hope the address that I found from one of the documents in the store was correct.

"What's this place?" Jared asked.

"It's the address of the owner of the store that we got the guns from. I hope the old lady is there with her husband. If not, we could get a few more guns from that place since half the store is empty." I said.

"Oh? We're taking them then if they're still there?" he replied.

"Yeah, she has her eccentricities but I think they will be a good addition to our team. Besides, we still need more people at the place." I said.

We drove inside the place where I drove Rin before but it's much further in. I saw the right house number and then we parked the vehicle in front of the gate. I noticed a doorbell with an intercom and I pressed the button to speak into it. The team and Tatiana cleared a few stragglers on the side of the road while Bobby tried to pick a few with his crowbar. He would grimace in disgust each time he killed one but he never backed away from them. The highest body count when they were done was Tatiana even if she was just using a combat knife. She was quick and agile but she was more aggressive compared to myself. Well, it was not a problem only an observation.

"Hello? Mrs. Smith? Are you there?" I called out.

"Who is this?!" a male voice sounded.

"This is Sky, an old customer of Mrs.-" I was cut off.

"Go away! We're not taking in people!" the voice shouted.

"You must be mistaken; we have a place in-" I was cut off again.

"Didn't hear what I said?! Go away! We won't go to your camps and we won't give up our weapons you hear me?!" the voice bellowed.

"I think we're not welcome here Sky." Kaley said.

"Maybe." I contemplated for a while and then I tapped the intercom a set number of times. The group grew confused at what I'm doing but Jared and Tatiana were now focused on the sounds of the beeps from the intercom.

Dash Dash Dash

Dash Dash Dash

Dot Dash Dot

Dot Dash

Dot Dot Dot Dot

After a few seconds, I did the same sequence and the beeps were the only thing you'll hear.

It was Morse code.

A few seconds later, the gate opened and an old man in his 50s, American, and wearing half of his service uniform appeared. He looked at all of us and then he spoke.

"Come in." he waved us over.

The group then looked at me while Jared was shaking his head in amusement.

"What did you do?" Kaley asked.

"Oorah." I said.

"What?" she asked again.

"Oorah." I repeated myself while I widened my eyes.

"It's a marine yell." Jared whispered.

She gave a look of understanding and my uncle drove the truck inside.

"Mr. Ishiyama?" a familiar voice resounded.

"Mrs. Thelma?!" I said in surprise.

"What are you doing here?! Are you guys alright?" she asked.

"You know them?" the man asked.

"Yes, I used to work for his mom back in the day. Johnny, can you tell your wife to prepare something for us?" she said.

"But our food is-" I cut him off.

"No need for that, but thank you. We're here on business. Is this all of you? You mentioned your wife, are there more?" I asked.

"Let's talk inside." he said after looking at me from head to toe.

We went inside their home and it was a two-story house that was medium-sized. There were nine of them here. I introduced my group while Mrs. Thelma introduced theirs.

"This is Johnny whom you've met, he is my sister's husband. That right there is my sister, Joanne. This guy here is my husband, Marco. The couple there is Jimmy and Clarice and Jimmy is Johnny's son. They got three children who are Judith, Carlo, and Jimmy II but we call him Jr.." Mrs. Thelma said while Johnny cleared his throat.

"You in the marines, kid?" Johnny looked at me.

"Why do all of the old military dudes call me kid?" I thought to myself.

"No, I just needed to get your attention." I said.

"Huh. Well, you did it. What do you want?" he said with a frown.

Joanne suddenly had a look of realization and she exclaimed, "Wait! I remember you! You're the young man with the old army guy who bought a few guns years ago! That's you, right?!"

I just nodded and she smiled at me.

"You know this kid dear?" Johnny said to his wife.

We related our story to them about going to Thelma's store last time and then the time when we went to Joanne's gun shop to buy a few guns and ammunition a few years back. Johnny and Marco nodded in understanding when our stories checked out. What I never expected from this was that Thelma and Joanne were sisters. Nevertheless, I told them about my plan.

"So, what you're trying to say is that you want us to move to your place that's so secure beyond measure where you're the one who's in charge of all of them? I think I find that a load of bull, no offense. Do you have any proof that you belong to a special unit?" Johnny was suspicious.

I pointed to Tatiana and she relayed her orders to him. Hearing her repeat it gave me a feeling that she was still hiding something. The response was too…robotic. It felt like she had said it many times before or I was just too fucking paranoid to trust people.

"If you don't believe her, I can also let you talk to one of yours." I said as I told him about Oscar. I tried to contact Oscar through the radio and I let him and Johnny talk for a while. After a few minutes of talking to Oscar, his mood lightened and his guarded demeanor disappeared somewhat.

"Good job, old man." I thought to myself.

"I see. I understand your situation now. But what I don't understand is how did a US Army Veteran, especially a Colonel, a Russian Army Soldier, and a large group of different people though mostly family follows your orders without question? How did you manage to do that?" Johnny asked.

"Because I can." I said as I looked at him straight in the eye.