Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Looking ahead, I saw people on the catwalk and I decided to approach them. Unc Zardon, Derek, and Jo were present but surprisingly, Allan stayed up all night. He was still holding the HK416 I lent him but his eyes were slightly bloodshot and he was about to fall asleep. They each had a cup of coffee to warm their hands while a mosquito coil was beside them, warding off the mosquitos that were flying around.     

Jo saw me first and greeted me, "Mornin' Boss, can't sleep?"     

"Yeah, staying up all night messed with my pattern. How's the watch going though?"     

Derek answered with a faint smile despite the sleepy eyes, "Heh, a few stragglers approached the gate earlier and Allan tried to shoot them from here. After he missed them thrice, we decided to come down and do it with the crowbar you had on your workshop."     

Allan tried to keep a straight face, "Ahaha... new gun, new gun... I'm still getting used to the sights… Yeah, that's it, just a matter of time getting used to it… ahaha..."     

"Heh, the sights?! Hahahaha!!! He wouldn't give that to you unzeroed. Also, you just need to use the laser and point it to their heads. At this distance, you don't need adjustments..." Unc Zardon chuckled from the side, drinking a sip of coffee.     

"Oh, ahaha… sometimes I would shoot high or low or left or right so... I thought it would do the same with this one..." Allan scratched his head a few times, hiding his embarrassment.     

'That's why… you could have the best gun but if you don't know how to properly mount the optics, you would have troubles...'     

After a while, I looked at the bodies they disposed of right outside the gates but I suddenly turned my head in a certain direction. I felt the hairs on the back of my head rise as I stared into the darkness. I immediately grabbed my rifle from Allan and looked at the same spot. I turned the illuminator on but despite that, I still found nothing.     

'What was that?'     

"Dude?" Allan inquired as all of them looked at me.     

"I felt something looking at me," I replied.     

"What? You sure, kid?" Unc Zardon added.     

I nodded in response as I touched the hairs on the back of my neck. The four were giving me looks of worry and they even tried to look at the same spot I did. However, they also found nothing but they eventually brushed it off, thinking that it was just on my mind.     

Allan commented, "It might be nothing?"     

"Maybe."     

'I definitely felt something.'     

I chatted with them but I glanced at the houses we were occupying. We made an agreement beforehand to keep the use of lights to the minimum and to make sure to have dark curtains installed. If unavoidable, only use lamps covered by a blanket or flashlights pointed on the ground. It was because light sources could give up our location at night when they were left on and we wouldn't want random people visiting us at this time.     

In between our talks, I went back to my room to switch the 100-round drum magazine installed on my rifle with a normal 30-round magazine. However, I made sure to hand Allan a couple of extras and he was carrying 90 rounds of 5.56s all in all.     

3:00 AM     

When our little alarm sounded, it signaled the switch for the people doing watch duty. The system was that the next person on the list needed to set an alarm ten minutes before his turn. At the same time, the person that finished their watch had to wait a grace period of five minutes before personally picking up the next person in line. However, two other two that have also finished their watch needed to stay put until the next person arrives or if they all came out to switch with them. So far, no one had broken the rules and everything was going smoothly.     

However, Allan became an outlier since he tried to stay up in all of the timeslots because he wanted to hold my rifle for as long as possible. Eventually, I managed to convince him to take a rest albeit with some reluctance. Like clockwork, the people in the next time slot came out. Jenny, Chris, and Arnel walked outside, stretching their backs or yawning while the others waved me goodbye. The three were surprised to see me but I greeted them and handed them a fresh cup of coffee.     

"Mornin'."     

I was now the one carrying my HK416 and I handed my M70 to Jenny. I knew that she had training before and she was a guard but I still instructed her on how to operate it. Chris and Arnel started listening to me as well and I decided to include them in the small lecture. Operating a bolt-action rifle was easy enough and all that was left was actual experience.     

Jenny's shotgun was now in Oscar's care but she could take it out whenever she wanted. However, bringing an unsuppressed shotgun while doing watch duty at night seemed improper so she opted with what we prepared for them.     

They were taking turns repeating what I showed them but Chris took the time to approach me.     

"H-Hey, sir… Um- I'd like to properly thank you for taking us in. Honestly speaking, I really thought you'd leave us when you said that you only came for Allan but you didn't. There was also the time when you… ah- tested us but I figured that it was all for us. Doing that for complete strangers like us meant a lot and I could say that you're a really great guy. Thank you, sir."     

Chris kept a straight and genuine expression but it was all broken down when he started to yawn.     

'This kid… Oh well, he's honest. That's good enough for me.'     

I just smiled as I looked at him, "No worries. But please, stop calling me sir. It really~ weirds me out, you know? You're like Rin when we first met… Either call me by my name or do it as the other guys do."     

"Other guys?"     

"My workers always call me Boss."     

"Ah, I hear sir Arnel calls you that too..."     

Arnel chuckled, "Yep, we call him little boss before but now, you know how it goes."     

"Oh, I see. Sky it is then." Chris nodded a few times but he yawned once more.     

I chuckled, "First time waking this early?"     

Chris shook his head and said, "Nope, not the first time but it's been a while... I used to jog every morning before going to school."     

"Oh, really? Just for cardio or something else?" I asked.     

A glint appeared on Chris' eyes as he smiled, "Oh! I used to box in school and the club right next to our home but I stopped when Charlotte got worried. She once saw me with a broken nose when I get back and I never heard the end of it. Well, she took care of me afterward but she pleaded that I stop doing it..."     

"You could've continued jogging though, people need the strength of their bodies now more than ever."     

"Right, that's true. But what's your story, sir? I mean- Sky?"     

"Hmm? What do you want to know? I have a lot to tell."     

"You're gonna answer? Okay! How did you get that scar on your eyebrow? If you don't mind..."     

As soon as Chris mentioned my scar, I touched my eyebrow instinctively and said, "How about this, let's have a light spar. If you land me a clean hit, I'll tell you the story. It's a little personal so we have to bet like this."     

"B-But-"     

I immediately cut him off, "Don't worry, I'll just dodge and parry."     

Arnel immediately chucked from my remark while Jenny and Chris were left confused. Chris immediately asked for protective gear but I brushed him off and smiled, making him smile bitterly.     

"But-"     

"I have them upstairs but we won't need it."     

"B-But what if I hit you?"     

I wore a sly grin and said, "You won't."     

It was then that Chris started to frown, thinking that I was underestimating him too much. However, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine."     

Almost immediately, Chris threw me a quick jab but I easily parried it with my right hand.     

'I definitely ticked him off.'     

Surprised was plastered on his face but I said, "Let's go down first, yeah?"     

Chris started to rub his knuckles as he watched me head down and when he followed suit, he was staring at me the whole time, wondering how I caught his sneak attack. I just smiled as I threw Jenny my phone and I asked her to set a timer for three minutes. When she gave us the signal, I simply raised my hands while Chris lunged at me.     

Two quick jabs followed by a right straight was thrown at me before he threw a left hook and a right uppercut. I simply dodged and weaved much to his surprise but I would occasionally parry with my hands to make it look like he was close. At the same time, I was examining his form and I discovered that he needed more work on his footwork and breathing, but everything was up to the basic standard.     

At the last second, as I was about to parry one of his right hooks, he turned it to a straight mid-swing, almost catching me off-guard. It was because I was eyeing something peculiar in his collar and it divided my attention for a brief second.     

'Heh, this kid...'     

I just dodged at the last second but I flicked my left wrist before the phone beeped. However, I saw him close his eyes at the last second, maybe surprised at my sudden jab but I tapped his shoulder to tell him I didn't connect with his face.     

'That's another thing to work on… maybe why he went home with a broken nose...'     

"Good job, keep your eyes open at all times though. Did you get hit hard before? Closing your eyes in the middle of a fight is a huge fucking~ no-no."     

"Are you a professional boxer?" Chris muttered as he tried to catch his breath. Nothing was more tiring in boxing if your full punches only hit air.     

"Hah! Really? Well, I'm not… professional. That would be cool though, here." I said as I placed something on his hand.     

"Hmm?"     

Chris looked at his hand then he froze. He gave me a bitter smile and walked back on the catwalk, shaking his head continuously. He pocketed the item I swiped from his collar while I sat on the wall, smiling at him.     

"I'll h-hit you next time."     

"Sure, you can certainly try."     

Jenny gave another confused look, "What did he give you, Chris?"     

Chris looked at Jenny then he reached for his pocket. He placed it on her palm like I did and it took a few seconds before realization struck. She was staring at it but she immediately shook her head.     

"This... impossible."     

"Then what's that then?" Chris replied.     

Jenny was staring at me, "Still..."     

I smiled as I shrugged my shoulders, "It was hanging out, about to fall. I swiped it so he could fix it later."     

"But how?! This is a button, right?!"     

"Well, you need to spend a lot of time practicing that trick. You need to judge the distance accurately and move your hand precisely. It's a lucky hit and it being loose helped a lot."     

"But why would you spend a lot of time doing that?" Jenny asked.     

"It's fun and you know, because I can," I said as I laughed.     

"'Trick', 'fun'? Sure~" Arnel started to chuckle.     

Jenny still couldn't comprehend what I had just done, Chris was silent the whole time, while Arnel knew everything about it. Eventually, we just chatted while the others started to wake up.     

"Finally..."     

They handed me the guns and they bid me goodbye while I went back to my room. Kaley and Olivia were still sleeping on my bed while I saw the blanket I placed on Rin, neatly folded and placed on my chair. I kept quiet as I returned the guns in my armory but I saw Zeus coming to my room and jumping on my bed to cuddle with Olivia.     

He never made a sound but he made a good pillow for Olivia to hug tight.     

'These two have been pretty close, good thing someone could take care of Zeus while I'm busy.'     

However, it didn't take long before Zeus began licking Olivia's face, waking her up in the process. Her eyes opened slightly and she disregarded the kisses coming from him as she wrestled to be the outer spoon. She eventually saw me looking at them so she sat upright and greeted me.     

Olivia yawned as rubbed her eyes, "Hi Sky... good morning! The movie was great yesterday, we were all crying at the end. Hope we do that again later but you shouldn't sleep through it!"     

"Heh, I just watched it before, that's all. I still have a few I haven't watched so we'll get to those later."     

"Okay! Oh, do we need to go down now?"     

"Hmm? Oh, sleep some more. I think the food's still being prepared."     

"Hmn~ now that you mention it..." Olivia slowly laid herself on the bed, sleeping once more.     

Zeus accompanied the two so I headed down. I could already smell the food being cooked so I headed straight for Aunt Sharon's house.