Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Additionally, there was also a gas station a few meters ahead, and even the annex where it sold groceries and other random items were already picked clean. However, a discerning eye like mine noticed this particular wiring sticking out and when I followed it to the back and saw several batteries attached to an inverter, I started laughing like a fucking idiot which unsettled my compatriots.

"What's so funny?" Kaley leaned in as she was wearing a weird face.

"Eh. Not much. Just have some of the guys look for a ladder so they can get to the panels on the roof. There are probably more—"

Quinn cut in, "Wait. Why? Are we just gonna give everything to them?"

"Oh. Good point. We can just point our findings to them since they'll be the ones to use them. We still have a surplus of panels back home and other places to get them so the ones here are just extra weight…"

Tatiana followed, "It's not a bad call to score some brownie points but we can't just do everything for them. Besides, they're all adults—well, most of them—so they just needed some guidance instead of a handout."

"Yeah, yeah… I'll just remember the places they missed and point it to them later. Even if we don't they'll probably discover it sooner or later."

"Correct."

At that point, it didn't take long before we drove over the 306 Bridge and cut into this public market of sorts filled with carcasses—which slightly ticked me off because we really should be burning them—but we cut into this big parking lot and hotwired another truck in good condition before stopping by another barangay hall.

This time, aside from finding the drives we could dig some dirt on this place's residents, we uncovered two sets of riot gear, three boxes of shotgun shells, and a canister of pepper spray.

After this route, we would reach the bridge Oscar was talking about where we would start going off-road and we were basically cruising until we reached the resort he mentioned.

It wasn't because we were met by a dead-end but we were met with some deadheads that were recently washed over. Some of them were definitely bloated as fuck while some were just waterlogged, and to avoid their juices spilling over, I just asked Kaley and Jared to put them down from a distance before we drove our merry way.

To my surprise, we were definitely shaving off a lot of time by using this road but once we went past that bridge, we hadn't come across any stores or places to loot which was a little sad. It was one of the joys in life in the apocalypse but being able to live another day was one of them too.

Then we came to another small problem.

-

*bzzt*

"Is this river crossable?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Why would I fuckin' ask you to drive over there if you can't?!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"You do know that water rises, right?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Ah, fuck. Didn't think of that. Wait, how wide is it now?]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Maybe six meters?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Want a fuckin' smack to the head?! How much is that in feet?!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Unbelievable."

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[JUST ANSWER ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT!]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Umm… Around twenty, I guess?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Ah. You're good, you're good. Just drive through it. It's the one with the red fishing boat, right?]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

"Yeah, with this homemade motor?"

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[That's the one.]

*bzzt*

-

With that said, it didn't take long before we ascended this shortcut of sorts while keeping to the left of the school Oscar mentioned—also noticing the track marks from their vehicles—until we stopped by this access road hugging part of a small hill.

It had some smaller houses here and there made with lighter materials but we soon reached one of their checkpoints with a dozen or so people guarding it with guns.

The dude in front suddenly dragged me into this staring contest of sorts while everyone else from his crew was staring at our convoy, but I broke our silence with the most random shit I could think of.

"Yo."

"..."

"What's better than a .45?"

"..."

"A .46—"

"PFFT— FUCK! Are you the fucking kid?! Dammit!"

"You know why you guys have F-18s?"

"Stop! Stop!"

"Because F-17s are illegal!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! DON'T DO REVERSE MATH ON ME, YOU FUCK!"

"Reverse math?! You mean subtraction?!"

Then all hell just let loose:

"HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"HE GOT YOU, BOB!"

"DAMMIT! HE GOT ME TOO!"

I waved them off with a smile, "We're going in, alright?"

The Bob guy stopped us still, "I was told you only have three vehicles. I see four here."

"We got one on the way. We're trading it anyway, do you have anything for me?"

He let out a knowing smile, "Look for Royo, alright? Black dude with a curly mustache. He'll hook you up. You can hand over that truck to Thomas, his friend."

"Cool," I gave him a fistbump before throwing over a pack of cigarettes, "Here. Just a welcome gift."

"Hah! We'll get along just fine, kiddo. Carry on. Now who's got a light?"

I cut in before we drove off, "I have one. $100 though."

"HAH! FUCKING DAMMIT! I KNEW THIS WAS COMING! Fuck off, heh. We're just gonna start a fire on our own. Thanks anyway— I got a match here."

"Alright, alright, heh."

After that short interaction, it was eventually a short and safe ride to where the Marine Base was, and not gonna lie, these fucks weren't playing around once we entered their gates. Our group would've been taking it easy at this point in time but everyone was still hard at work while several floodlights were shining on their ongoing projects.

Their priority was fortifying their walls and making them a tad higher while making a catwalk attached to the whole thing and building watchtowers at certain key points.

But yeah, we were soon greeted by this young kid in his early 20s who was a simple private before he asked us to follow him to one of the bigger hangar-like buildings.

"Please."