Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

If it was any other day, I would’ve let everyone who wanted to come join just like that but since the place we’d be going into would be different because of the apocalypse, I just had to say no.

And again, June had skills of her own but with zero combat skills AND confirmed kills next to nothing—in addition to her skills being nerfed to fuck once we get to my family’s mountain—she’d have a hard time finding her way or contributing.

‘I mean, she could stay at Kadena Airbase but getting her parents to agree first would be the biggest obstacle.’

Even if she had begun following a regular training regimen to enhance her body, it’d take more than a few weeks of it to be legible. She might be safe while in our presence but in unknown territory, I’d rather have everyone to at least have a few moderate levels of combat proficiency to keep themselves and everyone else safe.

However, if she grind it hard before departure and proves herself, there’s a small chance I’d allow her to come. seaʀᴄh thё Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

‘Again, after her parents agree to it first. Even bringing Eden, Cindy, and Jeremy sounds too good to be true…’

After explaining the reasons why to June and the ways I’d reconsider, we went back to our current session, and this time, it was Kaley and Tatiana who were put to the test.

Obviously, despite Kaley following the regimen for basic swordsmanship training, she was still lacking because one, the chance for her to use it in real battles were next to none because of our formation. Two, despite her leaning towards technique rather than power, she couldn’t figure out a way to realign her swings from outside interference.

Lastly, the wakizashi she had on her didn’t have enough weight to ignore the random tugging—even the resistance given by the elastic bands.

But in Tatiana’s case, despite having a mix of speed and power and a little bit of technique, was only a little~ bit better compared to Kaley’s performance—but they obviously weren’t willing to recognize their deficiencies if I didn’t show them how it’s done.

Because yeah, besides showing them in person, my katana was only a bit heavier compared to my wakizashi and Tatiana’s Principe.

Kaley tried to confirm something first, “You— Your Katana’s not magic, right?”

I chortled as I rolled my eyes, “You’re using the same thing just shorter, what do you mean? And the bands are just an awful comparison to replicate what would it be really like, I’m gonna use this month to figure out a way to replicate the feeling as much as possible but no promises. The training I’ll put you will be your best shot, still.”

Tatiana shrugged her shoulders, “Then show us.”

“Alright…”

With that said, I showed them a regular diagonal swing coming from the Northeast to Southwest—before adding in static bands and bands held by everyone else.

From an outside perspective, it looked like I just swung it a few times as is but they all looked confused—especially the ones who tried it themselves—when my swing deviated when they started pulling randomly.

It’s just Quinn never looked so relieved:

“Hah! So you can’t do it after all! Am I better than you than this?!”

I chuckled, “You wanna fight against randomness? Be my guest. I can only power through them if I decided to do so from the get-go. But if we’re using our weapon’s weight to do some of the work, there would be variables that could make it difficult.” Continue your adventure at empire

June raised her hand, “Then why can Quinn umm… power through them?”

“You answered your question. She literally powered through all of them. If you’re not holding a 20kg bar and made of pure beef like she does, you can’t keep doing what she’s doing. I can do it for a time but doing more would be detrimental. And take note, we’re doing all this while standing up.

Imagine the difference when you’re moving—not just moving, you know, dodging attacks from all over, repositioning, etc. It’s a bitch if you can’t figure out how to adapt to the pull.”

Cindy added, “I know I’m not going but can’t you just tell us the solution?”

“That’s what I’m about to do next, actually.”

“That easy?”

“That easy. I’m just telling them, it’s still up to all of you if you can pull it off—some of them are easy to do while the others would take some or a LOT of time.”

“What’s the easy way?”

“Knives.”

“Knives?”

“Not only would the pull be minimal, it’s closer to your hand so you’d have more freedom to wave it around as long as you don’t try to throw it in one of those zones. Same with bullets, actually. And while we’re talking about hardware, get something like Quinn’s Whackadoodle and you’d be good. As long as you can wave it around for a good while without tiring out, I’d suggest the shorter alternative.”

June then had an idea, “How about wooden weapons?!”

I never smiled so wide, “If you wanna go fucking caveman, knock yourself out. But hey, as long as it works it isn’t stupid.”

Tatiana cut in, “What’s the thing that would take a lot of time?”

“Forearm and grip training. It’s to give you more strength to power through when you need it, it’s gonna be the most effective one if you want to keep using your injector axe or your Principe. It’s rough but it’s a necessity over there.”

“Ah, shit. I’d rather do full body every single day.”

Quinn chuckled, “Heh, am I made for that trip or what?! I might just go back for a week and go back here right after! I’m excited.”

I rolled my eyes, “That’s just the thing Quinn, you might be made for that part but there’s another you’d have to take into account… something more important than easily waving your hunk of metal around.”

“And what’s what?”

“What’s Rule# 1 of the zombie apocalypse?”

“Cardio?”

“Yep.”

“FUCK!!!”