Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Rin just stared at the lone bullet she made for a few moments before she placed it on the holders we had on hand. After that, she just started making another one but this time, she spent less time compared to earlier.

Another bullet was successfully created and she placed it right next to the one she just finished.

She continued to make more with less time but she wasn't skipping any steps. She made sure the same quality was met even with less time and she eventually found her rhythm. She didn't even look at my face like earlier and I just watched her fill one holder with 50 9mm bullets. After that, she just wore a proud look on her face before she turned to me.

"Whew! Can you please use them-- No, use them tomorrow! I made them!"

I smiled faintly as I tried to make her waver, "Are you sure about them now? Did you check everything properly? Don't forget that I'll die if something's wrong. Kaley might also use them?"

Rin didn't break eye contact as she stood firm, "Yes, you could test all of them now and they'll fire every single time!"

I pushed on even more as I loomed over her, "What if they didn't?"

Rin started to lose feeling in her legs as she instantly fidgeted and lost composure, "T-Then, you could do a-anything to m-me… as p-punishment..."

I instantly chortled, "Jesus, Rin. It's not even sunset! Couldn't I do anything I want anyway?"

Rin's jaw just dropped before she turned beet-red and covered her mouth, "Y-You! That's not what I-- You're changing the-- A-Are you gonna use them or not?!"

"I will, I will. I trust you. Besides, I would've stopped you earlier if you made a mistake."

"R-Really?! They're all good?!"

"Yep."

I just started smiling before I ruffled her hair and sat her back down. After that, I pulled out my Maxim 9 and its spare mags before I switched the bullets already in it with the ones she just made. With that said, Rin was pleasantly surprised when I actually did that and she arranged the switched bullets by placing them on one of the holders.

With the time we have left, I helped Rin with making more bullets though I opted for making rifle rounds. I officially gave her my permission to make pistol rounds even if I wasn't present and it brought a smile to her face.

Time continued to pass and we gathered at the DDR Camp to give a moment of silence to our fallen brethren first.

Coming from Artem and his team, Kristoff wasn't too big on ceremonies and the only thing important to him was to be remembered. With that said, everyone else with a chest rig was now wearing the same patch that he used to wear every single day. More so, anyone who wanted to lit up a cigar in his honor did so and I even lit one with the old man.

However, the person wearing Kristoff's original patch was Natasha.

She looked to be doing okay for the most part but she kept herself at the back of her group, only speaking when spoken to. Ibarra was quite close but the two weren't even interacting with each other since they were just both sitting in place. I would've liked to pull some strings to act like a drunk cupid but I'd hate to receive a kick from Kaley.

On a serious note, Marisha and I wanted to speak to Natasha alone but we both thought that she needed more time. It would be best to help her as soon as possible but it would be difficult to help someone forcefully. Marisha's methods would almost always work though I wanted to try what I did with Tatiana.

Speaking of her, she was back to her usual self though she wore a solemn expression throughout the small ceremony. She could even walk without anyone supporting her but she would carefully twist her body when speaking to someone who was not in front of her.

A few words and stories were delivered and some tears were shed but every time we see that patch, we'd be reminded of his sacrifice.

A short moment passed and we started the meeting.

Everyone already knew what happened to Kristoff but only a few knew what killed him. Some heard what it looked like from short talks but only the people who fought it could only paint the clearest picture. It was easy to describe what something looked like but it was difficult to tell the feeling when it was right next to you.

With that said, Its body was stored for transport first thing tomorrow morning but several pictures and videos were available. Precious footage of what it could do was shown through our body cams and pictures of what was left of it after we were done were also shown.

It wouldn't be ideal to bring up something painful after the ceremony but the safety of everyone alive was more important.

A sense of dread appeared on everyone's faces and some transparency was needed.

"Wait, so that thing could take headshots?! How do we--"

"You aim low as we did. Disable it first before going for the kill. A higher caliber round could do the trick but we've only ever encountered one of them. If you ever encounter this kind, don't even attempt to go toe-to-toe with it if you're only equipped with a short knife or a dull blade. Its body… its body gained some sort of reinforcement when they adhered so close to each other like how kevlar had tightly knitted fibers to form it but not as much to copy it."

A person from Woodlands raised his hand, "Are you gonna start providing higher caliber rifles?"

"Have you passed our tests yet? Are you rifle certified?"

"N-No… N-Not yet… Just shotguns..."

"So shotguns are available for you, for now. A 1-ounce slug could already deliver devastating damage but I'd suggest aiming low as I said earlier. You'd need to aim for either its feet or its knees so you'd have an easier time delivering the final blow. I had to send multiple shots to its knee with a 5.56 but a 1-ounce slug would maybe need one or two shots."

Another person raised his hand, "How about rifles?"

"For rifles, we'd have to replicate how strong its skull is first before shooting something stronger than a 5.56 or a 7.62... but that's for aiming for one-hit-kill headshots. As you could see from these pictures, our bullets would've penetrated its skull if we managed to send more bullets in the same place but doing that over and over needed a high skill floor. But yeah, for each group, there will be one or two carrying a rifle chambered in .308 or even higher tomorrow."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. But expect some changes in members if your group is leaning on one type of weapon. I'm sorry but each group heading the same place as we did need to be all-rounded unless you start learning something new. Just take note, the groups that are cutting inside unexplored areas with high threat levels will be given priority."

The first guy who asked a question raised his hand once more, "Excuse me, but… aren't the guns we usually uncover are from the--"

"I'm gonna stop you right there."

"What?"

"You're right about the bulk of the guns we'd uncover are from the fallen DDR Camps but they're mostly M16s, 870s, Glock 17s, or 1911s. Less than 1% of them are chambered in the calibers you want to have and they probably picked them up from random houses wherein I have the full list. Long story short, they'll be coming from our stash like most of the guns you are using. I'm not being stingy here but if you're gonna tell me who I should give my guns to, get rifle certified first."

"A-Ah… Sorry… I'm just saying… I d-didn't know… I thought--"

"No worries, man. Anyway, the groups I'm leading will continue to tackle one hospital after another, hopefully taking down deadheads that might've had the chance to turn into one of those things. If there's a group who could best take them on, it's us. Doing the same thing we were doing since it started is still the best solution to all our problems. All we need right now is more time while juggling to stay on top of our resource usage and we'll be good. Now, who's going next?"

The next presenter stood in front of the crowd and she gave her report. Everyone listened attentively and it went on and on until the last presenter went up next. However, he went into detail about beautifying certain parts of our base to increase morale and a few other things.

It was eventually decided to be a group project for our youngsters and some young-at-heart, and they will be allowed to paint or decorate certain walls as long as it wouldn't affect this place's security.

'Well, we're surviving but we need to live too...'

The meeting was eventually adjourned and people went back to their own place of residence. Surprisingly enough, Natasha immediately asked to talk with Marisha while Artem went straight for me.

"Did Ibarra tell you I wanted to talk to you? Privately?"

I nodded, "We could talk in my roof?"

"Da. That's great but..."

"But?"

"I need something first."

"Sure. Anything."

Artem's eyes lit up before he exerted pressure, "Let's fight."

I chuckled as I matched it with my own, "Don't think for one second I'll let you off easy.. It's been held off for too long."