Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I could faintly hear dull thuds coming from one area of our ship and since we still had a third of the way to go, I followed where the sounds came from. The grunts and the shouts became louder and louder as I shortened the distance and I figured a few people were using the facilities.

'This early, huh?'

The noise was obviously coming from an open area that was turned into a small-scale gym with only free weights, a few mats, a manual treadmill, a couple of heavy bags, and etc.

We could've fitted a lot more equipment but we needed to balance it out since we also reserved this area for meetings, entertainment, and a few others.

With that said, I saw Lawrence and Jose doing their own exercises but as soon as Jose noticed me, his eyes lit up and he jumped up from the bench he was on.

"You're up early. Sneaking a short workout before we arrive?"

"Kinda, but I haven't slept yet."

"What? You haven't slept yet? Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Are you my mom now?"

"I'm serious. You should always sleep when you have the chance."

"Don't worry, I know my limits. I'm gonna use the treadmill if no one's using it."

"Wait, help me hook that heavy bag first."

"Sure."

I began a short warmup after helping Jose but all this time, Lawrence was just keeping to himself. Well, I didn't even try to bother him since he was wearing a headset so time just passed while Jose and I were having a conversation as we were working out.

After a while, Mikhail and Bogdan joined us but we started getting a whiff of the breakfast that was being prepared for us.

The smell of bacon getting crispier by the second and the aroma of chopped onions and garlic when it was getting sautéed before adding in the rest of the ingredients for the fried rice was fucking impossible to not notice.

Bogdan almost immediately left the scene and headed for the kitchen while the rest of us struggled to get a proper rep in.

However, a certain blonde-haired vixen was spotted speeding through the hallway and each one of us stopped everything that we're doing because if the yellow flash reached our kitchen and had her way with our cooks, we'd only have crumbs for breakfast.

I was just about to follow after the guys but my eyes stopped at the heavy bag in front of me.

It was still fairly new without any tears or stitched-areas and I just had an inch to deliver a few strikes without holding back.

Walking back a few steps, I slowly exhaled as the area I was in got filled with the same chilling aura. However, for some reason, I was able to limit the spread by only a few inches away from my body even though it was invisible to the naked eye and was completely intangible.

It was something that could only be felt and this time, it felt like I had more control over it.

With that said, as soon as I performed the 'wrong' kick from before, I was fucking shocked.

Bringing it back for a few seconds, I readied my body before I replayed the movements in my head and once I spun and stepped in, I kicked as hard as I could before turning my knee at the last minute.

I expected the heavy bag to blow back from the impact I would create but I couldn't be more wrong.

On the contrary, I never felt much resistance because my foot just punched through the heavy bag before its sheer weight forced it to rip open and spill out its insides. It started to make a smokescreen due to how the sand poured out and I just started to feel the stinging pain from my right foot.

'The fuck did I just do…'

I only had a second to review what just happened because Tatiana just came rushing in from the kitchen with a handful of crispy bacon while everyone else was chasing after her.

"STOP HER!"

"IT'M MINE! BACK OFF!"

"THAT'S OUR FOOD, TATIANA!"

"DON'T PLAY THAT SONG OR I'LL SMACK YA!"

"WHAT SONG ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"SHADDAP! ALL OF YOU! I HADN'T HAD SEX YESTERDAY SO I'M EXTRA HUNGRY!"

It only took a moment before Tatiana and the others went into the smoke and I was right in the middle of it. Long story short, I got trampled like marble cake in a mosh pit though I managed to trip a few with my body.

When the smoke cleared out, they were more inclined to question me as to why I looked like a bruised hotdog than to ask why the heavy bag just got ripped in half.

On the other hand, Tatiana had the gall to eat all the bacon she took in front of us and she just got chased the second time all around our ship.

They only stopped when Johnny started shouting at the intercom and breakfast couldn't be sadder.

We had enough food to last us a couple of weeks but we had a strict rule about how much we could take out with each meal time.

In the end, we just had fried rice mixed with chopped up vegetables and scrambled eggs though it did have a few sprinkles of shredded bacon our cooks hadn't cooked yet when Tatiana came invading their work area.

Well, we still had good coffee available so it wasn't that bad. Besides, a few of us here would take coffee over a 5-Star meal because we'd sometimes even use it as our viand by pouring it like it was broth.

I don't do it as much but that was always the go to when I don't like the food when I was a kid.

However, everyone got their revenge when Tatiana was served a bowl of plain rice without any seasoning, and she never looked so devastated with each bite. No one felt sorry for her one bit but everyone just started choking on their food when she pulled out a few bacon strips from her sleeves.

"YOU STILL HAD MORE TUCKED IN?!"

"Correct."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!!!"

Everyone didn't know whether to laugh or cry but Tatiana doing this just made everyone unanimously agree to have a few people guarding the kitchen area when she's around. Not only would it let us have equal portions with each other, it'll be a fun exercise to be aware of our surroundings.

Granted we'd be at Mr. Cuervo's residence but it would also be ideal to keep a tight watch on Tatiana– err, our food.

After breakfast, I immediately went back to clean up the mess I made and the people who saw it for the second time had a different look on their face. However, I just let their thoughts run inside their head as I sweeped all the sand that I could before I sewed the heavy bag, applied a bit of glue, and added a layer of duct tape.

And as I was minding my own business, Jose crouched down and pulled me aside.

"You did that, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

"Heh. If you're gonna be cryptic like that, you should learn how to hide your tracks better. Everyone knows you did it, they just don't know how."

"Trust me, I don't have a fucking clue either."

"Can't you just do it again and see?"

"Didn't you see me fix that one? It took me an hour! It's not even dry yet so just use the other one…"

"You little… I hope I don't get matched up to you in the first round."

"You'll join the games then?"

"Why else would I come here? I don't wanna beat up our guys, it just makes me feel bad."

"Hey, better than getting eaten up 'cause they don't know shit to defend themselves, right?"

"I know that. I just wanna let loose for once."

"Heh. We'll see…"

Time continued to pass until we passed by Marikaban Island and entered Batangas Bay, and it didn't take long before we made contact.

-

*bzzt*

[IS THAT YOU, PAPI CHULO?! EHH~ THAT IS YOU, ESE! ANDALE! WE'RE HERE! EVERYONE'S HERE!]

*bzzt*

-

Hearing that, Tatiana instinctively facepalmed before chambering a round for all of the guns she brought. Her team only heard stories of the fabled 'charmer' and it was now time to meet with him face-to-face.

Aside from Enrique, we definitely saw familiar faces before we docked in one of the available ports and it was a small reunion between two parties.

Surprisingly enough, aside from Nikolas, Alexei, and Ilya being present with Enrique… Irene, Arturo, and even Mr. Cuervo were also present to meet us with open arms. They obviously brought more people for their own safety but they were a distance away looking out for possible threats.

With that said, everyone just looked so different from the last time I saw them and the most obvious one was Nikolas, Alexei, and Ilya having a serious tan. I would've mistaken them for a local if it weren't for their facial features and also their eye color though Ilya had a few visible scars.

The three shared a moment with Artem and the rest while Mr. Cuervo pulled me aside after hugging Cynthia as warmly as he could. He still had this 'machismo' shit going and the best part was he came in with an all-white suit with gold filigree with his chest out. Furthermore, he was still smoking a Cuban cigar in the middle of his fingers and the fucking handmade shoes he was wearing was fucking fire.

He gave me a wide smile before combing his wavy hair, "Hermano, we meet again. You seem different?"

I smiled back, "I could say the same to you. You growing out your hair, eh?"

"Perhaps. Ah, you prepared a gift like I told you?"

"I did. I bet you'll fucking love it."

"For me? I thought–"

"Check it out first before you speak a fucking word."

I just made Jose roll it over the ramp of our ship and Mr. Cuervo's eyes almost popped out of its socket as his jaw almost hit the ground. Even Enrique completely turned around and ignored Tatiana who he was trying to serenade.

"So, let's talk about our buy-in."