Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

𝒪𝓋𝓵𝐞xt.𝗇𝓔t

Hearing the word “Pit” from Quinn’s mouth and piecing together in my head—for a short moment—everything I’ve heard in conversation made me realize that they, the De Leon Family, was doing something commonly done that would’ve surprised any regular vanilla person that read or watched something in this scenario.

“No fucking way,” I muttered as I shook my head.

‘Unlimited power with using deadheads to run generators…’

Quinn looked at me like I was an idiot, “You realized just now? I don’t like the noise—”

“No, had a small inkling but how many—”

“Stop asking questions, you’ll see when we get there,” then she had a thought, “You can bring Kaley and the rest or not but we’ll meet at the gate in a few minutes.”

“Wait, where are you going?”

She rested her weapon over her shoulder as she brought her right hand up and closed and opened her palm, making her mechanical gauntlets make that peculiar sound, “You’ll see in a bit…”

At this point, Quinn had already left the room and disappeared somewhere so I had to quickly strap up as I informed Kaley and the rest about the situation. They couldn’t believe their ears at first but since they were with a few people that could give them a little bit of context, it didn’t take long before we were about to ride out a couple of hours before sunset.

However, I couldn’t help but drool a little when I saw Quinn come up wearing a custom-made mechanical “exoskeleton” that supported her upper back, neck, shoulders, and arms—basically her upper body but it stops right below her chest.

‘Slightly different to her gauntlets though…’

To be completely fair, it was bare bones and still a work in progress—looking like an over-the-top brace of some sort, but I assumed it was made with light materials because Quinn wasn’t having a hard time wearing it or she was just being a freak of fucking nature. It’s just that it looked like it had some pieces that were just added on or just looking off but I assumed the worst as always.

“We’re not facing Deathclaws, right?”

Quinn turned to me with a confused expression, “Haa?”

“Nevermind, that was a weird thing to ask—”

She sighed, “Before you ask more stupid questions, this was Jericho’s old project he tossed when he joined Mr. Cuervo. He was supposed to make a full set for Mike but… you know… shit happened. I was in the process of making something similar—putting my own spin on it—but the kid’s gifted, I’m just building on his work to make it easier for me.”

“But… But where’s the rest of it?”

“…”

“Quinn?”

“It didn’t fit me, alright?! My legs are too fucking long! HAPPY?! IT BARELY FITS MY TORSO!”

“Ah… My bad, my bad…”

“Besides, everything’s too fucking heavy with the power supply by the waist support, I took it apart and made adjustments to it. With this, it wouldn’t need power for it to function. It could offer a lot of support and a bit of protection. Can we go?”

“Yeah…”

‘I guess it’ll be hard for her to find body armor like ours that fits her size… this is her solution… I’m gonna change that when we get back though… I’ll make sure I find something her size…’

To be completely honest, I would’ve busted a nut if she rolled in with a fucking Power Armor but her “armor” now looked like a lesser version from this other film that had these pods that could cure almost anything.

It’s just that when we started driving outside, Quinn couldn’t hide the look on her face when we made her stand behind on the truckbed because her frame was too fucking big to fit everyone inside. She was staring daggers at our backs but it just made all of us inside let out a small chuckle while the two with her: Isaac and Jose were walking on eggshells.

She should’ve just brought it with her and worn it when we arrive but she was just too deep into it, she didn’t want to take it off.

After a short drive, we eventually came upon their industrial park but since it was nearing sunset, almost everyone was either lounging around or just straight partying like it was the last day on Earth.

Music was blasting on each of the large facilities they took for themselves but Quinn didn’t mind the ruckus as she made us drive to the central area where this loud cranking noise was getting louder and louder the more we got closer.

Quinn hopped off our truck, “We’re here. I’m surprised a lot of you came but we’ll only need a few people. Some of you should stay and keep watch over our vehicles and any interruptions that may occur. We can only do this since Mauro’s away but a lot of people would also get pissed if we take away their source of electricity.”

Surprisingly enough, Myke walked forward and shook his head, “Nah, Quinn, I’m all for free shit but this is just plain wrong. I’d rather rely on other means or push the bar myself.”

‘That’s good to know…’

Quinn let out a smile after a short exhale, “That’s good to hear but you’re guarding the door with the others.”

“WHAT?! I CAME HERE TO—”

“Trust me, Myke, it’s the best job I could give you at the moment. I doubt we’ll be able to clear everything but we should be quick enough to do the most amount of damage. Once one of the buildings loses power, they’ll definitely check this place out and they’ll swarm here to ask what the fuck we’re doing. Don’t let anyone fucking pass. But yeah, don’t go too rough on them, I don’t want more of us down there…”

“Fine…”

With that said, Quinn came down with me, Kaley, and Jose while the rest were stationed to stand by the door. We were traversing this hallway that had several graffitis but the moment we reached the level where the supposed deadhead-powered generators were, not only were a few people present with Dave standing in front of another metal door with steel grates, the graffitis on the wall became like some weird math problem.

‘Wait a second—’

I was still in mid-sentence when I realized that the numbers on the walls were probably their crew who were now working a different job but Dave’s clear voice entered our ears despite the cranking noise.

“You shouldn’t be here, Quinn.”

Quinn scoffed, “Aren’t you recovering? You shouldn’t be here either. Logan said you were sleep—”

“Yeah, I should be sleeping but I had an inkling that you’ll sneak here when everyone’s away. And here you are…” Dave shook his head as he walked a few steps forward.

“Dave. You know fucking well that she’s there, right?”

“…”

“And you’re letting her rot in there instead of resting her—”

Dave shouted at the top of his lungs for the first time, “SHE AGREED TO IT, QUINN! EVERYONE DID! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO FUCKING—”

“NOT EVERYONE WANTED TO BE IN THERE! IT WASN’T A CHOICE! THE MAJORITY SPOKE FOR EVERYONE! EITHER YOU STEP ASIDE OR—”

“OR WHAT?! YOU’LL SNAP MY NECK TOO?! CAN YOU REALLY DO IT?! YOU DID IT ONCE, RIGHT?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF MAURO COMES BACK AND HE SEES THAT EVERYONE’S A PILE OF ASHES INSTEAD OF GIVING US LIGHT?! HE’LL FUCKING KICK YOU OUT!”

“SO FUCKING WHAT?! IS HAVING ELECTRICITY WORTH VIOLATING THEIR BODIES LIKE THAT?!”

“ARE YOU FUCKING HEARING YOURSELF?! IS THAT GUY’S DICK WORTH MORE THAN EVERYTHING WE’VE EVER WORKED FOR?!”

“HEARING MYSELF?! YOU FUCKING HEAR YOURSELF FIRST! A CURE’S NOT COMING, DAVE! NOT ANYTIME SOON! IF IT EVER DID, YOUR SISTER WOULD’VE TURNED TO GOO ALREADY—”

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! HOW CAN YOU FUCKING KNOW, HUH?! HOW CAN YOU FUCKING KNOW?! HOW CAN—”

Right at this fucking moment, the sounds coming from the door behind them changed slightly before several loud thumps came from the door itself. The thumps became loud pounding before the door’s hinges started to creak and whine but before everyone here gets killed by this sudden cutscene, I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“RUNNNNNNN~!!!”

Everyone else was still slightly confused before I pulled out a couple of grenades from my pouch and as soon as I bit the pins off, everyone else started running back.

Fear was great motivation but I was already walking backward while waiting for the first deadhead to break through that door. I wouldn’t make their work easier for them but the moment I saw several discolored arms bent the door after their rotting digits got degloved by trying to get out, I threw the first grenade in the small gap they provided for me.

*BOOOOOOOOOOM*

The grenade exploded inside after a few seconds but I had to throw the second one almost immediately when a deadhead peeked out of the same hole while only having its jaw as its head.