Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

After advancing a few steps forward, it didn’t take long before we heard gunshots erupting from the other passages we haven’t been to yet, and since Quinn and Tatiana were advancing at a faster pace, I reloaded my pistol and took down the ones that were still tied to the several generators present—that had different sizes—with thick metal wires.

The wires in question were connected to a device similar to the noose-like apparatus that was used the first time we attended Mr. Cuervo’s games, and to give my semi-professional opinion and giving what happened to this place as an example, these devices weren’t a sure-fire way to solve their problems.

As time would pass, these devices should be checked regularly to see if some of them had come loose, but since the ones wearing them were too fucking dangerous and were moving around constantly—plus their huge numbers to boot—it was a herculean task to maintain and I doubt the De Leon Family would be that meticulous.

‘Even I would have a hard time maintaining this kind of setup…’

With that said, as I eventually let everyone else take care of the dregs, I happen to come upon a huge-ass corpse that rivaled a Hulker.

Take note, almost every single carcass present was huge as hell but this one looked and exuded the same pressure as the one we faced before. However, this one was chock full of holes, eyeballs and bowels missing completely, and judging by the long-ass appendage that was just hanging by its ear, it was probably being controlled by the sussy ones earlier.

It definitely brought shivers through my spine because if we somehow face a Hulker that would always get up no matter how much damage it took—even to the point of decapitating its head off—that would be the time that I’d do everything, I mean everything I can to disable or stop it.

‘We’re fucking lucky we took down the one controlling it…’

From the time we’ve faced a handful of them, the ongoing protocol was to take away its mobility first before attempting to crack or puncture its head open with the use of the injection systems we made or with high-caliber rifle rounds.

Isaac eventually caught up to me, “Woah, the fuck is that thing?”

I turned to him with a solemn expression, “If you ever see one of these things outside, do everything you can to get away from it as fast and far as possible. You don’t try to fight it head-on, you don’t try to shoot it, and you don’t try to play mind games with it. This thing will kill you in less than a fucking second if it ever gets ahold of you and—”

While I was still in mid-sentence, Isaac just straight up pulled out his gun and shot its mangled head with a .45-caliber pistol.

Without even looking at how far his measly round pierced through its kevlar-like skin, I grabbed Isaac’s collar and looked him straight in the eye. It was fucking obvious that he had the shock of his life seeing a bullet sink to the outermost layer of its skin and stop almost immediately—slightly deforming in the process, but I had never seen a fucking ‘disciple’ listen halfway and move based on instinct right after.

I let out an ample amount of killing intent and directed everything at him, “Isaac… I’ll ask you one fucking question and I mean it as respectfully as possible…”

“Y-Yes?”

“Do you have ADHD?”

“What?”

“You have trouble paying attention, you almost always react or act compulsively, and— you know what? Before all this started, are you on some sort of medication?”

“I-I’m not entirely s-sure… B-But I do get in trouble more often than I can control when I was a kid… You know, I see something and I just move… I dunno…”

I sighed as I let go of him, “Right, I forgive you… But do try and listen— no, let me finish what I’m saying first before doing anything, alright?”

“S-Sure?”

“Good. That’s good for now. However, we’ll try and get you something for that because when we’re outside like this, you’re not just gonna land yourself in trouble if it acts up, it’ll get US in trouble depending on the circumstances. I hope you’ll keep in mind that I want my people to follow me to the dot and I’ll almost always get angry if something doesn’t come my way but in the end, I’m just like that for all of you. That’s how I look out for all of you.”

“…”

“We good— Isaac?”

To my surprise, tears formed on the corners of his eyes and he didn’t even know it himself. He was so confused as to what was happening while he was trying to hide his tears by wiping them with his sleeves but when he tried to wipe them with his hands, I kicked his shin for good measure.

“W-WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!”

I sighed as I pointed at his hands, “Stick to your sleeves. Your hands are bloody.”

“AH…”

“As I said, I’m just looking out for you. And yeah, you can be mad at me too. Getting kicked in the shin hurts… I’ll always do shit like this but remember—”

“You’re just looking out for me…”

“Exactly.”

At this point, Isaac looked like he was rebooting or something because he was slowly nodding in place while looking at nothing. However, right as he finished his own thing, the motherfucker straight up took a knee and offered his sword to me, garnering the attention of everyone in the immediate vicinity.

“The fuck is that guy doing?”

“We’re clearing corpses and he’s kneeling like an idiot…”

“He’s giving me the creeps…”

“Is he trying to get knighted?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

“This is too weird, man… I’ll help in the other sectors…”

Despite all that we’re hearing, Isaac was still doing his own thing and I had to wave him over.

“We don’t do that over here—”

“I do!”

“I don’t!”

“I insist you do! I’m getting tired here—”

“No one’s telling you to do that shit—”

“C’mon, man! Just knight me!”

“I’m not a—”

“JUST KNIGHT ME! OW! WHY’D YOU HIT ME?!”

“I’m just looking out for you—”

“NO, YOU’RE NOT!”

“Yep, no I’m not—”

“A-HA! YOU’RE JUST AVOIDING—”𝒪𝓋𝓵𝐞xt.𝗇𝓔t

“I’m looking out for myself at the moment… Our lives aren’t in danger but my street cred’s already going downhill from what you’re doing…”

“FUCK! I FORGOT ABOUT THAT! CAN WE JUST DO THIS IN PRIVATE?!”

“No. Just no— I’m leaving…”

“C’MON! YOU’RE JUST GONNA STAND UP AND I’LL BE ON MY KNEES AGAIN!”

“DON’T FUCKING SAY THAT OUT LOUD! PEOPLE ARE GONNA GET THE WRONG IDEA!!!”