Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Hearing Quinn’s words right now, there was an invisible partition forming between us so I slapped my knees and got up, looked for my phone for “receipts”, and then told her what she wanted to hear.

Well, most of it.

And somehow, it sounded similar to the first time I tried to kidnap—err… recruit Rin into my fold. But this time, I was showing her a little presentation through my phone to basically back up my claims so that another instance of her doubting me wouldn’t happen again.

“Okay~ You’ve become suspicious of me after finding fresh fuel in our tank so I’ll give you a proper introduction. I’m Sky Ishiyama—I didn’t change my name or anything—I actually own a few shops where I mainly sell rice for a living but my certain hobbies kept me and my family alive—even enabling me to get to where I’m at. In the grand scheme of things, I’m good at making reasonable and forgiving deals with everyone but I can still be a shrewd businessman if I so wanted… or if the people from the other side were fucking asking for it.”

“You love saying, “In the grand scheme of things”, huh?”

I lightly puffed my cheeks as I ignored her remark, “I’m actively maintaining five towns spread apart though I have several more that’s reclaimed and waiting to be turned apocalypse-worthy… You know, self-sustaining without the gennies-run-by-deadheads part. Furthermore, I’ve made allies with the common people, like-minded people, the government, and you guys—only disclosing information that could only benefit us but wouldn’t spark conflict because as I said earlier, I wanted all of us to work together as one group.”

“Hmm.”

“I’m gonna tell you straight, discovering that you’re producing engines that could run Ethanol 100% and Sal making said Ethanol is something I so wanted to fucking do but didn’t have the means to do so. In my book, as shady as this would sound, I’m gonna make you a deal you wouldn’t be able to refuse.”

Quinn lightly shook her head as she was now smiling at me, “Dork…”

I brought up the accent plus the fingers up together like I was trying to ask for food, “Whaat? I was just e-explaining me-self~”

Kaley added, “Doofus…”

Quinn let out a chuckle, “You didn’t have to explain yourself the second time, I just said that I wanted to see your place for some random reason because I didn’t want to argue anymore. It’s my fault. I know it’s only been a few days but I know when someone’s genuine.”

Tatiana interjected, “How about us? Also, didn’t you say that you think that Isaac’s hiding something?”

Anne nodded a few times, “Yeah, I heard that too! What’s he hiding?”

Quinn waved them off, “One at a time, okay? For the power couple, I think you two still have something to talk about… And you, Russian chick, I dunno why but you seem like a spy—”

Kaley and I instantly chuckled but Tatiana was having none of it, “Not this shit again! I’m not a spy, alright?! It’s the movies you’ve been seeing!”

Quinn cackled, “I know! My bad, my bad… but yeah, Is Jose really military as I guessed?”

I nodded quietly, “Yeah, but we trust him with our lives— and you can also do the same—”

“I trust you, I do… but what’s gonna happen if he makes contact with the Military Academy? They won’t just burn this place to the ground, right?”

“You’re just being paranoid again. Did you forget that you’re already dealing with them—”

“Mauro’s dealing with them, not me.”

“That’s basically the same but yeah, all you need to do is keep it tight with each other but do they know anything about the engines you’re making?”

“No. Just you guys, everyone here, and Sal’s group.”

“Not even Mr. Cuervo?”

“Did you hear me mention his name?”

“Chill your tits, damn. Is this a recent project or are you trying to do something under the—”

“Hey. He’s the one who brought us all together but we don’t need to report every little thing we do to him. The Garcia Family’s proof of that. But yeah, whatever the fuck they’re doing is not something of the same magnitude we were trying to accomplish. But since you two are kinda suddenly buddy-buddy, he probably told you that.”

I nodded, “Yeah, something like that. But yeah, just in case… if something were to erupt between you guys and the military academy, contact me as soon as possible.”

“Hmm? You have the power to stop them?”

“Not exactly but I’m your best shot—”𝑶𝒱𝓛xt.𝐜𝑶𝓶

“We can always fight back—”

“And I want your groups to work together, not kill each other. Keep the status quo and your relationship with each other would be more than just exchanging heads for military vehicles.”

“Fine. But you better answer at the first ring or else.”

“Sure, but always keep a phone close to you, not have Anna always scrambling to look for you when hers rings.”

“Deal.”

“Deal. Are we good now?”

“Wanna make up for some bad shit you did? You know, almost poking my eye out?”

“C’mon, that was funny as shit. I made it up on the spot!”

“Fucking… I’m gonna have a wash. Can’t have this oil and sweat dry on my skin. Besides, we’ll be going outside.”

“Where?”

At this point, it was almost at the same time when Quinn decided to pay the industrial park a visit, and since we were pretty much free of our responsibilities, she brought us over again. However, I made sure to refill our ammunition with her own stock because one, we used it to help her clean up her territory and two, they were barely using it.

Well, I doubt we’d get to fight the same number of deadheads this time though my knuckles were itching for a certain asshole that brought unnecessary trouble.

‘He was probably let go, that’s why Mauro managed to talk to him… Who though…’

With that said, it didn’t take long for us to drive back to Mauro’s Industrial Park and the place had never been so busy compared to before. Almost all of the people inside were sweating through their overalls and it looked like none of them had even taken a break.

It’s just that it was pretty obvious that only a couple of buildings were running on full cylinders and I’m pretty sure the ones “powering” them up had several scoops of pre-workout and then some.

‘That’ll be an insane workout though… not that effective but still downright insane…’

And just before we could drive inside one of the buildings, our custom Raptor which was actually sticking out like a sore thumb amidst these ‘customized’ vehicles was instantly recognized. Almost immediately, everyone gave us a mix of reactions but it’s more along the lines of, “I thought we were ALL supposed to work on this place’s problems first thing in the morning?”

“THE FUCK ARE YOU LOOKING AT? HUH?!” Quinn instantly exploded at one of the three-digit members we parked by.

“I-I-I WASN’T—”

“WHERE’S DAVE?! AND WHERE THE FUCK’S LOGAN?! WHO FUCKING LET HIM LOOSE?!”

With Quinn’s voice thundering around like Zeus hit his shin on an ottoman, the people she was looking for turned up only after a few moments. However, Dave looked like he was abruptly woken up from his afternoon nap while Logan looked like he received a sudden booty call.

And almost immediately, Quinn talked to Dave about business—completely ignoring Logan’s advances and the guy didn’t seem to be getting annoyed that he was being treated like dirt.

It’s just that when Quinn waved me over to join in the conversation, his face just darkened before he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“THE FUCK?! WHY IS HE INVOLVED?! YOU KEEP IGNORING ME ALL THIS TIME AND THAT BITCH-ASS HEAD GETS SPECIAL TREATMENT?! I KNOW YOU’RE JUST FUCKING OTHER GUYS TO MAKE ME JEALOUS BUT THIS DOESN’T SEEM FAIR! FUCK IT, I’LL FUCK WHOEVER HIS GIRL IS TO PROVE A POINT BUT I’LL BREAK THAT FUCKING SLUT’S HEAD OPEN IF SHE’S UGLY AS FUCK—”

With great respect to this place’s tradition and how they follow rank, I completely ignored the first part of his sentence but the last part was something I should remove a tooth or two from him for.

I abruptly released killing intent as I turned around to face him but he had already jumped back and was holding a large bowie knife that had a bone handle. And trust me, I would’ve stopped if I saw fear in his eyes but this time, he was consciously trying to piss me off.

The motherfucker was smiling from ear to ear when he saw my expression and I barely heard Quinn and Jose when I grasped the hilt of my blade.

Fuck it, anyone could tell me that this was my greatest weakness—being overly protective of Kaley and getting consumed with anger if she gets disrespected—but everyone should fucking know by now that you don’t fucking poke a dragon with a stick and get out fucking unscathed with it.