Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Ben was just wearing a smirk before he slapped his lap and stood up, giving Cass a pinch on the cheek before he went to their room trying to look as mysterious as he could. But yeah, it made everyone else who wasn’t familiar with his work extremely curious but we had more questions than answers when he went outside.

The motherfucker came out wearing full combat gear with NVGs, but aside from his sidearm that looked to be a Glock 26, he had the same type of baston—the eskrima sticks I used on JP and Seb’s first ‘training’ session—tucked in his right pit. Furthermore, he pulled out a set of batteries and replaced it with the one in his flashlight but once he turned it on, it gave out this purple-blackish sheen and I had to say something.

“What… Are you going on an exorcism or something?”

“Huh?”

“Did you also bring EMF Readers, an Ouija board, and some other shit—”

“No! Bro, you do know that the dorms are still segregated to this day, right? And you do know that we’re aware of certain places couples might you know… sneak out and play rub the salami or deconstruct the taco, right?”

“Ah… Then why do you keep bringing the black flashlight if you know where they could be—”

“They get creative, man… trust me. God… just yesterday, I found ‘traces’ all over that oak tree you and Mimi were sitting on—”

“WHAT?! THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?! WE WERE SITTING THERE FOR THREE FUCKING HOURS!”

Kaley tried to wave me down, “W-What are you guys talking about?”

Mimi knowing jack shit of what we were talking about followed, “Traces of what?”

Ben answered flatly, “Bodily fluids— fuck it, semen, ejaculate, or whatever it is that comes out after fucking. Would you guys believe me that I also found traces from under the stove— UNDER THE FUCKING STOVE! Who fucking does that?!”𝑂𝐕𝑙xt.𝗇𝓔t

As soon as he said that, chaos just fucking ensued and there was almost a shooting when I stole the flashlight from his hands and tried to shine it in their room.

#2 chimed in, “So your job here is to look for semen—”

Ben quickly cut him off, “Hey! I just met you today but no wisecracks until we shared some drinks, alright?! That’s the bare minimum, got it?! But yeah, the university hires people like me to make sure that no one’s ‘sinning’ on their holy land of sorts but we could only do so much without the internet, right?”

I was trying my best to hold my laughter, “Of course, they pull this shit. Aren’t they aware that their precious students could still have sex inside the dorms and without their biological counterparts?”

Ben chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know and don’t care but what I do care about is that I earn twice the amount of credits at night and I get bonuses if I make discoveries and shit with definite proof provided. I can’t just pull them off each other, right? I’ve fought someone with a boner before, that shit broke me the longer it went on…”

In any case, most of us were still game for a little sightseeing though we were going out in two groups: Ben’s group that would actually work to look for ‘sinners’ and to do night patrol, and my group that would actually see some sights.

I didn’t actually need to see the same sights I’ve seen before but Kaley seemed excited to see the place I studied in so I was obviously gonna be the tour guide.

In some twisted way, our groups were actually segregated because all of the guys were in Ben’s group while I was stuck with all of the girls wanting to take a walk. Even Mimi decided to come with us even though she was also familiar with the sights but the group on Ben’s side had differing reasons as to why they wanted to help him earn credits.

It ranged from being able to use NVGs to the obvious reason which was to catch poor couples in the act.

In any case, we brought a few snacks for the walk and a loadout just enough for emergency situations. This place was practically safe but even Ben had to bring a sidearm for safety. But yeah, we wouldn’t walk around with our primary weapons slung on our bodies but I did leave our keys to the ones that would stay behind like Jesus and a few others for a quick pickup.

Our group went further up on the part of the university that was still a little undeveloped where we were walking on a trail that was barely visible.

The herbs, trees, and bushes were obviously spread apart unlike the central part of the campus, but it didn’t take long before we reached a clearing that would be perfect for a picnic at a time when the moon wasn’t our only natural source of light.

Kaley looked around, “What is this place?”

Mimi nudged her gently while wearing a smile, “Just wait for it, it’s about time—”

I shook my head as I chuckled, “Nah, there’s a better way than waiting for the right time. Everybody clap!”

“Huh—”

Before Mimi could finish her question, everybody else clapped in unison and the whole area just glowed with the gentle light coming from hundreds—maybe thousands of fireflies. They appeared from the bushes and the trees surrounding us, starting in the area we were in and slowly pulsing out, giving us a light show like no other.

‘Man, it still feels surreal every time I see it…’

Once I looked at everybody, all of them were just gobsmacked from what they just witnessed, and even Mimi who was supposed to know of this campus’ secret couldn’t believe her eyes.

At the moment, I wanted to pull a prank so bad but I held myself and wanted them to enjoy the short moment that could only be seen once a day.

I held Kaley’s hand and she turned to me with a bright smile before looking back at the display, and as cheesy as it would sound, the sight of her smiling like that was something I’d always get caught off-guard and fall in love with her even more.

But funnily enough, Quinn was the one that got most entranced by the display and she clapped loudly after it was over, making everyone follow after her, though only a few fireflies came out and glowed momentarily.

I chuckled, “It’s only once a night, Quinn—and that’s when we’re lucky.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“It means—”

Megan grumbled, “I should’ve taken a video or something… that was—”

Alexa interjected, “Hey. Sometimes it’s best to just enjoy the moment. Even if you recorded it, it wouldn’t be as good experiencing it first-hand.”

Megan nodded pensively, “True… Oh! Can we carve something on the trees?”

Everyone else got excited, “That’s a great idea—”

I panicked and waved all of them off, “Trust me, that’s a bad idea…”

“W-Why?!”

“If we don’t carve it the whole way around, it should be fine, right?”

I shook my head as I tried to get beat up in the middle of this clearing, “Trust me, you don’t—”

Then Kaley saw this other flashlight in my hand, “Wait… Can I—”

Once Kaley shone the other flashlight on a few trees up front, let’s just say that some trees shouldn’t be glowing that way unless they were bioluminescent or covered with glow-in-the-dark paint.

“Are those…”

I nodded, “Yep… The ‘traces’ Ben was talking about—”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“I had to hold onto one of those earlier—”

“Good thing I brought my axe, I’m chopping all of them down…”

“That’ll take all night, Tatiana!”

“It’s fucking worth it…”

“Sanitizer! Where’s my hand sanitizer!”

“I’m gonna be sick…”

“IF I FUCKING DISCOVER WHO FUCKED IN THESE TREES, I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD I’LL STICK THEM ON WITH DUCT TAPE BEFORE I SET THE FUCKING TREE ON FIRE!”

“T-That’s arson or something, Quinn… L-Let’s go to this other spot… And yeah, avoid touching the trees as much as possible… or shine some blacklight on it first…”

Megan grumbled once again, “I kinda wanna go back… The mood’s really soured after that…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“How about you guys? There’s a few more that—”

Mimi’s face suddenly lights up, “Wait! We should take them to ‘that’ spot! It’s k-kinda far from here but it’ll be worth it! I promise!”

“Well… alright! Is it the best one?”

“Y-Yes! It’s probably not to some people but it’s best one—a-aside from knowing that we can clap on that c-clearing and—”

Megan let out a smile as she waved Mimi off, “You’re making it worse! C’mon, let’s go! Where is it?”

I chuckled awkwardly, “We’d probably need to walk a little more than an hour…”

“H-HOW BIG IS THIS PLACE?!”

“C’mon! You guys were living pretty close to this place—”

“Did you forget that we barely had any time to lounge around?!”

“Ah. Well, we could lounge around now. C’mon, it’ll be fun! Trust.”

“Fine…”

With that said, we made our way to ‘that’ place and instead of hiking up on a slope, we were now walking in a decline towards this campsite that had this beautiful lake under the moonlight.

For some reason, the moon and stars felt a little closer here than normal and the way they were reflected by the lake was also a sight to behold. And luckily, we were blessed with clear skies and the only thing we were missing was a case of beer.

Obviously enough, the campsite still had people up, and an older couple had a fire going in front of their cabin, and they were surprised to see a group of people suddenly emerging from the darkness. However, once they saw Mimi’s face, their guarded reaction softened before we introduced ourselves.

“Y-You’re that kid!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am… that’s me…”

“He’s the one with the statue?!”

“Yep… That’s… That’s me…”

“You look so different now! Anyway~ Feel free to use the lake but I’d advise against swimming now because it’s so, so cold—”

“Dear, that young lass could swim there just fine…”

“She’s still there? Did she start a fire—”

“Of course, hon… You’re the one who helped her…”

“Right! Right, I did… Where was I? Oh! Right~ If you young ones want to spend some time by the lake and watch the stars and the moon or something… feel free to do so but don’t stay up too late, alright? Remind that lass for me too, if you may so kindly…”

‘Who are they talking about—’

I didn’t know who this lass they were talking about but it really was a small world when Mimi recognized the person who was drying herself by the small fire.

Mimi leaned to me and whispered, “That’s… That’s the doctor’s daughter… Chloe…”