Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

It was very obvious that the people from the mall a few blocks away from this public market greatly benefited due to us clearing the dead for them because once we drove past them and the other folks chilling outside, they gave us a faint smile, a nod, a wave, or even a quick boob flash for our efforts.

But yeah, I couldn’t care less about them at this moment because instead of going to my old alma mater to prolong their vacation for a few more hours, it was decided to head straight for the Academy.

One other reason for that was the General was about to head out once again, and since JP radioed in to tell them that we were less than an hour away, his loving father decided to delay their trip for as long as he wanted to.

In any case, Logan and Jesus along with their crews decided to just stay outside because we would only take a couple hours or so inside, but it was more for the purpose of networking to see if there were particular soldiers that would bite for something less monotonous and more exciting.

The soldiers stationed outside didn’t even bother to check our vehicles but the General himself—and Major Perez, obviously—were already waiting by the parking area to welcome us back.

The General instantly bear-hugged JP, “Jameson— I mean— JP! Glad to see you safe and sound and— Oh? I don’t know what it is but you do look different compared to last time—”

JP shook his head as he wiggled off his dad’s embrace, “Cut the bullshit, Dad. I’ve left a mess when I left and I need to take care of it right now—”

He waved his son off, “I received your call and I already took care of it—”

“WHAT?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!”

“I don’t understand and I don’t like your tone. You’re away and someone needed to—”

JP scoffed, “I’m sorry about that, General, but I should be the one to fix my mistakes or no one will fucking respect me! They’ll obviously listen to your orders but it just made things worse for me! W-Where— What did you do to them anyway?!”

“Again, I don’t like that tone—”

“FUCK THE TONE! I’LL SPEAK HOWEVER THE FUCK I WANT! DON’T TELL ME THEY’RE JUST ON DISHWASHING DUTY OR SOME BULLSHIT PUNISHMENT TO ‘KEEP THEM IN LINE’! I’M SICK AND TIRED OF OUR SOLDIERS GETTING AWAY—”

All of a sudden, The General’s whole demeanor changed before he sunk his fist into JP’s gut and slammed him onto the Raycolt’s body:

“Again, I don’t like that fucking tone you’re using to address me… Baron… and who said that they got away with dishwashing duty?”

JP never looked so surprised seeing his dad hitting him, “W-What are you—”

“Listen… I’m a little surprised you talked to me that way but no one disrespects a McArthur, even if we share the same name. No one. I’ll understand and let it slide if I was somehow in the wrong but this time, I’m in the right and you should’ve tried to listen a bit more before blowing up in my face. Those vagrants who took our name to the dirt? The Major and I took care of them personally and let’s just say we saved a bit of food because no one could eat in the cafeteria for several days besides a select few… Do you understand?”

“…”

“Baron! Jameson Prometheus McArthur IV! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”

“Y-Yes, General…”

“Repeat it with a lighter tone and look me in the eye as we’re talking.”

“Yes… General… I do understand…”

“And?”

lightsΝοvεl ƈοm “I apologize for my earlier outburst, it won’t happen again…”

“Good. Then where were we? Ah~ Right! Welcome back, everyone! Glad to see that you’re all safe! You all just didn’t get tanned on a beach, right? I’m jealous~ Any souvenirs, perhaps?”

At this point, I just felt bad for JP because even if his heart was in the right place, he went a little overboard with trying to correct his wrongs and even if I would’ve done the same thing as him, in this place, his dad always had the final say and as he mentioned earlier, he was also in the right… mostly.

To be fair, The General should’ve waited and seen how his son could fix his own mistakes instead of always doing it for him because if he really wanted to see how his son would grow, doing that and then chastising him in front of everybody wasn’t the right way to go about it. He could’ve tried to talk it out calmly first—if he really hated the tone they were speaking in—then talk to him privately right after.

But yeah, it seemed like the lessons—although not enough and in very short bursts—I taught JP and the rest could’ve somehow helped them once I gave them back, it felt like JP was back to square one because of what just happened.

However, speaking of things going back to square one, there was a particular individual who started growing his fucking horns back after keeping off of my radar.

Lopez never looked so happy on familiar soil, more so because I haven’t made his life miserable enough—but to Seb and Alexa’s horror, the motherfucker was wearing a huge smile on his face as he was looking at the cadet’s leaderboard.

I was still in mid-conversation with The General and Major Perez when Lopez threw Alexa a look before things went fucking south.

We were barely in the Academy for 15 minutes before a body hit the floor.

Everyone just heard a gunshot before Lopez’s lifeless body dropped dead with blood leaking out of his forehead, and once everyone’s eyes gathered on the perpetrator, it was actually JP who was holding the smoking gun.

“WHAT DID YOU FUCKING DOOOOOO?!” The General just couldn’t believe his eyes.

JP answered coldly, “I told you, dad… I’m sick and tired of people getting away with shit,” then he pointed at Lopez’s corpse, “This motherfucker just got here and found out Seb and his group are at the bottom of the list because they were away and he was already planning to have his way with her.”

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ABOUT WHAT YOU DID?! YOU FUCKING IDIOT!”

“You said it yourself, dad… No one fucks with a McArthur but to me, it applies to every single one of my friends, people, soldiers, and whatnot because if you fucking with any of them in any other way, that’ll happen to you. Besides, who fucking said I’m gonna get hurt? And I’m gonna get parts from that disgusting fuck? Honestly, I’d rather die.”

“YOU… Meet me in my office, that’s an order… soldier… SOMEONE BRING THAT BODY TO THE UNIVERSITY QUICK! SEE IF THEY CAN MAKE USE OF IT SOMEHOW! BLOOD OR ORGANS, IT DOESN’T MATTER!”

“…”

“THE FUCK ARE Y’ALL STARING AT ME?! THIS IS AN ORDER, MOVE! MR. ISHIYAMA, WE’LL TALK FUCKING LATER! DO WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT BUT WE’RE GONNA HAVE A TALK!”

I simply answered respectfully while hiding the delight from my expression, “Alright, I’ll take the body back to school. I’ll be back here in a few hours.”

The General just glared at me, “Make sure you come back here or we’re gonna have a problem.”

I had to let out a chuckle, “Why would we have a problem? I didn’t do anything wrong, right? I’m even helping you—”

“THEN GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! I NEED TO TALK TO MY SON!”

“Alright, then~” I nodded as I glanced at JP who like Seb, Alexa, and the rest of the cadets were also looking at me, “See you all later, alright? I’ll be back soon.”

Saying that, the General just turned around after glaring at JP to follow behind him but JP and the rest acknowledged me first before I pulled out a bodybag and threw Lopez’s body inside it. I actually didn’t think that things would go this way but all the talk Sal mentioned about making use of another person didn’t have a place in my book because even if I would appreciate outside help, if I wanted to do something, I’d just do it myself… especially if it was someone who had this kind of track record.

However, the problem right now was that bringing Lopez’s body to the place where his wife—Dr. Sandara Lopez—would definitely be in could be the biggest thing I’ve done for her or the worst.

Dr. Lopez and especially Chloe—no, both of them probably had never been outside the university’s walls so the topic of murder probably hadn’t crossed their minds even though the motherfucker rightfully deserved it. I’m not entirely sure as to how they’d react to knowing that the person they regarded as their husband or father was killed by the person he was supposed to protect.

But yeah, this was one of the few times I’ll have faith on those two people but I really didn’t think this would happen in the first place.

‘Though I’m not particularly complaining…’