Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I was a little speechless at first but looking at it a little closer, the guy wasn’t using it because he had no other options but because it was his weapon of choice.

‘Number 24, huh?’

His crowbar was a 72-inch chunk of metal that had a chisel edge at the end and it had portions where it was wrapped crudely by leather and duct tape.

Furthermore, it looked like it had definitely seen some action because the blue-orange paint on the ends was already chipped off. Still, the guy looked comfortable wielding it with two hands and we’ll probably see how he’ll fare once the game starts.

With that said, once everyone gathered at the starting point, I got to see what everyone else’s weapon choice was.

It had a mix of modern, martial, and crafted weapons and a small number of them were standing out.

‘Well, it’s how effective you could use it…’

But looking at it the other way, like us, everyone had decent to commendable protective gear covering their bodies and if any rational person would be given the choice, they’d opt to protect themselves rather than to deal more damage.

Obviously enough, Quinn’s equipment was the most eye-catching out of the pack but everyone couldn’t help but give a curious glance toward Tatiana’s weapon.

It was made jointly from the time we were trying to upgrade our gear but instead of having a huge-ass slab of metal to wave around, Tatiana opted for a more conservative approach.

The variant she requested was essentially based on a fire axe she used before—albeit slightly larger by a small percentage—and the injection system was placed on the opposite side of the axe head, where the pointy end was located. It had 2-4 times the capacity of the small canisters we used and a simple button would allow the sudden release of the gas inside them.

However, that axe was simply fastened on the back of her hips and her sword was still her main go-to.

At this point, Tatiana and I were just clumped with Quinn and her partner while the others were pretty much doing the same on other spots. Everyone was talking amongst themselves but they were speaking at a volume that would make it for someone trying to listen in understand what they were saying.

Quinn leaned over to me, “We take the left, you take the right?”

“Is it okay to team up with other families?”

“Hah? This isn’t teaming up. What do you mean?”

“You said—”

“If anything, we’re just trying to avoid each other.”

“True, but before that, d’you have any idea how the other participants are?”

Number 24 chimed in, “In terms of what?”

“In this setting, obviously.”

“Just as good as anyone, I guess. If anything, they’re trying to avoid bumping into you.”

I lightly chuckled as I shook my head, “Uh-huh… but hear me out, instead of choosing who goes right or left, we should think about who’s going in the front and bringing the backside.”

“Huh?”

“Look at those shipping containers. If they’re packed to the brim, there will probably be hundreds— if not, more than a thousand deadheads inside of them. If we rush in as they are released, they’d be coming from three points before we know it.”

“Wait, three points?”

“The intersection. They’ll be coming from the shipping containers, the inner play area, and the other side of the outer ring once they start pouring out.”

Quinn interjected after wearing a pensive expression, “Wait, it’s gonna be four if the other side gets overwhelmed.”

“Sure, if they took the roundabout route. But yeah, it’ll be impossible to get inside the inner play area as they get released—to make them only come from one side and to make things easier— so, the best course of action is to wait here and let them come to spread them thin and then—”

As I was explaining to the group, an unfamiliar pair—a male and a female—came up to me and they let out the faintest of smiles after a short bow.

They were wearing decent gear and the handheld weapons they were wielding had slightly longer reach than a regular machete but the slight wear on the handle told me they weren’t used as much. However, that wasn’t the issue now because we were more concerned about their intentions.

Quinn spoke up, “We’re busy here. The fuck do you two want?”

The lady just let out another smile, “Hello, Mr. Ishiyama… Mrs. De Leon… We’re from the Garcia Family and we’d like to propose a three-way partnership.”

‘Partnership?’

I chuckled, “We got a minute or so before the game starts so make it quick. What do you got?”

The lady nodded promptly, “Yes, this game was said to be a little dangerous so we need bodies we could rely on to increase our chances of surviving, and if we do win, we’ll only take 15% of the winnings if…”

“If?”

“If u-umm you’d return— I mean, give us Mr. Mason’s chain and his 10mm pistol, you can keep the rest of what you got from him because you rightfully won them in your bet. He requests only for those two things in exchange for our family to receive a smaller cut if we do win in this game.”

“But if we lose?”

“Then… Then we hope you’re open to negotiating with us in regards to taking them back.”

I turned to Quinn, “What do you think?”

“Quinn shrugged her shoulders, “What do I think? What do YOU think? We’ll win more either way since you need to return that crybaby’s shit so you decide.”

“Fair enough,” I chuckled as I looked at the two from the Garcia Family, “Huddle up, here’s what we’re gonna do…”

[0:03]

[0:02]

[0:01]

Like fucking clockwork, loud music replaced the ticking sound, and at the same time, the large doors of the shipping containers were actually blown off with some sort of explosive charge and the dead just started pouring out one after the other.

We could hear the dull thuds—from the ones on the shipping containers a few levels above the ground—as each of them made contact with the floor, and it was mixing with the low snarls and growls they were also letting out.

It only took a second before a small mountain was formed but it also took a second before the ones that got a pretty good landing literally hit the ground running.

The sound was all too familiar.

It was a constant rhythm of some sort of moist object splotching around in quick succession but in reality, it was the sound of dozens and dozens of sprinters or ferals making their way towards us— without regard for the outer layer of their soles or their palms getting decimated at the speed that they were going.

If their shoes didn’t survive, how could their leathery flesh do better?

The faster ones that were smart or lucky enough to figure out or stumble upon the fact that we were all chilling in the outer ring were the ones we first made direct eye contact with. With that said, everyone else was still in the same position and we were just waiting for them to enter our bubble before we start to carpet the play area with their bodies.

Yes, none of us—even the pairs who didn’t team up with us—didn’t just rush forward to their deaths because the trick to fighting a large number of deadheads was to try and spread them evenly like making a nice sandwich.

At this point, the first victim was a fucking deadhead that made use of a great racing line to reach us but his head already flew several feet before its body recognized it was already dead-dead.

Quinn’s reach with her weapon was almost cheating because I’m pretty sure she would be able to hunt ducks with a long enough rake.

She could cut, pierce, and smash with her weapon but from the sounds we were hearing, she preferred the sound of coconuts breaking open.

With that said, each of us gave the necessary space to each other so that we could all move freely and receive each deadhead that came our way but the tricky part was keeping a proper footing amidst the dead bodies. Furthermore, awareness of our surroundings was also key because deadheads would also come from behind us.

I was a few steps ahead from everybody else while I was hugging the outermost edge of the outer ring, and it gave me five or so steps I could retreat to. Tatiana was on the opposite spot—even though I said we said at first that we’d be on the same side—but since the other participants did the same thing as us, we can’t just trust our backs on complete strangers.

Almost everyone did the same thing and it was kinda paying off for the most part… I think…

‘Hmm…’