Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I thought Sal saying that would prompt a reaction from everyone else present but it was just akin to telling your roommates if they wanted regular-ass food. It took a lot to maintain a stoic expression—even Kaley, but the first one to crack was Mr. Alvarez.

"Shit… Fine. I'll take 50—wait, you said pounds, right? Do you have them in kilos?"

Sal rolled her eyes, "Do you want me to repack them for you?"

"It would be nice to—"

"I was being fucking sarcastic. They came in pounds when I started, they'll still come in fucking pounds when nearing its end. I'm not fucking changing anything."

"Jesus fucking christ, you don't have to be so hostile about it. I changed my mind, I'll just have 20."

"Twenty?! You said fifty!"

"I said I changed my mind. We can't have too much at one time. Weed's been pretty much holding my guys together but that shit's dangerous if you have them regularly."

"Fine. How about you?" Sal sighed softly before turning to Mr. Cuervo.

Mr. Cuervo shook his head, "Pass. Stock's been dwindling as of late but H has been pretty much untouched."

"Really? It's post-games week, you'd probably need a pound or two for the ones that got a little too beat up."

"You're right but they can take it. More alcohol and pussy has been doing the trick for my people these days."

'They know at least that, huh?'

"Fine," Sal replied before looking over at Mary.

Mary's eyebrows rose momentarily, "Hmm? Oh, right. We'll take a hundred as usual."

'...!'

Sal let out a bright smile, "That's what I'm fucking talking about!"

"Wait—"

"Hey, no backsies! I already lost sales from—"

"Make it 200."

"HUH?!"

"Mary?! You cool?"

"Brian, you're hearing that, right?"

I thought a hundred pounds was already too much for a single family but Mary actually doubled-down to have the biggest purchase in this meeting. I'm pretty sure that the couple couldn't possibly use it all so I was guessing they have some other purpose for it.

Mary just chuckled as she waved everyone down, "Hey now, we're STILL in charge of distribution. We still have our clients giving us a visit for the sole purpose of buying anything to make them forget. And yeah, with this end of the world thing going on, that's all they pretty much do so we're squeezing them dry as this thing goes on."

Brian added, "Not exactly, no. We aren't even squeezing them, they're basically dependent on it to the point that our scavenging groups have it easy. Especially H, once you gain tolerance, you'd have to take a lot more to get the same feeling. Only a tenth of our machines are turned on for our regular patrons since most of them visit just to buy those stuff."

'Are they holed up in a casino? Which one though?'

At this point, half the heads have made their purchase, leaving only me, Castro, and Mauro to transact with the rest of that merchandise.

Mauro purchased 25 pounds—where Quinn was strongly against—while Castro purchased nothing. It was because Benjie informed him that they also had a lot of stock left at home so purchasing even a little bit was ill-advised. On the other hand, much to the surprise of Kaley, Quinn, Edith, and Mr. Cuervo, I purchased a pound for a specific reason.

That reason could either land me behind a barrel of a gun but regarding the circumstances, this was one of the ways to move forward.

'I need to have it tested first.'

Heroin still had its medical uses but the downside was just it was too fucking addictive. Well, that could apply to several drugs but if strictly regulated and carefully administered, it could still relieve a lot of pain and even save a life. Only a few people could get on with enduring whatever they were feeling but in my honest opinion, there should be other ways to deal with it.

It's just that I need to have another option just in case something unexpected pops up and even if I despise drugs in the bottom of my heart, like I said earlier, it had its uses.

Sal thought I was joking, "Kid? Just one? Are you pulling my leg now? You should be buying ten at least!"

"I just need to test them—"

"Test? If you're gonna check if I laced them with Fentanyl—"

I jokingly asked, "Did you?"

Sal instantly glared at me, "Kid, if I wanted to kill every client I have, I would've. But that's not how I work. You can trust my goods just as much as you could trust the quality of my food. I know you're just joking but I'm just putting it out there. So, just one?"

"Just one."

"Fine, but I'll be expecting more next time."

"We'll see."

After that, a few more talks were exchanged but Mr. Cuervo brought up another subject as he turned to Mauro.

"Tell us about the Philippine Military Academy. The one in Cavite."

'...?'

"Academy? Isn't it better to call it a Military Base now? It's one of the biggest DDR Camps out there but it's not fair to call it that, no?"

"Sure, but tell us about it."

Mauro tidied himself before he scooted a bit forward, "Well, it was as impenetrable as fuck but like us, this apocalypse is slowly getting to them."

Mr. Alvarez interjected, "What do you mean by was?"

"I'm getting to it."

"Fine, go ahead."

"Alright, I have several groups tasked with scavenging, scouting, taking back cars, etc. outside and one of my groups came upon one of their groups. It seems like they're also outside for a supply run and it became a little heated."

"And?"

"It obviously became a stand off because of the way we looked but the officer that came with them offered an agreement of some sort."

"What kind?"

"Can you stop fucking asking questions and let me finish?!"

"..."

"Great—"

"Go ahead—"

"You!"

"I didn't ask a question, did I— I didn't ask a question. Continue!"

"Fuck you. Anyway, this agreement really favored us because they're offering military vehicles and parts—well, that's what we requested—in exchange for biter heads which they requested to be alive—you know, still moving. I couldn't care less about what they're doing with them but they're holding up their end of the deal. We gave them a dump truck full of heads once and they gave us a jeep in perfect working condition."

Quinn interjected, "They removed the gun though."

"Yeah, unfortunately. In any case, we believe that they're in close contact with this huge-ass university which is only a few kilometers away from their base. Trust me, when I say huge-ass, I mean fucking huge-ass. Like a huge-ass trunk of a Cadillac or something. That place is probably their source of food because not that I know what's inside their base, I highly doubt they could produce as much food—you know, given the circumstances. So, I'm thinking they have some sort of deal like ours."

"Probably…"

"I had one of my teams drive-by once to exchange our services for food but they just took one look at us and turned us away. Get this, I had a different team come back that looked "decent" and they gave them a deal. I hate to fucking say it but their produce is slightly better than what Sal's peddling."

Sal turned menacingly to Mauro, "The fuck did you just say?"

"L-Listen, Sal. I'm just being honest, alright? I thought they'd have at least a few meat products but they fucking don't. They have these veggie meat replacements or whatever that doesn't taste like whatever the fuck they're trying to imitate. However, the lettuce and the tomatoes that came back were fucking crisp and juicy, I could eat it on its own."

'Uh-oh…'

Elsa casually added with the same look as Sal, "Uh-huh."

"Hey, I was just—"

"Uh-huh."

"C-C'mon! D'you want me to lie on your faces?!"

Mauro was already sweating bullets from the way the two—three were looking at him, Edith included but I couldn't help but let out a reaction when they started to talk about this "huge-ass" university.

I didn't even think that we were this close to that place and out of all the places to make it, that one along with that academy survived. It brought a few memories—good and bad—in my head and even Kaley noticed I was acting weird.

With that said, Mr. Cuervo knew that something was up and he brought the attention to me.

"Hermano, something wrong? You're looking a little uncomfortable there?"

"I'm good…"

"Hangover or something?"

"No…"

"Then what is it?"

I turned to Mauro, "Hey, that university… Does it also have a huge-ass gate?"

"Hmm? A huge-ass… Yep, has one."

"Long metal fencing that spans a kilometer or two?"

"Yeah?"

"Religious songs running in the background, uptight people: judgy eyes, air of arrogance, and a stick up their butt? Also, do they have these soy drinks and carrot juices on sale with their veggie burgers and mushroom steaks?"

"Wait a fucking second…"

"Yeah, about that… I'm an alumni…"