Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

After a while, we eventually got inside Unc’s Ranch— or should I say, my late Grandpa’s Ranch, which Unc inherited as well aside from his given name.

Currently, it has a nice perimeter made up of a mix of rocks, lumber, and metal— though mostly with wound-up bamboo to give it this extra height. It used to be just this barbed-wire fence with wooden poles up to a normal adult’s chest, but Unc’s been busy with the people he took in his domicile.

‘Seems smaller than it used to now since the whole place has been fenced in…’

In any case, the inside was 50%-60% up to capacity with all the new farms being set up and the elevated nipa huts serving as watchtowers throughout the area. Still, the farm animals Unc had were still roaming around and freely grazing in whichever way they wanted.

‘Seems peaceful despite—’

“Woof!”

“Arf!”

Then, all of a sudden, a dog that could be mistaken for a small bear and another one that could be mistaken for a rat that was accompanied by tiny chimes of bells rushed over to me.

“Hachi! Appa!”

Obviously enough, they were two of the few pets Unc had since forever ago— and even though there were a couple more looking from afar, I was more familiar with these two. In any case, it didn’t take long before I was covered in their fur and saliva, but I kid you not when I say that I almost shat my pants when Kaley came out of the side door covered in blood.

“What—”

Kaley wore a bright smile as soon as she locked eyes with me, “IT’S A GIRL!”

As soon as she said that, everyone around the area was about to breathe a sigh of relief or celebrate, but it was cut off by what Unc blurted out as he got out the same door:

“Shame, got to throw it in the trash—”

“HUH?”

“WHAT?!”

“NANI THE FUCK?!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

“SIR?!”

Obviously, I laughed my fucking ass off—even my immediate family like Jared and a few others—because yeah, we had this old, old~ running joke in my fucked up family where we sell the kid if it was a boy and throw it in the trash if it was a girl. It took a bit of time to explain to everyone that we’re slightly fucked up than to explain that joke.

Still, Unc just gave me this nod of thanks before heading back to his house and beckoning everyone else to follow.

“C’mon! Breakfast is almost ready! Don’t worry about paying… for now… I’ll send y’all an invoice later— HAH!”

Once we all got inside, it was safe to say that we had a small party going on because every space or room available was occupied by 4-5 people. We had this small collection of unfamiliar faces, so I just took it upon myself to get everybody acquainted. I knew some of the people Unc took in, but the ones I’m not familiar with took it upon themselves to introduce themselves and their companions.

The first of the few were a pair of guards in their late 20s who Unc picked up in the main town for extra security and additional farm hands in exchange for a home-cooked meal thrice a day and their own rooms to fool around on.

Their names were Audrey and Bill—and the whole time our crew was inside Unc’s house, they couldn’t help but eye the gear we had on ourselves.

In any case, I didn’t put much thought into it because they already have the essentials on them, even if they’re all bare and stock. I believe handing out a spare flashlight attachment or a shell holder to them would make their day, but looking at the marks on their bodies—especially their necks, I would suggest a pregnancy test, an IUD, or a pack of rubber.

While my own circle was guilty of doing the naked dance as much as we could, much like their guns, they were probably going at it bare and raw without any attachments or, in the most literal sense, protection.

Though it’s not my business as to how they go about it, just judging from the vibes they were putting out, they were 100% doing it for pleasure, not for creating children.

But yeah, aside from regular Joes and Janes introducing themselves to us and giving me their backstories, one of my far relatives, Jhun, eventually spoke up and asked me what happened on our side.

It was safe to say none of them could believe what was going on in the cities but I can’t just come in with such a group just because.

Then I turned the question back at him, “So what happened here?”

He chuckled, “Not much, heh. If we’re comparing stories… the only excitement we got here besides your aunt giving birth is the usual things we do to keep ourselves entertained. Ya know, cockfighting, fishing, walkin’ around, and stuff.”

“How’s the dead like?”

“Well… they gave us a bit of a jump when all hell broke loose but all of ’em are pretty slow and awkward… I don’t even see the point of walling this place up full of bamboo. Clearing them every now and again gives us the incentive to walk around and get our exercise though.”

“No specials or anything?”

“I mean… not the specials you talked about but the soldiers who would venture out every now and again would tell stories of climbers and diggers they’d find on the wild.”

“Hmm? The way you named them already give me the full description but anything to elaborate on?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “Haven’t seen them myself but you have to ask the ones in the town who saw ’em.”

I looked at everyone present, “So… None of you have ventured out ever since… you know?”

After the initial reactions of people shaking their heads or people staring at me blankly, one of the adolescents who looked to be in their 20s looked like he wanted to share something but his parents being present was preventing him from doing so.

Kaley and I immediately clocked his reaction and just decided to pursue the matter later.

However, Unc was actually hearing our conversation and he just pointed at the kid with a straight face:

“Jumbo! You’ve been sneaking out when your parents are out fishing, right? Tell ’em.”

“Ah—”

“YOU WERE SNEAKING OUT JULIAN?!/ WHAT?! EXPLAIN!”

The kid named “Jumbo” shook his head profusely, “I-I— I d-didn’t—”

“DON’T LIE TO ME NOW!/ JUST TELL THEM! I ALREADY OUTED YOU!” Unc and Jumbo’s mom spoke at the same time.

“I… I didn’t go too f-far…”

At that moment, his mom was about to reprimand him but I anchored the conversation back to my first inquiry.

“Still, did you see them in person? Want me to call you Jumbo or Julian?”

He glanced at his parents momentarily first before he looked back at me, “Y-You can call me whatever… B-But yeah… I did spot those diggers… They… They don’t do shit at all…”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean— They, uhhm… they just… try to dig a hole and die inside it.”

“You 100%?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re certain that they die or do they just get stuck in the hole?”

“That’s— they’re good as dead i-if they can’t do anything, r-right?”

I shook my head slightly, “Not quite. Can you lead me to where you found them?”

“What?”

“Judging from how you said it, it seemed like you just left them alone and did nothing to completely clear them. Trust me, you gonna want to double-tap ’em to avoid future regrets—”

Jumbo’s mom cut in, “Ain’t now way he’s—”

I cut her off as well, “He’ll just sneak away again when you’re away. Better teach him to do it better.”

“Still—”

“It’s much better than getting stuck here twiddling his thumbs for a fillet of fish, ya know?” I then turned back to Jumbo when his mom couldn’t say more, “How far is it?”

“N-Not far…”

“C’mon! I’ll even teach you how to fire a gun if you’re info’s correct.”

“For real?!”

With that said, Jumbo led me to the back end from where Unc’s ranch was located and a few of my crew came with us just out of curiosity.

“Are we there yet?” Tatiana asked.

“Soon…”

“How about now?”

“…”

“You’ll warm up to me, Jimbo, you’ll see~”

“…here.”

“Hmm?”

“Over there as well…” Jumbo pointed at a few more spots a few meters away.

At that moment, I began digging around the unmoving corpse that was doing the thing a stepsister would do—but to a hole they dug on a ground, but all of the colors on Jumbo’s face drained out when he got to this other spot where a deep hole was present.

“U-Umm… This… There’s supposed to be—”

Tatiana shone her flashlight through the hole, “Shit’s deep.”

Jumbo turned to me, “A-Am I in trouble?”

“Not quite,” I chuckled as I chucked in a grenade in the hole and stepped back.

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