Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

There were still a few more hours before sunset so I decided to squeeze in a bit more work.

I stepped out of Ken's residence and went back to the pool area.

Kaley and Cynthia weren't in the last place I left them but I figured they must've gone elsewhere or checked on Tatiana and Rin. Besides, I was gone for a while and they couldn't wait for me while doing nothing.

With that said, I just planned to organize the brass casings we had collected and tumble them after, but my gold-furred buddy wanted to spend some time with me. It has been a while since we spent time together and he has been the greatest wingman by staying outside at certain times at night, keeping away anyone that wanted to disturb my nightly activities with my roommates, especially when Kaley and I 'made' some midnight snacks.

"Okay, Zeus. Follow me!"

"Woof!"

Zeus just ran up to me while his little brothers and sisters followed right after. They have grown a bit from the last time I saw them and they were definitely like Zeus when I first drove him home.

Their cute high-pitched barks were nonstop as they circled around my feet and they just tumbled all over the place as they followed after me. However, it was funny to see Zeus growl in a low tone when one of his siblings tried to get ahead of him. Well, they could surely communicate with each other because the little buggers were listening to his orders.

It didn't take long before I reached the workshop and Zeus was curiously watching me separate the casings we could still use from the ones we couldn't.

'Who said I couldn't work and spend time with them at the same time?'

"Don't put these on your mouth unless I told you to, okay?"

"Woof!"

'Hmm, can I train him to retrieve different kinds of ammo? Later...'

It was easy enough to get the ball rolling but once I filled up my tumblers with casings of 9mm, .45 ACPs, 5.56s, and 7.62s, I left them tumbling for a while so I could do something else.

That was when Ibarra got dropped off at my compound when Artem's team arrived.

I waved him off, "Ibarra, did they say anything? How about Natasha?"

Ibarra replied, "They said they'll all come here after a bit but Artem wanted to talk to you later… privately. And Natasha… I dunno, honestly. She didn't say a word at the crematorium even when Artem picked us up."

I nodded pensively, "Okay, then. Great work. Grab a snack, sleep for a few, or something… I'm just--"

Ibarra cut me off, "Sir, I… I wanted to ask for a favor..."

"Hmm? Shoot."

"Okay… It's about something peculiar..."

Ibarra thought for a moment before he opened his mouth but he really did have a peculiar favor. He relayed his request with a complex expression and the only time he looked like this was when he held his sister's dog tag after his recovery. With that said, I easily granted his request to have a batch of the same smiley patch Kristoff was always wearing on his vest be made for everyone who wanted to wear it.

Ibarra's face lit up, "Thanks, sir. It would mean a lot--"

I cut him off, "You like her don't you? Natasha, I mean."

Ibarra's face contorted for a moment before he started stammering, "Sir, she uh… she kinda reminds me of my sister… Kinda looks a bit like her too..."

My jaw almost dropped to the floor as I exclaimed, "That's even weirder! Okay, okay~ No judgment here… just saying..."

"Huh? What do you mean-- WAIT! NO! SIR?! THAT'S NOT WHAT I--"

"I can keep a secret, don't worry. No harm, no foul. Just be sure to keep away from laundry machines, windows, tables, and etc. I completely understa--"

"FUCK! SIR! I'M NOT AN-- IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"

Ibarra tried his best to explain himself but I was already outside and was making Zeus and his siblings chase after me. He tried to run after us at first but I didn't even have my full gear on me and Zeus was just too excited like his siblings so we left him in the dust.

I just saw him drooping his head low as he slumped back and I just started cackling as Zeus and the rest ran after me.

'I'm not sure I could joke like this with Artem and the rest later… I'll maybe tone it down… laughter isn't always the best medicine...'

However, I had to slow down after a time because Zeus' siblings were starting to lag behind. I started walking the rest of the way but we did stop by Andrew's residence so they could have a small water break.

Since we were already out, I decided to take it slow and walk around the area and talk with the people who bumped with me. Their moods turned for the better after seeing Zeus and the little ones circle around me and we just shared a small conversation before we continued on.

I just sat by the edge of the canal system watching the water flow in the same direction while Zeus was resting his head on my shoulder. I was rubbing his nose while his siblings were fighting as to who gets to sit on my lap but a vehicle approached us from behind.

Jay called out, "Hey, boss! Taking it slow today? You guys are early!"

I replied with a solemn expression, "Yeah, something like that..."

Jay stared at me for a second before he sat down next to me. Bing and Daisy followed right after they put away their things and I eventually told them what happened. Their expressions grew somber as I said more but a look of awkwardness appeared on Jay's face.

"Y'know, boss… I'm feeling really awkward right now."

"Yeah… I could tell by your face. Anything happened on your side?"

"I should've started with this but, umm… Faith's pregnant! Can you believe it?! WE'RE--"

My eyes widened in shock before I shook his shoulder, "Oh, shit! Congrats, man!"

Jay started laughing, "THANKS! THANKS! I know we're still far before everything's over but we couldn't just wait until it is. Who knows when will it be over, right? I got surprised when she told me but I genuinely felt happiness instead of worrying about our child's future. It's gonna be different growing in this kind of time but we just need to keep moving forward, right?"

Bing interjected, "But you were crying as you woke all of us up when she told you the news..."

Daisy added, "Pfft, I was still groggy when he kept knocking on my door too but I just nodded so I could get some sleep. You were a slobbering mess yesterday!"

Jay roared, "That was tears of joy! Shaddap, Bing!"

We all started laughing but I was deep in thought for a moment.

Bing tried to wave me off, "Boss?"

I snapped back to reality, "Oh! Right! Have you two gone to the hospital yet? You should talk to an OB so she could get a check-up. Is she taking prenatal vitamins yet? If I remember correctly, she should--"

Jay cut me off, "Don't worry, boss. It's all taken care of, we went first thing this morning. Why are you more worried than I am?! I'm the dad here!"

I chuckled, "Roight~ Roight~"

We started laughing once more but I eventually excused myself so they could have a short break as well.

I went back to the workshop to discover Rin tumbling the second batch of our casings and she told me that Kaley and Cynthia switched with her. With that said, I finally let her do a batch of 9mms just by herself. I didn't need to worry about it as much because she saw me do it a lot of times and all she needed to do was actually do it.

She was quite nervous at first because she spent a lot of time making sure that the right amount of gunpowder was used so that any and all problems could be avoided. It was because putting less or putting more were equally dangerous.

It could either not fire or explode in the user's face and losing one's life due to faulty bullets was a bad way to go.

Rin would look at my expression every time she made a decision or a move but I kept a straight face all throughout her bullet-making process. She just lightly pouted as she glared at me but she eventually made her first one.

"First one! Look! Look! Can you check it?"

"I dunno, why don't you check it yourself?"

"Hmmrgh… it looks~ fine? I think?"

"You think? Do you wanna say that to the people who would use that?"

"J-Just tell me if it's okay or not! I don't want to--"

"Trust yourself. What do you think?"

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