Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

After some time, I was woken up by my 4:00 AM alarm, and Cynthia who was sleeping right next to me woke up as well. I instantly pressed the snooze button before I jumped down the bed, and Cynthia was still trying to sneak a few minutes of sleep while I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom.

'3… 2… 1...'

After exactly five minutes, my alarm blared up again, and Cynthia was blindly searching for my phone. She was muttering some words using bits of Spanish, English, and Filipino I could partially understand, and I couldn't even see her face due to her hair being undone. However, she was only a few inches away from the edge of the bed.

"Cynthia! My phone's in my pock--"

A dull thud instantly followed and Cynthia was groaning from pain, "Hngh~ Why'd you have to-- Ow..."

I immediately walked over to check on her, "A-Are you okay?"

Cynthia was rubbing her knees and her shoulders before she turned to me while holding a bit of air on one side of her cheek, "Y-Yeah… I was more surprised than hurt… I forgot our bed was small..."

I helped her up, "I'm sorry, I thought you wouldn't do that… I was just trying to make you stand up so you'd wake up--"

"N-No… It's fine, I just followed the sound and I-- It's fine."

"Are you sure? I--"

"I said I'm fine, okay? If you're really sorry..."

"Hmm?"

After a 'good' 15 minutes, all was forgiven but I had to brush my teeth for a second time. With that said, I still partially owed her because she was 'kneeling' in front of me for a good minute or two.

Cynthia wanted us to go a bit further but we had to get ready for our drive back home.

Furthermore, two more vehicles would come with us, and aside from the soldiers and representatives Iskoh would send our way, one of them would be holding the kids of Mrs. Aguilar's group. It was so that they wouldn't do anything completely stupid like breaking them out in the middle of the night to just go somewhere where they'd just get killed senselessly.

We did say that they would still get to see them but until the results prove otherwise, innocent or not, they wouldn't catch a glimpse of them.

Also, one more reason that my group would be taking them in, for the time being, was so that Kaley's mom could give them a proper psych eval like we were planning to do with Amy. Their physical evals could show nothing but that's not the only proof we needed.

Predators not only mess with their victim's bodies but also their heads.

One of the reasons they almost always get away with it was due to making their victims think that what they were doing and getting exposed to was completely normal or just their 'little' secret.

For now, all we could hope was that all of the tests they would go through would give us a negative result because we care more about those kids' well-being than losing reputation because of a valid accusation. It'd be a completely different case if we just randomly pointed at a family and accused them with no proof but just from the things we witnessed yesterday, it was only logical to go through with this decision.

After some time, the sun was about to rise up and we were just about ready to go.

Our vehicles were lined up by the gates and aside from Iskoh and his officers sending us off, Jade and Jude were also present. Jude would probably stay for a while longer and I'm sure he'd probably pop out to anywhere he wanted to.

Iskoh leaned over on our vehicle, "Are you sure you don't want more escorts? I could--"

"Do you know who you're talking to?"

"Ah--"

"Heh. Joking aside, we're really good. Our roaming groups would probably meet us along the way while we pass our own checkpoints, and we'll be safe as long as we follow our own routes. If everything goes well, we'll be back home in a couple of hours."

"I understand. Give me a call when you guys arrive."

"Yeah. I'll keep an eye on them while you keep an eye on yours. The results may arrive in a few days up to a week but I'll also have them undergo the same tests when we arrive. We wouldn't want our doctors getting 'influenced' when it counts, right?"

"Of course, like we talked about. I'll doubt they side with the wrong guys but time will tell."

"Yeah… Okay, we'll be leaving now."

"Take care, alright?"

"Yeah, you too."

Iskoh and I just exchanged a simple nod before he sent us off with his eyes, and we could still see them in the same place from our side mirrors even if we were far enough.

With that said, the main focus of our drive was to go back safely, hopefully driving at the same speed the whole trip without any interruptions.

Well, it was all possible with our own 'driving app'.

I turned our radio on and set it in the right frequency. It didn't take long before several voices flooded the radio but as soon as I requested a route straight back, it suddenly went quiet. However, it only took a second before they organized themselves and reported things in order.

-

*bzzt*

[Brgy. 284 is clear, sending two units to roam while four are on standby.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Units on Delpan Police Station just arrived. Eight units in total, no deadheads on sight.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Radial Rd. have some visitors. I suggest taking Zaragoza St.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[D'you need help with that? We have 10 units waiting a block away from Zaragoza St.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Six units are already on standby in Marcos Rd. I'll give the signal when more come.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Just a heads up, we also got some visitors on Marcos Rd. If you could take them up on that offer, that'll be great.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[It's settled then.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Sandico St. is clear.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Kagitingan St. is still awaiting further units. We're just four on standby with no backup with approaching deadheads.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Your backup just drove past us and Tuazon St. is clear.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Cristobal St. is a no-go.]

*bzzt*

-

*bzzt*

[Laurel St. is safe.]

*bzzt*

-

'Music to my ears...'

Everyone else was either watching the road we were driving on or keeping an ear open for possible detours we should take or streets we might avoid as we head back. With that said, even Artem's group drove parallel, a block or two away from us, so that they may receive or neutralize the threats coming from their side.

However, they didn't do much either because the comms we were receiving were accurate and Vera from back home was coordinating everyone. If she wasn't on the frontlines, she'd be with Juan and Earl on the radio station, coordinating with everyone from our frequencies and watching out for anyone that might try to make contact.

So far, there were still people sending random broadcasts from all over the country but only a few wanted to give their exact location. We were one of the few obviously but the ones who desperately needed help were just too far away from where we could do anything about them.

After close to two hours in total, we just drove past Morales' inner gates and it was a safe route all the way to our main base.

'We would've been back at the time we took to get here...'

It actually took longer than expected but our vehicles never had a speck of blood. We weren't able to drive in the fastest route possible but we drove in the safest route our groups could offer. Our passengers were already scared enough as it is without their parents so driving without hearing gunfire or a snarl of a deadhead was the best we could hope for.

After some time, we crossed the gates towards our own DDR Camp and a few people were present to meet with us.

But before we went down, I thanked everyone in the frequency we were in before I switched it back to our usual channel. It became quiet for a bit and I just breathed a sigh of relief once I step foot in my own territory. The things that happened yesterday were just too much for a normal person to carry but seeing a lot of familiar faces eased it up a little bit.

Looking ahead, the kids and their representatives were escorted to one side of the hospital while the soldiers that came with us were told to report to Ferdinand first. With that said, I gave Artem's group the day to do anything they wanted but they told me they would just grab some breakfast first before heading out once again. Furthermore, Jared and Mikhail will be joining them though Lois was still sleeping soundly on the truck bed.

'Staying all night my ass...'

The only people who haven't come down our vehicle except for Lois were Kaley, Cynthia, and Amy. They seem to be getting her ready and waiting it out until fewer people were crowding over us. They knew that it'll only be a matter of time before more people knew of her existence but it'll be best to handle things as slowly as we could.

We weren't even sure how Amy would react after another change of scenery.

I was just about to wake up Lois but it was at this time when the old-timers and Marisha approached us.

"Is she here?"

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