Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I don't know how much alcohol Tatiana had but if she thought that she could squat 6 plates without a warmup, I'd choke her out until she passes out because that was just suicide with extra steps. Granted I was sure that she could do it with a 1 rep max, with maybe even more weight but if alcohol was involved—even a little bit, I'd rather receive her ire.

Tatiana pouted as she leaned over, "You think I can't do it?!"

"You could, but you're tipsy. I should be tucking you in with Zyra."

Anne gave me an approving nod before she turned to Tatiana, "Yeah… he's right… Sorry but no lifting if you had some alcohol… I'm sure you could do it but we don't have the capacity to treat you if a lifting accident occurred."

Coleen added, "That's true… I used to do 8 plates and a bit more before but I'm watching out for myself because a doctor isn't readily available. Besides, lifting a little too heavy increases the chance of injury by a whole lot especially if you're not careful."

I gave the two an approving look as well, "Huh. Color me impressed."

"Hmm?"

"Sorry, I'm really off my game today and I assumed everyone here are meatheads that'll just keep stacking weight until they break their knees. I didn't think that safety will be your number 1 priority."

Anne chuckled, "Well~ You're not wrong, per se…"

Coleen nodded slowly, "We used to be like that—totally, but yeah, some guys here are still 'meatheads' as you said and abusing gear, but Anne and I—even Zyra and a few others are slowly getting off the stuff. If you haven't already noticed, my thighs couldn't be this thick without outside help. I can't just stop immediately because I'm not used to them getting slender even if they still looked thick as is. I'm sure you know where I'm getting at…"

Anne added, "And since the 'stuff' we have on hand are low now, it's best to just slowly lower the dosage and eventually get off it. It's really hard to see myself lose the progress I worked hard for but it's for the best. I'm thinking of doing calisthenics if I shave off a few more pounds."

I checked out her figure momentarily before I said, "Yeah, that's great actually but you could still do strength training because big muscles doesn't always equal to strength. Well~ some big powerlifters or strongmen would argue a bit and would even say that more fat could even help but since you're going the calisthenics route, I doubt you'd want more fat in your body. Just remember to don't push it too far, too low body fat would actually make you weaker even if your remaining muscles would look more defined with the striations and other stuff."

The two were listening intently then Anne said, "Yeah, I added a lot more cardio in my training to lose more fat but I noticed I was getting progressively weaker."

"Hmm~ I actually think you don't need to lose more fat though… I think you wouldn't want to hear this but you still have a lot of muscle in your body, like a whole lot. I'm gonna suggest doing lower-intensity cardio and see how it feels first but getting off the stuff is the priority. It's gonna be a bitch but you're still gonna get weaker as you get smaller. But despite that, a different world will open for you because you're gonna get lighter—especially if you retain most of the strength you have now."

"What do you mean?"

"These machines are screwed deep, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Okay, here are a few examples."

I just easily jumped and hung on the protruding handles on top of the smith machine, and I started to pull-ups with perfect form.

"Is… Is that it?"

"I was just getting started…"

After that, I pulled myself up by keeping my arms straight, forming a '7' with my body but I brought myself down to slowly perform a lache—swinging forward then throwing myself back even more as the '7' looked like it turned counter clock-wise. After that, I engaged my core even more as I tried to 'walk' as I brought myself down, doing everything smoothly without breaking a sweat.

I even 'walked' backward and sideways—much to their amazement—but once I was back to my original hanging position, I started to pull myself up with one hand, then four fingers, three fingers, two fingers, and lastly, my middle finger which actually made me strain and sweat a little.

They were already shaking their heads at my display but I then did it with my non-dominant hand just to prove a point.

I would've also done the flag and a few more power moves but Anne and Coleen had already removed the two extra plates they loaded on the machine they were using.

"Alright, you've made your point. I'm impressed and it's giving me the push to switch to something else. I might just get off the stuff faster from seeing that."

I added, "Not only that, but when you're lighter, it'd be easier to move around and you'd reach farther distances without tiring easily. And since you're already doing cardio, you'd be able to do so much more. I think I don't need to say what happens if you abuse PEDs too much, right?"

"Yeah, our hearts could only take so much if we get even bigger. That's one of the reasons Quinn got off earlier than us."

Kaley interjected, "Does Quinn have heart problems?"

The two looked at each other first before Coleen answered, "I'm not sure if you've seen Quinn before but she was already big before she started using PEDs. Add to that the other things she abused—drugs and alcohol, even before the world ended."

'She's much leaner from the picture she showed me before though…'

She continued, "We're not sure of the exact details but I think it would be better if you ask her herself. She seemed pretty chill with you guys but we don't talk much about it because she might go back to that point again if she hears us—"

Quinn suddenly appeared from nowhere, "Go back to what?!"

"Ah— We didn't mean to talk about—"

"About Michael?! You damn well shouldn't! WHO TOLD YOU TO GOSSIP ABOUT ME!"

Tatiana's ears suddenly perked up but didn't say anything.

"W-Were sorry…"

Kaley stood between them, "I'm sorry, Quinn. I'm the one that should apologize, not them. I'm the one who meddled with your business—"

"AND THEY ANSWERED WITHOUT KNOWING THE FULL THING!"

I stepped up and placed my hand over Quinn's shoulder which was a little above my head, "Hey, calm down. They're just looking out for you and besides, I can tell you that they never said anything about him. They actually told us that it would be better if we ask you ourselves. They haven't done anything for you to get angry like that so you should be the one to apologize because you're the one who hulked up without knowing the full thing."

"..."

I added, "Are you sure you're off the juice?"

"HAAAH?! DIDN'T I TELL YOU THAT ALREADY?!"

"Well~ I'm just saying… That could be remnant 'roid-rage or something, we don't fully know—"

Quinn suddenly grabbed my arm, "YOU— hnGH! HOW—"

I chuckled since my arm never budged, "Big muscles doesn't always equal to strength, did you know that? It usually does but this is an exception, no? Don't forget, I lifted you off the ground… twice."

At this point, everyone else present was looking at the two of us but Quinn's demeanor was slowly wavering to the point she was starting to look embarrassed. In this place, she might be the Queen or the fucking Alpha-Bitch but it seemed like she met someone that could take her down a peg.

She might be equal to Tatiana but the only thing she won against me was drinking that cursed green spirit that she liked a little too much.

With that said, a few words came out of Quinn's mouth that made her crew's jaws drop to the floor.

"F-Fine… Coleen, Anne… I'm sorry."

"WHAT?!"

"SHE APOLOGIZED!"

"DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT?!"

"I'M DEFINITELY DREAMING, PINCH ME!"

"NO FUCKING WAY SHE SAID SORRY!"

"NO WAY…"

"CAN YOU DROP THAT PLATE ON MY FOOT SO I'D WAKE UP?!"

I didn't think Quinn saying that she was sorry would cause this much of an uproar among her crew but it was definitely a welcome sight. Seeing Quinn blush embarrassedly while swinging a 20.4 kg Olympic bar at everyone teasing her was fun in its own right. It slightly broke this invisible wall she put up against her crew but it wasn't a bad thing at all.

Keeping authority among your people was one thing but seeing them as friends couldn't be sneezed at either.

It took a while for things to calm down but I spent most of my time lecturing and giving a new training plan to those who were interested to switch to a much better alternative to what they were doing.

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