Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Seeing everyone chomp down or straight-up inhale their food even if their tongues were getting burned in the process, would usually put a smile on my face, but I really just needed a moment to process everything that had happened. I asked Megan and Alexa to make sure everyone was well taken care of and only a bottle of beer for each person before I found an obscure corner and sat by myself.

I did bring my bowl and bottle of ice-cold beer with me because I am hungry and I just found Kaley peeking at me from the corner.

"Pfft… Please don't be like Cynthia… You know I can see you, right?"

"C-Can I come over? So you know, we can eat together?"

"Why would you need permission?"

"You know, everyone needs their space and—"

"Not with you, come here. I'll hold that— you got it, you got it~"

At this point, Kaley and I were sitting on this freezer of sorts covered by a thick tarp and she already took a few bites before me. It didn't take long before she noticed I wasn't touching my food even if my stomach was already making audible noises, but she took it upon herself to feed me a certain way.

"Here comes the airplane~"

"..."

"This airplane wouldn't stop until you open that mouth~"

"..."

"Don't make me bring out a speculum— There we go~ Pfft…"

I was chewing on my food as I glared at her jokingly, "Awfhole(Asshole)."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, alright?"

"One more."

"Hmm?"

"Ahh~ One more, I already swallowed it."

"Ah— Oh! Wait—"

"Give me some more rice, the ratio's—"

"Okay, okay! Wait a second alright?! I'm not feeding you the whole way—"

I then turned the tables against her, "Open wide~"

"You— That's a whole-ass cow! I ain't putting that in my mouth!"

"You've taken much bigger, open up~"

Kaley briefly glared at me from the side comment, "Don't play with our food!"

"You started it! Open wide~"

"F-Fine~ *chomp* Mmh! It's the best bite! The juices— Wow, wow, wow!"

"See?"

"Thank you! Open up, check this bite if this is what you like."

"Okay— Mmh! Yep, that's the— hey! I'm still chewing! Stop! STOP!"

"Hahaha! I miss your chubby cheeks! You look really cute like that!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you do! Please! Have one more bite!"

"Kaley— Fine… Ahhh…"

"There we go~ Pfft…"

For a good moment, Kaley and I fed each other with our bowls of food before we shared our beer together. To my surprise, both of us actually took the flavored ones because the people here would definitely avoid them like the plague but ultimately, there was more for us and plenty to go around.

I was really planning to mope around for a good while before acting like it was nothing, but ever since I've been with Kaley, it was totally different.

She knew that I wasn't okay and she tried to cheer me up but even so, she still listened to what I had to say regarding the whole situation.

People would sometimes end the interaction when the person had slightly forgotten about what was bothering them but cheering me up earlier was just her way of softening the blow or something along those lines when I had to talk about how everything I did from this point on felt insignificant compared to the whole picture.

"Hmm~ You might be right but you did save me too. I'm… I'm important to you, right?"

"Well— If you put it like that— Of course, you're important to me but why weren't we informed that this happened three fucking months ago? They should've at least— Haa… This shit just makes me mad…"

"What can we do though? I hate to say this but would there be any difference? We can only do so much, right?"

"I know— Ha… Trust me, Kaley— I'm mad that we weren't told but I'm also mad that I'm this powerless… I should've done something, ANYTHING, at least… Were they given enough time to evacuate at least? What happened after the blast? Why's no one fucking telling us anything?! And what happens now?! Shit's just so fucked up… Man… I'd like to have a pause button or something…"

"C'mon, place your head over here… It'll calm you down…"

"Seriously? A lap-pillow?"

"You can't rest your head on my chest rig, can you?! Besides, no taking them off until we're in a secure spot, right?" Kaley started to push my head down her lap in a weird particular way I wouldn't dare to elaborate more on.

Though I did give in as I laid my head on her lap and got comfortable, "I-I didn't say no… Ah… You're right, you're right… This really feels nice…"

"See? You— Stop sniffing my crotch! A-At least not here… It's kinda dirty… The tarp I mean… Since you know, it's a little dusty…"

"Heh… Wouldn't stop me…"

Kaley then lightly pinched me, "Oh, I'll stop you alright. We've done it in a public bathroom but not here… Besides, you still have something to do, right?"

"Yeah, I'm just teasin' for the moment… Sorry…"

"Doofus… Just enjoy the quiet before everyone's done…"

"Yeah… I love you…"

"Love you too, doofus… Pff…"

"Hah… We should really do this more often…"

"My turn next time…"

"My thighs are not as soft—"

"I've taken in something much harder—"

"Hah! Dammit, that got me…"

"Hehe… Pfft…"

"..."

"..."

"So…"

At this moment, I was lying my head on Kaley's lap as she was stroking my hair gently and we talked a lot more until everyone finished up. The amount of favorability I received from everyone else just because of the food I prepared for them—mostly the beer, which was 99% more likely—was fucking enormous, and even Bartow gave me an upwards nod when we met eyes once Kaley and I joined everyone.

Once the time came and we were back to the same office Bartow and I trashed, I already had a prepared thumb drive for Mitch's use instead of him sticking his USB stick to where it shouldn't belong.

It was a little preemptive move I thought of as I fetched my laptop from my pack and at that moment, Ilana and I had a "short" conversation that ticked me off but went like this:

[Good.]

I said out loud, "Can't you be more elaborate on that?"

[Busy.]

"Is there something up with them or something?"

[Not sure.]

"Then why the warning earlier?"

[Because.]

"You're back to single-word replies, huh?"

[Yeah.]

"Did you know about the nukes?"

[...]

"It's a yes or no question, Ilana…"

[Kaley.]

"Hmm? What about her?"

[What she said.]

"You're not answering my question still…"

[...]

"I just need to know…"

[Would you hate me?]

"Bitch. You're snooping on me 24/7, probably heard us fuck every single day, and you're asking me if I'd be mad at you?"

[Would you though?]

"Yes! Of course! I'm not a saint, alright? But who wouldn't?!"

[Fair.]

"It's just… I'm not mad now… I'm okay, for the most part."

[That's good to hear.]

"Uh-huh."

[I do know… About that…]

"See? Wasn't that easy to type?"

[Fuck you! Wasn't easy to keep it all in at the time.]

"Should've told me. And congrats, you've evolved from a word per minute!"

[ASSHOLE! I COULD TYPE MUCH FASTER THAN ANY OF YOU AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW IT TOOK TO KEEP IT TO MYSELF! EVERYONE DOESN'T NEED TO KNOW THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION! IT'LL JUST BREAK THEM! IT ALMOST BROKE ME FOR FUCK'S SAKE!]

"You didn't tell your bodyguards, huh?"

[Ass. They can't take it.]

"You're assuming things again. What if they can?"

[You took it far better than I thought but then again, how would knowing help our current situation? It's just more stress.]

"So you're saying that ignorance is bliss?"

[Isn't it?]

"Eh. There's two sides to that."

[Yet now you're dying to know more about what everyone's been keeping from you.]

"What do you mean? It's not like I could just extract information forcibly, there's a way we do things over here—"

[I don't just listen to you, you know? Well— I don't have enough memory to store everyone's conversations but I do keep a text file after running them through a voice-to-text program. It's just a pain to go through them even if I filter them to certain keywords and such. Your life's just interesting so I'm almost always tuned in to you.

I have something to look forward to every night too… since you've brought that topic up…]

"It'd be better if you delete that."

[See? What a fucking hypocrite. Sometimes, it's better for not everyone to know everything. What did Frodo say?]

"Don't use that against me."

[What did he say, Mr. Nerd in the Apocalypse?]

"Fine. Keep your secrets!"

[There we go~ See what I mean now? Did you have to know that bit of info or not? There's a reason a little bit of secret-keeping or censorship could keep the world from plunging into chaos. Right. Wanna know if Mrs. Lopez— I mean, Mrs.

Nichols was really Chloe's mother or not? I know.]

"What. the. fuck. have. you. been.

doing. with. all. your. free. time?!"

[Wanna know or not?]

"Doesn't matter."

[You'll fuck 'em anyway, right? Looking forward to that.]

"I'll fuck you too when I have the chance."

[Yes, please! I'm looking forward to that too. Honestly, missed my chance last time.]

"Is that so?"

[Pfft… I'll drop by soon enough but there's a lot of responsibility to the power I hold, you know? It comes with a lot of stress but it does feed my curiosity. Wanna share the burden?]

"No."

[Are you sure?]

"Not unless I really have to."

[Heh. That's good enough. See you soon?]

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