Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I turned to Jared and waved him over, "Calm down, okay? Unc could handle this."

As soon as I said that, Jared just exasperatedly blew air through his nose but the grip he had on his rifle was lessening more and more. He kept himself in check while watching from the sidelines though both of us were also watching out for threats from the outside.

Nothing was coming from both sides of the street so far, but the shouting match between the two parties wasn't over.

Unc was just shaking all over but his voice wasn't wavering one bit.

"WHO DO YOU THINK PAID FOR ALL YOUR EXPENSES, HUH?! YOUR MOM WHO CAN'T EVEN COOK YOU A PROPER MEAL?! FUCK! DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT HER BEING THE WORST FUCKING HELPER DID ALL THAT?! ARE YOU THAT FUCKING STUPID?! DID I WASTE MY FUCKING MONEY ON YOUR FUCKING TUITION?!"

"THE FUCK DID YOU SAY TO ME?!"

'The truth hurts, huh?'

Joanna was fucking red in the face from being embarrassed by her own father but Jared and I couldn't help but smile. Unc would've dropped the mic right then and there and everyone would just cheer for him. However, my stupid-ass Aunt wanted to go down the rocky path.

"HOW DARE YOU FUCKING SAY I DID NOTHING TO HELP BUT YOU'RE THE ONE HERE KEEPING ALL OF YOUR SALARY TO YOURSELF!"

"THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NOW, BITCH?! I'M ONLY KEEPING A SMALL AMOUNT FROM ALL OF IT AND YOU'RE THE ONE TELLING ME I'M KEEPING IT ALL! I GAVE IT ALL TO YOU SO YOU COULD FUCKING KEEP OUR HOUSE RUNNING BUT GOD KNOWS WHAT THE FUCK YOU DID TO LOSE IT ALL!"

"BLABBER ALL YOU WANT BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME!"

"HAH! WHO FUCKING TOLD YOU I CAN'T?! YOU DON'T EVEN OWN THIS PLACE! MR. CHANG! MR. CHANG! MR. CHA–"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!"

Their shouting match continued while their youngest, Kenny, was just sitting on the corner, eyes red from crying and trying to cover his ears to avoid hearing more hurtful words his parents were saying to each other.

With that said, the people around them were just watching a show but among them, Aunt Leslie's brother, couldn't be bothered to intervene and was also watching everything unfold.

Unc Zardon kept shouting for Mr. Chang to appear and it didn't take long before a door from the furthest house opened and a lean old man with white hair, white mustache, and thin-framed glasses walked out with an annoyed face.

The whole residence became deathly quiet and he just walked forward, scanning everyone before stopping a few steps away from the couple fighting.

"You stay quiet now? You were fighting, right? Did you all forget that noise attracts those monsters and yet, you still want to fight? Go ahead! Fight! But you, Mrs. Leslie, go outside and walk ten kilometers away with your noisy husband."

Mr. Chang still spoke with an accent but his voice was heard loud and clear. Aunt Leslie and Unc Zardon didn't even dare to interrupt him but their breathing was still ragged when he appeared.

After a short stare-down, Unc Zardon apologetically looked over Mr. Chang.

"Mr. Chang, I'm deeply sorry for the noise but the reason I'm here is I'd like to take Hannah and Kenny, my second youngest and my youngest with me. Again, I'm deeply sorry for disturbing you, Mr. Chang."

"Is that you, Mr. Zardon? Long time, no see. I think I understand the squabble here and I think I know the solution. Very well–"

"MR. CHANG! HE'S A DRUNK! YOU SHOULD NEVER AGREE TO HIS– MY KIDS WILL BE IN HARM'S WAY IF YOU LET HIM TAKE THEM AWAY! I– I– I D-DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL IF SOMETHING EVER HAPPENS TO THEM!"

Aunt Leslie didn't stop spouting one bullshit after another but Mr. Chang was keeping a straight face all throughout that mind-numbing novel my deranged aunt was shouting at his face. And as soon as Aunt Leslie was done, Mr. Chang just shook his head slightly before his eyes darted to my direction.

"Is that you, Mr. Ishiyama? I owe you an apology. I see that you're correct in your report and I'm sorry I didn't help to spread the word. However, thank you for the early warning and I managed to haul everything from my shops before anything happened to me. Do you wish for anything in return?"

Hearing those magical words enter my ear made me smile but as soon as I was about to reply, Cyrill cut me off. He saw Unc's face lighting up when Mr. Chang offered a reward so he had to stir the pot to get a reaction.

"Figures. A drunk asking a murderer for help. How fitting…"

Jared and even Kaley was about to snap on that motherfucker but I chuckled before I started laughing.

"Hah! Such big words for a fucking drug addict! You're looking pale, on withdrawal now? Need some Oxy, by chance? Fuck! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that… Oh, well~ Anyway, what do you do to get high now? Do you sniff rugby or paint thinner? Or some of that blue stuff? That used to be the craze, right?!"

"I-I don't know what you're t-talking about…"

"Don't be like that, man. You have the hook-up right?! Where's your supplier? Is he dead now? Aww~ You used to love that guy! Oh! How about that other guy that fucks you in the ass and gives you free drugs after? Ah– Dammit! I shouldn't have said that too… I hate to be the guy who airs your dirty laundry… Just forgive me, yeah?"

After I said that, the whole residence couldn't be more quiet and Cyrill was just viciously glaring at me as his body was shaking from anger. However, when he caught a glimpse of everyone staring at him with disgust, he couldn't help but look down in shame, but a slap came flying at his face.

"YOU'RE A FUCKING ADDICT?!" Aunt Leslie shouted at the top of her lungs.

'Great~ Acting like she doesn't know a thing… typical…'

Another earful started coming out of the blue but Unc made his way towards me as Aunt Leslie was embarrassing Cyrill in front of everyone.

"Kid. Can you please ask Mr. Chang to let me take my kids?"

"C'mon, Unc. You don't have to ask me that."

I walked in front of the gate Unc was standing in front of and I took Mr. Chang's attention.

"Mr. Chang! About that reward, I'd like to take Hannah and Kenny with me. You'd save up on food with two less mouths to feed and this fight will be over as soon as we leave this place."

Mr. Chang's eyebrow rose, "I can let you take the little one but the other one should stay. She's old enough to help out and I need all the help I could get, even by someone washing the dishes and taking care of other noisy kids. But… I could be persuaded…"

'Here we go… Same old rotten businessman…'

"What would it take then?"

Mr. Chang revealed a smirk when his eyes laid on my gear, "Guns. Guns and ammo."

As soon as he said that, Unc turned to me before he offered the shotgun I gave him with all the slugs on his person. He emptied the magazine tube first before laying everything on the ground.

"Not enough," Mr. Chang said coldly.

I shook my head, "Can I talk?"

"Of course, you may. Speak."

"I'll give you the rifle I have here with five extra magazines– a total of six mags that could hold 30 rounds each, plus the shotgun and slugs Unc offered you. Besides that, I'll even add two motorcycles that are brand-new, recently 'borrowed' from a shop."

"Hmm, isn't that a little too skewed in my favor?"

"I'm not done."

"..."

"I'll give you those things I said for my two cousins… but you have to hand me over your guandao."

"WHAT?!" Mr. Chang never looked so surprised.

"Not the one on display at your wall, okay? I want the real one I've seen you use when I came to visit when I was ten."

"N-N-Not the– Not my g-guandao… It's–"

"You can't even use it anymore; your kids don't know as well because you didn't teach them. It's just gathering dust somewhere in a case right now and I hate that happening to such a weapon…"

As soon as I said that, Mr. Chang threw me a hateful glare but I kept my cool because I said the truth.

With that said, I started to pile on.

"Mr. Chang, listen to me. There will be a time that you'd need to assign people to go out and get some food, and you'd need vehicles such as the motorcycles I'm offering for that. Fuck it, I'll even throw in two motorcycles suits as an added bonus. You don't want your people getting bit, right?"

"..."

"Besides, do you really think that holding onto that weapon of yours is the best course of action for your group? I know that it's important to you as this wakizashi is important to me, but I promise you that I'll take good care of it… Maybe even find it a successor? We don't know what's gonna happen."

"I… I need to think…"

Mr. Chang was folding his arms but he started to rub his glabella while he was thinking as his eyes were closed. His people were just watching and waiting for his decision but I have never been so excited to get my hands on an authentic piece of Chinese weaponry.

'Heck, I'd be glad even if he duped me with the replica…'

After a short while, Mr. Chang opened his eyes and stared at me for a moment.

"F-Fine… It's a deal."

"Great!"

The moment we closed the deal, his men opened the gate for us and we shook hands on it.

Aunt Leslie and her two evil spawns were just as speechless and mad that we completely ignored them, and we really did for as long as they'd let us.

Mr. Chang then asked his son to fetch his guandao while I asked my group to bring down the motorcycles and the protective gear I promised. With that said, I handed him my own rifle and its extra mags then I was handed a guandao that was a few inches taller than me.

It only took a second to see if it was the real one and once I confirmed it, I couldn't hide the smile on my face.

'Finally…'

A guandao was essentially a polearm that came from China and it was popularized by a certain character by the name of Guan Yu.

In which case, the one in my hand was as imposing as ever and its thick blade shone brightly even if it was covered in dust. Furthermore, aside from the blade being single-edged, it also had a notch at the back to grapple with an opponent or an opponent's weapon in battle.

Moving down, the pole itself was mainly made with hardwood but it had metal parts that acted as designs and its support. It was shaped like a dragon coiling around the pole where the mouth was where the blade was and the tail was located by the counterweight.

Lastly, the counterweight was at the end of the pole to– counteract the weight of the blade itself and it had intricate designs like the rest of the weapon. It was shaped like a blunt spike but it was still enough to cause damage when hit with a proper swing. It wasn't as deadly as the opposite end but no one would want to get hit with it willingly.

I was busy admiring the new toy I exchanged with my other toys but the bitch incarnate finally exploded.

"NO! YOU'RE NOT TAKING MY KIDS AWAY FROM ME!"

Aunt Leslie was shouting at the top of her lungs but all Unc Zardon was doing was extending his hand, waiting for Hannah and Kenny to come over.

However, next this I saw was Cyrill throwing a sucker punch straight to his dad's face. I was a few steps too far to intervene, but Unc didn't even bother to dodge it. Everyone was already looking down on Cyrill by getting his secrets out in the open and this sucker punch added more.

He was just about to throw another punch but that was when Unc balled his fist as hard as he could before hurling a fist towards Cyrill's face.

'Well, shit.'

Unc Zardon was obviously several weight classes higher than his son and even if he had a beer belly, he still had muscles that came from driving trucks, delivering and carrying the packages himself, and fixing whatever problems that may arise be it changing the huge-ass tires his trucks had or simply trying to fend off people trying to steal from him.

Add all of that plus the anger and frustration he felt from getting treated like a worthless piece of shit for years by his family, exploded at my cousin's face.

"GRCK!"

Cyrill took the hit while still in mid-swing and he sprawled on the floor with a stupid look in his face. He didn't think that his dad would actually hit him but once his dad did, he couldn't believe his eyes. However, it was only for an instant that he felt shocked because his face just turned dark as he was about to lunge at his father.

He was just about to spring forward but he stopped dead in his tracks.

If he continued, his neck would've had a nasty laceration because I quickly brandished my guandao and held it in front of his neck. It only had a few centimeters of clearance before it slashed his neck open and all I needed to do was move a bit to the right. However, it wasn't because of the guandao that he stopped dead in his tracks but because of the way I was looking at him.

I was still wearing a faint smile as I mouthed to him that I'd slice his neck open if he ever tried to move, but my eyes were already devoid of emotion.

With that said, all he could do was gnash his teeth while throwing me a hateful glare.

"Bitch," I said out loud, chuckling as color returned to my eyes.

Cyrill jumped back and stood up, "Well, let go of that thing and fight me fairly!"

"Hah! 'Fairly'? That's cute. I'd rather not rattle your brain too much so you could at least think with whatever is left with your brain cells. One concussion is all it takes before you lose all function."

"At least I could think normally! What is going on in the head of a killer like you?!"

I chuckled, "This joke again? Well, you'd really like to know? Fine. I can kill you, your sister, and your mom here in ten seconds with this thing. Less, if I don't cut you into parts."

My words affected Cyrill this time but his bitch sister was just too fucking dense and too fucking stupid to understand anything.

"LET'S SEE YOU FUCKING TRY THEN!"

I rolled my eyes, "Shut the fuck up! I'd take even less time if you don't have a pound of makeup on your face!"

"Y-YOU!"

Joanna never looked so pissed but none of us could see her flushed expression because of the things she'd slather on her ugly mug. She tried so hard to make up a comeback but she shrank down when she noticed that everyone behind her shared the same sentiment as me.

All she could do was throw me a hateful glare while Unc was still in the same spot waiting for his two kids.