Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

In any case, the General called over what looked to be an assistant of his—who was actually waiting a good distance away with her clipboard—then gave us a brief introduction.

"Cass, this is Sky Ishiyama—the one the president called to us about—who created the spectacle just as we arrived and young man, this is Cass, basically my assistant or something close."

I offered a simple handshake, "Nice to meet you."

She gave me an up-down look as she returned the handshake, "The \'Kid\' they always talk about in meetings."

"Yeah, that kid who occupied Valenzuela, right next to Manila."

I interjected, "Well, parts of it."

She chuckled, "Uh-huh. Weren\'t you the one responsible for helping Mayor Iskoh and Jose\'s CO get set up? What\'s his name again? Morales? It\'s Morales, right? What are they up to right now?"

"Sir Morales started to cut inside the city between what the mayor and I occupied though most of his forces were still in the harbor. There are plenty of things to do aside from taking care of the dead but still up to this day, that\'s the job everyone\'s tasked with."

"Right. I gotta ask… You have— what\'s her name? The Russian… Is it Vera? Who\'s in charge of this communications room back in your place? I appreciate the variety of shows we could listen to but don\'t you think you should assign someone… local?"

I looked at her a certain way, "I don\'t see that problem. Communication between me and the mayor works fine with her in charge and besides, the places Sir Morales and Ferdinand occupy are manned by your people. Furthermore, she has insights and ways that—"

She cut me off with a faint-mocking smile as she half-rolled her eyes, "I was just giving you a suggestion, no need to be so defensive. I\'m sure she\'s pretty talented…"

The General threw her a look, "Aren\'t you supposed to give me the report—"

I cut the General off as I looked this Cass chick in the eye, "I\'m sorry but do you wanna start something with me?"

"Excuse me?"

"You see, I have a lot of pent-up stress because of Lopez and I had something else that\'s EVEN MORE pent-up because we got interrupted this morning so if you wanna start something with me, just say it outright. I know you have some fucking issues but let me know what you fucking need from me so I could help you. I just met you five seconds ago and I don\'t need more drama in my life. Just fucking say what you want and fuck off."

"..."

"..."

At that fucking moment, the way she threw shade at me just ticked me off so bad I had to blow up at her, but the way the General was this close to bursting laughing while this Cass bitch had her jaw almost hitting the floor made me realize that something was off.

It was the first time I saw the General let out such a face and it also seemed like the first time this assistant had someone talk back to her.

With a quick glance, she seemed to only be a few years older than me but she couldn\'t even clear above my shoulders though she did look like she was physically fit. However, it only took me a few seconds before realization struck and made me realize that she wasn\'t from this place but next door, where my Alma Mater is.

\'She actually had our old pin on her collar but hers is dated in 2012… Cass doesn\'t ring a bell though…\'

For the life of me, I didn\'t think that my old school would have people working in this place because I only thought that the Academy would be the only one sending people over to the other side.

I actually berated my supposed senior but seniority doesn\'t mean shit in my book if they were the first ones to show disrespect.

And I tried to poke the little bear a little more, "What? You think you\'re a fucking eight? You\'re barely five feet, for fuck\'s sake!"

"I-I\'m five-foot-three! The fuck do you think you are?!"

I rolled my eyes, "First off, you probably knew who I am yesterday—unless 5 PM is your fucking bedtime, and secondly, you SHOULD fucking know who I am because I have a fucking statue in our fucking Multipurpose Hall!"

"You— Wai—WHAT?! S-STATUE?! Who are you, really—"

"Jesus fucking christ, I\'m so sorry—with your height—you probably couldn\'t see the plate where our names were written but I\'m the valedictorian for the class of 2014 and the first awardee of The Solomon\'s Wisdom Award—"

"No—"

"Yes, bitch. I\'m the one who received \'that\' platinum pin, the fancy plaque, the handwritten bible, the cash award, and one of the small plots of land only given to the people who gave the school much, MUCH fame and recognition. I\'m that fucking guy you tried to call a fucking imbecile."

"I..."

"And yeah, I\'m also that guy you all made a laughingstock off when I sent the university proof of the world ending."

"...!"

"Oh~ You received it too?! It\'s funny, right? For you guys who were preparing for the second coming, you seem to forget that the world has to end first before that ever happens."

At this moment, Cass looked like she had seen a ghost because she was just so fucking gobsmacked of me revealing trap cards one after the other. In any case, what I did wasn\'t a little poke and I can kinda understand one of the reasons I blew up at her in the first place. Though at the same time, the General was looking at me curiously while he kept silent through most of it.

\'This is not like me… Why did the bad memories start to come out first instead of the good ones?\'

Realizing that I shouldn\'t pour everything into a single person, I calmed myself down before I offered an apology.

"Shit, I apologize for being an asshole but even though I mostly am to people who were asshole-like to me, like what you did earlier, I should not have said those things to you in the first place. For that, I\'ll owe you a bottle of either those soya beverages or that carrot juice we have at the cafeteria plus whatever vegan meal you want. Is that okay? And yeah, is Mimi still around?"

"..."

For a good minute or two, Cass was just staring at me like a dumbass and I didn\'t even notice the General slipping out of the awkward conversation along with the report that was supposed to be in Cass\' hands.

I saw the General on a random bench reading through each page carefully and since the person I was talking to wasn\'t even responding one bit, I decided to leave her alone and look for Kaley and the rest.

\'Probably back at the log cabin…\'

But to my annoyance, the midget—not actually—was following close behind me with the same expression: eyebrows knotted, nose scrunched, and ears billowing smoke due to how hard she was trying to figure out if I was really the person she thought she was thinking of.

I stopped walking and faced her, "What?"

"..."

"If you aren\'t gonna talk—"

"There\'s… There\'s just no way that you\'re…"

"Why? I got tall, ripped, and had this tattoo sleeve that\'s supposed to be sin?"

"Yeah— but that\'s not what I\'m—"

"Then what are you trying to say?"

She took a deep breath before she looked me in the eye, "Look… We c-come off on the wrong foot so c-could we start over?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Sure, I\'d accept a quick breakdown of what\'s the current situation over at our old school as an apology."

"Wait— I said we should start over and now you\'re trying to ask for something in return—"

"Fine. Then just tell me just because you wanted to. Is that okay?"

"You… S-Sure… But d-do you have any news around the area of Bataan? I know it\'s a shot in the dark but—"

"I\'m sorry, no…"

"Ah… I understand—"

"Wait. I remember something."

"P-Please—"

"I\'m not sure if you wanna hear this though—"

"Please! Just tell me!"

"Alright~ It\'s not actually news about that place per se but a group ambushed us way, way~ back and the ones who we spared decided to go there. I\'m pretty sure that they managed to reach the place—because we left a tracker in one of the radios I gave them, but that only proves that the radio is in that place, not them—technically speaking. And before you ask, the signal was gone after a month or so, so we haven\'t had much info on the group since…"

"Ah… Is that so…"

"You have family over there?"

"Something like that…"

"I see. So, what\'s the situation over on our side?"

She let out a bitter smile as she chuckled, "Would you believe me if I told you that it\'s pretty much the same except for the soldiers present? Heck, we still even have the prayer schedules and our mass—and have I told you that we still have classes ongoing? From primary to tertiary, even for people taking their master\'s degree and doctorate?"

"No fucking way—"

"Yes fucking way! Wanna bet on it?!"