Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

At that point, cooking for 100-plus people was no joke so while Bartow went out with a few people to find more working stoves, cooking pots, a couple of woks, and some gas tanks, I took Kaley with me and asked for some volunteers to help with preparing the ingredients.

From the time we four were in a meeting, everyone seemed to have been well-acquainted but almost everyone from Mitch's side was still a little wary of me.

They probably heard a bunch of stories from my group plus my little display of fighting with two Marines, but it was just too bizarre for them to see me work seamlessly with a knife and do it twice as fast as everyone else like I was an actual chef instead of a fighter.

'Jack of all trades, baby~'

But yeah, Ilana's brief message was still on my mind and Kaley obviously picked up on my behavior. I fucking hate keeping secrets unless it was really that important but I did compromise with her by sharing what I found not what she sent over to me. I believe it was just fair to do just that because suddenly shutting those two out—especially Mitch—would just make me that suspicious.

It's just that she never sent another message after that and each time I checked my phone, Kaley would just give me this weird look.

I looked her in the eyes as I joked, "It's those dumb fucks again…"

She never looked so confused, "What?"

"You know, it's asking about my car's extended warranty…"

Kaley rolled her eyes, "Doofus…"

"Heh. You probably know why, though…"

"I do… Have you asked about Tatiana's you-know-what though?"

"Ah, fuck… I'll ask later while I'm showing them some of the files I have."

"I see… Are you okay though?"

I let out a forced smile, "Umm… Not here, Kaley. Please."

"Ah— O-Okay… I-I'm sorry…"

"Thanks…"

I may have looked like I was doing okay while I was busy preparing everyone's dinner but it was taking everything from me to not just go ham in the residential area above us and let off some fucking steam.

Even a large bomb or a missile was something I'd decide against because of the sheer destruction it could create but a nuke was at the top of the fucking list I wouldn't even dare think of using unless there was really no other choice.

Then again, these motherfuckers weren't complete monsters or idiots as they seemed and I understand that it wasn't on a whim or they just finally decided to get rid of their nuclear weapons for good.

But yeah, I was still glad that the people from Japan still had survivors and most importantly, Okinawa wasn't touched whatsoever.

It was the island way~ south of Japan where my other family was located but for some fucking reason, they still haven't contacted me. Granted they had their own thing to worry about but god fucking dammit I left them all manner of communication devices and no one could even pick it up and contact me for a couple of seconds.

I would've fetched them myself if I could but the more problems I take care of, the more problems replace them.

I'd dare say it was like trying to complete radiant quest from a game I used to play because they were fucking never-ending and completely random.

'Calm down, calm down…'

With that said, I needed to be in a certain state of mind so that it wouldn't transfer over to the food, so I just gently rested my head on Kaley's shoulder for a moment before I continued on.

"..."

"..."

"Thank you…"

"Pff… Anytime…"

In any case, it didn't take long before we finished cutting up all the ingredients because what I decided to make was just a medley of meat and vegetables eaten over piping hot rice and a hearty soup from the meat's bones.

It was a meat bowl instead of simply just a beef bowl though I made sure to cook each type of meat separately first before mixing them all together with the savory-sweet sauce I made with the available ingredients.

The motherfuckers were already drooling from the smell wafting in their direction, but the food's gotta cook and I wouldn't offer free taste tests because we'd just run out of everything before we had to eat.

But yeah, the hardest part we had to overcome was having everyone fall in line because I just had to slow-cook the meat, furthering their suffering just by a little bit more. A fight almost occurred but I then decided to call each of them, one-by-one, by their names, which creeped the fuck out of everybody present.

I did in an hour what my "guards" back home were supposed to do in a matter of days, and it didn't take long before ordered everyone to dig in.

"FINALLY— WHAT THE FUCK?! THIS IS SO GOODMMMHH!!!"

"THIS ISN'T HEAVEN, RIGHT?! SOMEBODY PINCH ME— I SAID ME! NOT MY FOOD! HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!"

"I'm so fucking glad we sailed here…"

"Me too, bro… Me too…"

"ARE YOU CRYING?!"

"WHY DO YOU FUCKING CARE?! I'M JUST HAPPY IS ALL!"

These motherfuckers didn't know I had a hidden trump card:

"EVERYBODY CAN COME BACK FOR SECONDS! YOU CAN COME BACK FOR SECONDS! ONE BOWL EACH, ALRIGHT?! ONE BOWL—"

"BROOOOO! I'LL FOLLOW YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH!"

"HEY! YOUR BOWL JUST HALF-FINISHED! FINISH IT FIRST!"

"WHAT IF WE RAN OUT?! LOOK AT THAT RUSSIAN CHICK! SHE'S ON HER FOURTH BOWL!"

"THAT BUFF CHICK'S ON HER FOURTH TOO!"

"WHAT?! WHY ARE THEY GETTING SPECIAL TREATMENT—"

"DUMBASS! WE'RE THE ONES GETTING SPECIAL TREATMENT! CAN'T YOU SEE THIS FOOD WE'RE EATING?!"

"YEAH! JUST BE THANKFUL! THEY'RE ALSO PART OF HIS CREW SO IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

"You guys saw that he wiped the floor with Bartow, right?!"

"Yeah, shit's insane!"

Then I cut off their ramblings with my coup de grace:

"ALRIGHT! IF YOU GUYS FINISHED YOUR FOOD, WASHED THEM IN THAT SPOT, AND STACKED THEM IN THIS TABLE, YOU GET AN ICED-COLD BEER—"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"WE'RE REALLY DEAD, AREN'T WE?!"

"SHUT UP! I CAN'T DECIDE BETWEEN EATING MORE OR GETTING THAT BEER!"