Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Chapter 1202: Occam's Razor

The drive to the other end of this expressway was pretty eventful but we did have our own discussion with what happened with those three people. Everyone either shared the same theories or had something completely contrarian to one's statement but as we kept digging a deeper rabbit hole, I figured out a very simple solution:

"Occam's Razor."

"Hah?/Wut?/Say what now?" Almost everyone else—including in our radio channel—muttered.

Isaac replied, [The best answer to any situation is almost always the simplest one.]

I chuckled, "Something like that. Look, the tribespeople welcomed them pretty well and the dates on the images were from only a few days ago, so yeah, someone fucked up and caused those deaths. We don't know who yet but we should spread word of this thing to avoid more stuff happening like this."

Megan commented, [It could still be intentional, no?]

"Either way, whether it was intentional or not, they should avoid getting tats from people who don't know how to do their jobs properly. No offense to anyone's culture but they fucked up. Who mixes tainted fluid in their ink solution?"

Jennifer nodded, "True…"

With that said, after a simple exchange with Jessica's people from the other side and handing them another peso bill for shits and giggles, we easily made our way to Clark International Airport which was Jessica's Main HQ. Before driving in here, I already informed Jessica of our arrival, and the people we brought were welcomed quite warmly which came as another surprise for them.

On that note, I gave Jessica a copy of their files—and told her about those three deadheads we encountered in the expressway—and introduced each one of them by heart.

"I— I thought there'd be more of them since we prepared a larger place but nevermind, we'll send some of mine over to their place very, very soon."

I nodded, "Sure. I'll get you connected with Captain Davis and probably Maine or Janice—I'm guessing one of them should be working in the airport's ATC Room as well—so if anything comes up you can inform them of anything."

"That's okay but we can handle it. I'll give them light jobs for now but you don't mind me sending the stronger ones further out, right?"

"Totally up to you and don't ask me, ask them. Their lives are in your hands but you gotta prove 'em you have what it takes. I learned that by every single one of them trying to break my hand."

She was slightly taken aback, "W-What? They—"

I waved her off, "Not important, they just shook hands with me roughly so I broke their noses, not a biggie. It could be different for you but if you take care of them, they'll take care of you, that's the way it goes."

"I'll— I'll keep that in mind. Will you stay for a while?"

"I'm sorry, we should really be on our way—"

"Not even 15 minutes?"

I gave her a look as I replied, "Well~ We could go for 30 if there's no audience outside?"

"Fine, I'll let Tim take care of them for a bit—"

"Then I'll let Tatiana take care of mine for a bit as well—"

"Your wife's not taking care of them?"

"Nope."

"Ah—"

"She's joining us, if you wouldn't mind…"

"Oh. OH! Yes, please!"

On that note, the three of us went to her actual room to "sleep" and as fun as it was—especially with Kaley included—we had to say our goodbyes and make contact a little later. In that regard, we could've also gone to the flight school where Eric and Jane were to check up on them, but we were aiming to reach our home before sunset.

So with a smaller convoy of vehicles, we used the same roads we used last time not only to make our trip somehow safer and faster, but to also check if there were changes that occurred.

It had only been a few days since we last traversed these roads and minor changes are expected, sure, but seeing changes like more places broken into or vehicles not in the same spot we left them or just straight-up missing would give us a general idea of other survivors' activities.

Doing this wasn't to bar them from you know, surviving, but it was a good exercise to partly expect the unexpected in case things go wrong.

However, with the size of our convoy and how each of us was armed to the fucking teeth, we were still waiting for the day a group would be dumb enough to go against us—but since we were still traveling on mostly friendly territory, it'd be very difficult to get jumped in our own neighborhood.

So yeah, after driving continuously and stopping to clear a few clusters along the way, we soon arrived at the Intercity where Mauricio was patiently waiting for our arrival.

Chapter Stay:

Of course, I also promised Mauricio a top-up of Marines but like us, he'd have to wait a bit longer, but in all fairness, this place was more guarded compared to mine because of the farms they also occupy.

'My group also has to drive further to clear the streets because of how safe it has gotten…'

Jennifer commented, "What is this place?"

"Rice City, essentially."

Quinn cut in, "Rice Vegas sounds better."

"Pfft! You do love your rice, huh? Don't get me wrong, I do use them when bulking up but I've never seen them in this quantities! Each sack is 50KGs, right?! I don't even know how much is that in pounds! Around a hundred?!"

I nodded, "Yeah, 110, to be exact… C'mon we'll do our set of introductions again—"

Jennifer suddenly stopped in her tracks after passing by a certain store, "HOLD UP, IS THAT V8 FOR SALE?! IS THAT A HEMI?! HOLY SHIT WHY'S THERE A RAT ROD IN HERE?! THIS PLACE IS FUCKING AMAZING! I'MMA CHECK THEM ALL OUT!"

I never facepalmed so hard in my fucking life, "NOT AGAIN! OSCAR ALREADY PURCHASED SEVERAL, JENNIFER! STOP! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE CURRENCY HERE!"