Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Chapter 849 Ethanol - Who Are You People?

As soon as I asked Quinn that question, she just looked at me like I'm an idiot but she leaned back and rested her elbows by the steps—sticking her chest out—before she gave me an answer.

Well, another question to be exact.

"Look at me and this place. What screams at you the most?"

"Huh?"

Quinn partly unzipped her overalls, revealing her cleavage that was fucking bigger than most women's full tits, "Just answer the first thing that comes to mind."

"Well~ We have a top-class rough mechanic with huge tits and hard muscles that can build engines and customize anything with wheels so… Is that it?"

"That's barely an answer. And you didn't have to add "rough" on my title, let's just call it an acquired aesthetic, no?"

"Hmmrgh… Really though, that's my answer. This place screams Mad Max and Mr. Olympia had a love child."

Quinn started to scratch her head but Anne was also getting confused at her line of questioning.

"Fuck it, I'll just tell you. There's another reason that the other families had no idea about why Mauro and Elsa tied the knot. Wait— Nah, Ongkiko might've caught a glimpse of it but I doubt he noticed what we're making over there at the industrial park."

"And that is?"

"You're the genius here, right? How can you not figure this shit out?"

I almost pinched her nipples off as I gave her a weird look, "I thought you'd just tell me?"

"I changed my mind. Hmm~ I can give you another clue though but you have to answer me one question honestly. I'll break your ass open if you don't."

"Fine… but…" I trailed as I looked over to Anne, "Is she…"

Anne suddenly turned red, "Ah— Shouldn't I have been here? I-I-I was just waiting for the radio—"

Quinn cut her off, "Stay here, Anne," then she turned back to me, "I tell and trust her everything, and what I'm about to ask you after I gave you the clue, she can hear. Just don't get pissed off that much when you hear my question."

"Now you're making it sound like getting that clue is a bad idea…"

"It's an honest accident though, wanna hear the clue?"

I stared at them for a moment before I eventually nodded, "Fine. Hit me."

"Great! What can someone who can build engines and a farmer do in the apocalypse after a year or so? Not just anything related to their own field but something that they'd need each other for—"

I suddenly had my lightbulb moment, "Holy fucking shit— Why didn't I piece it together?! Sal's making ethanol?! And— And— And you're making engines that could run them without any problems! There are different mixtures… E10s, E85s, etc. but if you make something similar to those engines that could run them pure, that'll solve a lot of things! THAT'S IT, RIGHT?!"

As soon as I gave her my answer, Quinn just looked like she wanted to devour me whole but she put her arm over my shoulder and gave me a squeeze. I didn't mind her huge boob against my face but the sweat and the oil mixed together were a little uncomfortable.

"Good job, genius. But we're not done here—"

"Ah."

"Right, my question," Quinn was looking me directly in the eye as she said to Anne, "Tell him."

Anne suddenly flinched, "M-Me?! W-Why me?!"

Quinn rolled her eyes as she turned to her, "You're the one who told me, right? So, you should— Ahh~ Fuck it," then she turned back to me again, "Anne here performs maintenance checks on all of the vehicles we have inside this place but since she isn't sure what kind of fuel you're using, she siphoned a bit just to be 100% sure. You know where I'm getting at, right?"

I tried to deflect, "Was that the question just now?"

"Don't try me. That fuel's fucking fresh. Where the fuck did you get that? There should be more, right? We're willing to trade our services for that and it'll solve our current problem now since our production of our custom engines ground to a halt. YOU know and I know that we could just use vehicles manufactured at the latest to remove some of the problems of ethanol use but we have vehicles we hold dear. And 99% of them wasn't manufactured after 2003."

"..."

"Are you gonna answer me or not?"

"..."

"Or is it that you still don't trust me?"

"..."

Quinn had never looked so disappointed, "Fine, keep your secrets—"

"I get it from the same place this country has been getting it from."

This time, as soon as Quinn heard my answer, a ton of things were probably running through her head because she was quiet for some time while Anne and I were just looking at her. However, she seemed like she pieced two and two together but before she could even say a word, Kaley walked in with Tatiana carrying a pouch of spent casings.

"..."

"..."

Kaley noticed the abnormal quietness, "Something wrong? We went out for a bit to collect these casings but we did come back to this place Isaac mentioned that had soap—"

Quinn eventually dropped the bomb, "Who are you people?"

Tatiana kept silent but Kaley responded, "H-Huh? What are you talking about?"

Quinn shook her head as she frowned, "See here, a lot of things didn't make sense but this is the fucking end of the world and the dead shouldn't be moving so I let go most of it. The power couple that could shoot guns and wields their fancy blades like crazy, the Russian chick that's always by their side and can do the same thing, even that bald prospect— I don't even know what he is but he's not a fucking gangbanger. His movements are too… military—and trust me, I've seen my fair share of them and he moves just like them. Shoots like them too. That copycat of yours seemed like someone you picked up as a comic relief but he seemed to be hiding something as well."

"Quinn—"

"Again, who are you people? And don't fucking lie to me."

This would've been a conversation for another time but Quinn was starting to get paranoid about a small little thing she found in our vehicle. However, she had every right to be suspicious of us because I did come knocking on a certain residence and suddenly turned out to be one of the newest and youngest heads to date.

To be fair, even Mr. Cuervo partly knew of my real standing with the president and vice versa, so someone like Quinn—who was considered to be the vice-head of the De Leon Family shouldn't even know this information. But yeah, she hit some pretty solid points and it was my responsibility to answer her.

I took a deep breath before I looked her in the eye, "We are who we are but I'm neither a bootlicker nor a gangbanger. I've made… connections that benefited me and the parties I'm involved with—as you can clearly see now—and like you told me last time, not everyone chose the life we live in. I make choices after heavily weighing the pros and cons of it but do know that my crosshair and the edge of my blade are pointed—and will continue to be—at the undead outside and the ones who made them like that."

"..."

"I'll gladly hold an angel and a demon's hand just to watch Saturday morning cartoons with my cousins like the old days but do know that I'll destroy anyone that tries to prolong that from happening. I just want the old world back."

Everyone was silent for a moment but Quinn loudly exhaled before she spoke, "That's just telling me that you haven't picked a side—"

"Quinn. That is what's fucking wrong with everybody here. We shouldn't be picking sides in the first place and the options we are choosing to side with shouldn't be the options we should be picking from. Can we at least agree on that? You said you weren't given a choice but why are you so bent on defending something that you're—"

"BUT THIS IS MY FAMILY NOW, CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!"

I motioned for her to calm down, "Shout at me all you want but that's not gonna solve anything. You've struck a deal with the Military Academy and my University, right? In the grand scheme of things, that's something I want everyone here to strive for. We have differences but we should learn how to work with each other. And the end of the world shouldn't be the trigger for us to start that. That's just what I'm trying to say. It'll be fucking difficult to achieve that but imagine if it did… I can't believe I'm saying the same speech I did before but here we are… I should make a t-shirt or some merch outta this…"

'We really should've talked abouthis sooner though...'

After I said that, Quinn just leaned back again with her eyes closed and everyone was just waiting for her reaction. It took her a full ten minutes to process her thoughts but she came up with something I thought she was totally against from our last talk.

"Stop saying stupid things."

"I'm serious—"

"I know, but… Fuck it, once everything is done here, I'll come with you and pick up Edith or whoever's gonna come with us and see for myself—"

"See for yourself what?"

"Your place. You invited me to come, remember?"

"I did, but what's that got to do with—"

"Everything. It's got to do with everything."