Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Chapter 1400 Strainer Strat - Find the Difference?

Even without traffic, the number of trucks on one side of the road lining up dismembered body parts was enough of a hassle to keep us from getting to the edges of Pasig River much sooner—but I was juggling calls left and right from the North and South Harbors.

While they weren't actually calling for help—more like updates—I'd still give input because no one was allowed to use smaller boats to hoard bodies at all costs and our natural fish pans on the bay were just a loss we'd have to take at this point.

Because yeah, we weren't even sure if these floaters were just a single entity or a collection of dumb deadheads who decided to take a swim in this ungodly hour, and two, we have artificial fish pans available where we also had an abundance of fishes and other natural resources.

It's just so that in Iskoh's case since they were making use of Ocean Park's facilities—kind of like a huge aquarium with different bits and bobs on it—to farm fish like us, and almost half of it was sharing the water with the Manila Bay.

Before, we didn't have to worry that much about the dead's juices mixing in with the water if they just came in a cluster or so—but with their numbers right fucking now, it was more than a drop in the ocean, or should I say in our bay.

It'd be similar to noticing the flavor in an unwashed cup once you drank moldy water from it compared to using a freshly used cup which was also used to store clean water.

In any case, the moment we arrived at the point where the Manila Bay and Pasig River intersects, there were several backhoes and other equipment at work from each side, hauling bodies left and right.

These equipment were ever present even before the world ended just because of how much trash used to pass through—and now, I just hope to fucking god the bodies they were pulling up belonged to the ones that were responsible for the pollution.

Because going on another slight tangent, the government could only do so much for people that were that stubborn, dumb, and irresponsible because a little bit of trash—such as a candy wrapper—could do a lot of fucking damage if millions and millions of people started throwing them out without a care in the world.

Then I heard a familiar voice through my earpiece:

[Hey, kid. Circle around Pag-Asa St. and meet me in the loading docks.]

"'Sup, Iskoh? I mean— Mr. Mayor?"

[Whichever works. Why aren't you in the North Harbor?]

"I have people who can handle shit over there."

[Then I'll make use of ya here. Once you get to the loading docks, find an open spot and wait for a delivery. You'll know what to do. Guns only pointed by the water to avoid you know, crossfire and shit.]

"Sure, wouldn't need it most of the time anyway, make it two spots because I brought a larger group."

[Heh. You can handle five deliveries easy.]

"Fuck it, you have coffee for this, right?"

[The fuck— Why is everyone asking for coffee?! Are we running out?]

"Beats me. But you're paying me this time. You handle the coffee."

At that point, I discovered that Iskoh had been using shipping containers with holes at the bottom to pick up anything that shouldn't be in the water way~ before this incident occurred. It was akin to strainers filtering out pasta but this time, it was bodies upon bodies plus some random trash floating around. Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

Still, Iskoh had a group making more filters for their group and for shipment for the North Harbor because my place didn't have the need for such items before.

I didn't even notice that the trucks we passed by were hauling the same thing because the holes were in the bottom and to the sides. Let's just say that this was a more advanced form of our pitchfork strat—because I thought we'd resort to tridents when push comes to shove.

But yeah, for some reason, it was kind of satisfying to see those large shipping containers dip into the Pasig River and get shaken up violently by the cranes available for the excess water and shit—and then gets put on the back of a 10-wheeler for a same–day delivery service.

Some of us thought we'd shoot randomly and pull out bodies like the people from Tawiran Bridge which Lawrence was in charge of but they got a little excited when this place had gone a little industrial instead of medieval.

'I'd like to implement the strainer strat over there too very soon even if it's a little overkill over there…'

At that point we didn't dally around but I still had to give Jared a good smack in the face because the dude could only stay up late when you asked him in advanced. Also, it seemed like Alex juiced him out—but he's still on sniping duty, so we wouldn't need much of his help for the most part.

In any case, we were given at least a basketball court's worth of space and the deliveries came one after the other.

I thought it'd be five in one go but it was more like the frequency of how many trucks would come and dump their shit on us.

"Alright, main attack force will be me, Tatiana, Quinn, and Ibarra while the rest is in charge with the edges and cleanup. We'll see how it goes first and I'll just yell out what happens next, alright?!"

"GOT IT!/ SIR! YES, SIR! COFFEEEEEE, REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!!!"

With that said, let's just say that with our first delivery, it looked like what a load would look like if you were pent up for several years—and it just so happened they went through the cycle of life, decay, and then zombification, and thank the fucking gods we were wearing masks or else I would have opened with one of my fucking grenades.

Since we're feeling things out, I pulled out my .22 pistol and put down anything that twitched and after that, Tatiana smushed her feet to the fluids that came with the rotting package to feel what it was like.

Tatiana shook her head, "Ibarra and Quinn wouldn't be affected by this but we need a hose or very stable footing."

I turned to Ruben and James #1, who were already pulling bodies from our spot and said, "Look for water hoses! If not, start hauling containers with water! We have pumps at the back of our truck in the utility box! There's one in Jay's truck as well!"

"GOT IT!/ OKAY!"

And within a few minutes, another truck came in with a delivery from the bowels of the Pasig River—but without our water source, we'd have to be very careful about our footing and spacing while taking them out. The four of us opted for thrusts instead of wide or even compact slashed and this was just one of those times when Ibarra's long-ass spear would shine.

However, not only did Quinn have a workaround for this particular conundrum but one of our challengers who joined the team temporarily was Cynthia and her rapier had almost the same advantage for the particular situation.

Because yeah, thrusts would also allow us ample distance from our soggy targets because one particular thing we overlooked was the mess they'd made when met with some force or impact

This gave the people who preferred using blunt weapons a disadvantage because blood splatter was already a problem—maybe less when their blood had started coagulating but, in our current situation, the mix of blood, pus, bay, river, and sewer water surprising them with each hit was just too fucking much.

But taking a closer look at this floaters told me that not all of them were in the water for too long because some looked like they just soaked for a few hours while a good number of them had already bloated to the point that I could probably squeeze a glass of water from their thighs that were about to explode.

In addition, their faces were already disfigured and their skin color was a mix of black, blue, and whatever the fuck was the color between those two things and green—but what threw a monkey's wrench to my observation was if they were really fat to begin with or was it the water that did them in.

I could only do so much while sinking the tip of my blade through these soggy assholes, but despite the great view of the Manila Bay—aside from the waterlogged deadheads—something definitely looked off after I looked into the distance after the fifth consecutive delivery.

It was one of those times when you were playing those games where two objects seemed the same but once you look closely, something was different and you'd have to find the differences between them.

'I'm fucking sure there's a boat— OH SHIT!!!'