Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Dewey explained that even way past the checkpoint we drove past was an exclusive area where anyone—intruders, random strangers, and even innocent hikers—passing by would have a very high chance of receiving an injury because of a maze-like wall of sharp wires wrapped around the tree line, spike traps buried underneath foliage, trip wires that would set off any and every sort of trap in the immediate vicinity, etc.

Mrs. Dewey continued, "Of course, even Mr. Jacobs came out with just a scratch but that was before the dead got tangled on the traps themselves. And with that said, of course, my husband reset all of them without cleaning the bits and pieces stuck to them—making it a step above normal traps which were already deadly."

Kaley replied, "But… Wouldn\'t it be dangerous for all of you as well? I mean—"

"Of course, it is dangerous but it\'s up to us to remind everyone in our fold—and be responsible ourselves—because randomly sneaking to the woods to do God-knows-what and end up with a bite or a scratch shouldn\'t be how some of us go."

"Did… Did something like that happen before?"

"Yes, dear. It happened more than once."

Oscar cut in, "I\'m sorry, but… Wouldn\'t it be better to have it both ways?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean a \'Forest of Death\' sounds good and terrifying but that\'s just up to walking pounds of flesh. What if people came in with vehicles that could traverse the area and survive even with the traps springing on them? And I dunno about you, but some solid walls do give me a bit of peace of mind when it comes to sleeping time."

\'I agree.\'

"Hmm~" Mrs. Dewey thought for a bit, "That conversation popped up a couple of times in our discussion but… one of the reasons we couldn\'t just build a log wall around this main area was also because of our residents."

Even I got confused as Oscar\'s brows furrowed:

"What do you mean? Aren\'t their safety supposed to be the number one priority?"

"How do I put this… You see… In a sense, this woodland area is also being preserved and was purchased by George Dewey himself so that there will still be areas like that—not just supersized condos and apartment buildings to cater to tourism—because even though the main attraction of this place is the bay itself, everything else around it shouldn\'t be neglected."

"That\'s—"

"It\'s a silly thing, of course, and you can even argue that why\'d we even try to preserve it by putting up traps on the trees themselves and the soil they grew on but… but that\'s just how we wanted this place to be.

Some survivor bias IS going on since we haven\'t had any incidents ever since but I guess other people found it to be too much trouble to tackle such a problem that early on or even to this late in the— I think this is the later stages, no?"

I sighed lightly, "That\'s… That\'s an optimistic way of looking at it but it could be just me being that pessimistic."

"How do you think this thing is gonna go then?"

"Well… The optimal route is to have the smart dudes figure out a way and have this thing reversed to have the world back to the way it was or tweak it in a way to have a different future or everyone just descends into chaos and madness or right until nature takes over and erase anything humanity have done for the years they\'ve been in this earth."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Ah— That last part may have been too much but that\'s just how I look at things as a whole…"

Mrs. Dewey looked a little concerned for me, "Ah… That\'s… I guess you\'d get along with my husband too…"

I chuckled, "Anyway, since this place functions more than just a hospital and a rehab center, may I ask on how you go about food? As it is currently, the bay\'s more abundant than ever since a lot of people… you know… stopped fishing but since you\'re up here for a while, did you break open your emergency stock or are you also growing your food?"

She let out a smile, "Both, dear. We reserved a good portion at the back of this place for tending to our own crops just a little more than enough to feed everybody and save a lot on food and delivery costs—even teaching our kids to homestead somewhat—but I\'d appreciate more than just eggs as a protein source."

"Ah…"

"Don\'t get me wrong, vegetables also have protein in them but you\'d have to have more compared to protein from animals—Ah, I\'m kinda getting ahead of myself here…"

I chuckled, "You didn\'t say anything wrong though. While it\'s true that vegetables could be a good protein source, you\'d have to eat more of them and since they\'re less calorie-dense compared to animal-based protein products, you\'d feel more bloated and full after—depending on your stomach size, of course—just to hit your daily protein needs.

To be fair, you could go either way but for me, balancing it is the way to go."

"Wha— You know your stuff, don\'t you?"

"Used to be big, had to know some stuff to get to this size…"

"Ah~ That\'s admirable and look at you now! You look great!"

"Oh, thank you! On that note, we might be able to help you by sending some of our animals to this side—"

"Huh? N-No, the fish we\'d get as we could get out freely now is already plenty—you\'d let us pass and fish, right?"

I chuckled, "Of course, we\'d let you but we\'d happily give you a pair of goats, ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. to take care of so you\'d have more meat options in the future."

Mrs. Dewey just looked into my eyes for a while before she said, "I\'m sorry, I don\'t really understand why you\'d do all this to help us. Aren\'t you all fine on your own? There has to be a catch."

"Not quite. Aren\'t you doing the same thing for all the people in this hospital? A good number of them didn\'t have to pay a single dime to stay here and get treatment. Sure, it\'s kind of limited compared to all the modern hospitals with all their gadgets and fancy-ass machines, but something\'s better than nothing, no?"

Oscar quipped from the side, "I just got it."

"Hmm?"

"Our folks had to get over here just for free fucking healthcare… Wouldn\'t you know?"

"..."

"..."

"Ah—"

"Pfft…"

"P-Please… Can you go outside with your buddy?"

"What did I say wrong?! We\'re just talkin\' \'ere!"

"You\'re not— You\'re not even from New York— Nevermind…"