Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

When I looked at my watch, it said it was already 8:47 PM—and don't get me wrong, I'm all for team building and shit—but this felt like one of those times when parents would have their kids do something time-consuming so that they'd have a bit of time for themselves.

However, with his authority as the Mayor, Iskoh could've just told them to stay away from their main place of residence so this just might be the time for our groups to bust out their NVGs.

JP raised his hand, "Question, sir—"

"Go ahead."

"Right… Umm, you said scavenger hunt, are we to look for something or someone in this place at this time of the night?"

"Yes and no. You are to look for something I've hidden somewhere but that somewhere is not in the green zones."

I chimed in, "Green zones?"

Aaron answered for me, "Green zones are the areas the Mayor had reclaimed—including allied areas like yours. In that example, yellow zones are scouted places that a few clearing groups had gone through, red zones are scouted places that have only been visited once or twice, and the black zones are areas that haven't been scouted at all."

Mayor Iskoh nodded, "Thanks for the explanation, Aaron—but yeah, this type of thing is something we do weekly and since your group's here, I strongly suggest they join in as well."

My head started to itch, "This shit is fucking stupid and dangerous."

He chuckled, "It's supposed to be. The item they're supposed to retrieve is in the red zones. Not to give any obvious clues but it's a bust of one of our previous mayors who ran this place and one of the hints to get you started is in this place's library—"

I shook my head, "You think this is a joke?"

He then looked at me solemnly, "Kid, with all due respect—there will come a time that they'd have to go out in the dark, and simulating it in a safe space like your gym wouldn't cut it. No matter how dangerous you can be and how terrifying you are to them, it's still apples to oranges to the dangers outside. You gotta let them experience these types of things on their own."

Seb then nudged me, "We had to go on a few missions like this way back, sir. We can handle it."

Joe added from the back, "Sir, shouldn't this type of exercise be normal?"

I scratched the back of my head, "I mean— my go-to was to always hunker down in the night and bring the fight to the dead in the daytime. All types of shit could go wrong if we venture out when the sun had already set but… but yeah—I do understand your points."

Iskoh gave me an approving look, "Glad to see we're on the same page on this. I was expecting some push back but—"

"Here's the pushback."

Iskoh then gave me a disproving look, "What is it now?"

"We'll have a group monitor each—"

"No."

"How about an open line of communication so I could—"

"No."

"So we're just sending them out there with no support?"

"That's how I usually do it."

I shook my head, "Then how many of them don't come back? You know, usually?"

Iskoh scoffed, "I really thought we were on the same page earlier… Kid… I— The president or even your old man won't say this to you but I'm also teaching you how to manage your people."

"By sending them off on their own?"

"They need experience—which they sorely lack."

"Oh? So why don't I just kill one of them right now if that's the point of your scavenger hunt?"

"We're not seeing eye to eye here, kid—"

"Clearly, we're not. There's a reason we have these systems in place—a backup group, communication lines, aerial support, etc. because if we take all of those away, the threat level increases, and the chances of one of them not coming back goes all the fucking~ way up!"

"Oh. So you mean to say that if we don't have all those things we do nothing?"

"No—"

"Then what are we supposed to do then?! We can't have everything— t-those systems in place you have every single time! These kids— no, my people— OUR PEOPLE! Our people should be able to function, think, and act on their own when the need arises, and as much as I would hate to say this, they all have to experience certain… certain difficult things in order for them to grow.

I'm not saying they have to have casualties every single time but it's part of it all!"

"This shit you're saying doesn't even make sense—"

"KID! You're one goddamn golden egg who helped me see that shit I'm blind to so I'm fucking helping you right now so you can see your own inadequacies. I've told you before and I'm telling you again, these kids don't need to be coddled and the more you do that shit, the more you deny their opportunities to grow like you!"

"But—"

"You've been in it! You've experienced the darkest shit I can't even fathom how I'd deal with but no matter how many times you tell and share your story, they'd have to see and experience something close to it through their own lenses to know what it's like!

I'd thank the fucking Gods if nothing happened to them but if we don't let them off on their own, something will definitely happen to them and they'd have no fucking idea how to go through it! Do you understand?!"

"Fine!"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Fine what?!"

I turned to JP and Tennyson as I stood up, "Join the fucking scavenger hunt—"

"Sir…/Sir—"

"And I'm sorry for coddling all of you. Huge mistake on my part but yeah, you're in charge of yourselves now. Come back with one person missing and you'd wish you all died with them, got it?"

"YES SIR!"

At that point, I just gave Iskoh one glance before I went up the stairs—and obviously enough, Kaley was already following behind me.

"..."

"..."

We didn't talk as we ascended the stairs and it was only when we leaned on the railings in silence for ten more minutes I opened my mouth:

"He's fucking right, huh?"

Kaley nudged me with her shoulder, "Well~ While I do agree with you most of the time, he's kind of right this time."

"What do you mean, kind of? He's absolutely right and I threw a fucking tantrum when I didn't get my fucking way." Explore hidden tales at empire

"Pfft— Not really~ It just means you really care about everyone and it really shows. But ya see… Another way of caring for them is you know, letting them grow to be their own persons. We can guide them to a certain point but it's still their own paths, right?"

"Hmm… Sure…"

"And yeah, you grew in a way too! Letting them join that dangerous game, knowing your mistake, apologizing, etc… I'm really proud of you for that!"

"..."

"Hey… Don't be so down on yourself, it's a great thing!"

"Haaa~ Alright, alright! Thank you, Kaley. I love you—"

"Heh, I didn't do anything but I'll take it! I love you too, you doofus!"

"Pfft— I hate to quote the Mayor on this but you're helping me see things I'm blind to and you're doing it in a way that makes me not feel so shitty about myself. I am limiting their growth by cod— doing what I'm doing to them and yeah… Did you know that when I was still a kid in training, the old man left us on an inhabited island naked without so much as a knife to defend ourselves?"

Kaley never looked so confused, "Wait— What? Old man— You mean Oscar?! And who's we?!"

I smacked my forehead, "N-No, no, me, Aoi, and Arashi-san. Fun times. We almost died a few times too but— Oh. Now I see what I did wrong. Huh. Funny how that turned out."

"H-Hold up! You gotta tell me more than that! Naked?! In an island?! What?!"

"You know, like a lion pushing its cub off a cliff shit. I'm too worried about our numbers decreasing by a single digit I forgot how they'd turn out if I indulge them too much. There's a limit to everything and I should care how they live not just how they'd survive."

"Heeey! I said what happened on that island?!"

"If I tell you, I have to kill you— GrChKK! Ow! Kaley!"

"Don't be stupid! Come on~! Tell me in our tent! It's too cold in here!"

"Oof! That's what we kept saying the first night too… Arashi-san was the eldest of us three and he already knows how to build a fire and if he didn't feel sorry for us, we'd have died twice over!"

"What?!"

"Good thing he let us borrow the quartz rock and flint so we could build our own fire…"

"That's… I'm really~ gonna give your adoptive family a huge~~~ talking to…"