Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

"Well… How do I start this? Hmm~ I think it's pretty obvious to you three that everyone here is kind of a gym rat and most importantly, everyone here is on gear. I still am at the moment, I take 300mg of Test a week just to retain my muscles since I'm old and once you're past 45, you'd lose a percentage every year…"

'Weird start to a story but okay…'

"Anyway, I told you guys that bit because it's actually relevant. Mike— Michael, Quinn's old lover loved the way he looks more than he loved his old DB9. He used to compete way~ back then and he was using as much—maybe even more—than his competition. However, without proper coaching and guidance, things just turned for the worse. Granted he knows his shit but men could be fucking dumbasses at times."

"What happened?"

"Trust me, the guy's genetics is well above average but he keeps wanting to get bigger and bigger. However, sometimes, judges would favor definition more than size. What did he do? He amped the volume of his exercise and upped whatever the fuck he's taking—even taking Insulin—"

Tatiana was taken aback, "Insulin? Isn't that for—"

"Diabetics? Yeah, but it also works for bodybuilding."

I added, "I've read about that but it's totally different from Test, the dosage should be fucking perfect or— Is that what happened? He made a mistake on the—"

Chef Ng shook his head, "Honestly, no one the fuck knows. It could be anything from whatever the fuck he's doing to his body. But yeah, the guy's pretty strong and he survived his mistake. It's just that his body is not the same anymore. Quinn, Mauro, and especially my son tried so~ many times to make him stop even before he upped his dosage but the guy's deaf when it comes to that talk."

Kaley said, "That mistake… what actually happened to his body?"

Chef Ng shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know the exact details but he had some sort of stroke and he lost some feeling in his right leg and a few motor functions. He could barely walk after that and the body he was so fucking proud of became the darndest thing he ever possessed. And to top it all off, this fucking apocalypse happened. He was throwing money at everything that could possibly bring his old body back but losing 90% of the fucking population made it impossible."

"..."

"And that's when he had enough."

"Wait, I thought Jackie killed—"

Chef Ng chuckled bitterly, "He did but… Michael asked him to. It was unfortunate… really… Michael and Jackie? They're fucking closer than brothers, I might add but things happened too fast for anyone to react. Let's just say when Michael had enough of everything, he asked—no, begged my son for him to end it for him. I was cooking everyone their dinner when it happened and after that one loud bang, chaos just ensued."

"But why did Quinn—"

"She didn't know."

"What do you mean?"

"She was supposed to be on our other outpost with Lucy and Jordan but… she was right fucking there when it happened. I don't know what was exactly going through their minds at that time but knowing my son, he would've been broken if he had to end his brother's life. It's just that something also broke in Quinn's head when she saw what just went down and she did what she did. No one was able to stop her when she charged at my son and from what everybody present told me at the time, my son… my son never— no, didn't put up a fight. He chose not to. He knew what was coming to him and he took everything that Quinn threw at him…"

At this point, Chef Ng just looked down in frustration just from remembering what happened and he was silent for a couple of minutes before he looked up.

"A-Anyway… no one fucking knew what to do but luckily enough, Mauro fucking stepped the fuck up. He was the only one who managed to pin her down and he gave her a few good punches to make her realize what she had done. However, the fact that the two kept it between themselves what they were about to do… especially making sure that Quinn was away—though she was not—was devastating to her. Quinn was the most level-headed person before that happened but something just broke inside her. She did every drug imaginable and drank herself to sleep every single night but she still stopped taking whatever the fuck caused Michael to be like that."

"..."

"It didn't make much sense but the weirdest thing was that she stood up on her own. Trust me, knowing that she killed my son made me want to take revenge but what would that accomplish? I assumed she would just kill herself for what she was doing before but seeing her change on her own… in some weird way… made me forgive her. Again, I've had plenty of chances… a lot of chances where she knew what I was about to do but like my s-son… she didn't bother to put up a fight. She knows what she did and she was willing to die for it. She knows her mistake and she was more than willing to make amends. Just… Just knowing that made me forgive her. She killed my son but she, Michael, Mauro… I treat them as my children—well, everyone here that's younger than me… even you three. I take care of everyone as my own."

"..."

"It's just… really unfortunate… what happened… but… but yeah… I don't know what you're gonna do with that information but my advice to you is you just keep doing what you're doing."

"Hmm?"

"I said that she managed to stand up on her own but when I saw her come back with you three, it's one of the few times I've seen her genuinely happy. Well, I did hear about that other incident where I actually grew worried but whatever the fuck you're doing is working. Keep doing that."