Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Joking aside, the motherfucker still kept the set for "emergencies" as she stated but we did find some things on display that piqued our interest. I did call Building 34 some sort of mall but there was this section where it looked like a pawn shop with several memorabilia or random items hoarders like me would love to collect.

"Oh, shit! This is sick!" I exclaimed.

Kaley and Quinn looked over to me, "What is it?/ Did you find another costume?"

"No! Heh, Royo has this box of plates from all 50 states and DC! The old man would love this! I can't believe he hasn't seen this yet—"

Then Quinn suddenly pried it off my hands, "Thank you, dibs."

"Wha—"

"I just said dibs, piss off!"

"I found it first—"

"Did you say dibs?"

I rolled my eyes, "Fine, keep it. There are three other boxes of the same thing over there—"

"Well, you should've said so! Still keeping this one though… Looks… cleaner… and less rust…"

Kaley turned to me, shaking her head, "Is Oscar collecting license plates?"

I replied before I picked another box and placed it on the cart, "Yeah."

"How far along is he though?"

"Hmm~ Texas?"

"Okay…"

"..."

"And? What else—"

"Ah. Just Texas— Ow! Kaley!"

"Is he collecting them or not?!" Kaley exclaimed as Quinn almost died from laughing.

But yeah, we can't just keep this gold mine to ourselves so we gave a call to everybody else with us. Granted I wasn't sure that the truck, the food, and the story I gave Royo could cover up all the expenses, but he gave me a breath of relief when he said that he could just put it in my tab.

Because right now, he needs vehicle parts and different power tools more than anything aside from the usual tradeable items.

However, I think that Building 34 should be relocated over to the Main Harbor because this place was their main base of operations.

Not anyone should be allowed inside unless absolutely necessary and the Main Harbor was already the commercial spot for hangouts and whatnot. It wouldn't be too much trouble for it to double as a trading spot for survivors who would come visit and it was just counterproductive to place it in a location further in their territory.

'Should be in front or something by the entrance… Well~ It's supposed to be a black market though… and a legal one at that… whatever…'

In any case, almost everyone just opted for a set of clothes and some sort of memorabilia but Jared damn near lost his shit when he spotted a stock FN SCAR with a 20-inch barrel hanging from Building 34's firearms section.

"B-Bro, bro! Look! LOOK! C-Can we take a loot at that?! You got the hook-up, right?"

"You talking about that SCAR?"

"What else?!"

"What's wrong with what you have on ya?"

"Nothing! I just wanna look at that one! It's navy blue! Well, parts of it! Don't see them in that color as much, no?"

"I can wrap yours if you want—"

"Please, bro! Can you ask the big dude— look! He's drinking some water! He's on a break, right?!"

"Fine…"

"FUCK YEAH! THANKS BRO!"

With that said, to prevent Jared from making more of a ruckus, I politely asked Royo if we could take a look at that particular SCAR on display and he didn't even need to ponder about it as he opened the door for us.

However, he did only let me and Jared in this particular section—albeit apologetically—because it was one of Major Harper's imposed rules but the crew didn't seem to mind because they would still get their turn and they were still busy looking around.

"This one, right?"

"YES! I mean— Yeah…"

Royo just had a glint in his eye, "Fancy SCARS, huh? This one's from my personal collection but you can convince me to let go of it before the night ends."

Jared glanced at me momentarily before he turned back to Royo, "I-I thought we could put it in his *pointing at me a few times* tab?"

"Hah! I did say that but those are for the items that are on display outside. The ones here are difference, especially the ones that don't look stock. You catch my drift?"

I cut in, "How long have you had it for?"

"Hmm~ Seven years, I think?"

"That's a long time."

"And it's still in tip-top shape. Had to replace a few parts for the thousands upon thousands of rounds I run through this baby because the best thing about this is that handle's non-reciprocating. The bigger trigger guard helps too if you're wearing gloves like that but's it's just a normal SCAR without the annoying things we marksmen had to bear while using this particular gun."

Jared never looked so shocked, "What the fuck— FOR REAL?! This is gonna be like— A thousand dollars more expensive! My thumb used to get murdered with the reciprocating handle when I was just getting used to mine!"

"Sucks, right? But this thing solves that problem…"

"Maaan~ I'll pay top dollar for this one…"

"That's what I'd like to hear~"

'Ah, fuck… He isn't helping his case one bit…'

Royo threw us a bit of a bone, "That's true on all accounts but the scope you have on plus all the other bling you have on yours is just about the same price as this one."

Jared cut in, "But it's stock!"

"That's true too, heh. Well, aside from the paint it has."

"Which probably costs more—"

I had to step in again, "But yeah— Wait, why'd you take off all the bling though?"

Jared followed, "What are you currently running?"

Royo forced a smile, "Do I have to tell you, gentlemen? Why'd you think I'm working on projects instead of going on runs?"

I quipped, "Because you're a great engineer?"

"HAH! DAMMIT! I TRIED GOING FOR THE SOB STORY BUT IT BACKFIRED! Fuck it! No particular reason, just moved on to belt-fed shit when I partially lost my vision in both eyes. It's not as bad as you think—I can still shoot sub-MOA, if any of that matters—though there are better people for the job."

"..."

"..."

"And no one here could use a welder's torch better than me and all the shit you can see that could make things spark. Anyway, enough of that, what are you gonna give me for this? Take note, I'll only be this generous until midnight which is coincidentally only a few hours away."

"How about we bling it up, first?"