Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

But then again, not to treat these kids as actual kids—and to be fair to them, it wasn't like they were the only ones paying a visit to the suite floor because yeah, some people from George's group also paid either Robert or Agnes in the middle of the night or even the day.

In short, all sorts of people had a certain limit or threshold where they could resist temptation or where they needed a break from the mundane or hard work they were putting up with every single day.

It's just that some people take advantage of that and sometimes, they don't have to do anything, some people would just come unannounced without a prompt.

This type of thing happened more than people thought, and in this place's case, not only were Agnes and Robert ruling over everyone, but a good number of the soldiers did too.

From what I've experienced, the common currency when the dead started rising was sex, bullets, food, water, medicine, entertainment, security, and gas. There were a few niches, sure, but that's the common denominator.

It's shitty, of course, but a few days in without food or clean clothes would make someone's dignity cost far less. And sometimes, people don't even hold out that much—and that's when Casey and Camille come in.

We've already heard a bit from these two people but the reason I added Camille with Casey's name was that she had to shake hands with the devil just to make her sister's life a little more comfortable or to atone for what she did before—or that's what she thought.

Even when this place hadn't collapsed, as much as it would hurt to say, Sheepy's words rang true and it dug deep into Camille's chest.

"See what I mean?" Sheepy chuckled.

"..." Camille was just not saying a word.

Quinn grabbed him by the neck, "Shut up or I'll break your neck for real."

"..."

"..."

Let's just say that for lack of a better term, Casey was doing it with everybody in power not just for favors or small advantages, but just to feel something.

It's hard to see the supposed victim being the perpetrator herself, and then again, it'd be hard to pinpoint who exactly the father was because she had been with almost everybody.

And even if we take into account the way all those people had been around her, how could they have known that Casey had that past? And let's be real here, would those people trading favors for sex even care?

How could a random bartender know that the person they were serving was trying to be sober?

How could a hardware store employee figure out the rope was meant for that customer's neck?

And lastly, how could a gun owner ascertain that the tool to protect oneself be used to harm a large group of innocent people?

Of course, there was a saying that we shouldn't always blame the victim, or in this case, Casey, but really, is that really the way to go or should we take each and every case a separate one to be able to figure out what was right and what was wrong?

In most cases I've seen, the victim and the perpetrator were always different people but how about this one?

It would've been an open-and-shut case if we saw her getting dragged into some corner but no, almost every single time we see her, she was the one in front leading the way.

This was just one of those days when the person we hate was actually right in what he said, but then again, now that they know—no, I doubt that knowing would even change a thing, at least I hope it does but this time, it'd be a little different.

Though one more thing, let's take into account that the people from Dax and Sheepy's group knew, what's there to say that Casey still gave them consent despite everything that happened to her? In short, we still didn't have the full context until Casey woke up.

So I addressed everyone:

"This thing here's really unfortunate but what we should focus on is Casey and her child's well-being. Honestly, we could even forgo looking for the father right now because I think that it'd be better for the kid to not know until he/she is old enough."

"T-That's fair…" Camille let out from the back.

I continued, "But yeah, now that you fucks know her past 'now', and I'm also made aware of it, do know that we'll classify Casey as someone who couldn't give a sound decision by herself at the moment even if she's technically an adult. Part of the reason for that is her involvement with drugs, even if she took it willingly or unwillingly.

And since her situation is special, we'll move her over to my place and have my doctors check her."

"That's… Thank you."

I replied, "You're also coming with her since you're her sister and her legal guardian but do know that after we get her therapy and everything she needs, the training wheels will come off and whatever else she does will also be on her. We'd try to keep an open mind but everything should be within reason, alright?"

"Of course… I'll try my best to keep her out of it…"

"Camille."

"Yes?"

"It's gonna be hard for you to hear this but as you've said earlier, you can't be there for her at all times. Of course, she'll need some help from all of us but if this type of thing happens again, you have to—"

"With all due respect… sir. I can't do what you're trying to tell me. She's family."

"Then how about your life?"

She shook her head after a long pause, "I've ruined hers, sir… I'll try everything to fix it."

I nodded solemnly, "Alright, I understand. I was just telling you what could go wrong after this isn't on you, remember that."

"...y-yes, sir."