Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Marvin and I didn't interact as much the moment we rotated among our outposts but he'd always appear when we called them for anything while doing all of their quotas on the dot. Much like Ibarra, his weapon of choice was a spear along with the usual M16 and a Glock—and if I had to describe him in a few words, it'd probably be reserved and reliable.

And unlike Brian or Carlo, I would've grouped him around Seb and Jeremy—or maybe even JP because of how he performs his duty as it is, no more no less, but yeah, it can be a good or a bad thing depending on the situation.

Because now, I wasn't sure if he was actually biding his time to overtake everyone else in this challenge or if he was just trying to coast around the middle group just to survive or to just have an experience. It was because I relieved all of them from their duties while they were in Hell Week and they should all be making the most of this situation for themselves.

But yeah, we ran for 20 more kilometers and there wasn't a single change in his vest loadout besides the global increments of a pound.

He now has a total of 18 pounds in his vest while every forerunner or anyone who came close to me and gave me an increment received a 5-pound increment instead. Actually, I was planning to wrap this game a little bit after dinner time but I was still monitoring everyone's status while they were recovering.

In any case, it was obvious everyone was taking longer to finish the 10-kilometer run and it was leaving us less and less time to catch our breaths. And without any lunch for two hours, I almost didn't want to do this but I did promise them they'd hate my fucking guts while they were in Hell Week.

So yeah, once their super late lunch was brought over to them, they looked just as happy but their faces showed a different emotion when they discovered the glorious food they'd been having since time immemorial was fucking bland—it looked fucking delicious on the surface but there was nary a seasoning in them.

I wasn't one to waste food but if we ate all of them, what's the problem?

"Bro…"

"I'm literally gonna cry!"

"I hate it! I hate it! I HATE IT!"

"Then give me your share—"

"DON'T TOUCH MY FOOD, YOU FUCKING HEATHEN!"

"Shit… Still a balanced meal though… If we only had salt…"

I chuckled, "You guys have it so~ fucking easy, huh? This is one of the things you were taking for granted. One of the reasons we should protect this place with all we got."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

To my surprise, no one actually talked back because it hit them deep in the feels and I was just satisfied they were realizing the little things they thought was a normal thing.

It was one of the questions I asked them before starting this challenge and it made them appreciate the things this place was doing for them—even having the privilege to train in this safe space to push past their limits without the risk of a deadhead clawing their eyeballs out.

But what came as another surprise was Tatiana bawling her eyes out because her relationship with food is that great but she had great appreciation of food's natural flavors.

I was a proponent of delicious stuff as well but sometimes, we just have to appreciate what we have and be thankful we have a full plate or two that could keep us full. However, it didn't take long before Hooper came back and we went on for just an hour before some people decided to call it quits.

Obviously, it was the people on the heavier side like Ruben, Brian, Martin, and Tennyson—but Tennyson was the only one keeping up with the people with the leaner physiques while still packing decent muscle. He was probably a good 10 or so pounds above me unlike Hooper who probably had 30 or more over me and he was keeping with everyone else who weighed 150 or 170 pounds.

But yeah, as more rounds passed, it didn't take long before more and more people weren't able to climb back to their treadmill or recover as fast as me or Tatiana.

On the boys' group, only me, Seb, JP, Tennyson, Uno, Marvin, and Jeremy were left while in the girls' group, only Tatiana, Williams, and Cindy were the only ones left in the competition.

Everyone else would still shave off a few kilometers from their punishment as they ran with us but as Cindy finally dropped out, Williams was crowned the winner of the girls' team—because Tatiana was just there to keep them going on like me—while on the boys' team, Seb, Tennyson, Uno, and Jeremy had dropped out.

'I fucking knew it that Marvin's holding out…'

At the current moment, we have run a total of 110 kilometers—which was already on the ultramarathon level—but JP and Marvin had no intention of stopping any time soon.

Honestly, I actually pegged Uno to win this one but there was so much technique and talent could do without grit and mental fortitude.

These two dudes were the leaders of their squads for a reason and if Tennyson was a tad lighter and had fewer increments on his vest, he would still be in the competition. But yeah, while I had 40-ish pounds on my vest, JP 30-ish pounds on his vest, and Marvin 20-ish pounds on his vest, Marvin was at a huge advantage.

I'd hate to take out the magic but he only needed to hold out longer than JP—because I was just there to have some fun. If anything, this should've been the last and final round but this is fucking Hell Week and it ended with me running a total of 133.7 kilometers total while the two dropped almost at the same time.