Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

With an hour or so before sunset, Rin led me to our nearest DDR Camp, which also where our nearest hospital was also located, and it was because of the junkies— err, the adolescents—Dax and Sheepy's group—we sent here a few days earlier.

To my understanding, they should be going through hell right now because they were detoxing and currently undergoing withdrawal symptoms but it seemed like the people in charge with them weren't having it so easy either.

And whaddayouknow? Dr. Nichols was the doctor in charge of them and Mimi was one of the nurses who volunteered to take care of their needs—but yeah, aside from Chloe who was learning the ropes from her mom, Camille, Casey's older sister, was also lending a hand, especially to help with Casey's well-being.

Before they even got here, I was already informed that Casey's child didn't survive but with their detoxing phase currently ongoing, I was told that she wasn't even told the news. However, I believe it was the right call because putting too much on someone's plate just might make them snap.

But yeah, as soon as we met eyes, the three gave me a hug and a few pleasantries, but the first thing I noticed was the scratch on Mimi's arm.

"Hold up— What's with— Is the one who did it barely clinging to life because that's the right call because his next few day's gonna be fucking miserable—"

The four had to take a step back from the slight killing intent but Mimi quickly waved me down as she recovered:

"Y-You— It's not like that! It kinda is— but it comes with the job, alright?!"

"Still— What happened?"

"It's a literal scratch, it was when we were trying to tie— what's HER name? Morgan?"

Chloe nodded while sneaking glances at me with a smile, "Y-Yeah— to be fair, they're all pretty scratchy but Sir Oscar gave us the executive right to knock them out! Those scratches quickly stopped after a few bonks!"

"Scratch— Like with her nails—"

Dr. Nichols waved me off again while looking amused with my concern, "Before you say more, aside from all of them being underweight, have a liver fighting for their dear life, lack of sleep, and having a lot of various drugs in their system, they don't have anything that you're worried about. They're all clean in a sense."

"Still—"

Mimi chuckled, "I appreciate the concern, I do, but it really does come with the job and I'm much better than they all are. Having withdrawals like that is pretty ugly— I hope they're fine in a few days…"

"Hmm…"

Chloe nudged me, "What are you thinking about now?"

"I'm thinking about putting the cadets, trainees, and Ella's bodyguards—"

Dr. Nichols rolled her eyes, "The ones hovering around that little kid like a helicopter?"

Mimi quickly joined Ella's side, "S-She's not a kid! She's just s-small… l-like me…"

I chuckled, "Yeah… I'm thinking of putting them through a Hell Week of sorts— you know, intense training and all that—though I'll accept anyone else who's willing to join—but I'm thinking of having these kids go through it as well. What do you think of that?"

Dr. Nichols shook her head, "I'd advise against that. They're pretty young, sure, but they have to go through some sort of rehab first— mild exercise, eating healthy, the works, and not intense training or whatever you're thinking of."

Chloe cut in, "C-Can I join?"

I turned to her, "You sure?"

"Yeah?"

"You're gonna hate me for sure, it's called hell for a reason."

Chloe rolled her eyes, "It's already hell for me— me and Cynthia, these past few days of our bet! Do you even remember?! How bad could it get?!"

"Oh~ You two still keeping it on?"

"W-Wouldn't you like to know? Of course, we are—"

Dr. Nichols shook her head as she cut her daughter off, "They already lost—"

"MOM! No, we didn't! It was an accident!"

Mimi backed Dr. Nichols, "Accident or not, you two still did… you know…"

I looked at her weirdly, "You accidentally came? How?"

Chloe was about to lose her shit, "I-It really was an accident! I-I— W-We were doing it in our sleep! W-We woke up feeling good all of a sudden but R-Riri and Ruru taped us h-humping our p-pillows and y-you know… that…"

"Uh-huh…"

"B–BUT WE STILL DID IT UNKNOWINGLY! BELIEVE ME! WE'RE STILL NOT DOING ANYTHING TO Y-YOU KNOW! THAT!"

I put my hands up, "I dunno, Kaley will be the judge of that… But yeah, what's the problem Rin's been talking about? Aside from the scratch? Or is that it?"

Dr. Nicols answered, "Mimi's scratch is as she said, part of the job but— I dunno how to say this but some people here are taking advantage of the free services this hospital of yours has to offer."

"What do you mean?"

She took some files from her desk, "I noticed— Well, Mimi and I noticed it in our first day while we were feeling things out— you know, seeing how this place works and all, but, a much as I'd hate to say this, after gathering some evidence—"

"Dr. Nichols… You can tell me."

"Alright… This place has 24 patients admitted who are prolonging their stay for as much as possible because of the free amenities this hospital provides— and six of them who should've been discharged a week ago are still benefitting from the free food, free room, free laundry, and everything else. I know you don't charge anyone a dime but it's just ridiculous."

Mimi added, "One of them got admitted here with a bag of their laundry and asked me to do it for him since he doesn't have anyone else to do it for him while he's here.

I did it for him once because he was nice at first—and we do have machines for them and it's just a push of a button—but a few of his friends started doing the same thing and got mad when I said no… It's not like they couldn't do it themselves… It's just a little… you know…"

"They should already be earning their keep in some way—and I'm not telling you how to do your job but… even if they're not taking prescribed medicine you have strict regulations on like painkillers, they shouldn't be abusing everyone else who are very much willing to do simple tasks for them. It's downright shameful for these people to laze around like that.

The staff are enabling such behavior and I'm all for kindness, I am, but it still should be within reason."

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