Multiplication - Raphael

After a few moments, we headed back to the compound for the broadcast.

It already started for a few minutes when we arrived but it was just the initial reports of the president reclaiming more territory. Different officers were in charge with different blocks and the amount of firepower they had was nothing to sneeze at. However, there were no updates about their research even if Oscar told them about the sprinting zombie I caught on video.

All that was said was that they were still conducting more research on the subject and collecting more samples. What followed after that was the listed names of the ones that safely evacuated and to which block they were placed in. The soldiers were doing their best to reach the places that had requested help and a few civilians were actually helping them with their problems.

The broadcast was much shorter today and it ended with another speech to lift the spirits of the ones listening.

'That could only go so far...'

The looping videos started then Oscar and I just looked at each other solemnly.

Looking at the group present, they were wearing the same expression though a few were sullen or somber. The situation around the world still hadn't sunk in to everyone completely but it was only a matter of time before it did. All we could do was keep the morale and the order balanced so we wouldn't have a scene like Bert or a few members going AWOL.

I turned the TV off and it was free time from this point on.

Kaley decided to spend some time with Olivia so I went to my room to place the M9s we used on the table for cleaning later. Glancing at the Glock 19s in the holsters on my torso, I placed them on the table as well to add some modifications. Besides the extended magazines, I added a suppressor, a red dot, and a flashlight.

I was busy reloading extra magazines that would fit my Glock 19 but I heard a knock on my door.

I turned around and saw that it was Aya holding a new notebook, "Hellooo~ Are you busy? Can you help me w-with something?"

"Hmm? Sure, come on in."

"Y-You're super smart, right?! C-Can you help me with times and times?"

"Times and tim— Oh! Multiplication, right? I can help you solve it but I wouldn't just give you the answer."

Aya adjusted her glasses, "B-B-But it's hard! The lady— umm... Ma'am Isabelle who came here gave us an assignment! Can you believe it?! S-She's making us multiply 6758 by 891! That's too many for my hands!"

Aya had her hands stretched out right in my face but I noticed she left the door open and Zeus was already on my bed and had rolled himself like a burrito. His little snout was sticking out but he was never moving a muscle, except his tail that was also exposed and wagging left and right.

I just chuckled and asked, "So, what are you finding hard on that problem then?"

"Are you listening? I-It's too many to count!"

"Hmm, you're right. Well... if you look at it in a different way, it could get easier."

Aya tilted her head as she climbed on one of the chairs I was sitting on, "Really~? How?"

"You say that it's a very big number, right? Why don't we do what we could first? Instead of multiplying them all at once, why don't we multiply 6758 by 1 first?"

"Then it's easy! It's still 6758!"

"That's great! Good job! Okay, multiply 6758 by 9 next."

"Huh? Why 9? Can't we do it with 2 first?"

"Just try to do it that way, you'll see later."

"O-Okay! Hmm~"

Aya started counting with her little fingers but her head started smoking when she ran out of digits to count on. She even pulled my hands so she could use them but I handed her a pencil so her life would be easier. After drawing a few hands and sticks, she finally succeeded and wrote the answer in her notebook.

"It's 60,822!"

"You got it! Great job!"

"Yes! So, what's next? Can we do 2 now?!"

I chuckled as I ruffled her hair but I told her to multiply 6758 by 8 instead. She was staring at me blankly for a brief second before it clicked. Her eyes widened as she gave me a huge smile, and she went off on her own. She wrote as fast as she could and she stacked the answers she came upon while making a small indentation after each one. After that, she just added the numbers together and she wrote the final answer to her problem.

"IT'S 6,021,378!!! WE DID IT!!! HIGH FIVE!!! YAY~!!!"

"YEAH~!!! Good job! Okay, now you get what I meant earlier, right? If something overwhelms you… we solve what we could first, okay? It just looks daunting at first but know that you could do it, okay?"

Aya nodded a few times as she was still smiling but she pulled something out of her pocket. It was a small zip bag that contained a few handfuls of Trailmix and she poured some of it on my hands. She took back a few pieces of M&Ms for herself but I just shook my head in amusement.

'What's this? A quest reward? Heh.'

"Thank you. Do you need any more help?"

"Uh-uh! This is the last one! Thanks! I'll teach the others too! Byeee~!"

I just waved her off as she ran outside, "Bye~!"

It was then that Zeus caught wind of the food on my hand but I immediately ate the handful. He immediately let out a whine as he struggled to get out of my blanket.

"This has chocolates in it, buddy. You'll be in trouble if you eat this, even in small amounts."

Zeus just tilted his head as I explained but he just rubbed his head against me. I started petting him when he snuggled even closer but it ended with me scratching his tummy while he laid on the bed. I started hugging him as I laid down myself and I remembered that I hadn't spent much time with him. He was mostly running around with Olivia while I was too busy taking care of everything else.

'I need to thank her though...'

After a while, I didn't notice that I actually fell asleep while Zeus was still by my side.

I noticed that my door was still open and I suddenly picked up on a few people giggling outside my room. Zeus and I went outside and we discovered that Kaley, Olivia, and Rin were huddled up by the staircase and looking in a camera with amused expressions.

'What are they up to?'

"That's the cutest photo I've seen all my life!"

"Right?!"

"This makes me a bit mad though, I've been with Zeus all this time and I don't even have a picture like this! It's unfair!"

"Woof!"

"Oh! They're awake! They're awake!"

"What are you guys doing?"

"Here! Look! Look!"

Olivia saw us walking up to them and she stood up and shoved the camera on my face. I had to take it away from her so I could clearly see it while she took the time to play with Zeus. Seeing the picture much clearer, I saw a picture of me and Zeus sleeping together peacefully. I started smiling but I suddenly grabbed Olivia and ruffled her hair.

"Why do you always like to ruin everyone's hair so much?!" Olivia hissed as she ran away from me.

"Heh, it's a really good shot though. Oh! Remember to bring that camera later in my room so I could copy it. Send me a few things too if you manage to capture Zeus like this."

"Okay! It's all in there but I would always save them in Kaley's laptop."

I nodded a few times and we decided to take a few more shots by the stairs. In the last shot, Zeus was in the middle of the photo while I was on the side, holding the camera in front of everyone. Kaley was right next to me while Olivia was on the opposite side, trying to block Rin's eyes. It took a couple more shots for it to be clear but we still kept everything without deleting them.

When we went outside, my radio buzzed.

-

*bzzt*

[Dude! Someone's here! He said he knows you from high school! He's tall and he wears a helmet, I don't know.]

*bzzt*

-

Kaley and I looked at each other for a short moment before we dashed outside. When we reached the fence, we didn't even need him to remove his helmet to know who he was. His familiar gait was all too familiar with us two and we immediately called out.

"Rap!"

Kaley followed, "Raphael!"

Raphael waved, "What's up, dude! W-Wait, Kaley?!"

Raphael was taken aback but we opened the fence for him. He was driving a Ford Raptor with bullbars installed though it had definitely seen some action. Smears of blood and ruptured bits were present in some areas of his vehicle but now was not the time to discuss it. As soon as he parked by the other vehicles, we discovered that he had a passenger in tow.

'Who is she?'

Raphael vacated his vehicle first and gave us a hug, "Shit, man. Everything was crazy, I tell you. We had to wait for things to die down before heading out. Wait a sec, is that gun real?! You have one too?! That looks sick! Where's everyone? Am I the only one here?"

"Yeah, that... Let's just say that you're the first person to arrive that I sent emails to. Who's with you though?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised. Remember when I got into an accident?"

"Yeah?"

"And the nurse I kept telling you about?" Raphael continued while his companion stood beside him.

"Oh! Carol! Hello! Nice to finally meet you!"

"H-Hi..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

It became quiet for a moment but I felt that Raphael had more things to say. We were staring at each other for a while so I decided to introduce them to everyone present. While we were chatting, we discovered that Raphael was still wearing his helmet.

Kaley asked, "Why are you still wearing a helmet though?"

"With my accident from before, I subconsciously wore it on the way here. We had to ram a few of those things on the way here too."

Then Unc Zeidrick popped out from behind us, "Who do we have here?"

"Hey, unc. Rap here's an engineer. He could definitely help you in a few things here."

"That would be fucking great! I have a lot of ideas and I'm not really sure if it works or not."

"Is that so? Let's see those later and we could talk about it."

"Great! I have a squeaky chair and I dunno if I should trash it or just oil it."

"You fucking… I'm a fucking—"

"What? You can't fix it?"

"OF COURSE, I CAN FIX IT! WHERE IS IT?!"

"GAHAHAH! I'm just messing with ya! Get some rest first, I'll work you to the bone!"

"You… You fucking got me…"

The two eventually shook hands and I asked Rin to help us guide the couple to their room. Kaley and I helped with carrying their bags and we left them to their own devices for a while. The three of us were walking down and Kaley asked me a question.

"Don't you think something's wrong?"

"I haven't asked yet but that seems to be the case."

Rin added, "Really? I didn't notice anything."

Kaley continued, "I thought I sensed something but— Wait a minute, who among our class did you send emails to? You mentioned that you sent one to Raphael, right? Did you even think of me? I didn't receive-"

"Kaley, I—"

"..."

"..."

"I-I need to go… excuse m-me..." Rin immediately slipped away as Kaley's face was starting to get sour.

"Are you gonna answer me, or what?"

"Before I answer, do you want me to give you an honest one or—"

Kaley looked me straight in the eye, "I'd rather you be honest with me."

"Okay, let me explain everything in my room."

Kaley didn't say a word but she followed right behind me. I locked the door behind us while she sat on the opposite side of the bed. She was just looking down on the floor while brushing her feet against the carpet, waiting for me to speak up.