Chapter 10 - Oscar and Skys story (1/2)

Some heads turned to our direction, some of them are also curious about things.

”I want to tell you guys everything later in the meeting, but some people are not here yet. Tell you what, I'll tell you the instead the story about how me and Oscar met, sounds good?” I said.

She gave me a nod and everyone else seems very interested.

”We both like watching or reading on topics about a nuclear fallout, a power grid attack, alien invasion, economic collapse and you know, a zombie outbreak. It first started as a hobby, I met Oscar on a convention in San Diego where I got seated next to him. It was a panel for a TV show that features zombies as the enemy, 'The Pacing Unliving'.” I drank a bit of water then I continued.

”We talked a lot after the panel and we exchanged emails. We got to talking about what we would do in case that happened, then he introduced me into prepping. To give it a short explanation, it's preparing for a certain scenario, a backup of a backup of a backup plan. It's actually a rabbit hole if I go into more details on it since there is a different fit for every scenario. It's like asking someone after you watch 'The Pacing Unliving', what would you do in that situation? What would you prepare in case of a zombie outbreak? Like what would you bring with you? What would you fortify your house with? Something along those lines.”

I got a few nods of understanding though some of them are still more focused on eating.

”It got really fun when I started, he helped me buy my first gun, which was a Glock 17 and he taught me how to use it. That's where I learned that he used to be a Combat Medic for the US Army. He's 64 now and it only shows when you see the white strands in his hair. Aside from him mentioning her daughter in the Navy which I've never met, that's pretty much all I know about him. Though we've been friends ever since.” I was slicing off a chunk of potato that was too big for my spoon.

”When I went back to the Philippines, we're still in contact. Aside from continuing my parent's business, I still trained to use my gun. I even had a membership on a range in Quezon City and learned to use different kinds, though I still preferred on using pistols. In my spare time, I learned a lot of other things for self-defense, aside from already knowing Kendo and Karate ever since I was young, I've also learned different disciplines. Because in the book that Oscar gave me, it says that you can't always have a gun at your side, learning other forms of self-defense can be the one to decide whether you could protect yourself and those close to you. It's better to have and don't need than to need and not have.” I said.

Oscar nodded at the last part.

”Wow, this is very different from the things that you used to geek about.” Kaley said.

”Hah! Geeking out about something could be anything, you're right though. I even had a thought in my head to take it one step further. I also learned how to cook, grow my own food, catch fish, farm certain animals, perform basic first aid, fix certain household problems and car problems and so much more. I learned as much as I could take in during these few years, having a photographic memory helped me a lot in this case. The easiest ones to do are things like memorizing certain plants that which are edible and learning what type of medicine works with each sickness. The only thing I've taken time to learn is where you need to practice over and over since it takes time. You can say that I've become a jack of all trades, though there are differences in skill level for each one. Oscar even introduced me to one of his old buddies in the Army a few years back and they gave me this training from hell, it was actually the training for real soldiers and he left me there for 6 months! I thought I was gonna die at that time!” I concluded.

”Well, you finished it kid. I would've told them to keep you there for a year but my friend there told me you were ready.” Oscar said.

”Hah! Ready for what? Vietnam? It was fun although it was hard.” I joked.

He just raised his bowl and he gave a hearty laugh.