Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



I didn't know what I did to deserve having to travel with the General, but whatever it was, I was really, truly, sorry.

The first few days after encountering Guo Yan were great. The General left us alone, pretending that we just didn't exist and that was pure perfection as far as I was concerned. I was sure that he felt it was a punishment, but in reality, I considered it a reward.  I spent my time talking to the guys, sleeping up in trees with the rest of the team, and generally living a good life. But then it all came crashing to an end when we entered District J…

The General, in a rare show of goodwill, allowed us to separate in order to gather supplies. I was pretty sure that this was more strategic than him trying to be nice, after all his team had a more desperate need of supplies than we did, and I think he wanted to do it this way simply so that we didn't 'steal' what he wanted and needed.

Either way, it was great for us as Wang Chao and Liu Yu Zeng took their men in different directions to gather whatever they could.  I was not as desperate anymore to take absolutely everything, and I trusted their discretion.  Chen Zi Han and Liu Wei decided to escort me on my own excursion into the great unknown. And by unknown I mean District J. 

While Wang Chao took the warehouses, Liu Yu Zeng took the outskirt shopping malls and I attempted to hunt down the grocery stores and scavenge whatever I could downtown.

The boys were quick learners and instead of going in through the front doors of the grocery stores, we always took the back route and whatever supplies were in the warehouse attached.  We managed to get through at least 4 grocery stores without coming across anyone, but our luck ran out on the fifth.

After opening the back door, Chen Zi Han couldn't even step foot inside to make sure everything was clear when he had to duck a baseball bat being swung at his head. Hitting the steel doorframe at full force, both the bat and the holder started vibrating with the impact.

Not at all impressed, Chen Zi Han grabbed the bat when the owner tried to bring it back and ripped it out of her hands. With a low growl, he tossed it back to Liu Wei before staring down the scared woman laying on the floor in front of us.

Raising an eyebrow, I looked at the man in front of me. "Honestly, I thought you would have kicked her," I said, surprised at how the fight played out.

"If I hadn't figured out she was a woman as fast as I did, she would have been," came his response, still on a bit of an adrenaline high from almost having his bell rung.

"Honeybear, I can appreciate where you are coming from, but your misguided attempt at chivalry is going to get you killed. Women can be, and more often than not are, more dangerous than any man. And that includes doing whatever needs to be done in order to gather supplies. Right?" I asked looking at the woman on the ground.

"I—I don't know what you are talking about," she stuttered, trying to crawl back on the floor away from us.

"Of course not," I agreed, nodding my head. "But how did you get back here?"

"I—I just wanted more food," said the woman, tears streaming down her face. I had seen this look hundreds of thousands of times. Especially as the years went by and food became even scarcer.  I actually applauded the woman in front of me. I appreciated her determination in coming out as the winner in this situation. She wouldn't... but the very fact that she was trying was enough.

I smiled at her response. "Of course, let me guess, you used to work here and so knew where they kept the majority of their stock?"  I saw her think through what I just said before nodding frantically in agreement.

"Yes—yes, I used to work here," she agreed.

"Did you get what you came for?" After all, first come first served and all that. 

She looked around frantically, probably trying to see where the person or people that she came with were. "If you are planning to attack us, I can promise you, you will not survive. Take what you can and go," I said, staring off into the darkness between the metal racks.  If I was hiding, that would be my spot.

I was willing to work with people up until a certain point, but then my temper just got the better of me. When no one emerged and the woman hadn't moved, I was done. "Alright, since you want to play it that way… you have 15 seconds to get what you came for before I start shooting," I said, pulling a small 9mm from behind my back.

Not many normal people would have accessed their new powers this early simply because they had not come across any zombies yet so I was not worried that she was a space user and would take absolutely everything. But as the saying goes 'necessity is the mother of invention' and humans would quickly discover exactly what they could do when pushed into a corner.

"10…9…8…7…" I continued, starting to count down while still holding the gun to the woman's head. "And I can assure you, I am more than happy to kill you and spare you the agony of the coming days." The smile on my face might have been a bit unhinged as Chen Zi Han took one look at me, went behind me, and placed his arm firmly around my waist.  I wasn't sure what it was with the guys and this position, but I really wasn't complaining.

Taking the gun out of my hand, Chen Zi Han then held it to the woman still laying on the ground. "She might not have a problem killing you, but I am here to make sure her hands stay clean from dirt like you."

So I am guessing that a 6 foot 6, heavily muscled enforcer of a crime syndicate, with tattoos running up and down his arms was much more intimidating than my 5 foot 2 frame, but a part of me was a bit insulted by that.

Everyone knew that crazy things came in small packages… or was it good things came in small packages? No, I'm pretty sure that I was right the first time.

Anyways… we had long gone past the 15 seconds that I had originally given her, and her accomplices were still nowhere to be seen.

"Boo-" I said just as Chen Zi Han took a shot just to her right. "Hey!" I complained when I saw that he missed her. "You really should practice more."

"Sorry, Princess," he replied, willing to play along with my game. "I'll try harder next time."

"See that you do," I replied, unwilling to admit to how much his calling me a princess affected me.

This time, the woman didn't have to fake the fear in her eyes as she scrambled to her feet and grabbed whatever she could from the shelves behind her as she bolted out of the back of the warehouse and through the front of the grocery store.

"Should I be insulted that people think that you are scarier than I am? I mean, I don't really see how anyone could think that you were scary," I complained to Chen Zi Han as I quickly emptied the shelves. I debated taking the shelves too, but they were bolted to the ground and would have been more of a pain than it was worth.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart, only an idiot would not take you seriously," reassure Liu Wei commenting for the first time since we got here. But then again, that was him. He was the type of person to study the situation first before making his move. That was probably why he was overlooked so much. Both he and Chen Zi Han had the ability to just blend into the background when they wanted to.

Giving him a quick kiss on the chin, because let's face it, that was the only place on his face that I could reach. We turned around and left the grocery store…

And directly into yet another trap waiting for us.

"That's them!" yelled the woman from before as she frantically pulled on the sleeve of the man beside her. "They are the ones that wanted to kill me!"

Looking at her, the man beside her, and the 10 other guys that were blocking our way out of the alley, I couldn't help but laugh.  The men, to put it politely, looked like wannabe versions of what Chen Zi Han really was, and the difference was startling.

I don't know what was wrong with me, but I found it so funny that I was practically doubled over laughing as I saw the men the woman brought to 'intimidate' us.

"You might want to shut your bitch up," grumbled the leader/boyfriend/friends with benefits to Chen Zi Han with a nod of his head in my direction. Whatever he was, the woman beside him had just gotten him killed.

Chen Zi Han lowered his head and chucked as he took a step in front of me. "Do you want to repeat that?" He asked in a very soft tone and he pulled out a pair of black leather gloves from his side pocket.