Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



After a well deserved union break complete with chocolate peanut butter ice cream, a 5-hour nap, and a bath (with mandatory face mask and candles), I was ready to take on the world again.  Or, at the very least, I was willing to put up with General Fuck Face and his ever expanding circus of incompetence.

Humming a song about letting it go, I reappeared in front of the guys again. This time, they were all looking at me. "Yes?" I asked, not sure what was going on. Technically it was less than two seconds since I was last here and they knew I had a space so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise that I was showered and changed.

And I showered after I had my ice cream so there is no way that I could have chocolate on my face.

"No more military?" asked Wang Chao as he looked at me.

"Not in the traditional sense, no," I confirmed. I mean, it was not like all the soldiers up and died. And we all knew that once a soldier, always a soldier, so there were soldiers around, but they switched from a 'public' army to a much more private one.

"And syndicates?" asked Liu Yu Zeng.

"Same," I replied shrugging my shoulders. "Powerful people remain powerful, I have yet to see someone willingly give up power once they had it. But instead of commanding a troop or commanding a syndicate, they become the head of their own safe zone or territory and rule over that. Not to mention for syndicates, if there is no supply there can be no demand."

"No supply?"

"Nope. Where would it come from?" I scoffed at the very idea. There were no more international trades or goods coming into and out of the country and each safe zone acted as their own separate nation. Not to mention no one had enough supplies to willingly give them to someone else in exchange for anything.

"So, where do we go from here?" asked Liu Wei.

"Like generally or specifically? Because generally, we are all in for a life of violence, death, destruction, and maybe a good night's sleep once every year or so," I said both factually and honestly. I mean, I think I had a good night's sleep maybe more than once a year, but that depended on who was on watch.

"And specifically?"

"We get the man that you consider to be a father; if he is still alive and if he wants to come with us, and then get back to the ranch where everything is set up for us."

"You don't think that we should try for one of the safe zones?" asked Liu Wei, pushing up his glasses.

"Ha!" I barked out. "Maybe for like an afternoon? But permanently? No way in Hell am I going to subject myself to that shit," I grumbled remembering the squalor of the safe zones. Those with some type of power, and I don't mean power users, lived well, but for those without money? I shuddered thinking about it. "No, we will not be living in any safe zone."

"Then where would we live?" asked Liu Yu Zeng.

"The ranch," I said, looking at them like they were stupid. I spent an entire year building my own save zone and I was not giving it up for shit.

The boys nodded just as General Fuck Face demanded our attention. 

Walking over to the crowd gathered around the General, we got there just in time to hear his rousing speech that as members of the military, it was his honor and duty to protect the citizens and he would be willing to risk his life to keep theirs safe.

I mean, if I had never met the man, or was blind, or couldn't smell, I might believe what he was saying, but as it stood, how could anyone take this man seriously?

Well, people were lemmings and once one jumped off the cliff, they were all bound to follow.

The first person broke out into cheers and applause and I got to watch in disbelief as a very smug General looked over at Wang Chao and his men as if he had received some type of award along with the applause. Taking in a deep breath of air, I realized that no amount of ice cream, sleep, or a bath made me prepared to accept the sheer fuckary that was the General.

On a complete side note, I once looked up the word fuckary and it said that it described people who were stupid, ignorant, childish, and foolish. Looking at the scene before me, there was no better way to describe it. One party wanted praise and attention, and the other party was willing to give it. Great! A symbiotic relationship. Maybe now he will stop relying on me and mine.

Ha! Yeah, that would never happen. 

The great General led his people out of District J and onto the same highway where he experienced both a zombie attack and a new toll booth. But apparently, it never crossed his mind just how dangerous his route was, especially with the gaggle of people behind him, not at all caring about their situation.

Myself, Wang Chao, the rest of the guys, and their men walked slower and slower until the General and his people were almost out of eyesight.  With a quick hand motion, our group of men split into two and each took a side of the highway and disappeared into the forest. The five of us remained on the highway simply so the men could keep us in their sight, but still take advantage of the forest cover in case we encountered anything.

"Is this okay?" I asked, and the General got further and further out of sight. "Aren't we supposed to be going with him?"

Wang Chao grabbed my right hand and held it in his. "It's fine. Like you said, there is no more military so who is he going to complain to?" Nodding my head, happy that he finally understood that much, I allowed myself to simply relax and enjoy the walk.  I mean, the scenery left a lot to be desired with burnt-out cars, bloody handprints on windows, and the occasional dead body, but for the most part, I enjoyed myself.

The four guys talked about nothing at all, but I let the low rumble of their conversation flow over my head as I concentrated on being in the moment and not worrying about what was to come. 

But that was when I started to hear it… or maybe it was more accurate to say that I didn't hear it.

All of a sudden, the birds went quiet and it seemed like even the wind came to a standstill. The only sound for miles was the people in front of us talking and carrying on as if they were on a field trip. Maybe it was the sheer number of them or the amount of noise that they made, but either way, there was enough disturbance in the water to call the predators for dinner.

Not taking a second to think or to plan, I dragged Wang Chao into the forest and up a tree, the other three right on our heels. Once I got high enough to feel comfortable, I looked around a breathed a sigh of relief that I could see the other three in their trees from my vantage point.

"I am starting to feel like a damn monkey," grumbled Wang Chao from where he was sitting on a branch just under me.

"Better to be the monkey than the chicken," I said as the screaming started.  I guess it was time to see if the General would put his money where his mouth was.  The second I heard him screaming out Wang Chao's and Liu Wei's names, I had to chuckle, despite the tense circumstances. I guess he bit off more than he could chew taking all of those civilians.

"Your men know to get to the trees?" I asked, looking down at Wang Chao.  The man nodded.

"Yeah, but we aren't sure why it is best to go up. There is more room to maneuver on the ground. Not to mention we are literally sitting ducks up here." I understood where he was coming from, and once the zombies got their feet under them more, being up a tree would not be all that helpful. But for right now, we want to direct their attention to the easier prey.

You know that adage that you don't have to be fast to outrun a bear, just faster than the person in front of you? It applied here too.

In fact, once you got used to thinking like prey, it was easy to figure out the mindset of the predator. Unfortunately for the human population, it took them a long time to get into that mentality. This was why only about 15% of the humans in Country K actually survived 13 years into the end of days.

"We are not standing in the way of the zombies and their meal," I said, completely honestly.  I mean, I knew that technically this was not the most moral way to go, but when it came to morality and breathing, I would take the second option every time.