Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Two days passed in the blink of an eye. I had gathered the supplies for the 105 of us that were leaving the base, leaving the rest for the others. I would not take more than what was allocated for each individual because I knew that when the war came, they would need whatever they had on hand.

But as much as I was willing to leave half of the solar panels and batteries, I would not leave them all. Despite the reassurance from the men that we would be back here in under two weeks, I just couldn't bring myself to believe that. Something was telling me that I would not be coming back here, and I was going to bring what I wanted with me.

That meant that the entire penthouse was completely emptied by the time we stepped out of the door and locked it behind us.

The kitchen appliances, pantry, chairs, couches, the mattresses, everything. If it was in the penthouse, it was now sitting in my space waiting for the next place that we would call home.  Was I doing okay?  That would be a fuck no.

I was barely holding on by a thread, and it was showing. But I would do it. I would follow my men anywhere and let's face it, I could probably use an adventure of some kind or other. But there went my grand plan to farm the land and eat unlimited sweets.

But I was nothing if not good at surviving. So, I would kill the zombies, absorb their flames, find the women that were destined for my men and kill them, and maybe, just maybe, get around to restocking the cake inventory in my space.

I mean, I was considering our next home to have a moat filled with alligators swimming around and a laser beam that would cut any intruders in half. Or even an underground house where you couldn't find the entrance. Heck, if there was a volcano around here, I might consider building our next house there. Somewhere that screamed 'Don't Enter'. Maybe then people will stop asking my guys for help.

And maybe then, they will finally stop answering their calls.

But I guess they are the heroes of this world so that might not be possible.

The guys were giving last-minute orders to the men that were going to remain here, but I wasn't really paying attention. Still contemplating the different aspects needed in my next lair… I mean, house, I didn't notice the new guy coming up to me.

He cleared his throat and looked everywhere other than at me. "Yes, FNG?" I asked, not really caring if he liked my nickname for him or not. "What do you want?"

"FNG?" he asked in confusion, finally looking down at me.

"Fucking New Guy," I clarified for him. Because let's be honest, he was the outsider among us even if we were all traveling to his base.

"Ok…" he said with a slow nod of his head. Well, I guess I should give him points for not arguing with me. "But you know, with 100 people, it is going to take at least two days to get there. And that is if we don't run into any zombie stragglers."

"First, there won't be any stragglers, if you see only one zombie, that is because they are the scout. Second, it will take us maybe three hours, depending on traffic. Anything else?" I asked as I saw Wang Chao and Liu Yu Zeng start to wind up.

"There is no way it would take us only three hours," muttered the New Guy under his breath.

"Sure, let's go with that," I said as I started through the fire doors that would lead us to all the SUVs, ATVs, and RVs that I had on hand. Because let's face it, there was no way that I was leaving those here for them. I left them a fucking base that was up and running! They weren't getting my vehicles.

FNG followed closely behind me, muttering under his breath the whole time. Maybe I would bother to learn his name if he lasted long enough. But right now, I was considering him a redshirt and until he proved himself, he was FNG.

By the time I had reached the bottom step, Wang Chao and the rest of the guys had caught up and the other 100 men were already waiting for us by the vehicles. Not looking at anyone, or even saying a word, I opened the door to my RV and went inside. When I realized that my driver was not there, I stormed back out and glared at the men. "Where is Liu Hong Tao?" I asked.

"He will be staying here," replied Liu Wei as he came up in front of me.

"Okay…" I replied. It's not like I was really upset over him not coming, but who was going to be driving my RV?I think you should take a look at

"Feng Dong Yang will be your driver this time," continued Liu Wei looking at me to see how upset I would be over the change.

"Perfect," I replied, "Can we get going?"

"Are you that eager to leave?" asked Chen Zi Han as he made his way into my RV.

"More like ripping off a band-aid. If I stay here much longer I don't know if I have it in me to leave," I admitted before following him into my home on the road. Liu Wei grab my wrist before I could get too far in and pulled me back. "You okay?" I asked, my forehead scrunching in confusion.

"We don't have to do this," said Liu Wei as he looked deep into my eyes. "We can leave them to their own devices like we originally planned. Rule number one and all that."  I took a breath and closed my eyes.

He pulled me in closer and wrapped his arms around me. "You are the only important thing in this world," he whispered in my ear. "We move according to your wishes."

I looked up at him and smiled. This man had been on my side since day one. Even when Wang Chao was running hot and cold, he was beside me. And that meant more to me than any amount of supplies. 

I will never admit that to any of them, even under torture that they are more important than supplies, but they were.

"I'll be fine," I said as I reached up to caress his cheek. "Might as well have some fun killing zombies. We'll consider it to be intensive training or something."

"We will bring you back here, or to the ranch. Wherever you want to go, that is where we will go," he promised me, staring into my eyes so I could read just how serious he was.

"I know," I said going on to the tips of my toes to give him a gentle kiss. "But for right now, let's get this show on the road. I have places to be and things to kill." He chuckled in response and leaned down for a brief kiss to my forehead before backing out of the RV and into the light blue SUV that would be the lead car in this convoy.

I turned around and went over to the couch where Chen Zi Han was sitting. Grabbing a bag of caramel corn that I had put in the overhead compartment, I sat down beside him and started snacking. "Did you pull the short straw? Having to be here beside me?" I asked as he powered up the remote that would lower the television so that we could watch something on our road trip.

I mean, there was no coffee and doughnuts at Tim's, but it still counted as a spring road trip.

I heard Chen Zi Han let out a low chuckle as he lifted up his arm for me to curl up under. "The others know I would fight them to be able to be next to you at all times, and for the most part, they have come to accept it," he said as he pulled up one of the movies that we had downloaded before the EMP. Luckily for us, it was still able to work since the tv was in my space at the time.

"Still, I would feel bad if you were stuck here," I said as I grabbed a handful of popcorn. It was a load of bull because there was no way I would feel bad about having him next to me.

"Sure," he said, copying my saying. "Let's go with that." I looked up at him as a big smile crossed my face. "Now, are you good with this or are you in the mood for something else?"

Seeing that it was the sci-fi movie where the crazy cat lady saves the world, I was more than in. He started the movie just as Feng Dong Yang walked into the RV and gave us a half-hearted salute.

"Hello, my name is Feng Dong Yang and I will be your driver on this trip. Remember if you like the service, please give me a 5-star review at the end of it. I will do my best to get you to your destination in a timely manner, but should you get eaten by a zombie, please don't mention that in your review. I need this for my livelihood." There was a giant smile on his face as he joked with us.

"If you want 5 stars, less talking, more driving," I said, sticking my tongue out at him. It was time to get the show on the road.