Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"I remember that," I groaned as I woke up just in time to hear what Liu Yu Zeng had said. And he was right. This guy acted like our friend only to try and use us in the end. That wasn't much of a friend as far as I was concerned. Then again, I didn't really have any friends so it was not like I was an expert on the subject.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked, not bothering to get out of Chen Zi Han's arms. I was much too comfortable.

"Just ironing out some details," said Wang Chao walking over to where I sat. He crouched down and looked me over as if reassuring himself that I was fine.

"What details?" I asked confused. I mean, I hadn't really figured out what I was going to do with this base before. After talking to myself for a while, I settled on a game plan.

"Just how the base should be run," he replied with a shrug.

I raised my eyebrows at that statement. "You're staying behind?" I asked confused. I mean, I figured we would all be staying together, but if he wanted to stay here and run things that was his own decision.

"No," replied Wang Chao, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"Then what are you talking about?"

"Wang Chao and Deng Jun Hie are discussing what needs to happen to make this a successful base in the future," interjected Liu Wei as Liu Yu Zeng only smiled at the idea that his older brother just threw Wang Chao under the bus. Apparently, it was only Wang Chao that wanted this base to continue running as it was.

"He is still alive?" I asked as I closed my eyes and scratched my eyebrow.  "How is he still alive?"

The four men looked at each other. "I mean, he wanted to kidnap me, he wanted to force you guys to fight for him, and he ate my food. Where, in any of that, means he should live?"

"I thought you wanted him to," said Wang Chao in confusion. "You did keep him alive even after you killed off his soldiers."

I guess the man did have a point, and I was unconscious so they couldn't exactly ask my opinion, but now I understood why the voice was saying that they were going to fuck things up. "You are right, I didn't have plans to kill him," I admitted. "But I have since changed my mind. I will kill him after we go through the base and make sure he doesn't have anything good locked away that only he can open."

I paused for a second. "Do you need the eyes and fingers attached for them to work with a scanner?"  I was confused on that point.

"You really don't," confirmed Chen Zi Han. "They will work no matter what and some of them will even work if you have a high-definition picture. Not to mention the EMP will ensure that those locks are dead."I think you should take a look at

Huh, learn something new every day.

"Please, please, please. Please let me do it," begged Liu Yu Zeng as if I was offering him an ice cream cake all for himself. I shook my head. "No," I started before clarifying. "Or at least, not right now. Our search will go a lot faster if he is alive to tell us where the good stuff is kept."

The five of us turned to look at Deng Jun Hie. I didn't know if he was able to hear our conversation, but by the way his face turned white, I could only assume that he heard parts of it. I smiled, showing all of my teeth. "What do you say? Will you be willing to show us around?" I asked as I cocked my head to the side.

He barked out a laugh, but I could practically smell the fear coming off of him.  A part of me was really enjoying that smell. "Why should I help you if you are just going to kill me anyways?" he demanded, and I guess he had a point. There wasn't much in it for him besides being able to live a few hours longer.

"Is that your final answer?" I asked. I mean, it would be easier to just have him lead us to the supplies, but if he was going to be like that, I would just have Wang Chao rip it from his mind.

Deng Jun Hie looked around the room as if trying to find a way to escape. Poor him, didn't he realize that that possibility was long gone? It happened right around the same time that he had his men pointing guns at me and mine.

"I am going to assume that it was," I said with a shrug. "Wang Chao, would you be so kind as to get the information I want out of his head? When you are done, Liu Yu Zeng can take out his eyes and fingers."

"I thought we had a deal!" shouted Deng Jun Hie as he looked wide-eyed at Wang Chao. "Didn't we have a deal?"

Wang Chao shrugged his shoulders and put his hands into his pockets. "I did say that any agreements were contingent on whether or not Li Dai Lu would agree. Or did you miss that part?"

"What was your agreement?" I asked curious. I mean, I was killing the guy no matter what, but I was interested in knowing where Wang Chao's mind was.

"We let him live and run this place on the stipulation that the base was officially ours," said Wang Chao with a shrug. "I figured it would be easier since it was already established."

"Easier for what?" I asked in confusion. I was not interested in collecting bases. I didn't want to run them or have anything to do with them.

"Easier to make a profit in the future when things were a bit more up and running," said Wang Chao like I was the one that was crazy for not thinking about it that way.  I guess once a businessman, always a businessman.