Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



The guys were trying to keep me in the stairwell, not letting me through the door. But since I didn't hear any type of gunfire, I figured it wasn't a safety issue but rather there was something in there that they didn't want me to see.

Squeezing between Liu Yu Zeng and Liu Wei, I tried to get my head around Chen Zi Han to see what was going on.  Growling in frustration I smacked my big protector on the back. "Let me see," I grumbled when he turned his head to look over his shoulder at me.

He rubbed his forehead but didn't say anything. That was when I understood. "It wouldn't be the first time I saw something bloody and it won't be the last. Let me see. I promise it won't give me nightmares." There was a smile on my face when I said it. I appreciated the fact that the boys were trying to protect my 'delicate sensibilities', but I lost those my first year into the apocalypse.

Chen Zi Han let out a huff and then moved aside so I could crouch next to Wang Chao. I mean, in terms of horror, I would give the hallways a definite 7/10, but truth be told, as bloody as it was, it wasn't anywhere near what I had experienced before.

Wang Chao turned to look at me and I could see just how upset he was. Smiling, I leaned my head on his shoulder. "First time?" I joked nodding my head towards the blood.

He shook his head and looked back at the scene in front of us. "Not so much," he admitted. "But it just doesn't seem…"

"Right?" I suggested. I mean, in a civilized world, there would definitely be something off about this, but we were no longer in a civilized world.

"Do you know what is going on?" he asked me.

With a sad smile, I nodded my head. "Yup. Now listen and learn, Young Grasshopper," I said in my best Mr. Miyagi voice, trying to interject some humor into the situation. Sometimes, if you can't laugh, all you can do is cry, and who wants to cry all the time?

"The footprints are too human to be a zombie," I said as I pointed to the set in front of us. "If it was a zombie, they would not be able to walk in such a straight line, even carrying bodies like they are. Instead, if this was a zombie, well, first of all, they wouldn't be dragging anything. And second, their natural gait is like a serpentine 'S' shape."

Wang Chao nodded in understanding and even the other three men came closer to listen to what I was saying. "Now, I would say that this appeared to be a typical Reaver kill, the blood on the walls are indicative of them, however, it is almost too clean of a kill. Blood aside of course."

"This is a clean kill?" asked Chen Zi Han confused as a few drops of blood splattered on the floor about a foot away from us.

"Yup," I said with a grimace, "Reavers tend to go a little… crazy(?) when it comes to their kills and it is normal for there to be a lot of flesh, muscles, and organs just laying around after."I think you should take a look at

"So, if it isn't a zombie, and it isn't a Reaver, any idea what it is?" asked Liu Wei as he pushed his glasses up his nose. I was beginning to understand that was another one of his nervous tells.

"Nope," I said with a smile. I mean, can't burst out crying right now, could I? It would definitely ruin the badassery I had going on right now.

"So, what do we do?" asked Liu Yu Zeng looking at me.

"We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!" I was sorry, I really couldn't help myself. It was the perfect time to throw in that particular quote from one of the most adorable aliens of the 20th century.

The four men looked at each other and then looked at me. I let out a chuckle. "We go forward. We are here to find what called to Wang Chao, and we might as well solve some mysteries along the way. We can be like a crime-fighting group of friends!  Where's a dog when you need them?"

Okay, so the stress of this place was apparently getting to me if all I could do was think about quotes from the 1990s in my first life, but I was more than a little concerned.

I mean, I didn't exactly lie to the guys, more like withheld a small molecule of information that they probably didn't need at this time. Between the body in the office and the murder scene down here, I had a pretty good idea who was responsible for it. I was just hoping that he was still on my side.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and held out a hand to Wang Chao. "Do you trust me?" I asked with a true smile on my face. Okay, so apparently I wasn't done with movie quotes at the moment, but come on! Some of these were too good to pass up!

"Yes," Wang Chao responded with a smile as he took my hand and rose to his feet. I mean, the roles were reversed, but it was still a sweet scene.

"Then trust me when I say that guns will not be needed and would be best to be put away and hidden," I advised as watched as three out of four of my men holstered their guns and hid them underneath their camo jackets. Maybe I should get them to change… after all, having anything military on them might not go over well.

"Be right back," I said as I quickly jumped into my space. I had prepared a room for each one of the guys in my house simply because I thought it would make life easier when it came to storing their stuff. Looks like it paid off.

Going into each one of their rooms, I found a jacket that the boys could wear instead of the tan camo that they took from the military base.  The fact that all four were black leather motorcycle jackets had absolutely nothing to do with my preferences nor did it take me around 5 minutes to find each of them in their closets when their suit jackets were hanging in front.