Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"I am not sure yet, but I am probably going to have to go with 'Yes, I have a problem with you'. Unless you happened to pick up that uniform on the side of the road somewhere?" I asked. I mean, I knew that the chance of that happening was less than 0.000000001%, but seeing a military uniform after everything that I had been going through this year so far was enough to make me break out in a rash.

"You dare to disrespect this uniform?" she demanded, bringing the shotgun back up. "I shed blood, sweat, and tears for this uniform. No one is going to disrespect it in front of me."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead as I skirted around her and her gun and went deeper into the convivence store section of the gas station, only to be greeted by even more guns. 

"Wang Chao!" I shouted, using my 'get out of shit with the military' card.

"Yes?" came the deep baritone voice from the front door. I turned around to look at him, wondering what was taking him so long to come in.

"A little help?" I asked cautiously. 

"Sure. But can you get Lin to bring that man back? I might know him," sighed Wang Chao as he rubbed his forehead.

"You doing okay?" I asked as I walked towards him and the door to yell at Lin.

"No," he said with a shrug. "I am now understanding your opinion on the military."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," I interjected, my hands raised in defense. "I had massive respect for the military before the end of the world. I think that they were the most courageous group of people you would ever meet. I mean, being willing to put your life on the line for people that you never met just so that they could sleep peacefully at night couldn't be easy.  I just don't think that mentality translates all that well in the current setting."

There was no way that I wanted Wang Chao to think that I didn't appreciate the military and what they did for the average person. But right now, everything was different.

"It's all right," he replied, smiling at me. "I understand what you are trying to say. However, if I am correct, the man on Lin should be someone that I went through basic with." He let out a big sigh as the screaming man came back into hearing distance.

"Cerberus, can you let Lin know I need that guy?" I called out, hoping that Cerberus or even Lin would be able to hear me over all that racket. I was just happy that my newfound zombie horde didn't come out of the woods to investigate what was going on.

Within minutes, Lin slid to a stop in front of me. "Thanks, Lin," I said to the bike as Wang Chao walked over to the man still seated on top. "You can drop him now."

"What the fuck is that thing?" demanded the man that practically fell to the ground in his haste to get away from Lin.

"A possessed motorcycle," I said, completely seriously. 

"Bull fucking shit," replied the man as he glared at me, completely ignoring Wang Chao. I didn't know if that was because he didn't care about him or if he was so focused on Lin that he was oblivious to everything else. 

"Then what do you think it is?" I asked, confused.I think you should take a look at

"A fucking demon from Hell," he growled as he stalked towards me, a very pissed off look on his face.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you," I said with a sigh. The man paused and took a second to look around. 

"Wang Chao?" he asked, a look of confusion crossing his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I think a better question might be, what are you doing here?" returned Wang Chao as he came to stand behind me, his arm around my stomach.

"Mission," came the abrupt reply. Then there was the pointed look at me that this mission was highly classified and was not to be discussed in front of this dumb civilian. I sighed as I looked up at Wang Chao. 

"Can you at least get the guys inside to stop pointing their guns at me? I am going to start taking it personally," I grumbled to him as I tilted my head toward the men and women coming up behind us.

"You talk to him," said Liu Wei, pulling me out of Wang Chao's arms. "I'll look after Sweetheart."

"Liu Wei?" asked the man in front of us as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. 

"Commander," replied Liu Wei with a slight nod. He then placed his hand on my back and guided me back into the convivence store and towards the back, where the chocolate bars and snacks should be.

The man knew me so well. 

"How do you feel about going back to the ranch right now?" asked Liu Wei softly, causing me to stiffen under his hand.

"Why?" I asked, not saying anything one way or another. I would be the first to admit that postponing going to the ranch was high on my list of things to do, but at the same time, I wasn't too interested in going across the country to save some military personnel again. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, and hated every second of it.

"Because if Commander Huang Nianzu is here with a team, then there is going to be trouble," said Liu Wei warily as he looked at me. 

"And you and Wang Chao are going to volunteer your services to help him out?" I said with a sigh. Looking around the shelves, I saw that they were bare. Completely understandable, given the fact that the military unit that was camped out in here would take everything, but a chocolate bar would have gone a long way in making this news easier to swallow. 

"I don't know," replied Liu Wei honestly. We both knew that that decision would be made by Wang Chao.

"Then let's cross that road when we come to it," I answered, bringing out a giant piece of chocolate cake from my space and taking a bite. I tried to think if I had an appropriate mug to go with it… 

And yup… I think I found it.