Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Liu Wei rushed up the stairs with the four men that made up his team behind him, listening to them grumble all the way about not having their guns. The only one that did not voice his opinion was Ji Si Cong and he was pretty sure that was more because he didn't want to talk rather than him not having an opinion.

"Do any of you know how to make bullets?" he said, asking the same question that Li Dai Lu had asked him and his men before. "And more than just theoretical knowledge, can any of you make your own bullets? From scratch?"

Silence met his question as the men continued to run up the broken escalators to the 6th floor. "Unlike what we are used to, bullets are now a limited resource. Once we fire one, we can never get it back. We can no longer just go to the ammo section and request more bullets," he said, trying to make them see reason.

He was not as cranky as Wang Chao was when it came to this team. He was willing to take the time and explain things to them so that they could understand what was going on in the world around them. If they didn't understand after that, well… he wasn't a Saint by any stretch of the imagination.

"From here on out, consider yourself in the middle of a war zone," he continued as he reached the topmost floor of the 110,000 square meter shopping mall.  "You have no one you can go to for bullets, so when you are out, you are out."

"But we aren't in the middle of a war zone," said Han Xi Yang as he walked up beside Liu Wei. Both men had a long, military-issued knife in their right hands, the unsheathed blade resting against their forearms, the handle cradled in their palm. This was the safest way to carry an exposed blade so as to not accidentally hurt someone, but still keeping it ready in case they needed to use it fast.

"Yes, we are," said Liu Wei, briefly looking at the man. Han Xi Yang did a double take before turning his attention back to the front.  He had heard stories about the man beside him, the man that many referred to simply as Death. He had respected him long before he had ever met him and would continue to respect him for a long time after. If he said that they were in a war zone, then they were.

"What is the plan?" he asked as the rest of his teammates fell into step behind them.

"We are going to start at the back and work our way forward gathering any and all supplies that we can," said Liu Wei as the cautiously walked down the deserted hallway of a once popular mall. He couldn't help but think about the wire trap that Li Dai Lu almost ran into on her way to the food court a month ago. "Even if you don't think it is useful, grab it anyways."

All five men had a military-issued bag on their backs, but Liu Wei was hoping to find more suitcases or large duffle bags to be able to take more things.  As much as he knew that they would be able to return, that didn't mean that he wanted to leave a lot of stuff behind for someone else to take.

The four men nodded their heads and continued to scan the area for threats. Entering into the last store at the very end of the hall, they quickly got to work filling up whatever they could before moving on to the next place right beside them.

-----

"I understand why supplies are important," said Cao Mu Chen as he walked beside Wang Chao in the darkened basement. "I just don't understand why we need to be the ones that go out to collect them."

"Because if we don't, how do we know that we got everything we need?" asked Feng Dong Yang from just behind Wang Chao. Out of everyone on his team, Wang Chao trusted this man the most to watch his back. "Would you send a civilian from Country X to get your supplies when you are hunkered down and hiding?"

Cao Mu Chen remained silent, but he was beginning to understand.  "At some point in time, the supply chain will be up and running again," he insisted, not willing to admit that the other men had a point.

Now it was Wang Chao's turn to scoff. "With what people?" he asked, making it a point to look around the deserted mall. "We need people to create the stuff, then others to package it, and then even more people to ship it out to where it needs to go. So, I repeat, with what people?"

That question stunned Cao Mu Chen. "There have to be people," he said as he too looked around.

Wang Chao only smiled as the continued down the dark hallway of the basement, his flashlight the only source of light. 

Suddenly, there was a slight sound coming just off of the left. Swinging the flashlight around, the men could only make out a thin, pink tail of a mouse before it disappeared into the darkness, probably finding its home. 

"Just a mouse," said Jiang Ming Tao as he held his knife out in front of himself. "Nothing to be so stressed about." Wang Chao said nothing, and simply continued his way down the hall, looking for a door to the storage room. His footsteps, though, were much slower and softer than before.I think you should take a look at

This time, the high-pitched squeak did not cause them to startle as much, but Wang Chao still shone the light in the direction of the sound. Seeing a small, white mouse running by, a trail of blood behind him, Wang Chao stopped dead.

Taking out his handgun, he shot a single bullet into the darkness.

"I thought we weren't supposed to randomly fire," snipped Cao Mu Chen as he tried to continue on his way down the darkened hallway, only to be stopped by Wang Chao. The other man raised a single finger to his lips to demand silence.

Cao Mu Chen froze on the spot, obeying the direct command from his superior officer. When there was no other sound coming from the surrounding area, he looked at Wang Chao with confusion.

Carefully and slowly, trying not to make any unnecessary movements, Wang Chao replaced the gun in his hand with the sword from his back. Watching his movements, the rest of the members did the same, taking out their swords and stared into the darkness, hoping to see what was out there.

Unlike the other times when they had been with Li Dai Lu, there was no warning, no growls or displays of dominance, instead, there was only silence before they heard a scream coming from their group.  Cao Mu Chen turned to look around frantically, trying to figure out who had screamed and what had happened, but there was only silence.

Feng Dong Yang and Guo Bi Ming stood still, feeling a slight breeze between them before the scream echoed in their ears. Looking to their side, Jiang Ming Tao was gone, only bloody drag marks to show where he had once been.

Cao Mu Chen hissed. "We should have had our guns! She is trying to kill us!" he growled in a low voice, his sword out and ready to attack.

Wang Chao didn't say anything. Closing his eyes, he tried to feel for the flames that Li Dai Lu said indicated the zombies. But there was nothing. Opening his mind, he scanned the surrounding area, trying to get a mental read on anyone around, but the only thing he got in return was a feeling of gnawing hunger and a brief glimpse of pleasure.

"Back to back," he said in a low voice, knowing that they were well beyond the point where they needed to be quiet.  There were zombies somewhere out in the darkness and they had already chosen their prey.

The four remaining men quickly positioned themselves so they each had their backs to one another, but deep down inside, they knew that it would help. The zombie that took Jiang Ming Tao managed had managed to cut through their group from the front to the back without them even noticing before taking him.

"Cut off their heads," said Wang Chao as he continued to scan the darkness hoping for some small sign. This was nothing like what he had experienced before, even when dealing with the tide that had come to the naval base. Not once did he ever not feel in control, confident that he was strong enough to destroy any zombie before him.

But this was not the same. He could feel his heart rate increase as he tried to push his spirit power out, trying to find where the zombies were hiding. But there was still nothing. Not a flicker of flame that he could see from the other zombie before, not a stray thought that would allow him to pinpoint where they were…. nothing.

The only thing he could feel when he opened his senses was a extreme hunger that overwhelmed any other thought, almost drowning him in its demand for food. And it was coming from all around them.

"If you cut off any other part of them, you are just going to create more. Cut off the heads and call me. I will try to burn them before they can regenerate."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Cao Mu Chen. "What are those things?"

"Zombies," came the calm response. "The 'freaks' according to your old captain."

"No way," denied Cao Mu Chen. "They didn't move that fast before."

"Then you were lucky."