Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"I'm sorry, I don't think that I heard you correctly," said Wang Chao looking at the woman that was sitting at the island. For the first time since He Xin Yi walked into the RV willing to help Liu Yu Zeng find his brother, Wang Chao's expressionless face cracked.

"Did you really just say that he saved the world?" demanded Liu Wei. He was managing to hold his emotions close, but telling them that Liu Yu Zeng saved the world was like saying that Satan moonlighted as Santa one night a year. Yeah, it could happen, but the chance of it was almost zero.

He Xin Yi nodded her head, "Yes," she said looking at Liu Yu Zeng with stars in her eyes. "After he created the communication towers, he went about taking over the southern part of the country. With powers like his, the zombies didn't stand a chance."

The men looked at each other. It was true that out of all of them, Liu Yu Zeng had the most far-reaching power, and disease still affected the zombies as much as it did the humans.

"What exactly is his power?" asked Chen Zi Han, refusing to look at the woman in front of him. He always prided himself on not hurting women or children, but she was greatly testing his control.

"Thunder, of course," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You look surprised," she continued as she looked between the men. "Does that mean you haven't awakened your powers yet? It's okay. Most people will still take over a year before they really come into it."

"I am a thunder type?" Liu Yu Zeng asked, looking at her confused. He Xin Yi nodded her head. "What was Chen Zi Han?" he continued, not looking at the man on the other side of the island.

"No one really knows. He is the strong, silent type," she said with a shrug of her shoulders, but there was a definite blush on her face.

"Do you know what he looks like?" asked Liu Wei. How can she talk about Chen Zi Han like she knew him, but yet, couldn't recognize him when he was only three feet away?

He Xin Yi nodded her head. "He is tall, like even taller than you," she started, waving her hand to Liu Yu Zeng. "He lost his right eye in a battle against a zombie Alpha and has scars running down his right cheek. I heard that he also ran into a burning building to save you, and he got burned badly as a result." He Xin Yi let out the tiniest bit of a scoff when she said the last part, like the very idea of Chen Zi Han rushing into a burning building for Liu Yu Zeng was ridiculous.

"It made a lot of people think that you two were together… like together, together, until later, you married that woman and had a bunch of kids." The reservation that He Xin Yi first showed them was completely gone as she talked about what had happened in her past life. In fact, she was so into her story that she didn't notice how cold everything had gotten. Even her breath was now visible.

But her mind kept replaying Chen Zi Han from all the news stories. There was something about his image that just pulled her to him. It was like what she was feeling with the fourth guy in the room. The one that didn't talk much.

"He had children?" asked a new voice and He Xin Yi's head snapped up, looking at a short woman who was leaning on the doorframe at the back of the trailer.

The men that were still sitting shot to their feet, but the new woman continued to ignore them.

"Please, go on, finish your story. You said that Liu Yu Zeng had children?"

He Xin Yi looked around the room, not understanding why the atmosphere had become so tense. Thinking that it might have something to do with the newcomer, He Xin Yi sat up and smiled at the woman.

"Are you curious?" she asked, her voice taking on a different tone than the one she was using to speak to the guys. The men in the room made her feel comfortable, especially the silent one. This woman though, she caused the warning bells in He Xin Yi's head to go crazy.

The woman hummed and nodded her head, her arms still crossed over her chest. She seemed relaxed, but He Xin Yi didn't believe that for a second. "Well, curiosity killed the cat. You wouldn't want that, right?" she said, winking at the newcomer in the room.

The woman cocked her head to the side and just stared at her. "Mmmm. Curiosity did kill the cat. Isn't it a good thing that I'm not a cat? Now, please, it was such an interesting story, keep going," the woman said as she straightened and weaved amongst the men until she got to the kitchenette.

Looking up at the man that captured He Xin Yi's attention, the man lifted his arm and let the woman slide between him and the edge of the island. "You were saying?"I think you should take a look at

The woman seemed to be possessive of the man, maybe Liu Yu Zeng too. He Xin Yi, not liking the fact that the man she wanted now had another woman in his arms smiled. "Liu Yu Zeng, after he created a new type of government, found the love of his life when he visited City J looking for his brother. I guess she had wound up as a victim of human trafficking and after a few years of living in a cage, a squad from the Navy, who was going house to house looking for supplies, found her and a bunch of other girls. After they saved them all, she joined their team. They say that it was love at first sight."

He Xin Yi smiled as she said the last sentence, slowly saying each and every word so there could be no questioning what she meant.

The woman in the arms of the man that would soon be hers nodded her head slowly. "So, essentially, he saved the world, ended the apocalypse and he and his soulmate lived happily ever after… with kids." He Xin Yi paused as she thought over the words that the other woman had spoken. They sounded weird, but they weren't wrong.

She nodded her head and the other woman started nodding with her. "And how many kids did you say he had?"

"I didn't. But they had five kids together, each one taking over a different section of the country when they got older."

"Five kids," the woman said slowly. He Xin Yi felt herself shiver, it seemed to have gotten a bit colder in the RV. Maybe there was a window open? Nights were still pretty cold in April after all.

"Sweetness," said Liu Yu Zeng as he started walking towards the woman, but she held up and hand and he stopped.

"You mentioned something about Chen Zi Han?" the woman asked, turning her attention away from Liu Yu Zeng and back to He Xin Yi.

"What about him?" asked He Xin Yi as she sat up straighter on the stool. It might have been only in her fantasies, but that man belonged to her. Although, she might be willing to stop looking for him if the quiet guy was interested.

"Did he have a wife? Children?" the air was getting cold enough that He Xin Yi could see her breath. Turning to the man that was standing near the dining room, she waved her hand. "Can you close a window? It's getting cold in here."

"A window isn't going to help you," said the woman as He Xin Yi saw the quiet man moving his arm to wrap around the other woman's waist. She narrowed her eyes at the scene. But it was okay. He was allowed a girlfriend now. As long as she was the last one, it didn't matter how many came before.

"Chen Zi Han," said the woman, pulling her attention away from the quiet man back to the woman who he was holding.

"He wasn't married, no kids," she admitted and watched the tension leach out of the other woman. Narrowing her eyes, He Xin Yi scoffed, "But that is only because he never met me."

Seeing her comment hit a nerve, He Xin Yi smiled.

"Did you transmigrate or reincarnate?" asked the woman, taking a deep breath. Her question knocked the smile off of He Xin Yi's face faster than any slap could. She bit her tongue. She had survived for 15 years through the apocalypse and for another 15 years after that. She was not some child that reacted to everything.

"Do you know the problem with people from either category?" asked the woman as she leaned against the quiet man, letting him tighten his hold on her.

"What?" asked He Xin Yi, unable to hold her tongue.

"They always think that they are the hero of the story."