Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"Bai Long Qiang," said the man, a look of confusion crossing over his face.

"And you have a spacer user on your team?" I asked, wanting to make sure that I had the right man. He nodded slowly like he wasn't too sure my head was screwed on the right way.

"When you leave here, I suggest you go to City A. There is going to be a sanctuary there soon if there isn't already. I am sure that you would do great there," I said with a smile. Might as well have some things in order this early in the game.

He nodded his head. "If we get out of here alive, I'll take that into consideration," he said. "And also look into raiding some homes between here and there," he continued with a wink.

I smiled and tilted my head back laughing. I would make certain that he and his team made it out of here alive. I owed her that much and so much more.

I went silent as I thought about what I would need to do in the future to make sure that he was in the right place at the right time. I should probably feel bad about manipulating him like this, but I really didn't. He had a very important role to play in my future plans. But he was right. We needed to survive this tide first.

I could feel the men behind me subtly shifting back and forth, not liking how silent I was. I wanted to reassure them, but before I could open my mouth, the Major General came into the room and the meeting had officially begun.

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Wang Chao shifted in his seat, not at all happy with how things have progressed since they were… disturbed earlier. He looked at the man sitting a few people away from him and wondered what it was about him that caused Li Dai Lu to be so… off.

"We had a confrontation yesterday with some of the zombies," started Deng Jun Hie as quiet mummers broke out amongst the people assembled. The guy Li Dai Lu was talking to, nodded his head like he had already known this.

It must have been his team that originally confronted them. Wang Chao wondered how he was going to react to knowing that he screw up. There was a sinister grin on his face as he thought about it.

"They were the same zombies that Team A from City D had confronted earlier," continued the Major General as he looked at the team leader. His face turned white and he clenched his hands tighter. Men like that never like to screw up, and he had screwed up spectacularly.

"How?" the team leader, Bai Long Qiang, demanded causing Wang Chao to scoff. "You didn't kill them," he said with a sarcastic tone. Talking about supplies with Li Dai Lu, making her pay attention to him, did he not realize that there would be consequences for his actions?

The zombie tide would create enough chaos that the death of one more human would be nothing.

"You were correct in cutting off their heads," said Deng Jun Hie with a nod of approval. "The problem that I don't think anyone else knows or understands is that simply cutting off their heads is not enough to ensure their deaths. You then have to burn the body to ash. These zombies have extraordinary capabilities to regenerate, to the point that cutting them in two is simply creating more zombies."

"Are you saying that they can regrow a head?" asked one of the men who was originally leaning against the wall. He must have been part of that Team A.

"I am not only saying that, but I am saying that they can regrow an entire body from just a head," said the Major General solemnly.

"Fuck," said another man seated at the table under his breath. "Then how are we going to stop them?"

"I will take care of that part," said Li Dai Lu. Wang Chao and the other men looked at her. They didn't see that coming. They had expected her to say that they could fend for themselves and that their only job was to make sure that the zombies didn't get to the City J base.I think you should take a look at

None of the men were going to question her in public, but they would need an explanation once they got back to the RV and some privacy.

Unlike the other men, Deng Jun Hie just let out a breath of relief. "Thank you," he said earnestly. At least if she was participating then Wang Chao and the others would be participating as well.  Now the base actually stood a chance.

Bai Long Qiang looked at Li Dai Lu and smiled at her in thanks. He didn't completely understand what was going on, but by the way the Major General was acting, her involvement was nothing but a good thing.

"So the idea is to take off their heads and burn them to death?" asked Li Shoi Ming as he looked at Deng Jun Hie at the head of the table. The other man nodded his head. "But it is important that you don't remove any other limbs other than the head." The people around the table looked at each other.

"Is there a timeline?" asked Wang Chao, the tapping of his index finger the only indication that he was not happy.

"The front line should be reaching the first of our traps within two days," said the Major General as he looked at the other man. "Everyone needs to prepare. Dismissed."

Wang Chao blinked in understanding before he stood up. Waiting for Li Dai Lu to stand up he was not prepared for her to skirt by him and walk over to the other man. Indicating for him to bend over, she whispered a few things into his ear. When she got his nod of confirmation, she turned around with a smile on her face and returned to their group.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, little girl," growled Wang Chao, his skin vibrating so hard that he might end up shedding it completely.  He didn't know how she did it, but her mind was a complete blank to him and he absolutely hated that. In fact, he hated it so much that he wanted to rip everyone in this room to shreds, starting with the Team Leader from City D.

She looked up at him stunned, not expecting for him to say something like that, but he would not apologize. "And if I can't give you an explanation?" she asked softly knocking Wang Chao back a few steps.

The four men surrounded her in the hallway just outside of the conference room and looked down at her.  "Will you still trust me if I said that I cannot tell you what is going on?"

"Always," growled Wang Chao. "I will always trust you and follow you anywhere you lead. Even if it leads me to Hell."  The other three men nodded in agreement and Li Dai Lu relaxed at his words.

"I can't explain it, not yet. But he is important, so very important to me," she admitted with her eyes closed. She couldn't tell the guys what was going on, what she was trying to set into motion. If she did, then she would have to explain everything and she just wasn't there yet.

None of the men liked the idea that someone outside of their group was that important to Li Dai Lu, but how could they disappoint her at the same time?

"If it comes down to him or one of us?" asked Liu Yu Zeng as he stared into his woman's eyes. A look of pure anguish crossed her eyes before she closed them.

"My choice is always you," she said. "There will never be any compromise on that aspect. But if you could, could you watch out for him when the tide comes? He and his team need to make it out of here alive," she continued as she opened her eyes to look at Liu Yu Zeng, her tone as close to begging as they had ever heard.

Liu Yu Zeng nodded his head reluctantly. "But at some point in time, you will tell us?" he asked. He understood secrets, understood the need for them, no matter how much it tore you apart. He would not ask her for all of her secrets here and now. But in the future, he didn't want anything between them, especially when it came to other men.

"When the time is right, you will know everything," she said but the men could feel a stabbing of pain in their hearts as she said that. Something was clearly wrong, but they would stand beside her like aways until they made it through that hurdle.

"That is all we ask," said Chen Zi Han as he pulled her into his arms and give her a kiss on her forehead.