Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

 Chapter 239  WTF!!

"What do you mean it's hot?" asked Liu Yu Zeng a look of concern flashed over his face as he brought his handgun back up to shoulder height. Holding it steady, he looked at Chen Zi Han. They nodded at each other and Chen Zi Han, Liu Wei, and Wang Chao all brought their guns up too and started to clear the kitchen side of the room.

Liu Yu Zeng motioned for me to come closer to him and as soon as I was within arms reach, he pulled me against his chest and brought his gun in front of me. My back to his chest, he wrapped his left arm around my waist while his right arm was lifted and ready to pull the trigger.

Chen Zi Han turned to look at him and the other guys and when Liu Yu Zeng nodded, he quickly threw open the bottom far right cupboard door. There was nobody in it. Just a bunch of canisters of whole coffee beans, packets of coffee whiteners, sweeteners, and sugars as well as disposable paper cups with lids.

I flicked my wrist and brought everything into my space. What else was I expected to do with the supplies right in front of me? Leave them for the Ripper? No, thank you. I need the coffee more than they did.

Leaving the door open, Chen Zi Han moved to the next cupboard and, after a nod from Liu Yu Zeng, opened that one too. This one wasn't as interesting, mostly just boxes of cereal and instant oatmeal, but food was food and it was going into my space.

When you were hungry, even cold original instant oatmeal was heaven.

But there wasn't anyone hiding in that cupboard either.

The boys cleared each bottom cupboard in the kitchen as I threw whatever was in it into my space. I now had more paper plates, forks, napkins, pots and pans, and baking equipment than I probably needed, but if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. And I was not going to fail this time around.

I threw the three stoves into my space for good luck since they were just sitting there. The men went back to where the cupboards met the wall and started the process all over again, this time with the upper cabinets.

We managed to get through those ones a lot faster than the bottom ones because the guys didn't think that anyone would be hiding up there. By the end of it all, I managed to get a lot of cereals, crackers, peanut butter, jams (the store-bought, not homemade), honey, cookies, and a crap ton of plates and glasses.

In fact, this kitchen was as well stocked as my own, and that bothered me. They were prepared to spend a long time here, but why? Did they know that the apocalypse was coming and therefore had created their own safe zone? Or was their job so top secret that they were expected to live here for the rest of their lives?

With the cupboards empty, I placed the commercial coffee machine in my space, but the still-hot cup of espresso creeped me out enough that I left it there. I took the waffle makers, the toasters and toaster ovens, and all the other countertop appliances into my space. At this point, I might as well consider this a supply run and not us being stuck in a creepy basement facility with a Ripper on the loose.

Save my sanity a bit.

The fridges were a thing of beauty. There were at least five of them with three doors, 72 cubic feet of space, and the compressor at the top. I mean, there wasn't an attached freezer, but they would do in a pinch. With a flick of my wrist, I brought all five fridges with the three doors and two with only a single door into my space.

And then I froze. "Uh, guys?" I asked as I looked at where the fridges had originally been. "Guys!" I called again when they didn't immediately respond to me. After we had emptied the cupboards, my four men went over to the couches to sit down and talk, leaving me alone to take what I wanted.

I didn't take my eyes off of the wall in front of me, so I didn't see the guys standing up and rushing over to me, but I felt them approach. "I think I found where the espresso lady went," I said as I pointed to the massive black hole in the wall. It was easily 6-foot tall and at least 4-foot wide and would have been perfectly hidden by the fridges.

And no one would think that there was an escape hole in a fridge. Wait—does that mean that the fridges I just stole were empty?!? WTF!

So, a question for the audience. Do we go into the creepy hole in the wall and see where that leads or do I run out of this room screaming at the top of my lungs because this place was really a 100 on the creepy/scary rating?

The boys took out their guns and walked toward the random hole in the wall… did I mention there was a fucking hole in the wall and the fridge was used as the entrance?!? But I digress… because as I was mentally freaking out, Chen Zi Han stepped into the darkness and disappeared from view.

I guess that answers that question. We would be going through the sketchy hole, because what could possibly go wrong?

Liu Yu Zeng took my hand in his and smiled at me. "This is an amazing first date, isn't it? I mean, I heard that those escape rooms were a great place to go on a date and here we are!"

I blinked at the man with a giant, genuine, smile on his face as my brain when blank. I cleared my throat a few times just to make sure that I wasn't going to accidentally start yelling at him when he looked so cute and innocent.

"Um… Honeybear, the escape rooms that you are thinking about are… regulated. You might be looking for a way out, but there is not going to be anything locked in there with you that seems to take joy in ripping people apart."