Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



I wasn't sure when it happened, but I managed to lose sight of my men. Giving up on trying to catch up, I asked Cerberus to take the scenic route, knowing that I would catch up to them at some point in time.

My first impression of City H was that it was densely populated. And that wasn't the greatest thing at this particular stage. Feeling my stress levels rise with each high-rise building we passed, I was not sure how this counted as the scenic route.

"I can take you to the hill," replied Cerberus after a moment of silence. "There are some beautiful places where you can go hiking."

"Yeah, let's go with that route," I said as I saw curtains moving in some of the upper windows of the buildings on both sides of us. It was that creepy feeling of being spied upon but not knowing if they were the good guys or the bad guys.

Then again, I think that it was safe to say that right now, everyone was going in the bad guy category until proven otherwise.

  It took a while, but we eventually managed to get through all of the skyscrapers, and all of a sudden, the world just seemed to open up. There were beautiful mountains rising up in front of us with amazing ocean views just off to my right.

I looked at the sparkling blue water, its peaceful surface seeming to draw me in and invite me to experience its tepid waters. Then I realized that I almost died in the ocean just yesterday, so it might be smartest to stay as far away from the lure of the ocean as I could.

I was not in the mood for another swim.

"But you are in the mood for a yacht?" asked Violence, my constant companion for this particular road trip.

So far, she has managed to eat my mint chocolate ice cream, a tray of brownies, and numerous cookies, and was now making her way through my carrot cake collection.

"Isn't a yacht that one thing that screams wealth? Like 'you haven't made it until you have at least one or two yachts'?" I said with a shrug. I very much had a love/hate relationship with the water and the ocean specifically. I loved the idea of being away from everyone, lost in the vastness of the ocean, letting the sound of gentle waves hitting the hull of the ship lull me to sleep every night.

But I was also scared shitless about the idea of being away from everyone, lost in the vastness of the ocean, and having nightmares about what is under the surface.

Like I said, it was a love/hate relationship. And after just being in it… I was inching towards hatred.

But maybe a beautiful yacht might change my mind. After all, people pay millions of dollars for those things, so there had to be a reason for that, right?

My mind was immersed in the idea of having a boat and leaving humanity to their own devices when Cerberus slowed down to a stop. "We're here," he said, and I looked out of the front window to see the entrance of a hiking trail. Trees lined both sides of the wooden boardwalk, and I could see the light sparkling between the branches.

"It's perfect," I said with a smile. Turning to look at Violence, I smirked at her. "Are you coming?"

"Hiking? In this dress? No way, no how. I'll just disappear for a while. Call me if you need me," she replied, and with a wave of her hand, she disappeared from the cab of my truck.

"I assume that you are also going to disappear?" I asked Cerberus, closing the door behind me.

"I am," he chuckled, and in less time than it took to blink, he was gone too, leaving me alone in the middle of the forest.

I stepped on the boardwalk and started down the path, enjoying the peace and quiet of nature.

I think I would love a small house in the mountains, surrounded by trees. But I would want it further north so I could enjoy the changing colors of fall. It was always my favorite part of living in Canada, the changing from summer to fall. The crisp air, the golds and reds of the leaves, and pumpkin spiced everything.

I wondered if I would be going against some standing order of the universe if I made myself some pumpkin scones in the spring, but at the same time, I didn't really care. I was too busy prepping for the end of the world last September and October that I wasn't able to enjoy any of that stuff, so I would make all my fall treats right now.

I came to an outcrop where I could see the city that I just drove through, the buildings standing taller than any mountain. Just for shits and giggles, I changed my vision, wanting to see how many people were still human or had been turned into zombies and were trapped in their homes as a result.

  As far as I could see, there was nothing but the blue and purple flames of zombies. Turning to look at the largest concentration of zombies, I found maybe 50 pink flames in the very center of all the other flames. Normally, it would not have bothered me to see a bunch of humans surrounded by zombies, but in the middle of the pink flames stood one black flame, one red flame, one white and one silver flame, and a new green flame that I could only assume was Bin An Sha.

Yes. I turned my attention away from my boys for a moment, and they were in the middle of a zombie-filled city with only 50 humans acting as a barrier between them and a fucking tide. But for some reason, it felt like déjà vu. However, I know for a fact that I have never left the guys alone long enough for something like this to have happened before, so where did that feeling come from?

I tried to count the zombies but lost count after the first 200. "City H has always been packed, that and the fact that it is a known tourist destination for people around the world, and you are going to have a high population of zombies with little to no humans left," said Violence, popping out beside me. 

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"So, what are you going to do?"