Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"Quickly! Everybody hide!" yelled the leader of the bandits, and the 50-some-odd men that had surrounded Liu Wei and the rest of the men disappeared without a trace.

"Sir! You guys follow me. You will have to leave your bikes here, but you can come back for them later," he continued, turning to Liu Yu Zeng.

"What are you doing?" asked Bin An Sha, completely confused. This was like nothing he had seen when Li Dai Lu confronted the zombies, and that was a single girl. Surely 50 men should be able to take on a whole host of zombies. Right?

"Hiding!" repeated the bandit leader. "Hurry up, we don't have that much time!"

"We're good here," said Wang Chao, taking off his helmet and stretching out his neck. It felt like it had been a while since he was in actual combat with the zombies. He needed to work hard and become more powerful so that he could protect Li Dai Lu. Now was as good of a time as any to start.

"I told her she could have 500 zombies for her own uses. Keep that in mind," reminded Wang Chao as the bandit leader looked at the five men before shaking his head.

"You are all insane," he sneered before disappearing into the wreckage of City H.

"I am not sure if I should stay with you guys or have gone with him," grumbled Bin An Sha as he pulled two long blades out of his sleeves.

"Too late now," said Liu Yu Zeng with a shrug. He called his black mist out and let it swallow both his arms. "If you are fighting, try to take their heads off and then call one of us. See if you have any powers that might work against them. However, they regenerate faster than you can blink and can regrow body parts. Stay in the center if you can. We will make sure that you live through this," he continued, turning his back to the man.

"Welcome to the zombie apocalypse. Now you can see how the other half lives that don't have a woman that can control them with a flick of her fingers," smirked Wang Chao, spreading out his consciousness. "And Li Dai Lu was a bit off. We are looking at 2,000 zombies."

"Even better, I know she wants a bunch of them for her plan. That gives us a thousand to exercise with and a thousand for her," grunted Chen Zi Han in approval.

"He was right; you are all insane," exclaimed Bin An Sha as he looked at the other four men.

"Not insane so much as getting used to it," shrugged Liu Wei. He was having a difficult time learning how to use his 'gift', and this was a perfect opportunity to try and improve. He understood that he just had to snuff out the flames, but he wasn't able to see them as easily as the other men could.

'Shuck the human trappings and accept who you are,' suggested Reaper inside of his mind. Tuning out the conversation between the other men, Liu Wei turned his attention to his motorcycle.

'Somehow, that doesn't seem to be as easy to do as you are suggesting,' he replied. He had never known anything else but being human, so how the Hell was he going to be able to 'shuck the human trappings'? It didn't make any sense.

'Still so trapped inside your head,' tisked Reaper, his disdain for the human coming through loud and clear along their link. 'How do you think War managed to do it?'

'I have no idea,' snapped Liu Wei. He was not a dumb person, but he honestly had no idea how Wang Chao managed to level up so quickly.

'He was willing to push everything aside to get to the Queen faster, even his own humanity,' explained Reaper, only managing to make everything muddier.

There was a moment of silence as the world seemed to have stopped spinning. Li Dai Lu had said that they were surrounded by zombies, and Wang Chao had said that there were around 2,000, but it seemed that the five of them were all alone on the deserted street.

'Do you know who you are?' asked Reaper cautiously, not wanting to set his human off but also wanting to give him a swift kick in the ass.

'I know who I am,' replied Liu Wei, not at all interested in continuing this conversation.

'Then who are you?' pushed Reaper.

'I am Liu Yu Xuan, head of the Liu family and the head of the Red Dragon syndicate. I am the prince of City H and one of the most influential men in both City H and City A. I am the personal assistant of Wang Chao, a major in Country K's Ground Force and a captain in Country K's Navy. I am one of the most decorated members of Country K's military force and the one they call on for quiet terminations. I am Wang Chao's knife when he needs it and his diplomat when he doesn't. I am one of Li Dai Lu's men,' said Liu Wei, telling Reaper exactly who he was.

'And none of that matters. Well, except for being one of the Queen's men, but other than that, none of the other names and titles matter. Maybe that is why you can't simply shuck your humanity; you are too wrapped up in all the titles,' mused Reaper. 

'Excuse me?' demanded Liu Wei as his eyes continued to scan the area in front of him. Still no sign of the zombies, but the hair on the back of his neck was standing upright, letting him know he was being watched.

'I asked if you knew who you were, and you gave me a long list of crap. But that is not who you are,' came the response, and Liu Wei couldn't help but want to argue with his bike's conclusion. He had worked hard all of his life to earn those designations, and he was damn proud of them all.

Well, maybe not the title of Prince of City H, but the others he had put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to be able to proudly proclaim. And yet, Reaper was saying that they were all useless?! How could his entire life be useless?