Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"We call them flames because that is what they look like, but they are really the zombie's soul," said Liu Wei from where he stood back to back to Bin An Sha.

"Crush the flame, and you crush the zombie," shrugged Liu Yu Zeng as if it wasn't a big deal.

"And you guys can see this supposed flame?" asked Bin An Sha skeptically. 

"Who wants to go first?" asked Wang Chao as the front line of the zombies continued to approach them.

"How about we all take out 25, then meet up to discuss our next step," suggested Chen Zi Han, turning to look at Bin An Sha. "That should give you enough time to be able to kill one. Is that okay with you?"

"I think I am starting to hate you guys," answered Bin An Sha through gritted teeth.

"Only starting? Awe, you do love us," smirked Liu Yu Zeng, looking over his shoulder at the other man before turning his attention back to the zombies trying to attack him. Instead of the typical mists that came out of his hands, his power rose from his feet, spreading across the ground, killing everything in its wake.

He didn't so much call his powers as direct them toward the 25 zombies that he had earmarked for himself. Watching them rot away the zombies until there was not more than a pile of brittle bones that were swept away by the gentle breeze, Liu Yu Zeng could see why so many people were terrified of this type of power.

'Please,' scoffed the voice inside his head. 'You are loving having the power of life or death over something that many people cannot kill.'

'What can I say?' smirked Liu Yu Zeng as he called back his power. 'I am a God amongst men.'

'Ha! You? A God? In your dreams,' laughed the voice. 'But I think I am going to like you.'

'Whether you do or not, your time living rent free inside of me is long gone,' shot Liu Yu Zeng, becoming more serious. 'I cannot let a second soul stay inside my body. I saw what War did to Wang Chao, and I am not nice enough to put up with that shit.'

'Awe, you want to kill me? Please don't. I'll be your friend,' joked Pestilence, not at all concerned. He had fucked up way too many times to deserve a second chance with the Queen. The best that he could hope for was that this version of himself was smarter than he was. 'Do you know where I fucked up?'

'You fucked up in a lot of different ways,' laughed Liu Yu Zeng sarcastically. 'Do you want them chronologically or alphabetically?'

'Give me just one,' replied Pestilence, not willing to give up on hammering the point home.

'You put War before your Queen. You left her, expecting to just wait for you to come back, no matter how long that took. You didn't take her wants and needs into consideration, and worst of all, you did it for the heady pleasure of watching people fall to your powers,' said Liu Yu Zeng as he constantly scanned the horizon for more threats.

'Did you know that she was married?' asked Pestilence, trying to find some way to excuse his actions. 'She even kidnapped him. She had us but was so in love with someone else that she had to kidnap him.'

'Ha! What a load of shit,' laughed Liu Yu Zeng. 'Have you seen that woman? She doesn't have to kidnap anyone. We pretty much follow her around like puppy dogs, hoping that she would take mercy on us and bring us into the fold. There is no kidnapping. And if you believed that, you really didn't deserve her.'

'We were hers before he was!' shouted Pestilence, not willing to drop the matter. Knowing that she had someone that she loved so much that she was willing to kidnap him while he and his brothers did everything for her smile? It was enough to send a dagger into his heart whenever he thought about it.

'And if that were the case, then we would be hers long after,' said Liu Yu Zeng, unimpressed over this whole conversation. Pestilence might not hate Li Dai Lu as much as War did, but this attitude will not be tolerated in his body. 'You don't understand; those who are loved by Li Dai Lu is a very small and exclusive club. She loved you four so much that it literally shattered her into a million pieces that she is still trying to pick up.'

'Hardly,' sneered Pestilence. His Queen was not the only one to shatter, not after he came into their lives. 'But what do you know? You don't even know who she is.'

'I know that she is Li Dai Lu, my Sweetness, my Queen. Whoever else she is doesn't matter,' shrugged Liu Yu Zeng. Whoever she was would never prevent her from being who she was at this moment.

'You say that. Just wait. Then we will see if you are so high and mighty,' sneered Pestilence.

'You forget one very important thing,' answered Liu Yu Zeng, quietly calling his mists inside of himself to hunt down and kill the other soul living inside of him.

'And what is that?' demanded Pestilence, utterly unaware of the darkness approaching.

'She licked me; that makes me hers,' smiled Liu Yu Zeng as the shadowy outline of the other soul was completely engulfed in his mists.

'You think to kill me with my own power? How stupid can you be?' laughed Pestilence right before he burst out coughing. 'What?!'

  'I am more than just you,' replied Liu Yu Zeng, bringing his attention away from his internal conflict and back to the real world. 'I am also poison. And all the best medicine for diseases contains a small amount of poison.'

'No!' screamed Pestilence before he was abruptly cut off.

It was blessedly silent momentarily, and Liu Yu Zeng watched Bin An Sha valiantly fight the zombie before him.

'I thought he was never going to shut up,' said Lin, causing Liu Yu Zeng to smirk.

'You and me both,' Liu Yu Zeng agreed. 'The asshole was full of himself, blaming Li Dai Lu for his own choices.'

'Just don't make the same mistake, or I will take you out in a field somewhere and run you over again and again until you die,' threatened Lin before the link was abruptly cut off.

Liu Yu Zeng could only chuckle and shake his head. He seemed to be growing on the bike.