Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



As Chen Zi Han slowly closed his right hand into a fist, I saw the zombie he was experimenting on become withered and even more skeletal than before. It was almost as if the life was being drained out of the creature. I ignored the outside world and concentrated, trying to see the candle inside the zombie.

Finally finding that small light in the darkness I watched as it struggled back and forth, becoming weaker and weaker until it was completely extinguished.  I adjusted my vision back to the real world and saw the once-healthy zombie crumble to dust and slowly blow away in the wind.

It was a very Buffy-esque moment if I was being completely honest.

"The trick was not to put my power into it," said Chen Zi Han as he walked over to where we were standing. Coming to a halt in front of me, he gave me a tender kiss on the forehead. "The trick was to pull my power out of it, and let it wither that way."

"I have to admit," I said as I looked up at him with a smile. "That was pretty cool."

"As 'cool' as mine?" asked Liu Wei winking at me.

"Sure," I said, a huge smile on my face.

I turned my attention away from the guys and the Rear Admiral at my side and focused on the other battle going on in front of the Navy Base.  If it didn't make me sound completely bad, I would fully admit to completely forgetting about our men and the soldiers… but since I was sure that that would be a bad thing to admit to, I kept my mouth shut.

"Is it just me, or are there more zombies than before?" I asked, trying to do a very shitty job at a head count.  Wang Chao and Liu Wei came to stand beside me, doing a head count of their own.

"No, there definitely seems to be more," the two admitted.  Apparently giving a bunch of people swords that had never used them before was not the best part of my plan. I watched as another arm got hacked off and a zombie clone emerged from the severed limb.

"You boys want to try out more of your powers?" I asked looking at them.  My powers needed an injury of some kind to get my flame inside so I was going to have to play least in sight and stand back from this battle. The boys though, seemed to have a good hold on their powers so they might as well stretch them out a bit.

They nodded and went off to help the poor newbies fend off the horde. 

"Still think fighting zombies is easy?" I asked Zhou Gang Jia as he kept trying to cut off the head while avoiding the zombie's claws at the same time. At least he was more successful at the second one than the first.

His silence was enough of an answer and I chuckled. "You know, if it wasn't for you, I would be able to be home at my ranch, buried in a pile of blankets on my king-sized bed, not worried at all about frigging zombies," I pointed out as the zombie in front of us continued to attack.

"No one asked you to come," said the Rear Admiral between pants.

"That's where you are wrong. General Fuck Face told us to come here and pick you up because you weren't answering your phone." I ducked out of the way of the claws and simply laughed at the frustrated expression on the zombie's face.  However, I knew that we needed to kill them and fast before they decided that we were too tough of prey and retreated.  It was a very delicate balance between letting the clock run and getting the training in and not letting it go on long enough that they escaped.

After the Trojan Horse stunt they pulled, I was not going to let a single one live.

"General Fuck Face?" Zhou Gang Jia let out a bark of laughter, narrowly avoiding getting skewered by the nails.

I paused for a second, trying to remember the General's actual name. "Country K Army General Yang Bo Wen," I said with as much formality as I could. "Recently deceased," I added with a smile. I might not have been the one to kill him, but I definitely was not shedding any tears over it either.

"How did he die?" asked Zhou Gang Jia as he paused to turn and look at me.  Stupid man.  I threw a flame at the zombie's face, picturing it entering through the holes where the nose should have been. It worked! I didn't need the guns to create an entrance, there were enough entrances on them as it was.  Why did I never consider that before?

"Sorry, what?" I said, coming back to the moment and realizing that the Rear Admiral and I were in the middle of a conversation.

"How did he die?"

"Who?" I asked, confused.  I concentrated my fire to see if I could get it in any time a zombie opened its mouth. Success!

"General Yang Bo Wen," snapped Zhou Gang Jia as he turned his attention to the next zombie that was approaching him.

"Who's that?" I replied, the name not ringing any bells.

"General Fuck Face," came the grumbled answer, as if the man could not believe that he stooped so low as to actually say it.

"Zombie horde."

"What?"

"He and his men were killed on the highway, trying to get to you, by a zombie horde," I said as I watched yet another zombie burn from the inside out.  I needed to see if I could just attack their flames, rather than the body itself. Kind of like what Wang Chao did. But he was spirit so that might not work for me.

"Could you have saved him?" came a voice behind me.  I turned to look at the Rear Admiral. He was just standing there, staring at me like we did not have over a hundred zombies in front of us with more being created every second.

"Yes," I said simply and with a sinister smile.

"Then why didn't you?" he demanded like it was my responsibility to keep everyone alive simply because that was what he wanted.

"Why would I have to?" I shot back, this time turning my full focus on the man standing in front of me.  I raised a wall of purple flames to keep the zombies away because, for some reason, this conversation could not wait until we were in a safer place.

"You should have protected him!" the Rear Admiral yelled. "Or at the very least, Wang Chao and Liu Wei should have protected him even if you were too scared to."

"Too scared to?" I said with a bark of laughter. "Who do you think you are?" I asked in all seriousness. I knew how important this man was to Wang Chao and Liu Wei. That was the whole reason why they couldn't have said no after rescuing Liu Wei's family. But the man needed to learn a few important facts first.

Standing up straight, and still completely forgetting that we were surrounded by zombies, he snarled out his answer. "I am Rear Admiral Zhou Gang Jia of the Country K Navy and Officer in Charge of City J Naval Base."

I nodded my head, "Impressive. Do you know who I am?" I asked in all seriousness.

"You are Li Dai Lu," he snarled.

"Exactly," I hissed my response. "I am Li Dai Lu, I am a citizen of Country K and in no way, shape, or form part of the military. So, why do I have to save a fucking Army General?"

"Then Wang Chao or Liu Wei should have saved him."

"And how were they going to do that?" I asked, my temper rising.  General Yang Bo Wen did nothing to deserve any type of sacrifice from my men and I would burn the world down if they were injured and General Fuck Face was safe.

"They have powers," he said, waving his hand like he was talking about having a gun.

"They didn't then," I lied completely straight-faced.

"They should have saved him!" yelled Zhou Gang Jia with way more strength and conviction than was warranted in this circumstance.

"That man was a piece of trash in an ill-fitting uniform," I informed the man coldly. "And before you open your mouth to say another word, think about this: you have yet to kill a single zombie. Who are you to pretend that Wang Chao and Liu Wei could take on a hungry horde by themselves?"  Completely done with the conversation, and feeling more than a little guilty that I screwed things up with the man that was so important to the boys, I let the flames die back and walked away.

Yes, I could have saved the General, his team, and all of the civilians he allowed to tag along with them. But then what?

Then I would have to stay by his side, constantly protecting those that he wanted me to protect while taking all of the credit for himself. And where would it end? I let out a dark chuckle as I walked towards the closed gates and simply leaned against it.

Let them all die, I said over and over again, trying to remind myself of step one. Outside of the boys, the rest of the people didn't deserve my sacrifices.

I angrily wiped away a tear that was trying to roll down my cheek, but it was too damn cold and ended up freezing to my eyelashes.

Just my luck.