Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



In the movies, the door always shatters with just a solid kick to the middle of it, in reality… that doesn't happen. Case in point, every flipping door in this building. But let's start at the beginning of the day… because it just went downhill from there.

We woke up early in the morning, and for the second time in my life, I had no problem getting out of bed. After a quick breakfast, Wang Chao and Liu Yu Zeng called a meeting of all of their team captains at our place to explain our plans for the day.

There were 30 floors plus a basement in this building, but because Wang Chao's penthouse took up the entire top floor, there were only 29 floors and a basement for us to comb through for both people and supplies. Given the number of men that we had, the plan was to divide up into 30 groups of 10 men each (give or take) and each group take a floor.

That part of the plan worked just fine.

The boys had given me the choice between making more sweets in the kitchen or going to help them clean out our new home. Honestly, I would like to say that I chose the first option, because let's face it, that was what I would rather be doing, but at the end of the day, I went with the boys.

We were with Hua Le Yang and his team and were going to clear the 29th floor.  We made it down the single flight of stairs just fine, but then we ran into a bit of trouble as soon as we opened the fire door that led to the actual floor itself.

And when I say we ran into trouble, I mean we ran into the wrong end of a barrage of bullets. Quickly closing the door, Hua Le Yang looked over his teammates to see if any were wounded. I knew that my boys were fine since we had been hanging out towards the back, one of the perks of being a leader I guess.

When everyone reported in, it turned out that no one in our group was injured, just very pissed. In fact, I don't recall a time when Hua Chan Juan had sworn quite that much. But then again, she did get narrowly miss stopping a few bullets with her body so if there was any time to swear up a storm, it would be now.

"What the fuck were they thinking? For fucks sake," she grumbled under her breath as she rechecked her semi-automatic Colt Carbine. I knew that it was in working order, the only thing she loved more than that gun was her husband, and even then, she would let her husband fend for himself if it meant her 'baby' getting hurt.

More prepared this time, we cleared the entrance, the team splitting up so they were along the wall on either side of the door. This gave the bullets a place to go that wasn't in us. The first person behind the door, Zhou Hui Fan, slowly opened the door, allowing the heavy steal to act as a barricade between him and anything that came flying out.

As soon as the door opened a second time, there was another burst of rapid fire, but this time, it didn't last as long.

"I take it someone is alive down there?" I yelled out from my position between Wang Chao and Liu Wei. Leaning against the wall I tried to make myself comfortable. This could go on for a while. Especially since they were dumb enough to waste bullets shooting at nothing.

"Yes," came the disgruntled voice, "And I plan to stay that way."

"Solid plan," I agreed with him, checking my nails, "What's your plan for when you run out of bullets?" Only silence met my statement, but I really didn't care. Each one of the 15 people on my side was exceptionally trained and those that were not power users could still hold their own in a fight.

"Nothing?" I called out when the counting in my head reached 60. "I can give you a few options if you want," I continued as I slide down the wall to sit on the ground, my legs straight in front of me.

"Option 1," I started as I stared forward, not really looking at anything. "We wait until you are out of bullets and then go in, kill you, and take your supplies." I let out a minuscule pink flame, one so small that you could hardly see it, and placed it on the ground.  I watched as it slithered out of the opened door like a snake hunting down its prey.

"Option 2," I continued as the silence drew on. "You take what you want and leave for another building, you get to live with whatever supplies you have on hand. Personally, I think that is the best option, after all, you stay alive."

"Why do I need to leave?" the disgruntled voice seemed to be coming closer, but I couldn't be sure.

"Because this whole building is mine," I said with a smile on my face. "And I am not that good at sharing." I cracked my neck, wanting nothing more than to put in my headphones and listen to music while a made a cheesecake. I couldn't figure out if I wanted a blueberry cheesecake or a caramel one. Either way, I didn't want to waste my time in this hallway.

"Fuck you! This is my home!" shouted the voice, this time definitely closer. I closed my eyes, wishing that I was able to see what my flames could see. But that very idea was ridiculous since fire really didn't have eyes. Still, it would be nice to have eyes in the hall.

"I don't suppose anyone can tell what type of gun it is simply from the sound of it," I grunted quietly as I looked around our group.

"Type 81 assault rifle, issued to the infantry forces of Country K's military force. It hasn't been the gun of choice for the past 5 years," said Huang Tian Kuo.  I rolled my eyes. Leave it to the gun-obsessed couple to know the different types of guns simply by the sound it makes when it is trying to kill you.

Not to mention, I never even heard about any gun that was simply called a 'type'.

Oh well, not that I really cared.

"And the number of bullets it can shoot at us?" I asked with some level of sarcasm in my voice.  And when I mean some, I mean, my question was dripping in it.

"Depends," said Hua Chan Juan looking at me.

"On?" I asked, stretching my neck to the right.  One of the downsides of having a really, really good sleep is that I always seem to wake up with a kink in my neck. Ugh.

"On how many rounds he has on hand," came the smart-ass response.

She was your best friend in your past life, just breathe and ignore it. "Thank you for that helpful information," I said under my breath so softly that only Liu Wei who was sitting on the floor beside me could hear me.

"And how many bullets can he shoot before he has to reload?" I asked, thinking that this was the exact question that I had put forward earlier, but apparently not.

"That information is classified and is only available to military personal," came the reply. Great, the military was no longer a thing, but the soldiers in it still acted the same.  I guess you can take the soldier out of the military but not the military out of the soldier.

I closed my eyes and allowed my head to rest against the wall. Why did I think it was a good idea to be surrounded by people? Especially when some of them make it very clear that I will not be part of their exclusive club since I was not in the military before the end of the world.

Oh well… those types of thoughts aren't going to get us out of this current predicament.

"You've been awfully quiet," I yelled down the hall, a half smile appearing on my face. I didn't know if I liked the type of challenge he presented or not. But just as my thoughts were about to wander, I heard it. A slight scuffling on the steps below us.  "Awe, you didn't think that would work, did you?" I asked, my head tilted to the side, my smile growing bigger. Fuck it, might as well enjoy myself while I can.

'Hey, Prince Charming, there is someone coming up the stairs from under us,' I thought to Wang Chao, tilting my head to the stairwell across from where I was sitting.  He nodded in response but didn't say anything. A few quick hand motions and about half of our group broke off, led by Hua Le Yang since his vice-captain was still holding open the door.

"You are military," I said out of the blue, trying to add some noise to cover up the fact that we had men on the move. "What a coincidence. Did you work at the base?" I let out a low chuckle when there was only silence from my last statement.

"I supposed you have been trained on how to deal with psychological warfare," I said as I thought about my pink flame just laying on the carpeted floor of the hallway. 'If you can see him strike, but don't burn him too badly,' I thought to my flame, trying to impart my will into it.  I knew my flames could sense my feelings and that they weren't normal but I might as well try some new tricks with them.

"Too bad they never trained you on how to deal with me."