Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Time moved fast when there seemed to be an invisible clock counting down. I had given Liu Wei the rest of my lists at the end of August and it was already approaching the end of September. We had one month left before shit hit the fan and I was absolutely determined to be stocked up, ready, and hunkered down by Halloween… did this place even have Halloween?

Anyways… it's not like I was going to have a lot of trick-or-treaters all the way out here... right??

The boys have slowly been dropping things off as they get them. I had all 15 RVs here, sitting in various barns. I put in an order with Liu Wie to get more barns built, so he has had men working around the clock here to get another 8 barns built as well as some smaller cabins in the woods and at the base of the mountain.

I was slowly becoming accustomed to having people around. I think that it is a lot like kids. They are cute when you can give them back, but not as much when they were underfoot all the time. As soon as the work was done, the workers left and I was back to being alone.

Back in my first life, I had read a poem called "No Man is an Island," and the first time I read it, I completely agreed. People need other people around in order to be able to survive and thrive. I had the same mentality for my second, but once I was reborn again, I decided that I would try being an island, away from everyone else, dependent only on myself.

It took me almost a year to realize that I could be an island, but I wouldn't be happy. So I will be an island with a bridge, and security, and guards with big guns… only letting in those that I wanted.

I was still in line with my steps, and I was happy.

I had to go back to the city to grab some things that I didn't want to put on Liu Wei's list… *cough… tampons and pads…cough* as well as some more first aid supplies. I had my list and my locations all mapped out… what could possibly go wrong?!?

Remember how I said fate hated me?

I had finished buying everything that I needed to last me at least 10 years… including some reusable products that were becoming popular… yes, we were trying to save the planet and destroy humanity all in the same year! Go us! But I figured that they would be good to have on hand, especially since it made more sense. No store carried a 10-year supply of menstrual products… sometimes a girl had to be inventive.

So I was quickly filling up my day SUV when I was surrounded by black cars. Men poured out of them like it was a B-grade movie and proceed to pull out their guns and point them at my head and chest... in broad daylight. Seriously people?!? The apocalypse isn't happening for a month and people were pulling out guns in the middle of the day.

See, fate hated me… this was why I never leave my ranch.

I reached into my pocket and grabbed my cell phone. Pressing one, I put the phone on speaker and took my hand back out. Let's see if I had put my trust in the right men.

"Hello, gentlemen, is there something I can do for you?" I asked, holding my hands out in front of my chest to show that I didn't have a gun or a weapon on me. Without saying a word they pushed me into a blacked-out SUV and put a bag over my head. I have to say, I was a bit offended.

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Liu Wei was sitting next to Wang Chao at the head of the boardroom table. It was an annual meeting about the profits and losses for each company within the conglomerate and any upcoming projects that the heads would want money for in the next year.

Knowing that in a month, none of this mattered, Wang Chao and Liu Wei were not impressed having to spend a day listening to old men arguing about who needed more money and why. However, appearances had to be maintained, and the Old Master would become even more suspicious if this meeting did not take place.

Urban Paradise Real Estate was currently at the front of the room, presenting their record sales for the year. They were easy to deal with because they really did not need money from Phoenix, they just wanted to be under the banner of one of the strongest companies in all of Country K.

When Liu Wei's phone went off, it startled almost everyone in the room. Excusing himself from the room, Liu Wei answered the call. "Hey, Sweetheart," he said, a smile on his face when he saw the caller ID. The smile dropped a fraction when there was no response.

"You know, we could have kept this civil," he heard the voice of the woman he considered family. His back straightened and he ran his fingers through his hair. He could feel his temper raise and the air around him started to circle him gently.

"Is the hood really necessary? It's not like I can see out of the windows of this SUV. And where the Hell are we going? I really don't appreciate this type of treatment."

"Shut up," came a voice that Liu Wei recognized. The next sound he heard, he also recognized. It was the sound of someone being knocked unconscious.

Turning back and entering the boardroom, Liu Wei put his phone between his ear and shoulder, grabbed Wang Chao's from off the table, and walked back out.

"Dismissed," growled Wang Chao as he stood up and stormed out of the room after Liu Wei. He managed to get a brief glimpse of what was going on through Liu Wei's mind, but it was whirling so fast that he wasn't able to get everything.

He understood enough; Li Dai Lu was in trouble, and it was someone from his family that was the problem. That was fine. Once he got his hand on them, they would no longer be a problem.