Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



I think that the men had learned a few lessons yesterday, no matter how hard they were. Passing a few humans that were in the halls and staircase of the hotel, trying to get our attention, the men all ignored them, carrying their rifles in a low-ready position. No one talked, no one asked dumb questions… everything was fantastic.

And then we got to the lobby… and the huge group of humans that crowded the area, clearly waiting for us.

I stopped and stared at the man that walked towards us, clearly the spoke person of the group.  He was dressed in the same impeccable style that Wang Chao and Liu Wei used to have, and the air around him seemed to shimmer with his authority.

A power user that didn't know he was a power user.

"Wang Chao," the man greeted, completely ignoring me, his sole focus on Wang Chao beside me. No wonder they seemed similar, they must have been in the same circles before yesterday.

"Zhang Hao Ran," Wang Chao said as he nodded his head. Turning to me, he said, "He is the younger brother of Zhang Hui Fen." I racked my brain trying to remember why that name sounded familiar and then it hit me…

"Your brother-in-law ish?" I asked. He'd have to forgive me for not remembering. If it wasn't about getting to Liu Wei's house, or getting supplies, or fighting zombies, my brain was really not caring about it. When Wang Chao nodded his head to me, I turned to look at Zhang Hao Ran. "What do you want?" I demanded, needing to leave this place as soon as possible. Being on the brunch menu was not how I wanted to start my day and the longer we delayed here, the more of a possibility that was going to be.

Zhang Hao Ran looked down at me and then back to Wang Chao. "We need to get back to City A," he said, doing his best to hint at what he wanted without having to ask for it.

I hummed and nodded my head. "Good luck," I said as I started to walk towards the front doors. The problem that I was beginning to realize, was that people did not part like the red seas to me, they parted for Wang Chao, who was still standing and looking at Zhang Hao Ran. With a huff, I turned back around and went back to the boys.

The sun reflecting off all the shiny metal on the outside of the building before beaming in through the giant windows made me close one eye as I looked at the group of men before me and the mix of men and women behind me.  Stretching my neck, I realized that I had spoken too soon when I said that the men in my group had learned their lesson. Fucking idiots.

"I don't know about you gentlemen," I said, ignoring Zhang Hao Ran and speaking directly to Wang Chao and Liu Wei. "But I am going to be walking out of this door in the next two minutes.  If you are not coming, please inform me now." We did not have the time to be playing the games that were so popular in the upper crust before the EMP.

Liu Wei quickly took a step forward and stood beside me.  Giving Wang Chao a smirk he said, "I'll be leaving with Princess, you feel free to have your meeting here." Well, at least that one developed some brain cells last night. Nodding to him, I pulled the sword I had strapped to my back and held it pointing down. I was not above killing people to get out of here.  I only had one coffee this morning and no matter how big it was, it was not nearly enough for me to deal with this shit.

Wang Chao looked at Zhang Hao Ran and said calmly, "We are not going to City A right now, you will need to call your brother to come save you."  Zhang Hao Ran shook his head as he heard what Wang Chao said.  Putting his right hand in his pocket he gave a half smile.

"We are family now, I expected better of my brother-in-law," he said, a challenge clearly in his voice.  Leaving Liu Wei's side, I slid into the space between the two men and faced Zhang Hao Ran. Smiling my most polite smile, I started poking the man in the chest.

"I am sure that Wang Chao would have had no problems helping you, but the fact of the matter is, he is not in charge of this little… operation… I am. So the man has no say and his very life depends on keeping me happy. Understood? Now, you guys are more than welcome to stay here, and maybe, just maybe, we will swing by this way once we are done with what we need to do. But either way? Fuck off."

Done with men that couldn't understand that their world was not going to be the same, I left the hotel with Wang Chao's men following me.

"Sorry," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.  He smiled at Zhang Hao Ran as he walked past him, putting his hand on Zhang Hao Ran's shoulder. "You heard her…I have no say in the matter."

With those parting words, he followed me into the sun and the beginning of a new day.

----

The sunlight did nothing to improve the scene outside. In fact, I am pretty sure that it made it worse.  Where before the darkness was able to hide the blood stains on the concrete, the sunlight shone down on the dark red puddles on the roads and sidewalks. I looked at the abandoned cars around us, noting the broken windows and blood stains, the stuffed bunny on the street, and the severed limbs. I saw where some cars drove into storefront windows, some of their occupants still hanging over the steering wheel, no longer caring about the fate of the world.

And then I saw a murder of crows raise up into the air, a fierce cry coming from them before they disappeared into the distance. Silence followed.

"Flight, fight, or freeze?" I asked Liu Wei who had come up behind me and to my left.  He too studied the surrounding area.

"What do you suggest?" He asked me, willing to concede to me.

Stretching my neck, my nervous tick out in full force, I shot a single bullet into the air.

Silence.

"Flight or fight," I said this time making it a statement instead of a question. I continued to scan around for anything that was out of place. Sunlight gleamed off the mirrors, windows, and cars around us, essentially putting us in the very middle of their reflections.  Given the fact that the men were all wearing their black uniforms from yesterday, we were a bit screwed. 

Still only steps away from the entrance of the hotel, I motioned for the men to go back inside, not willing to turn my back for a second. The slight sound of their footsteps let me know that they were listening. Liu Wei quickly followed, also not willing to turn around, and finally, I entered the lobby and locked the door in front of me.

I still couldn't see anything outside of the windows in front of me, but that didn't mean a thing. They were out there… the only question was... where?

"Those that can, hide.  Those that want to fight, stay here," I said, not bothering to see who would listen to the order and who would not. 

If lesson one was I am always right, the second lesson that they were going to learn today was how to kill a zombie… or die trying.

I smelled Wang Chao before I could feel him, his arm gently wrapping itself around my waist. "What's the plan?" He asked, speaking softly in my ear.  It took everything in me to still scan the outside and not give in to the need to melt against him.

"Training practice," I said as I spotted the first bit of movement.  The light blue and lavender of the zombie's skin allowed them to blend in perfectly with a bright, sunny day like today, so you had to hope that the clothes they were wearing would give you the opportunity to see them, or that they tripped.  And the fuckers never tripped… or wore huntsman's orange.

The men fanned out behind me, allowing Zhang Hao Ran to step closer to me. He didn't say a word, simply looked at me and Wang Chao.

"It will need to be done in groups of 10. I will let in one zombie at a time and you guys try your best to kill it before it multiplies or the rest of the zombies are hungry," I said, spotting more movement. These were the advance scouts, so whether we took them out or let them leave, the rest of the horde would know where we were.

This was going to be an all-out battle, and I was stuck with people that had only engaged with the enemy once, leading to a crushing defeat for the humans.

Was it too late to go back to bed and have a do-over?