Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"So, what should we do?" Asked Liu Wei to Wang Chao as they both looked down at the girl laying on top of them.

"Honestly? I am not sure," replied Wang Chao with a sigh. "If Wu Bai Hee is able to manipulate people with her voice then we run the problem of being manipulated without knowing it.  I don't want to take the chance of that happening."

"If we cut out her tongue, would that work?" Liu Wei asked.

"Maybe," said Wang Chao.  "But I am not able to use my powers against her. In fact, the only reason why we even managed to figure out that she was a spirit user was because I can't read her mind."

"It wouldn't be the first time we cut out a tongue and made them write down the information," pointed out Chen Zi Han. "We could try that."

"But then we would need some way of preventing her from speaking between the time we approach her and when we manage to cut out her tongue," said Liu Yu Zeng, also getting in on the conversation. He might have spent the last year living with the woman but he was really not going to be heartbroken if and when she died.  As far as he was concerned, at best she was a mole for the Black Mountain Syndicate, and at worst, she had brainwashed the Elder of the Red Dragon Syndicate in order to take it over.

Either way, she was a threat, and all threats need to be dealt with.

"Would it work if we wore earplugs or something along those lines?"  The three men turned to Chen Zi Han at his suggestion. 

"Maybe," conceded Wang Chao. "But we need that information from her, no matter how we get it. If she really has gone through this once before, she would have an advantage over anyone else."

Liu Wei and his brother both nodded their heads. "But what are we going to do about Li Dai Lu's need to get out of here as fast as possible?" Asked Chen Zi Han.

"Are you going to come with us?" Asked Liu Wei, somewhat surprised.  He had assumed that they would have chosen to stay with his grandfather.

"Yes," replied Liu Yu Zeng simply. "And more so now that I know that Wu Bai Hee is manipulating Grandfather."  Wang Chao and Liu Wei turned to Chen Zi Han, looking for his answer.

"I go where he goes," the man replied pointing to Liu Yu Zeng.

"So… we have a plan," said Liu Wei in a tone that suggested both a question and a statement.

"Sure," said Liu Yu Zeng, not willing to commit to admitting that they had a plan.

"Maybe we should wait for Sleeping Beauty to wake up before deciding anything," suggested Wang Chao. The other three men nodded. Li Dai Lu was their best chance at getting out of this alive and they were not willing to do something that would screw that up.

---

I woke up to my stomach growling and I realized that I never got that piece of caramel cheesecake that I had promised myself. I also missed dinner, but that was nowhere near as important as missing that cheesecake.

Still half asleep, I took the cake out of my space and without opening my eyes, started to eat it.  I had to pause and open my eyes when I heard the first chuckle. "Is there a problem?" I asked, looking at the four men that had barged into my RV yesterday afternoon… yesterday night? Not sure when.  Time losses all meaning when there are no clocks around to tell you when it was.

"No problem, Sweetheart," came the purr of Liu Wei's voice by my feet.  I looked down and noticed that I was still in the same position as I had fallen asleep in. Apparently, I was either so heavy that the boys couldn't move me or they decided not to. Either way, I was finishing my slice of cake.

"Morning, noon, or night?" I asked, looking at Wang Chao who was by my head. "Morning. We are planning on leaving within the next hour, but we don't know what you want to do about Wu Bai Hee," Wang Chao replied.

Wu Bai Hee… the new bane of my existence. A spirit user with a strength in manipulation. A potential rebirth.

I looked at Liu Wei, "Did you see her in your dream?" I asked, trying to figure out if I could have some insight into her past life.

Liu Wei nodded. "Yeah, she seemed really happy and content at the house in City H," he confirmed. I tilted my head from side to side as I tried to think things through. Just because she seemed happy and content then, didn't mean that something changed in her life to make her miserable. But then again, she was a green tea bitch with strength in manipulation so there should be no reason why she would suffer enough to be granted a rebirth.

There were honestly too many possibilities to consider and potentially decades to unwind before I could figure out where she stood in this whole mess.  But the only thing that confused me was why was she not scrambling to get out of here? If this was her second life, she should know that the zombies had probably taken over this area in the early days.

But….. what if she knew a secret about this city which was why she was not willing to abandon it?

I had a million questions, and only she might have the answers…

But… did it matter?

I took another bite of my cheesecake and took a breath. I needed to deal with my stress and anxiety if I wanted to approach this whole situation with a clear mind. Finishing my cheesecake, and with a much clearer head, I looked at the four men around me.

"We are going to pack up and leave. We will deal with Wu Bai Hee if, and only if she becomes a threat to us. Not before." It was amazing how much of a clear head and caramel cheesecake helped.

If I wanted to change the world or even potentially set up my own base, I would care about what Wu Bai Hee knew.

But I didn't.

I wanted to live my life, eat my sweets and avoid the outside world as much as I could. As long as she left me and mine alone, I would leave her alone to do whatever it was she wanted.

Given her type of personality and ability, she was probably going to do what she needed to do to be at the top. And this time around, she might not be willing to gain that power through a man. Maybe she wanted everything for herself.  It would match.

If everything she had was based on a man, then that man could grow sick of her and force her out, leaving her at someone else's mercy. Maybe that was what she was trying to change.

However, as it stood, I wasted too much brain power on a woman that should have nothing to do with me in the future.

"What about your brother-in-law?" I asked, looking at Wang Chao and effectively changing the subject from that woman.

"Brother-in-law?" He asked with a confused tone.

"Yeah, Zhang…Zhang… whatever his name is. Didn't he come here with us?" How on Earth was I the only one that remember that man when he was clinging like a leach to Wang Chao. 

Leach…

Octopus…

All of these water creatures…

Was my brain trying to tell me that I wanted seafood for breakfast.. or maybe lunch? Mmmm… fish stew with crab cakes and lobster on the side.  That was what I was going to do!

As soon as we got on the way, I would get started with a yummy lunch of seafood.

My mind now occupied with all of the different types of seafood both frozen and fresh in my space, I forgot about the bitch and the other dude.  Let the guys figure it all out. I had more important things to do…

Oh! Maybe a seafood pancake!  That would be fantastic!

----

Wang Chao had to chuckle out loud as he combed through Li Dai Lu's mind. Clearly she was more concerned about what she wanted to have for lunch than Wu Bai Hee. And that was more than fine with him.

However, as much as she could ignore a potential threat, he could not. He would honor Li Dai Lu's plan for right now, but he would keep an eye on what was going on in City B. The only question was how he was going to go about doing that.

It was not like how it was even a week ago where he could leave one of his men here and simply get updates by phone or text. Now, trying to get information would be a lot harder. Still, it involved the safety of his family so he would find away the lack of technology and eliminate any threats that arose.

It's not like you had to be within vocal range to put a bullet into the head.  Maybe he should do that anyways. It was always better to stomp out any snakes than keep them hiding in the grass.