Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



After a much-needed sleep, I felt a million times better. This was only day two of my Aunt, and I knew that I would have at least one more day of it kicking my ass before becoming easier.  I felt like I was forgetting something, but deciding that it couldn't be that important, I went into my bathroom and took a nice long hot shower.

Dressed in clean clothes that still looked similar to my old ones and feeling like a completely new person, I went down into the kitchen to get myself a cup of coffee and maybe… cheesecake? Blueberry pie?

While I thought about my options, I came to a dead stop when I saw Wang Chao and Chen Zi Han drinking coffee at my kitchen table… in my space. "Do I want to know how you guys got in here?" I asked as I walked over to the coffee pot to see if there was anything left in it.  Seeing as they were smart enough to leave a cup for me, I added milk and sugar and then went to sit down with the boys.

"You pulled us in yesterday," said Chen ZI Han as he pushed over a plate of muffins that they must have found in one of my cupboards, grabbing my favorite carrot one,  I pushed the plate back into the center.

"Huh," I said. I must have been in some pain to drag these two into here.  I didn't want anyone else but me in this space. Then again, I don't have to bring them here again. "And it's still the same day," I clarified as I took a big bite of the muffin.  The only thing better than carrot muffins was carrot cake… did I have carrot cake around?

"What do you mean? We spent a night here," said Chen Zi Han, not understanding what was going on. Taking a sip of his coffee I smiled to myself.

"And we can spend 5 years here and have it be less than a second back there," I said, gesturing to the outside. I wasn't sure what they called their world, so I always felt hesitant about saying Earth.

"It's referred to as Xangdu," interrupted Wang Chao as he took a bite of his blueberry muffin. Huh, I would have taken him as more of a bran muffin type of guy... or one of those abnormally healthy ones.

"What is?" I asked, my brain still too focused on his muffin choice.

"Our world, we refer to it as Xangdu," he said.  Nodding my head in understanding, I turn my attention back to my coffee and muffin.  If I ever bring the boys back here, I need to train them to be making bacon and French toast for breakfast… I would just have to find some table syrup or maple syrup first.

"Wait," said Chen Zi Han trying to get my attention back to him. I looked at him through one eye, the other still too tired to open. "What do you mean we could stay here for 5 years and only have it be less than a second outside?"

"My space literally freezes time. It's how I can keep all of my food from going bad. But that doesn't mean that there is not some type of time here. However, every time I hop in here, I end up back in the same time and space as I left. Like the outside world is the one to freeze instead of this one."

"That's kind of handy," said Chen Zi Han with a smirk.  I rolled my eyes.

"Hardly. It's not like I can use this place to wait out an enemy or escape from something. As soon as I come out I would be placed back in the same situation."

"Still," said Chen Zi Han, not willing to concede.

"Still," I replied nodding. If he thought this place was paradise then who am I to disagree?

"So, Liu Wei and Liu Yu Zeng won't have any idea that we were even here?" asked Wang Chao for clarification.

"Nope," I said, shaking my head. "As long as we don't show up with anything that we didn't disappear with, they won't even notice that we were gone."

Both men nodded in understanding and we finished off our breakfast in peace and quiet.

After the men washed the dishes, and grabbed my arms on both sides like I was about to collapse because that was what we were doing before I dragged them in here. With a tired sigh, I brought us back to Xangdu and whatever drama Fuck Face decided to stir up.

Seriously, I would not put anything past that man.

-----

The men let go of me once they realized where we were, and Liu Wei came running up to hold me. "You okay?" He demanded, looking me over from top to bottom to make sure I was in one piece.

I tapped his arm and smiled up at him. "I am fine, just my Aunt Flow trying to make a point."

"Aunt Flow?" asked Liu Yu Zeng in a confused manner.  When his I widened with understanding he took a couple of steps away from me like I was contagious or something.

News flash: I wasn't.

"Isn't that like ringing a dinner bell for the zombies?" he demanded as he took another few steps back.

"No," I said rolling my eyes. "Well, maybe typical zombies? But these shark zombies don't really care about that type of blood."

"That type of blood?" asked Liu Wei looking down at me like my bottom half would spontaneously burst causing blood to spill all over the place.

Already fed up with the whole conversation I held up my hand, "The zombies won't be extra attracted to me, and we are done with this conversation." Feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the whole topic, I cringed and walked away from everyone, and started on the long journey ahead.

Like seriously… cringe-worthy.

Then men quickly fell into step behind me and I could hear the General in the background yelling at us to stop. Holding up my middle finger for him to see, I continued forward. Not my circus, not my monkeys. They could do what they wanted and if they managed to catch up… well then, good for them.

I just wondered if he would leave the injured behind in his attempt to stay with us. But once again, not my problem.

I took my long hair out of my customary bun and let it fall around my shoulders and back. Covertly taking out my cell phone and headphones, I hid everything within my hair as I put in the earbuds and cranked the music. If I had to walk because of Fuck Face, I was at least going to enjoy some music at the same time.

Finding a good song, I picked up my pace and bobbed my head to the song.  I might not be able to dance, (not because of the situation, but because I really can't dance) that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy the music… it just meant that I knew my limits.

Time slipped by without me noticing and soon enough we were at the exit for District S.

Taking out my headphones and putting my hair back up, I started to mentally and physically prepare for battle. I had no idea what we would find, but either way, getting supplies was a full-contact sport and I was going to be ready.

Going down the offramp, the men and I weaved in and out of the cars that had been abandoned. While the highway was pretty much clear with only the occasional car or truck to go around, this offramp was packed bumper to bumper.

Not bothering to look into the cars to see if there was anyone or anything inside, I continued to go straight until we got to the first intersection.  Not having any idea where we are or where we need to be going, I looked at Wang Chao when he came up beside me.

"Left, right, or straight?" I asked.

"What are you looking for?" asked Liu Yu Zeng. I gave him a weird side-eye look.

"Supplies," I said as if the answer was obvious.

"Yeah, got that part," he snapped, giving me his own 'Are you stupid' look. "Are you looking for warehouses, shopping malls, grocery stores, or something else?"  Ok, so maybe I did earn that look, but still...

"All of the above. If it will have supplies, then we need to go there. Start where there are fewer people, but we will be checking any and all warehouses, shopping malls, grocery stores, gas stations… and wherever else would have food, clothing, shoes, and daily necessities.  It is going to be winter soon so we will want to be prepared for that too," I said, ticking off the inventory list in my head. 

I had prepared enough supplies for Wang Chao, Liu Wei, and their men, but the majority of them were still at the ranch… since you know… that was where we were supposed to be right now. But that really doesn't change things at the moment and Liu Yu Zeng and Chen Zi Han's men needed things too. We needed a lot of supplies and we needed them fast. 

I could make the majority of them disappear into my space, but we would need enough on hand to fool Fuck Face.

"And we will need something to carry them all in."