Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

But they were dressed in nothing like I had ever seen them wear, and yet, it all seemed so familiar. Each man wore what looked like loose silken black pants that tapered in at their ankles. They didn't wear any form of shirt, but there was golden armor on their shoulders and gold cuffs at their wrists that covered the entirety of their forearms.

On their heads were helmets that prevented me from being able to see their faces, but I knew exactly who they were; Wang Chao, Liu Wei, Liu Yu Zeng, and Chen Zi Han. My men.

And I felt that connection to them more than I ever had before.

But the longer I looked at them, the more I noticed that they were dressed for war. Each man carried a shield that had to be at least 4 feet in height on their left arm while their right hand carried a weapon.

Wang Chao held an unsheathed sword and looked ready to fight. The eyes behind his helmet seemingly glowed red in the darkness.

Liu Wei had a giant scythe in his hand, the blade alone seeming to be as long as he was. His eyes glowed in a silver light as they focused on me.

Liu Yu Zeng was the most relaxed, his eyes also glowed in a white light, and never seemed to leave mine, like he wanted to make sure that I could never leave his sight. In his right hand, he held a bow while a quiver of arrows was slung across his back.

Lastly, Chen Zi Han stood tall and proud, two glowing black orbs pinned me into place like prey before the hunter. There was nothing in his right hand, although a sword sheathed at his waist.

I could feel their quiet presence surrounding me, demanding that I come to them, but as I ran forward to answer their calls, they turned around and disappeared one after another until only Liu Wei was left. He stood there, staring at me as if wondering what was taking me so long to go to him.

I tried to run faster, but no matter how fast I ran, no matter how many times I stumbled and fell, I could not reach him.

Then he too turned around and simply vanished, leaving me alone in the field.

Where I had originally felt happiness and security, the landscape now turned into a twisted, perverted version of itself that left me scared and anxious. The purples and the blues began to swirl together looking like something from a madhouse.

I screamed the boys' names over and over as my voice turned hoarse and the darkness surrounded me until I too, vanished.

'You are nothing without them,' a voice hissed in my head before everything went black.

---

I sat bolt upright in bed, looking around but not able to see anything thanks to the darkness. A sound, somewhere between an anguished scream and a heart-breaking cry filled the air until I couldn't take it anymore and I had to cover my ears with my hands trying to block out the sound.

I curled over myself, trying to rock back and forth in a soothing manner, but nothing seemed to work. Above the screams, I could still hear the hissing voice echoing in my head that I was nothing without the guys.

That was not true! I screamed back at it, my throat raw and painful. I survived two lifetimes without my men around me. Just because I didn't want to go through a third did not make me weak! It did not make me nothing….

Or did it?

Was the voice right?

Before those thoughts could take hold, a loud sound exploded in front of me and a bright light flooded the room. I blinked a couple of times, trying to regain my vision, but thankfully, the screaming had stopped.

By the door to the room stood three of my men, each in a state of undress, holding a gun in their hands as they scanned the room for the threat. Seeing only three, I started to panic. "Wang Chao!" I tried to yell, but my voice was so hoarse that barely a sound made it out past my lips. Frantic, trying to find my fourth, I never caught on to the fact that I was being held in a strong pair of arms.

I breathed in and could practically taste Wang Chao on my tongue as his scent drifted to me, taking over my senses.

Still too raw from my dream and turned to look at him, to look at all of them. "Why did you leave me?" I tried to yell as tears streamed down my face. "Why did you leave me?" I whispered again, this time collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.

'You are nothing without them,' came the hiss again. And I knew that it wasn't right, that it didn't speak the truth, I knew it. I'm sure I did. Didn't I? Was it right? Was I nothing without them?

I felt myself shatter at that moment, like a crystal vase that had been carelessly tossed to the floor. It was like nothing I had ever felt before and like nothing I ever wanted to feel again. My eyes lost focus as I tried to stare at my guys, but my body refused to listen to me.

'They are going to leave again, after all, they did it once before,' hissed the voice like it was talking to me in my ear.

"They are going to leave again, after all, they did it once before," I repeated, unable to control myself. I knew that they wouldn't leave me, not if they had a choice. I knew that, deep down, I knew that. And yet, it didn't seem to matter.

'You are nothing without them,' came the hissing voice, this time sounding much more gleeful.

"I am nothing without them," I repeated, staring off into space, wanting the hissing voice to take over and just make the pain go away.

'You should kill everyone,' hissed the voice softly in my ear. 'They all deserve to die.'

I could feel my mouth open to repeat what the hissing voice said when I felt something cold and wet against my cheek. Startled, I shook my head, wondering what it was that I felt.

'You should kill everyone, they all deserve to die,' this time the command came louder, more insistent. And yet again, I could feel something cold and wet, this time up the length of my neck. The very feeling caused me to shiver and I could feel goosebumps rising on my skin.

The more I was forced to feel, the less I was able to concentrate on the voice.

'Kill them all!' This time, the hiss came so loudly and forcefully that I could only cringe under the assault.

However, as much as the voice overwhelmed my senses, so too did the feeling. I could feel something wet and insistent push itself passed my closed lips and into my mouth, the flavor of it exploding on my tongue and in my mind. "Liu Wei," I whispered past my injured throat, knowing the smell and taste of that man without even trying. I felt my body relax and I slumped forward before darkness overtook me.

----

"What the fuck was that?" demanded Chen Zi Han as Liu Wei caught the limp body of Li Dai Lu.

"No idea," admitted Wang Chao as he ran his finger through his hair. "But we need to find out," he continued as he got out of bed and made his way towards the door.

"We can't leave her," said Liu Wei, his calm appearance belying his inner turmoil. What just happened had rocked him to the core. "If she wakes up and we are not around, there is no telling what could happen."

Wang Chao paused for a second at the threshold before turning to look back at the men crowding his room. "Is there enough room in here for all of us?" he asked, looking around and raising an eyebrow. Chen Zi Han briefly scanned the room.

"We could do it with a bit of change," he volunteered, not knowing how much Wang Chao would like to have his room turned around. Everyone that had ever met or even heard of Wang Chao knew how particular he was about his space. "Or we could do it in my room."

"No, this is the biggest room," said Wang Chao, not caring about anything other than the girl in his bed. A slight tremor shook his body that he desperately tried to hide from everyone else. "Whatever she needs, she will have," he vowed. "How do we start?"

Liu Wei brought Li Dai Lu into the living room and gently sat down on the couch with her still in his arms as the others move the furniture around and brought in the other mattresses to create a bed big enough for everyone to lay down on.

Gently kissing her temple, Liu Wei reassured himself over and over again that she was safe and sound in his arms. Truth be told, he had never heard a sound like that coming from any human's mouth and he would do everything in his power to make sure that didn't happen again.

Closing his eyes, all he could see was Wang Chao wrapping his arms around her and yelling that they were all there, that they didn't leave, that she was everything. And still, the screaming continued.

He knew that this night would haunt all of them for a very long time. Maybe sleeping in one room, in one bed was the way to go.

If that was what she needed, he would be more than happy to comply and he knew that the others felt the same.

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