"Safe!" yelled Chen Zi Han and I breathed a sigh of relief. It had taken him longer than I expected for him to yell that. Or maybe it was because I was antsy that he was out of my eyesight. Either way, I was already starting out in a cranky mood and I was pretty sure that no matter what happened next, it was not going to improve.
I slowly walked down the stairs letting the other three men follow behind me. I had no idea what my plan was going to be…but I knew that I had some hard lines that I refused to cross. Even if that meant pissing off the boys.
Getting closer and closer to the cages, I noticed a new occupant that wasn't there yesterday. Turning to face Wang Chao, I raised my eyebrow in question. He shrugged his shoulder. "Wasn't sure what you wanted done with him," he admitted with his hands in his pockets like he didn't have a care in the world.
"But he is military…" I started. I had assumed that simply because he was military, he got a get out of jail free card, but apparently, that wasn't the case. "Doesn't matter," he reassured me. Nodding my head, I stood there, staring at the cages. What to do… what to do…
I mean, I knew what I wanted to do, but somehow I couldn't quite bring myself to kill them all. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was about to open my mouth when a voice came out of one of the cages in the shadows.
"I can help you," the voice creaked from lack of use. "I know what is going to happen."
Well then.
I weaved myself around the other cages, ignoring the smell and the flies buzzing around even in the middle of winter. Getting to my target, I crouched down and studied the girl in front of me. She didn't seem to be much older than 18, but what did I know? She smelled just as bad as the rest of them, and like them, she was little more than skin and bones.
But it was her eyes that captivated me. I knew what I should be seeing, the despair, the lifelessness that should have penetrated every fiber of her being by now, but that wasn't what I saw. What I saw looking back at me was nothing short of an all-consuming rage. That lust for vengeance was a complete contradiction to the state of her body that it set off warning bells.
'You need to save her,' came the soft, gentle voice from inside me.
Fuck that, she would be the first to die. I smirked at her and saw the rage increase to the point where it was coming out of her very pores. "Yeah? You think you can help me?" I said, feeling a sense of coldness come over me. Taking a finger, I drew it down the side of her cheek and pulled it back. Looking down at the dirt and grim on my finger, I cocked my head. Rubbing my thumb and index finger together, spreading the dirt even further, I turned my attention back to her.
"I think I am missing the part where you can help me," I said as I raised my hand, not once breaking eye contact with her. Chen Zi Han came up behind me, once again with a wet wipe, and started to clean my hand.
I don't know if she completely forgot about me, or what, but when she looked at Chen Zi Han, she paused. "Chen Zi Han," she whispered like he was her knight in shining armor. I let out a small chuckle and turned to look at the man standing behind me. "You know her?" I asked.
'Not yours,' came the hissing voice, a smug note ringing through the two words.
Chen Zi Han didn't even bother to look at her. "Nope," he said as he concentrated on my hand, making sure that there wasn't even a speck of dirt anywhere on it.
"It's me, Han Li Mei. Remember? I am Han Hao Gang's little sister," she said as she gripped the bars in front of her. A single tear escaped her eye as she stared at Chen Zi Han. "Remember?"
I felt for the bitch… I really did. And maybe if I said it enough times, it would be true.
Rolling my eyes, I allowed Chen Zi Han to help me stand up. "What is your information?" I asked for a third time. Between her and the voices in my head, I was developing a massive migraine. Pulling me into his arms, the two of us stood in front of her, waiting for her answer.
"Who are you?" she said, grinding her teeth in rage. If she wanted to live, she would have to learn to control her emotions a bit better.
"Li Dai Lu," I answered. I could practically see the wheels in her brain spinning to see if she knew my name or not. When she dropped her head, thinking that she was able to hide her smile from me by that action, I knew she didn't have a clue who I was.
"I know what is going to happen," she said, raising her chin up and glaring at where Chen Zi Han had his arm wrapped around my waist.
"You said that; a few times," I said. I couldn't decide between killing her fast or slow, but I knew that I couldn't leave her alive. She was a snake ready to strike, and I was not going to go through that again.
"A zombie apocalypse is coming," she said, her voice becoming stronger now that she thought she had leverage.
"Sorry," I said with a shrug of my shoulders as I leaned back more into Chen Zi Han's chest. "It's already here."
"No," she replied smugly. "This is just the beginning. What is to come is going to be so much worse."
I raised my eyebrow. "You know that, but you don't know enough to not end up locked in a cage like a dog?" I asked, a slight smirk on my face. I felt more than saw Wang Chao and the Liu brothers coming up behind me, flanking Chen Zi Han on all sides.
"Liu Yu Zeng," she said as he stepped into her field of vision. She looked back and forth between the two men and then turned her attention back to me.
"What did you say your name was?"
I chuckled. "What else do you know?" I asked, not bothering to answer her question.
"There are zombies coming that don't look or act like any zombie you have ever known."
"Funny, because I am pretty sure that I don't know any zombies, but okay, sure. The problem is that they are already here so that information isn't enough to keep you alive."
"And the fact that both Chen Zi Han and Liu Yu Zeng know me? Isn't that enough?" she asked as she raised her chin. Why was it that women assumed that as soon as they raised their chin that they won the argument? Don't get me wrong, I do it all the time too, it was how I know what that gesture meant.
But still. This was not the time to be pulling shit like this. I was hanging on by a thread, and she was not helping. Looking deep inside to my boy's flames for comfort, I was surprised to see a red flame now in orbit. I gently touched it and saw Wang Chao pop into my head. Gasping, I turned to look at him, not knowing how his flame came to be inside of me, but grateful nonetheless.
He simply nodded to me, and I turned my attention back to the person in front of me. I had two options, the first was to bring her back and try to figure out her plan, and the second was to kill her now.
I was going to blame all of the novels that I had read, because not once was there one that showed the good side of being kind and compassionate.
"Sir," came a voice from the top of the stairs. Liu Yu Zeng turned around and looked at his man as he came closer to us. "We have almost finished gathering all of the supplies, but we have run out of room again."
"He Hai Tao," gasped the girl in the cage. Well, didn't she just know everyone?
"Han Li Mei?" he asked, turning his head so fast that he practically managed to snap it off. She reached out through the bars, frantically waving her arm trying to reach him. "How did you get in here? Don't worry, I'm going to get you out." He Hai Tao said as he fell to his knees and grabbed her hand. Looking around, he wasn't able to find the keys to the cages so he turned to Liu Yu Zeng. "Sir, you have to help me get her out," he said, no longer sounding like the calm, cool syndicate member he was when he first came down here.
"And why should I?" asked Liu Yu Zeng as he stared at the man on his knees in front of the dirty cage.
"Because I promised her brother that I would always protect her," came the reply. But the way he was holding onto her hand said something entirely different.
Fuck, should have killed her sooner.
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