Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

Finally! I had prepped for this exact circumstance! I was almost giddy as I pulled out five of the old-school buckets of popcorn. You know the ones with the red and white stripes? Yeah, and they were overflowing with the buttery treat.

"We really aren't like that!" said Yang Meng Yao as she looked desperately between Wang Chao and Li Shoi Ming. I didn't know if she was looking to Wang Chao to confirm or deny her statement, but either way, he wasn't rising to the bait.

I handed the buckets of popcorn to Liu Wei, Liu Yu Zeng, and Chen Zi Han as I got more comfortable in the built-in booth behind the dining room table. Liu Yu Zeng slid in on my other side and I leaned back into his arms as we both watched the scene in front of us as if it was the latest episode of a reality TV show. Even Liu Wei and Chen Zi Han had taken the two chairs and were casually eating the treat as they watched the entertainment.

"If you two aren't like that then why do you want to talk to him privately? Why have you been here for so long?" snarled Li Shoi Ming looking like he wanted to cross the room and shake some sense into the woman in front of him.

"I had some questions about the upcoming zombie horde," Yang Meng Yao replied looking around the room like I had a list of good excuses pinned to one of the walls. Once again her eyes landed on Wang Chao where he stood just off to the side with his arms folded across his chest.

He raised an eyebrow at her desperate look but didn't open his mouth to say anything. Following her line of vision, Li Shoi Ming's eyes landed on Wang Chao and I could see his face slowly turning bright red trying to repress his rage.

"What do you want with her?" he demanded through gritted teeth. I could hear the grinding squeak as he tried to control his rage with little success. Wang Chao scoffed at his statement. "I want nothing to do her. In fact, I would consider it a favor if you could get her out of here and make sure that she never returns," said Wang Chao, his mask never cracking for a moment.

I mean, I was like 70% sure that this woman was his supposed soulmate, but since the voices in my head weren't cheering her on, she could just be another psychopath with attachment issues. I really was on the fence about the matter.

'Or we aren't saying anything so you might leave one or two alive,' said the ice-cold voice, her tone dripping in sarcasm. I shrugged a shoulder and popped a piece of popcorn into my mouth, licking the butter off my fingers. Whether or not my voices confirmed anything, I would be able to find out after a while and deal with it then.

I mean, as much as I was the queen of procrastination on some matters, having someone around that would stab me in the back at any given chance was not someone that I wanted to have around longer than necessary. Maybe I should kill first and confirm after.

What was the worst that could happen?

"That's bullshit, I don't believe you for a second," said Li Shoi Ming as he looked at Wang Chao.

"Have you forgotten that I am married?" asked Wang Chao, gesturing to me eating popcorn in Liu Yu Zeng's arms. I waved my fingers as I took another bite of my popcorn. I wasn't happy to be drawn into the drama, but there wasn't much I could do. Besides, Wang Chao really seems to be pushing this whole marriage thing lately.

"You can't be, she already has a fiancé. Or didn't your friend tell you?" Li Shoi Ming asked, not bothering to look in my direction. I guess my wave went unnoticed. Oh well.

Wang Chao only smiled at the mention of my supposed fiancé. I was going to assume that I was not the only one thinking about killing people that weren't related to the five of us. And by not related, I mean everyone else was fair game, especially those that claimed a close relationship.

He was about to open his mouth, probably to refute the statement when another knock sounded on the RV door. "Not it," said Liu Yu Zeng as he tightened his grip on me. Chen Zi Han sighed but didn't say anything as he put down his popcorn and stood up.

"We really should think about moving someplace else," he said as he opened the door to reveal the Major General.

The man looked shocked to see so many people in my trailer and frankly, so was I. I mean, it was small with the five of us, but now that there were eight, well, it was just plain cramped. "Need something, Major General?" I asked throwing another bite of popcorn into my mouth. This time it was Liu Yu Zeng who sucked the butter off of my fingers causing me to squirm.

The Major General turned to look at me, his eyes narrowing on where my fingers were inside Liu Yu Zeng's mouth. "You are late," he said after a short pause, like even he forgot what he was doing here.

"We would have been on time if they hadn't shown up," I replied as if I wasn't completely comfortable where I was. We could have been on time I was pretty sure. I gave it a 20/80 chance simply because Wang Chao was really good at keeping us on a schedule.

The Major General gave me a look like he knew I was stretching it just a little, but he didn't comment. He must need something if he was willing to bite his tongue like that. I put away our popcorn with a flick of my wrist and sat up to look at him.

"What's going on?" I asked as I folded my hands on the table, giving him my complete attention. "You are not being an ass or making snide comments, so shit has either hit the fan or you need something," I surmised, ignoring the drama going on with Li Shoi Ming and Yang Meng Yao.

"We found a few stragglers closer to the base than we originally expected. We killed them off, but I am… concerned."

"How did you kill them off?" I asked as I slid around the booth and stood up.

"One of the teams from City D knew how to kill them," replied Deng Jun Hie with a wave of dismissal. I raised an eyebrow.

"That didn't exactly answer my question," I said, looking at the man in front of me with concern.

"He answered it well enough, Li Dai Lu. Drop it," snapped Li Shoi Ming as he rubbed his forehead in frustration. I turn to stare at the man. If anyone had the right to be frustrated right now, it was me. First, his girlfriend comes into my home and tries to bum lunch off of us and then he shows up. Yeah, I was pretty sure that I had more reason to be frustrated than him.

My four men turned to glare at my cousin before turning their attention back to the Major General. Rolling his eyes, he answered me, but not in the way I was hoping. "They cut off their heads, ok? It was how they killed them in City D and it will be how they are killed here."

I blinked a few times as I let the words process. They cut off their heads. "Okay. Did they burn the bodies afterward?" I asked, almost fearing the answer. I guess I now know why there were so many zombies in the area for the tide… they created at least half of them.

"No, why would they? They were lying on the ground with their heads cut off. It more than proves that they are dead if the head is no longer attached to the body."

"Do you know what the general consensus is for what makes a zombie and zombie?" I asked taking a deep breath. "Someone that comes back from the dead. Now, I don't know if these zombies died before they turned, or simply turned… I was never in the room when they changed. But, you cannot say that detaching the head from the body is a surefire way of making sure the dead stay dead."

"They were lying on the ground not moving," said the Major General, nervously looking between me and the men. The men shook their heads.

"They seem to be able to regenerate with or without the head attached. It just takes longer for them to regrow the missing limbs," said Wang Chao.

"Are you seriously telling me that they can regrow their heads?" asked Li Shoi Ming wide-eyed.

"They can regrow their heads," confirmed Liu Wei as he, Liu Yu Zeng, and Chen Zi Han started to put on their 'working gloves' as they called them.

I guess the boys really did learn that time in the hotel, would you look at that?

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