Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

Completely done in, I sunk to the ground and, not caring about the blood or the pain, leaned against another tree as I watched the zombie in front of me turn into nothing but dust. I didn't take my eyes off it for a second until I was completely sure that it wouldn't come back.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes. It was over, and I had won.

A rustling sound in the trees caused me to tense up again, my eyes flying open to try and find the new threat. I call up my purple flame, no longer interested in pushing myself to become stronger. I needed to deal with the new threat and then get back to the boys. I don't know how long I have been gone, but I feel their worry through the bond.

The rustling came closer and I raised my arm up, ready to set whatever predator had me in its sights straight to Hell.

The branches just off to the right of me parted and I held my breath, ready and waiting.

"Princess," came a sigh of relief as Chen Zi Han rushed through the tangle of branches and up to me. Dropping to his knees, he held out his hands like he wanted to embrace me, but didn't know if he could.

I let out the breath I was holding and extinguished the flame in my hand. The surge of adrenaline was almost too much for my battered body and I slumped forward, forcing Chen Zi Han to catch me. "You know you're in shit, right?" he asked as he held me by the shoulders. I could feel his whole body trembling.

"I think that is the first time I have ever heard you swear," I said with a tired chuckle as I rested my cheek against his chest.

"This is the first time you have given me cause to swear. What were you thinking?" he softly demanded. Standing up, me still gripped in his hands, he looked down at me.

"If I said that I wasn't and that I will never do it again, do you think we can drop the matter?" I asked with a half-hearted smile.

"Maybe if it was just me," he admitted. I swayed on my feet, grateful for his support as my other men came rushing into the clearing. "I don't think they will be so forgiving."

Yeah, I didn't think so either.

"You do realize that that little stunt that you pulled took at least 10 years off of my life," said Liu Yu Zeng as he grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me into his embrace. Chen Zi Han willingly let me go just so the movement wouldn't be too jarring for my back. The guys could feel my pain and were actively avoiding causing me anymore.

"Yeah, I know," I said as I drew in a deep breath. In all honestly, if I didn't have my flame, I would have been dead right now. And that was a very sobering thought.

"You owe me those 10 years back," he continued to rant as he gently stroked my hair. The juxtaposition between his harsh words and his gentle touch made me smile.

"Yeah, I know," I repeated relaxing more and more into his arms.

"In fact, I think you took 10 years off of all of us. That means you owe us 40 years," he continued.

I nodded my head. "That is a long time," I said with a small smile on my face.

"It is, and it is just a start. We will keep adding more years every time you make us worried or scared,"

"That might end up to a few hundred years if we are multiplying everything by 4," I said, this time no longer trying to hold back my smile.

"It's a start," grumbled Liu Yu Zeng as Chen Zi Han gently pulled me out of the other man's arms and back into his own.

"We need to look after her back. You can continue to yell at her later," he said as he brought me to a fallen log. Liu Wei sat down on it first and I just looked at him confused.

"Straddle him," said Chen Zi Han as he pushed me forward. I placed one leg on either side of Liu Wei's lap and sat down as gently as I could. "You have a first aid kit in your space? Bring it out," demanded Chen Zi Han and I could feel the tension coming off of him. He needed to protect me, and I hadn't let him do it.

Feeling like shit, I took out the biggest first aid kit that I could find, hoping that it would be a small peace offering. He hummed in approval and I relaxed a bit. I needed to remind myself that I was no longer alone, that there were people that would worry about me, and hurt if I was hurt.

I needed to take better care of myself to not cause my men such anguish.

"Put your forehead on my shoulder, Sweetheart," said Liu Wei as he gently guided my head to his shoulder. "This will probably hurt." I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck. I buried my face in Liu Wei's neck as I felt the first brush of the alcohol wash on my back.

Biting my tongue so I didn't cry out loud, I cursed in my head that I didn't think to get the pain-free antiseptic wash. Then again, I hadn't exactly planned to have my back ripped to shreds either. If there is a fourth life, that was going to go first on my list.

I arched my back and threw my head back, trying to get away from the pain. And that was when I saw him. Wang Chao stood at the treeline hidden in the shadows, his arms crossed and leaning against a tree as if nothing affected him at all.

But I knew better. Even from this distance, I could see his fists clenching and unclenching, the hard line of his mouth, and the tightening in the corners of his eyes. I leaned my chin on Liu Wei's shoulder as I continued to look at the man in front of me, no longer even noticing the pain in my back.

He had yet to look at me. Instead, he concentrated on Chen Zi Han where he stood behind me and it was like the zombie had clawed at me all over again. I took a deep breath, trying to fight past the rush of pain.

"Am I hurting you, Princess?" asked Chen Zi Han as he quickly withdrew his hand. "I'm good," I said, not turning my attention away from Wang Chao.

"No, you aren't," said Liu Yu Zeng. "We can all feel that." I just smiled in response and shook my head.

Had I managed to fuck up so spectacularly that Wang Chao didn't want anything to do with me? Was that why he wasn't coming closer? Because he was mad at me? There was another flash of pain as the thought that I had lost Wang Chao because of my own stupidity caused me to want to be sick to my stomach.

All of a sudden, Wang Chao swung his gaze to me and stood up straight. Striding over at a fast pace, he pulled me up and out of Liu Wei's arms, not caring about my back. He wrapped his arms around me causing Chen Zi Han's hard work to all be for not as fresh blood fell. I ignored it as I clung to Wang Chao like a koala bear, my arms wrapped around his neck and my legs clung to his waist.

"You might as well purge yourself of those types of thoughts because that will never happen," he whispered into my ear as his arms moved from my back to grabbing under my ass. This new grip allowed me to maintain my position without adding any extra pressure to my back.

Liu Wei stood up, and, in his place, Wang Chao sat down giving Chen Zi Han full access once again to my back. "There is nothing you could do for any of us to even consider leaving you, ever. Do you understand me? I—it just took me a minute. I am sorry. I am not used to feeling as powerless as I just did, knowing that you were hurt and in trouble but not being able to get to you." He swallowed and pulled me in closer as once again, Chen Zi Han swiped the burning acid down my back.

Okay, so it might have been alcohol, but it still felt like acid.

I felt Wang Chao shudder under me before I heard his chuckle. "If you can complain about that, then I guess you will be fine."

"Ah, come on," I said trying to inject some levity as Chen Zi Han took out the staple gun I had included in the kit for when someone needed stitches. This was going to hurt like a bitch. "Even if I died, I'd come back again and hunt you all down. There is no way you can hide from me anymore."

"Sweetness," said Liu Yu Zeng as he came up behind Wang Chao. Crouching down so I could see him, he smiled. "You don't seem to understand. If you die, we die with you."

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