We walked out of the East Sea and collapsed on the sandy beach not far from where we were first dragged into the water.
I took off my tank, the vest, and everything but the wetsuit and just laid in the sand, thankful that I was no longer underwater.
"Want to explain that one?" asked Wang Chao as he walked over to where I was laying.
"Honestly, I am a little sketchy on the details, but I can try," I replied with a shrug. "Those zombies were from my horde. I think that they were trying to follow me into the water, but became overloaded when they first got in."
"Makes sense," said Liu Yu Zeng in agreement as he went to lie down on my other side.
"Now, it looked like their bodies were being filled up with the same water that was making the other zombies so hard to kill."
"Which means that you might be able to control an aquatic zombie horde?" asked Liu Wei as he, too, shed all of his scuba gear.
"Funny you should mention that. I was grumbling to myself that I wished to could communicate telepathically with the zombie so I could give them directions underwater without having to rely on roars. You know, it's next to impossible to roar underwater. Now, myself answer me and told me a way that I can combine my flame with the zombie's flame to produce a servant that will obey my every order, and I wouldn't even have to say it out loud."
"That would be handy," nodded Chen Zi Han as he sat down behind me and pulled me up so I was leaning against his chest.
"We will see once we get the coordinates for the satellite device," I replied with a shrug. I curled up in Chen Zi Han's embrace and fought the yawn trying to break free. This day seemed to have gone on for hours and I was beat.
"Go to sleep," said Wang Chao with a smile. "We'll take care of everything else."
I nodded before making myself more comfortable and fell asleep without a second thought. I was finally on dry land and my men were around me. I was in Heaven.
----
"In the words of Princess, that was FUBAR," growled Chen Zi Han as the men watched the steady rise and fall of Li Dai Lu's chest to reassure themselves that she was still alive.
"That was bullshit," stated Liu Yu Zeng as he pulled himself into a seated position and brushed off the sand from his wetsuit. "If she hadn't thought to 'experiment' with the underwater zombies, I don't think that any of us would have survived jumping into the middle of the ocean."
"Makes you wonder, doesn't it?" said Liu Wei, pulling out his glasses and putting them on his face.
"Just spit it out," growled Wang Chao.
"Makes you wonder how many men and women from Commander Huang Nian Zu's team would have followed us into that water," said Liu Wei, staring at his friend steadily. "Because I am now questioning their version of events."
"What do you want me to do?" demanded Wang Chao.
"I want you to fucking stop answering the calls from the military!" shouted Liu Wei. Li Dai Lu tossed in Chen Zi Han's arms but didn't wake up. As far as they were concerned, one of the best things was that when Li Dai Lu was that tired, not much was able to wake her up.
"And how do you expect me to do that?" asked Wang Chao in a lower voice.
"Maybe try using the word 'no'," suggested Liu Yu Zeng, his customary smirk nowhere to be seen.
"You have no issues using it in any other situation," snipped Liu Wei, looking at the other man. "And was it just me that made a promise to no longer answer the calls?"
It was the first time anyone opened up about what happened in that dream. Liu Yu Zeng and Chen Zi Han stiffened. "No," responded Liu Yu Zeng. "It was not just you."
"Then if that is the case, and I can only assume that we all made the same promise to Li Dai Lu, then why are you the only one still doing it?" pressed Liu Wei as he tilted his head to the side. He was willing to put up with a lot, but he was not willing to put Li Dai Lu in danger for something that no longer existed.
"Have you ever come across someone asking for help that was not assigned their task before the world went to Hell?" asked Chen Zi Han curiously. "And even if it was a recent mission, who was the one that actually assigned it?"
"What do you mean?" asked Wang Chao, confused. "Whoever is the head of that unit would have been the one to assign the mission."
"Okay," answered Liu Yu Zeng, following what Chen Zi Han was getting at. "Then what government official gave the order to the head of the unit? And how did they get that order to them in the first place?"
Wang Chao and Liu Wei froze as they thought about it. "Who is the one that actually wants the device?" added Chen Zi Han. "The Leader lives in City A. There is no way that he can pass on a message to City N to get the device and bring it back to him."
"The mission was set before the EMP wiped out our electronics," said Wang Chao, feeling personally attacked by the other three men. He was used to being the one with the final say in everything. Not even Liu Wei would dare question his orders, so what changed?
Liu Wei shook his head and smiled. "You are wondering where we got the balls to question you, aren't you?"
Wang Chao looked at the other man and raised an eyebrow in challenge. "As your assistant pretty much all of my life, I can read you like a book. And normally, I don't care. It doesn't bother me if make money hands over fists or if you send our soldiers out to take out an organization. At the end of the day, the one that was most impacted by those decisions was yourself."
"Then why are you making it an issue now? A command is a command. Wherever it came from, it cannot be ignored."
"Spoken like the good military general that you are," said Liu Yu Zeng with a smirk. "But you are missing our point."
"Then what is your point?" sneered Wang Chao, his hands clenching into fists so hard his knuckles turned white.
"My point is that when your decisions impacted just you, none of us cared. But your decisions now impact Li Dai Lu. And given that we would have died if she didn't have her space, we have every right to question you."
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