Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



The atmosphere was still solemn amongst my men, even after coming to the conclusion that they wanted to build a new world for the zombies.

"All right, talk to me," I said after the silence continued to stretch on.

"About what?" asked Liu Yu Zeng, looking at me in confusion.

"About why you are upset," I said, trying to find the right words to explain how they seemed.

"I just don't like the idea that I might have killed children, even if they were zombies," said Chen Zi Han from where he was leaning against his bike.

"Oh, Sweetie," I said, walking up to him and wrapping my arms around him. "You can't think like that," I continued as I rubbed his back. "You will drive yourself crazy with 'what ifs'. Besides, most hordes with families tend to stay in the cities where it is safer, and food is easier to find. The hordes that we fought wouldn't have any children in them."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Chen Zi Han, a pleading look in his eyes like he was begging me to make it all better.

"Think back. All the hordes that we fought were wandering around, right? Looking for new territory, so to speak," I answered, looking at him. "Most single males in any animal kingdom are sent out to seek new territory while the females and children stay where it is safest… look at most lions and leopards."

"So, you are saying that those were single zombies with no ties to anywhere that banded together to find food?" he pressed.

"Exactly," I said. "Which is why that horde was still in City H, even though food was becoming scarce. It wasn't worth it to them to take children out into an unsafe environment."

"Then how did you convince them to do that?"

"I pointed out that food was running out in the city but that there was more food outside," I replied with a shrug. "It was a simple matter of survival. They needed to go where the food was."

"I had no idea they could even have kids… There has never been a child zombie in any of the shows or books," said Liu Yu Zeng. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pinning me between him and Chen Zi Han. "I thought killing zombies was a given."

"We have been trained all our lives that it is us against the 'others'," I started as Liu Wei and Wang Chao came to stand on either side of me. "It doesn't matter who the 'other' is, as long as it is not us," I continued, hoping that the guys would understand what I was trying to say. "For millions of years, humans have searched for something that made someone else 'other', and the excuses are ridiculous. However, now there is a very clear 'other' in our lives. Why would you not think to fight and kill them?"

"It doesn't make it right," pointed out Chen Zi Han, his head tilted back so that he was looking up at the sky.

"Never said it did," I answered. "I am saying that it is human nature."

"And now that we know they aren't so much 'other' anymore," said Wang Chao. "Now we can make up for what we did."

"Exactly," I said with a nod. "But before any of that can happen, you all promised me a shopping trip with a cabin vacation, in case you forgot,' I mock growled at them, trying to dispel the tension.

There was no medicine for regret; all we could do was learn from it and move on to create a better future.

The men chuckled and got on their bikes, "The Queen wants furniture; let's go get her furniture," said Liu Wei as he put on his helmet.

"I know the perfect place," added Liu Yu Zeng, the smirk firmly back in place. "We can start there and then move on."

"Keep your eyes open for some good pots and pans," said Chen Zi Han as he, too, put on his helmet and flipped up the visor. "And storage containers for leftovers."

"Leftovers? What's that?" laughed Liu Yu Zeng, and the harmony amongst my men was restored.

No, there was no medicine for regret, but you could learn from it.

Getting into Cerberus, I closed the door behind me and leaned my head back against the headrest.

"You never told them that zombies could have babies?" asked Cerberus, and I let out a sigh.

"Honestly, I thought it was a myth," I said, rubbing my head. "Like the Loch Ness monster or big foot. Occasionally, you heard of an Asymptomatic woman giving birth to a zombie and the two getting killed, but I had no idea that zombies could actually procreate."

"What are you thinking about?" my truck wondered after a few minutes of silence.

"As a human, I feel like I should support the human side of this fight and wipe out all the zombies," I answered slowly, trying to sort out my thoughts even as I was talking about them. "But at the same time, it's not like the zombies asked to exist. It was humans that created them, and it was humans that now want to eradicate them without asking their opinion. I don't think that is fair either. I just don't know what side I should stand on. With great power comes great responsibility," I added as a joke.

"And if you weren't human? What side would you stand on?" pressed Cerberus.

I opened my eyes and looked out the front window at my four men in front of me. "I think humans keep fucking up over and over again, assuming that just because they are the superior species, they can do anything they want, and the world just has to accept it."

I paused for a moment, feeling the rightness of the words settle on me.  "And I think that enough is enough. They don't deserve any more chances."

"So…"

"So, I will side with the zombies and give them a chance. After all, it has already been established that I am the villain of this story. Might as well give the humans a reason to hate me even more."

"Long live the Queen," said Cerberus, and I could feel his approval of my statement.

'Long live the Queen,' repeated the four bikes, causing me to smile.