Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Wang Chao saw the bullet heading toward Li Dai Lu, and he waved his hand, freezing it where it was. Walking around his woman, he plucked the pullet out of the air and restarted time again.

Within seconds, there was a second gunshot, and the man who tried to kill Li Dai Lu lay on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Everyone turned their attention to Wang Chao. Liu Wei, Liu Yu Zeng, and Chen Zi Han all had a smirk on their faces, but the other men in the store simply stared at him.

"I meant to do that," he said with a smirk and a shrug of his own.

Li Dai Lu only rolled her eyes before taking away all of the soldiers' guns.

"I am really getting tired of being shot at," she grumbled, and Chen Zi Han wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back into his chest.

"Don't worry," he reassured her. "As soon as we get to the cabin, there will be no one to bother us."

"From your lips to God's ears," she said with a sigh. A flick of her wrist was all it took to bring everything inside of the warehouse store into her space.  The men and women left inside looked at her with fear in their eyes as one man stepped forward and walked right up to where Li Dai Lu was being held.

"Take us with you," he said, staring deep into her eyes.

Wang Chao and the rest of the men stiffened but otherwise said nothing. At the end of the day, it would be her decision who she saved and who she let die.

"Not going to work," she replied, not once breaking the staring completion between her and the strange man. "I live with a spirit user; the manipulation tactic will not work on me. Good try, though," she continued before bringing up her own gun and shooting him in the head.

"Fucking spirit users," she said with a sigh before her head shot up, and she turned to look at Wang Chao. Her eyes widened in panic for a moment. "Not you. I was not talking about you," she said quickly, trying to reassure the other man.

"No worries," he laughed softly. "I'm a permanent fixture inside your head, remember? I know what you mean even when you don't."

----

I stuck my tongue out at Wang Chao before turning my attention to the rest of the people in the now-empty room. The tag chaser was there, her hands clutching at the invisible pearls around her throat. "I think I got everything. Let's get on the road again."

Liu Wei and the rest of the guys grunted, and we turned away from the eight remaining humans. Whether they lived or died would depend on their fate, but I had no interest in helping them after all that shit. 

They should have just let me try to find a bed for the cabin. It's not like they needed all the beds in the store.

Heading toward the truck and bikes, I saw the same scout as before stepping out from behind a car and looking between me and the building we just left. "There are eight," I said, not bothering to raise my voice. I knew he would be able to hear me no matter what. "Enjoy your meal."

I climbed into the cab and put on my seatbelt, not even bothering to hold back a yawn. We would probably need to find a spot to spend the night. There was no way we would be able to make it up the mountains with how tired I was.

Then again, we also had vehicles that drove themselves, so maybe we should just keep going.

I heard the door to the passenger side open, and all of a sudden, my seatbelt was off, and I was being pulled into a pair of big, strong arms. Taking in a deep breath, I relaxed into Liu Wei's embrace.

"Are you okay?" he asked as Cerberus took off behind the motorcycles, his pace smooth and steady.

"Yeah," I said with a nod. "But I am more than a little done with the day."

"Reaper said that he can lead everyone to the cabin so we don't have to stop. Would you like that?" he asked. He took my hair out of the ponytail it was currently in and let it fall down around us. The pounding in my head lessened as my hair was released, and I nuzzled his chest in thanks.

"I think I am willing to do just about anything as long as I don't have to think," I told him honestly. I was just so tired…

"Then why don't you just relax and leave the rest to us? We are here to support you; you don't need to be superwoman every minute of every day. We got this," he said with a light chuckle. "You know, we were capable of running Country K by ourselves before you showed up."

"Oh yeah? And how did you do?" I shot back, raising an eyebrow but refusing to open my eyes.

"Clearly not well," he joked back. "Life is much better with you in it."

I grunted my agreement before sleep pulled me under. I wondered why I was so tired all of a sudden.

----

"She is out," said a female voice beside him, and Liu Wei turned to see Violence in the driver's seat. "It is going to take a while for her body to be able to completely recover from the mushrooms. You need to take extra care that she stays away from all of them."

"How—" started Liu Wei before dropping off, not sure how to correctly word his question.

"How could something so innocent as a mushroom or six be able to drag her to death's door?" asked Violence, putting his question into words.

Liu Wei grunted and nodded his head, wishing that he had a blanket to wrap Li Dai Lu up in so she wouldn't get cold.

"What do you know about mushrooms?" asked Violence as she pulled just what he was looking for out of thin air.

"That they are a fungus," answered Liu Wei with a shrug. He never really thought about them other to know that you can eat some, but not others.

"Correct," smirked Violence, "But they are so much more than that. And that secondary part of their nature is what is so deadly to Li Dai Lu."