Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 104: Picking Sides

Chapter 104: Picking Sides

Bai Long Qiang watched as Liao Gang Bo opened the door to one of the buildings and gestured for them to go inside. It looked like one of the typical buildings found in every military base in the country, and he was willing to bet that the layout would be the same.

He snorted as he walked up the flights of stairs until he got to the floor he knew held the conference rooms.

"You know where you are going," smiled Liao Gang Bo, and Bai Long Qiang nodded.

"It seems like if you have been in one of these, you have been in all of them," he laughed.

"I guess it is cheaper to use only one base plan than to make each one unique," replied Liao Gang Bo as he once again opened the door to the level. "The meeting is being held in Conference Room B."

Not bothering to reply, Bai Long Qiang strolled through the hallway and into the room, trusting his men to have his back.

"Who are you?" asked a man at the head of the table. Looking at the uniform, Bai Long Qiang understood that he had finally met the Major General, the head of the base.

"Bai Long Qiang," he said, introducing himself before introducing the rest of his me. "We are a team from City D."

"Ah, yes, it is such a shame what happened to that City. I thought for sure that the base would have been able to hold back a few zombies, but..." Major General Deng Jun Hie let his voice trail off as he smirked at the men standing in front of him.

"But Bai... are you related to Bai Shou Shan or Bai Bing Wen?"

"They are my father and grandfather," answered Bai Long Qiang. He put one of his hands in his pant pocket and made a fist so tight that he could feel the blood welling up from his palms. He never even thought about looking for his family while he was in City D; his sole focus was on trying to find Wang Tian Mu.

"I am sure their passing must have been devastating for you," nodded the Major General sagely. If he had a beard, Bai Long Qiang would have put money on him stroking it right now.

"I never found a body, so I am hoping that my family was able to escape before the tide arrived." He never found a body because he didn’t bother to look for one, but the jackass didn’t need to know that.

The Major General smiled and indicated a chair for him to sit in. "Please, have a seat. Once everyone gets here, I’ll get started."

"Of course. I can understand just how hard it would be for you to have this impending disaster coming down on you. Isn’t it fortunate that so many teams responded to your call for help?" Ye Yao Zu smiled as the Major General swung his attention around to look at him.

"It is. I guess there is a benefit to not burning bridges before the world went to shit. More people will help those that deserve it than those who don’t."

Ye Yao Zu nodded his head, maintaining his pose, but it was clear what the Major General was trying to say.

City D didn’t suffer fools gladly, and Bai Long Qiang hadn’t offered a spot in his team for the Major General when the other man had asked to join them.

Such a pathetic man, only looking out for his best interests. But he wasn’t wrong about one thing. Those who burn bridges couldn’t expect to have much help in the future.

’Wanna know something fun?’ came a voice inside of Ye Yao Zu’s head. Recognizing it, he turned to look at Si Dong, who was leaning against the wall behind where Bai Long Qiang was about to sit. ’I am Doc X. I can read your mind. You know, you really should wash it out every so often. The way you think about Tian Mu is enough to get you killed if Bai Long Qiang finds out.’

’Si Dong?’ replied Ye Yao Zu hesitantly, but Si Dong only held up a finger to his lips in the universal sign to be quiet. The smirk on his face, though, was enough to answer Ye Yao Zu’s unasked question.

Well, shit.

Before anyone could say another word, the door opened yet again, and a woman strolled in with four men behind her.

"General, how nice of you to join us. I thought that you would have been part of the Navy Base of City J delegation, but I guess you aren’t there?" This time, when the Major General spoke, his words were a lot more pointed.

Clearly, he wasn’t a fan of the newcomers... but General?

Bai Long Qiang looked at where Cheng Bo Jing sat beside him at the table. "General Wang Chao. Served in both the ground forces and navy before his retirement. Word is that he was sent on another mission that required him to no longer have ties with the military. The one beside him is Major Liu Wei. The two have been joint at the hips since before they joined up together."

Cheng Bo Jing leaned toward Bai Long Qiang, giving him all the pertinent information without letting anyone else hear him.

"Deng Jun Hie doesn’t seem to like him more than any of us. Think we can get him on our side?" asked Bai Long Qiang back as he studied the five people.

"Something tells me we should stay as far away from the General and his people as possible. Maybe we can get them to do the work for us," shrugged Cheng Bo Jing.

The two of them watched the General and his people sort themselves out at the table. The biggest one, and the woman stood against the wall as the General, Liu Wei, and a third sat down.

"Then where did the messenger find you?" continued the Major General, clearly trying to dig his own grave. He should have been grateful that he even had the extra help; why ask where it came from?

"At my base," replied the General, and even Fan Teng Fei wanted to laugh at his tone.

"Well, we’ll have to catch up more after the meeting. I heard that you have a large number of working vehicles that will come in handy if we have to evacuate the base," pressed the Major General.

Fan Teng Fei ignored the rest of the conversation, focusing on the fact that this new team had working vehicles. The only way for that to happen was that they managed to get a space before the EMP hit. Which means that they knew the EMP was coming.

Was one of them a martial arts family like his? Was that why they had a space big enough to keep multiple vehicles of some kind? Was it worth getting to know them?

No. Most families like his didn’t get along with others. It would be best to keep their distance just in case.