Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 107: Tired

Chapter 107: Tired

"So," grunted Si Dong as he flopped himself down on the couch in the apartment that Major General Deng Jun Hie had offered to them. "We need to do something about that Wang Chao team."

"It’s General Wang Chao," corrected Cheng Bo Jing as he, too, sat down in one of the empty chairs. "And we need to make friends with them."

"Not happening," replied Fan Teng Fei. He might have originally had the same thought, but now that he had more time to truly think about things, his knee-jerk reaction was not the right course.

"Why? They have information we need," pointed out Ye Yao Zu as he took out a bottle of water from his pack, only to find it empty. "Do you think we can trust the water in here?"

"Out of the bottle shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t trust the sink," grunted Bai Long Qiang as he pointed toward where ten bottles of water were resting on the countertop of the kitchen area. The apartment itself had one bathroom, two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchenette.

Thankfully, they had dealt with worse conditions before, but something told him that Deng Jun Hie hadn’t actually rolled out the red carpet for them. Despite what he had said.

"Fuck," groaned Ye Yao Zu as he picked up the bottle and turned it upside down. The others turned to look at him and watched as water started to pour out of a small pinprick near the top of the bottle.

"Whelp, there goes that idea," grunted Cheng Bo Jing as Ye Yao Zu returned the water to where it was before.

"Alright," said Bai Long Qiang suddenly, clapping his hands and bringing everyone’s attention back to him. "Let’s recap."

"Zombie tide is coming," said Si Dong, stating the most obvious thing.

"We are in hostile territory," continued Ye Yao Zu, waving his hand toward where the bottle sat on the table with the rest of its companions.

"General Wang has information we need," added Cheng Bo Jing.

"We only need the information if we come out of this alive," pointed out Bai Long Qiang as he raised an eyebrow at Cheng Bo Jing. "I know info is your thing, but knowing about powers and all that other crap is only important if we are planning on surviving this apocalypse."

"Says the guy with flames shooting out of his hands." Fan Teng Fei raised an eyebrow of his own as he nodded toward Bai Long Qiang’s hands gripping the poor furniture. Red flames could be seen coming out of the top of his hands, and the smell of melting cheap fabric quickly filled the room.

"You have a space," shot back Bai Long Qiang as he released his grip on the armrests and forced himself to relax.

"And I can read minds," laughed Si Dong as everyone turned to look at him, a varying degree of shock on their faces.

The room went quiet; everyone was lost in their own thoughts.

"There is no world if she isn’t in it," said Bai Long Qiang softly, breaking through the silence. "If you want to live, then that is your choice. But I am not willing to."

Standing up, he walked down the hall and entered one of the bedrooms. He took off his pack and placed it on the ground beside him, and laid down, boots and all, onto the bed.

Folding his arms behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling.

He was tired.

Unfortunately, this type of tiredness couldn’t be cured by a few hours of sleep or those energy drinks that Wang Tian Mu was obsessed with. No, this was the bone-weary tiredness of someone who had nothing left to give.

If this was how his grandfather felt after losing Grandma, he was surprised that the old man managed to hold on for so long. Maybe having his father was enough to keep going, but Bai Long Qiang had nothing.

He couldn’t even feel the small part of her in his heart that he normally did. It was nothing but darkness.

She was his sun, his moon, and his North star. To him, those were more than words; they were how he did everything in his life. And now, it was looking into a starless sky... nothing but darkness closing in, suffocating him.

If his men wanted to keep going, then they could do it without him. He would live long enough to take down the city that could have saved them, and then join Wang Tian Mu in the afterlife. Maybe, if they were lucking, they would be reborn and find each other again, this time without so much pain and separation.

He closed his eyes and thought about the time he looked into an empty classroom and saw this tiny child with mountains of exams around her. The draw to her had been... everything.

Bai Long Qiang scoffed at his thoughts. Everything. What a pathetic word to use for someone so important.

When his eyes met hers, he could feel a portion of himself leave his body and cling onto her. It was like his soul knew it had found its other half and nothing... not age or family could keep them apart.

Not even death.

Taking in a deep breath, he let himself relax. He would need some sleep in order to function tomorrow.

And tomorrow was one step closer to being with her again.

----

"What are your thoughts?" asked Cheng Bo Jing as he looked at Ye Yao Zu.

"You seriously want to know?" replied the other man, a smirk on his face.

"I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want an answer," snorted Cheng Bo Jing.

"I think we try and figure out how to work these so-called powers. I think we get stronger than all those around us. And then I think we watch the world burn before we go with it," shrugged Ye Yao Zu. "I think that if she is dead, everyone should join her."

"Is that the consensus then? She is dead?" asked Si Dong as he lounged on the couch. He had a knife in his hand and was balancing the tip of it on one finger as he looked over at the man he considered a brother.

"I refuse to believe it," snapped Cheng Bo Jing, grabbing his own water from his bag and taking a big gulp. He passed it to Ye Yao Zu and settled back in his chair. "Without a body, I will never believe that she is dead."

"If she is a zombie, there might be a body, but the one inside wouldn’t be our Wang Tian Mu," pointed out Fan Teng Fei. He wished that he had grabbed more of his weapons than just the few that fit into his bag.

But, since they were in City Y, he would take the chance to slip out of the base and go hunting. There had to be some cold weapons around here. Even if it is nothing more than a few knives.

Cheng Bo Jing turned to look at him, the cold look on his face was enough to make a lesser man tremble. Too bad Fan Teng Fei wasn’t a lesser man. "She is alive until proven otherwise. And there has to be tangible proof, not just a fucking ring she never wore at work."