Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 109: Fucking Bird

Chapter 109: Fucking Bird

But instead of life, Fan Teng Fei stood in the middle of the street, and there wasn’t a single car or person around. There were no lights or sharp barks of laughter from people too drunk to walk properly; there was no one rushing to work, afraid to be late, or a child crying because they wanted something they couldn’t have.

However, without the humans, grass slowly grew through the cracks in the pavement, and trees, and vines grew up around the tall buildings, while flocks of birds perched on the street and business signs, staring at him. Deer ventured into the heart of the downtown core of City Y, grazing on the grass and struggling for life in a concrete jungle.

Instead of noise, there was silence.

Most surprising of all, there wasn’t even a single zombie anywhere to be seen.

"Caw!" screamed a crow as it swooped down and landed just feet away from Fan Teng Fei. The man and beast looked at each other, judging each other.

"I don’t have food for you," said Fan Teng Fei, breaking the staring competition. He had things that he needed to do, and dealing with a bird was not a priority.

The bird cawed again and cock his head to the side as if he was trying to remember where he had seen the man before.

"What?" demanded Fan Teng Fei, not realizing that he was losing his temper with an animal.

The bird placed his beak into his wing like he was trying to pluck out an annoying feather. Not wanting to waste his time, Fan Teng Fei took a step forward, only to come to a sudden halt as the bird threw an ID at his feet.

A hospital ID.

Wang Tian Mu’s hospital ID.

He crouched down and picked it up carefully like it was the most important thing in the world. And it was. The only way the crow could have picked it up was if she left the hospital.

"I don’t suppose you could tell me where she is, could you?" asked Fan Teng Fei with a slight chuckle. He quickly put the ID card into his space. That would be one of his private treasures.

The bird looked at him like he was crazy and went back to cleaning himself. Fan Teng Fei waited a moment to see if the crow would give him something else that belonged to Wang Tian Mu, but after waiting a full five minutes, he realized that he had been had by a bird.

Grumbling under his breath, he walked forward, ignoring the bird that was hopping along behind him.

He stopped in front of a particularly overgrown bush and realized that he needed to get over it in order to get to the alleyway it guarded.

He tried to remember the song Wang Tian Mu would sing when she was going on a hike with him. Something about hunting a bear... and going through things? He shook his head and jumped over the bush. It was only a few feet high, not nearly as tall as the base gate.

There was another caw, and the fucking bird jumped over the bush, too, and waddled behind him a few steps.

"You do know you can fly, right?" grumbled the man as he weaved himself around all of the bushes and trees that had started to grow. How they got so big was a real mystery. It had only been a few months since the EMP hit, and yet, the way nature had swept in, it looked like it had been years.

The bird shot him a look before going back to ignoring the human.

It took a bit of time, but Fan Teng Fei finally found the shop he was looking for. He turned the handle, only to find it unlocked.

Not thinking much, he opened the door, only to be greeted by a knife flying at his head.

Moving his head slightly to the right, he grabbed the knife with his left hand and brought it closer to study it.

"Nice. Perfectly balanced. No hilt, so perfect for throwing, but the execution still needs a bit of work," he smiled before he turned his attention to the middle-aged man behind the counter. "I am going to assume that business has been... dead... lately."

"If you have come here to steal, then you have another thing coming to you," replied the man, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Honestly, I don’t think you could stop me if I wanted to steal from you. But, luckily for the both of us, I know what I want," smiled Fan Teng Fei. "You can put it on my family’s tab."

The man chuckled, but there was no amusement in the sound. "I am afraid that even if your family did have a tab with me, I am calling them in."

"I have gold," shrugged Fan Teng Fei. Sure, most of it was from the temple inside of his space, but there was some from Wang Tian Mu’s supplies. "I also have cigarettes and alcohol if you would prefer that form of payment."

"You from the base?" asked the man, once again brushing aside what Fan Teng Fei had said. It was like they were having two separate conversations, and yet neither one cared.

"Do I look like I am from the base?" asked Fan Teng Fei, cocking his head to the side. "Are you Zheng Feng?"

"No."

Fan Teng Fei nodded his head and pointed to the wall of weapons behind the man. "I am going to need all of them."

This time, it was the man who cocked his head to the side. "Whose family did you say you belong to?"

"I didn’t. But I am the only practicing member of my generation."

"Fan Teng Fei," nodded the man as if he should have known. "Which ones are you looking at?"

"All of them," smiled Fan Teng Fei. He wasn’t one for vices. He didn’t drink, smoke, sleep with women, or do anything to excess. In fact, his family often disparaged of him because he wasn’t interested in anything other than training. That was why they sent him to the military. They figured he might as well do something beneficial for the family since no one cared about martial arts anymore.

The man nodded and started to pull off a three-section staff from where it was placed on the rack. After placing it on the counter in front of him, he continued with the other weapons. Everything from hammers to the double hook sword to the halberd was placed on the counter and subsequently disappeared into his space.

"I have some pole arms, chain whips, swords, broad swords, and a few monk staffs in the back. Do you want those too?" asked the man as he took out all of the traditional weapons that he had. He kept the more modern knives and swords in the display case, knowing that Fan Teng Fei wouldn’t be interested in those.

Not when he had the others.