Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 139: Watch The World Explode

Chapter 139: Watch The World Explode

"The newcomers are here," grunted Rip as he looked up from his book. He was sitting on the couch reading while I was trying my hand at cooking in this kitchen.

I sucked at it because it was completely different than what I was used to, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have the time to try and perfect it.

Besides, whatever I screwed up, Rip had a way to fix it.

"That’s nice," I grunted, staring down at the bowl of rice. The fireplace that Rip had doubled as an old fashioned stove, and I was trying to figure out how it worked. From what I could understand, after you started the fire, the top of the ’stove’ got hot enough to cook stuff on.

But the pot of uncooked rice and water told me that I was mistaken about what was supposed to happen.

"Give it some time," chuckled Rip as he came up behind me and put the lid back on to the pot. "Don’t you know a watched pot never boils?"

"Of course it does," I snapped back. "It is just a case of relativity. Because you are staring at it to boil, it seems to take longer than if you distract yourself with something else."

"And I think I can distract you well enough not to pay attention to the rice boiling," purred Rip as he put his hands on my hips and turned me around so I was facing his chest. I leaned my forehead against the solid muscle and let out a long sigh.

"Is it bad that I never want to leave this cabin?" I asked, not looking at the man holding me gently in his arms.

"No. Only an idiot would want to do something like that, and you are not an idiot," chuckled Rip, and he started petting my head.

The fighting had slowed down some, or at least the men weren’t getting as injured, so I was getting called less and less. Which should have been perfect for me...

But the longer I stayed inside this cabin, the more I forgot about the outside world. I could create a fantasy in here of it being just the two of us, and it made me so happy.

And I was terrified of it being all ripped away from me.

I knew that as soon as the snow stopped, we would be back outside in our cages, and I wouldn’t be able to spend every minute with Rip.

It sucked, and I hated it... but I wasn’t willing to give up a single second of this. I just hoped it would make the cold nights in my cage more bearable.

There was a polite knock on the door, and I let out a long sigh. I stepped back out of Rip’s arms and crawled into my cage as Rip took the rice off of the stove so it wouldn’t burn.

Look at me being a good, crate trained bitch. I scoffed at myself as I lay down and curled up in a ball. It was a good thing so many people were terrified of Rip; we weren’t disturbed that much.

But when we were, it was because of some situation that Alpha couldn’t handle.

"What do you want?" demanded Rip as he opened the door and stared down at the shorter Reaver standing in front of him.

"With the newcomers here, Alpha has asked you to meet him at the front," gulped the Reaver, looking everywhere but at Rip.

"I live to serve," sneered Rip as he pushed forward and closed the door behind him. There was a click of the lock, and I let out yet another sigh.

Getting out of my cage, I put the pot of rice back on the stove and stared at it, waiting for it to cook.

I would never take my rice cooker for granted again.

----

Alpha looked at the five humans who came out of two cars and sneered to himself. Hu Wen Cheng had made a name for himself both before the end of the world and after it, but no one seemed to know just what he did. Besides the fight club.

That wouldn’t account for the fear that people had when they whispered about him.

Alpha had ’invited’ him here to see just how much of a threat he was to his plans. And if he was... well, there were plenty of ways to deal with him.

"Thank you for welcoming us," smiled the shorter man as he strolled through the parking lot as if he owned it.

Alpha didn’t move. He hadn’t invited him; he invited himself.

"Ah, a man of few words. I can appreciate that," continued Hu Wen Cheng, a smile on his face. He was followed by a mountain of a man who must be his bodyguard and two other men.

Only one looked like a fighter.

What the hell?

"This is my best fighter, Bai Long Qiang, otherwise known as the Dragon." The man introduced nodded his head but didn’t say a word. At least they aren’t all as talkative as the fucker in front.

Alpha could hear footsteps coming up behind him, and the way everyone was reacting, he knew it was Rip. It annoyed him that he couldn’t get the same reaction, but he couldn’t show it.

"Rip," grunted Alpha, greeting the other Reaver. "This is the new fighter and his entourage."

Alpha looked at Hu Wen Cheng to see if he reacted to being reduced to nothing more than a fighter’s entourage, but the man didn’t so much as stiffen. Instead, there was a slight smirk on his face as if he knew exactly what Alpha was trying to do.

Rip cocked his head to the side and looked at the four men plus the Recruiter. He would have to deal with the shit stain sooner or later for touching his Little Bird, but for now, he could live. The other four needed to learn their place and fast.

But then the look Hu Wen Cheng sent him set warning bells off inside Rip’s head. It was like he knew the man from before but just couldn’t put his finger on where they had met. Physically, the man would not be an issue. Rip was bigger, faster, and stronger than him, but he had always trusted his instincts, and he wasn’t willing to disregard them now.

Especially not since he had finally found his treasure.

"So, I hear you have a healer here," smiled Hu Wen Cheng and sat back to watch the world explode around him.