Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 173: To Be Expected

Chapter 173: To Be Expected

"How about we try a few other solutions before we go to that extreme. I have some oils that we can leave in overnight before we try to comb your hair. And if that doesn’t work, we can always try a few different conditioners. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and we are going to try out every last one of them before we put scissors anywhere near your hair."

Bin An Sha smiled at me as he spoke. He even went so far as to touch my hair as he talked about how to get it back to a healthier condition. Given how he felt about dirt and the fact that not even I would touch my own hair, I was impressed.

However, it wasn’t until Rip started growling about how only monsters or psychopaths would know that there was more than one way to skin a cat that I burst out laughing.

It was absolutely adorable how much the mountain of a man could turn into a puddle of goo for a cat.

"That’s fine, but let’s not beat a dead horse. If it has to be cut, it has to be cut. Besides, I am going to assume that the constant pounding in my head is, in part, due to the state of my hair," I replied, shooting a smirk at Rip.

"Ha, I like that one... beat a dead horse," laughed Bin An Sha. With my hand still in his, he led me down the hallway where my new ’room’ was. And given the fact that my legs were barely able to hold me up, I figured that a nap was just what I needed.

"The full expression is that there is no point in beating a dead horse, as in you have made your point, move on..." I shrugged, slowly moving one foot in front of another. It was just one of those random expressions that I had picked up growing up in Canada. It might be graphic, but it got the point across quickly.

"Psychopath, the both of you," grumbled Rip as he remained seated on the couch, his eyes on me the whole time.

Bin An Sha and I just looked at each other before we burst out laughing. I don’t remember the time I had had so much fun or laughed so hard. It was nice... and comforting to know that I wasn’t as broken as I had thought.

----

"She didn’t look at us or speak to us once," said Si Dong quietly from where he was leaning against the back of the couch. It had broken his heart when her eyes drifted over everyone, only to settle once she saw Rip.

"That is to be expected," shrugged Ye Yao Zu as he went to sit on the couch Li Dai Lu had just vacated. "But the fact that she was able to laugh just now speaks volumes."

"What can we do to help?" asked Cheng Bo Jing, going to sit beside him. They had already spoken about some things that would work... like the closet bedroom. Luckily for all of them, Bin An Sha either had everything on hand or knew where to get it quickly.

Supply chains were definitely an issue right now, and if it wasn’t in the city, it was next to impossible to get it.

Unless you came across a merchant, but those were few and far between.

"That’s the thing, there isn’t much that we can do," sighed Ye Yao Zu, rubbing his forehead. He had studied psychology to be able to predict and understand the enemy. Not once did he think he would need it to help the love of his life.

"There has to be something," growled Bai Long Qiang as he once again stood up from the couch and paced back and forth.

"Ah yes, because your temper and your ability to run your mouth have done so much for us up to this point," smirked Fan Teng Fei. He had yet to move from the window, constantly searching the ground below for threats.

This utopia was one spark away from a complete meltdown, and he didn’t want the Treasure around when that happened.

"Fuck you," shot back Bai Long Qiang. "If that woman was really that powerful, and cared about Wang Tian Mu as much as she claimed, then why wouldn’t she create a better world where Wang Tian Mu could live without fear? I might have fire, but I can’t kill the zombies as easily as she could."

"And that is why we are a team," replied Cheng Bo Jing as he draped one arm across the back of the couch and crossed his legs in front of him. "We can protect Wang Tian Mu when we work together. And why should humans be saved? You might have never gotten injured enough to need the Healer, but even you must have heard what they were saying about her. Do those fuckers really deserve to live?"

"Then why did we even take them out of their cages?! If that was how you felt, you should have just killed them there."

"First, I wanted to see how well Li Dai Lu knew Little Bird," started Rip. As soon as he opened his mouth, the rest of the men fell silent. "If they really were best friends, then she should have wanted them dead as much as we did. But she only saw a kind, compassionate version of Wang Tian Mu. Clearly, the Little Bird was different with her than she was with the others."

"And who said that I let them live?" added Cheng Bo Jing, raising an eyebrow. "They will all suffer a long, horrendous death, and nothing but a healer would be able to cure them. Poetic, right?"

"You have to stop calling her Little Bird. She isn’t yours to have a cute nickname with," sneered Bai Long Qiang. He was being attacked on all fronts, and he was slowly losing.

"Awe, you think his nickname is cute," chuckled Si Dong. "I’ve been calling her Cuddles and Little Viper in my head since I first met her. What do you think? Do you approve of those names for her, too?"