Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 212: Right Or Wrong

Chapter 212: Right Or Wrong

"Trap?" asked Bai Long Qiang, looking at the man in front of him. It was clear just how stressed he was by the look on his face. But what Bai Long Qiang didn’t like was the leader of the other teams coming over and joining in on the conversation.

"What’s going on?" asked one of the men he had only just met. Fang Ting Guang had introduced himself as the leader of Oath of the Honest. He looked and acted as if he was still in the military, but his slight limp clued the others into why he had joined the Wang family guard.

"I am going to assume that Chang Gup Zi’s Spidey senses are tingling... just like the rest of ours are," joked the head of Vengeance of the Promise. Unlike Fang Ting Guang, Jia Yu Sheng had let his hair grow past regulation length, but that was really the only difference between the two leaders.

Neither one looked like they had ever missed a gym day in their life, and both had a bloody aura that came from killing on the battlefields.

In or out of the military, it was obvious to know where all three men’s passions lay.

Bai Long Qiang could recognize it in others as easily as he could see it in himself.

"What do you think is causing this phenomenon?" asked Chang Guo Zi, staring at the other men, hoping they would have an answer.

"Do you think we somehow brought it about?" asked Jia Yu Sheng. "I mean, humans have yet to go into these forests, preferring to stick to the highways for easier traveling. Maybe there is something inside of here that is trying to attract us down a different path."

"I told you, the highways are no bueno; we won’t be stepping foot on them unless it is an emergency," grunted Chang Guo Zi, refusing to budge on that.

"If they are so unsafe, then why let the Princess teams use them?" smirked Fang Ting Guang, tightening his grip on the butt of his rifle as a group of songbirds took to the air.

Chang Guo Zi only smirked. "Rip," he said instead, turning his attention back to the Reaver. "What do you think?"

"About what? Do I think that there is a mutated plant inside this forest, luring us to our death? Do I think we should go on the highway? Or do I think that the Princess Teams deserve their fate?" smirked Rip.

"About any of it," snapped Fang Ting Guang, clearly having no idea who he was talking to.

"Anything is possible, no, and yes," shrugged the giant. He adjusted his grip on the precious bundle in his arms, refusing to let anyone else see what he had just seen.

He had some theories about what was going on around him, but he wasn’t willing to voice any of them...

Right or wrong, they would paint too big of a bullseye on them, and he wasn’t willing to take that chance.

"You’re an asshole," smirked Jia Yu Sheng. Unlike his counterparts, he wasn’t holding a gun or a rifle. Instead, he was flipping a small dagger through his fingers like Harvey Dent flipped a coin.

"He’s a Reaver, let’s not piss him off too much," grunted Chang Guo Zi.

Since Rip hadn’t given him the answers that he was looking for, he turned his attention to the woman.

"I need her awake," he murmured softly, knowing that he was treading on dangerous grounds. Any of the seven men she called hers would be willing to kill for her, and he didn’t necessarily know if he could take them on and win.

-----

I let out a long sigh but refused to move my face from the protection of Rip’s chest. Whatever he had seen on it was not something to show others... and I didn’t think it had anything to do with my contact.

"I’m awake," I grunted, not looking around. "What do you want?"

"I want to know if we should be worried about something in the woods," repeated Chang Guo Zi. However, this time, when he said his statement, it sounded different...

"I cannot answer something that is not a question," I said, the words coming from some strange place deep inside of me.

"Is there something in these woods that we need to be scared of?" asked Chang Guo Zi for a fourth time, this time posing it as a question.

"Yes," I chuckled. There were always things inside of the woods that people should be wary of. Even an idiot would know the answer to that question.

"That wasn’t the right question, I guess," smiled Jia Yu Sheng. I guess he was trying to get a look at me because, once again, Rip shifted me in his arms.

"It seemed like a stupid one," I admitted. "I am sure that there is poison ivy we need to be worried about, or deadly mushrooms, or tripping over a branch and breaking both legs. And then I guess it also depends on what scares you. Maybe the possibility of a bear attack could terrify some people while others wouldn’t even put it in their thoughts."

"So I guess that the answer is the same if I asked if there was something in these woods that could kill us," he chuckled. "You’re cute."

"She’s taken," grunted Chang Guo Zi, clearly not impressed.

"And then some," laughed Si Dong.

"Do we need to be worried about what is going on right now in these woods?" asked Fang Ting Guang, getting down to the heart of the matter.

"No," I answered. My voice came out more confident in the answer than I was, but while I might not know what was going on or setting them off, I knew that they shouldn’t be worried about it.

Life was coming back to the woods, and that was a good thing.

"Are you a prophet?" asked Jua Yu Sheng. Still refusing to look at him, I simply shrugged my shoulders.

"I don’t know what that means, and I don’t know what I am," I replied, the truth ringing in my ears.

I had no idea what was going on, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my men would kill everyone here if they posed a threat.

Or maybe I would just not tell them the next time I saw the zombies killing them.