Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 220: The Road To The Village

Chapter 220: The Road To The Village

I shook my head and kept my mouth shut. I had no idea about the dynamics of the different teams, and I didn’t want to step on any landmines that might blow up in my face.

But neither option gave me a feeling of confidence.

In fact, both of them set off warning bells in my head.

Catching Chang Guo Zi’s eyes, I shook my head. He brought me along for my opinion, and I was now telling him to find an Option C.

"Maybe we should find somewhere else. I mean, if Su Chang Pu doesn’t think that it is a good idea to go into the village, then maybe we should listen to him," interjected Chang Guo Zi, correctly interpreting my wide eyes.

Zhong Yong Zheng and Su Chang Pu spun around and looked at Chang Guo Zi. The first one was glaring at him, while the second one smirked.

"It seems like there is mutiny amongst the ranks. That is what happens when you don’t all have the same goal. No, no, I think, more than ever, that we need to stop in at this village for glassware," chuckled Su Chang Pu as he turned around and walked back to his men.

"What the fuck was that?" hissed Zhong Yong Zheng. "We don’t do that shit. Not in front of them. If you have an issue, we talk beforehand. You don’t throw me under the bus like that."

"And I am telling you, we don’t want to go to that village," growled back Chang Guo Zi. I felt bad for putting him in that position, but he wanted my opinion, and I gave it to him.

However, now that the decision had been officially made, the ants were back to walking up and down my skin, and I couldn’t help but try to scratch them... even though I knew it wouldn’t help at all.

Zhong Yong Zheng walked past Chang Guo Zi, shoulder-checking him as he went.

"Sorry," I said, my hands running up and down my arms like I was cold.

"Not your fault," grunted Chang Guo Zi as he put a hand on my head. "Any idea about what we are walking into?" he continued, looking down at me.

I shook my head. "Just darkness," I admitted. I had such high hopes that being able to see the future would help my team, more than just my ability to heal, but it hasn’t worked out that way.

"Fine. We’ll keep our heads on a swivel then," replied Chang Guo Zi as he returned to where the rest of his team was waiting for him.

----

The village wasn’t even big enough to have an ’official’ offramp from the highway. Instead, there was only a single road with a number on it to let you know where you were going.

We walked down the road for about thirty minutes before we came across the first building, an abandoned gas station with only two pumps.

The windows were boarded up, and there were bright red ’x’s on the two boards.

"Cause that’s not ominous," grunted Chang Guo Zi, his hand resting on the butt of his gun. One of his men had a space where they kept everything they weren’t using, so their hands were empty except for the weapons they needed.

Space users were prized by teams for just that reason. In fact, next to healing and water, they were considered to be the most desired of all powers.

"Let’s check out inside," smiled Su Chang Pu as he gestured for us to go in first. The guy was a dick with a capital ’D’, but apparently, we lived to make him happy.

Bai Long Qiang rolled his eyes but started forward. "Let’s get this over and done with," he grunted.

Now, as far as I was concerned, a building with red ’x’s on it meant one of two things. Either there was someone ill inside, and everyone wanted to avoid being contaminated, or there was something else inside that could kill them.

Either way, I wasn’t too interested in finding out. Rip let out a long sigh and followed after him, quickly overtaking Bai Long Qiang. Getting to the door, he gripped the handle and ripped the entire thing off of its hinges.

He disappeared inside, only to come out a few minutes later.

"Clear," he grunted, letting Bai Long Qiang and Fan Teng Fei inside first. Chang Guo Zi and Zhong Yong Zheng quickly followed in after, their guns at the ready.

"There was nothing inside besides snack food and shit decaying in the fridges," said Rip as he came up to where Bin An Sha and I were standing. The doctor had made it his personal mission to act as my bodyguard while Rip acted in a vanguard position, going in first to check things out before the rest of the team entered.

We had only been on the road for a day now, but the guys had fallen into a routine, acting so seamlessly that it was like they had been working together for years and not just days.

"Then why the red X?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. It didn’t make any sense.

"No glasses inside," called out Bai Long Qiang as he and the others walked out of the store a few minutes later.

"Then let’s keep going. I am sure that the houses around here will have something," smiled Su Chang Pu. It was to the point where even I wanted to knock that grin off of his face, and I didn’t know how the guys were managing to hold back so well.

Chang Guo Zi nodded his head, and everyone left, going down the two-lane road into the village.

But the closer we got to it, the more my skin started to tingle. I slowed my steps and began to look around.

In tune with my movements, the guys started slowing down with me until almost everyone on our side had created a considerable distance between us and the Princess Teams.

"Are you going to let the rest of us in on the secret?" asked Jia Yu Sheng as he looked around, his gun at the ready. "This place is deserted, so why are we walking so slowly? We might as well be walking backward."

Chang Guo Zi only shook his head silently and raised his gun.

All of my men had surrounded me in a circle, their backs to me as they walked, shoulder to shoulder, not letting anything through.