Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 274: The Hero And The Damsel

Chapter 274: The Hero And The Damsel

The sun had completely set by the time we had reached the mall Chang Guo Zi was talking about. The bright orb had disappeared over the trees, and there was nothing but pure darkness in front of us.

Those with fire powers created torches from their hands, the flames illuminating the path.

"No ants?" asked Rip, tilting his head to the side so that he could whisper quietly into my ear.

"None so far," I replied with a shake of my head. "But I have learned that one bad decision can easily change that."

"At least the bad decision isn’t coming here in the first place," murmured Bin An Sha, from where he walked on my other side.

"No, but something isn’t right," returned Bai Long Qiang. The red glow of his fire cast shadows around us, and I felt like someone was watching, but I couldn’t put my finger on which direction it was coming from.

"Zombies surround us, if that helps," I admitted, feeling the pull of their life force around me. It was like having a container of ice cream sitting in front of you, teasing you to eat it.

Well... if it insisted.

I pulled on the energy, feeding it into my guys and Wang Chang Ming as he slept in Cheng Bo Jing’s arms.

The zombies, sensing my drain on their life force, started to back away from the mall, no longer going through with whatever they had planned.

There was something incredibly satisfying about having a constant source of food that I could never actually end up killing. They were like an electrical socket that I could plug myself into every time I was starting to feel down, and they would just perk me back up.

Of course, the fear that they felt when it came to me didn’t lessen my happiness. It was nice to be feared.

A thud and the rattling of chains pulled me from my thoughts and away from the zombies.

"It’s locked," grunted Jia Yu Sheng as he once again tried to open the double glass doors that served as the front entrance to the mall.

I rolled my eyes, wondering how he wasn’t able to figure out that the mall would be locked. I was also willing to believe that the only one with the key to said lock was the one in control of whatever supplies were in there.

"Let me," sighed Cheng Bo Jing, never once letting go of his grip on the small child. He reached forward and melted the chains keeping the door together.

Wait... why would the chains be on the outside of the mall? If someone were using it as their base of operations, they would have chained up the door from the inside, keeping everything else out.

As soon as my brain had formed the question, the ants on my arms started to dance.

And there you had it, folks—the one bad decision.

Jia Yu Sheng pulled open the doors and his team entered in first, followed closely by Fang Ting Guang and the Oath of the Honest.

Bai Long Qiang was about to go in next, followed by Chang Guo Zi and the rest of our team, but I quickly pulled him back.

"Let’s—" my words were cut off by the sound of gunfire and screams, something that I didn’t need to be hearing this late into the night.

"Mama!" screamed Wang Chang Ming as he launched himself out of Cheng Bo Jing’s arms and into mine.

Blinking rapidly, I quickly caught him and pulled him to me. I wanted to ask why he called me Mama and why he was turning to me for comfort when Cheng Bo Jing was built like a brick shithouse. But I didn’t.

If he needed to hold on to me to not be scared, then I would be more than happy to do whatever it was that he needed me to do.

For a kid... he was pretty cute.

"It’s okay," I said, slowly stroking his head. "Nothing is going to happen to you."

"But what about the ones screaming?" asked the boy, looking up at me with his big eyes full of tears.

"Unfortunately, in this world, we cannot save everyone," I explained, not wanting to scar the child for life but also wanting him to understand the situation we have found ourselves in.

I would protect him to the best of my ability, but I would not keep him ignorant or stupid. The last thing we needed was for him to get into trouble trying to save someone that didn’t need to be saved. Or wanted to be.

"But?" he started, cocking his head to the side. "You saved me."

I nodded my head. "We did," I agreed. "But just because we saved you doesn’t mean that we can always save everyone."

"You also don’t want to save the wrong people and have them eat you," nodded the boy sagely.

It broke my heart, but he wasn’t wrong. "Exactly."

----

"It’s safe to come in now," grunted Fang Ting Guang as he opened the door and yelled out to the rest of us. He was covered in blood splatter, but at least the sound of gunshots had stopped. "Pussies," he continued, turning his back on us as Bai Long Qiang took the door and held it open.

The ants on my arms still hadn’t calmed down. What did it say about the mall that I was more willing to stay out in the open with the zombies and Reavers than go in there and meet up with whatever was waiting for us?

"It’s a group of survivors," explained Jia Yu Sheng. He pointed to where maybe 30 people sat in a circle, their heads down as they looked at the ground in front of them.

Bodies of men were strewn about all over the place, and the blood was starting to pool under them.

"We are Oath of the Honest, one of the many teams from City A. We are here to save you," continued Fang Ting Guang as he crouched down in front of one of the women.

Her hair was perfectly straight, looking like a bolt of black silk as it covered her face from everyone’s gaze. I couldn’t make out anything else, her hair covering her entire body like a curtain, but she had an air of innocence and vulnerability to her.

The perfect damsel to be rescued by the brave hero.