Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 284: Almost Paradise

Chapter 284: Almost Paradise

The sound of a woman clearing her throat behind us startled me enough that I remembered where we were and what we were doing.

Glaring at the two men who were taking too much pleasure in torturing me, I slipped out of the small space between the two of them and turned to the newcomer.

"Sorry about that," I blushed, trying to straighten my sweater. Looking down, I noticed that Wang Chang Ming was no longer attached to my side. A quick look around showed a very cranky body being held by Cheng Bo Jing.

Oops. I was really dropping the ball right now.

"No worries. I completely understand," smiled the woman as she tilted her head to the right and to a man who was standing just behind her. "I’m Wang Shu Lan, and this is my husband, Chang Hui Fen."

"Nice to meet you," I replied. "I’m Wang Tian Mu and this is Rip, Bin An Sha, Bai Long Qiang, Cheng Bo Jing, Ye Yao Zu, Si Dong, Fan Teng Fei and Wang Chang Ming."

"Huh, that was a mouthful, wasn’t it," she smirked at me, causing me to blush again. Nope. I wasn’t going to let my brain go there. Nope... not at all. "But I have to wonder if we are related?"

"No?" I assumed. I mean, Wang was one of the more common last names in Country K. Everyone wanted to be a King, I guess. Or maybe the old kings just spread their seeds far and wide. "We’re originally from City D, so I doubt that we are related."

"Well, nothing says that we can’t be now," smiled the woman, sweeping her arm to the side to show us... a solid wall of green. "Oh shit," muttered Wang Shu Lan as she looked at the same thing I was. "This is where the path was...."

Letting out a long sigh, I thought about how I could fix things. However, the plants and trees around me seemed to understand my thoughts before even I could and they parted ways, leaving a very definitive trail.

"You don’t see that every day," muttered Wang Shu Lan, her eyes narrowing on me.

"I’m sure you don’t. Hell, even I haven’t seen that one before, and I watched the entire downtown core of City B turn into a jungle," I admitted with a shrug.

However, a small part inside of me was worried about just what effects my blood had on the vegetation and earth around me. Please, please, please tell me that it didn’t mutate the trees into something human eating... please, please, please!

The trees shook as if laughing at my thoughts, and my eyes got even bigger.

"Well, how about we get going to the ranch? It seems like we have a lot of things to talk about. I heard you mentioning something about oncoming zombies?" smiled Wang Shu Lan, like the perfect hostess.

She was the type of woman I always wanted to be. Tall, graceful, elegant. The type of old world beauty that only came with a lot of time and effort, or a lot of money. Her long black hair hung down perfectly to the small of her back, not a single split end to be seen, and her complexion was flawless, even though she wasn’t wearing any makeup.

I wanted to hate her, but I really couldn’t. She was too sweet and kind.

"Thank you," I breathed out. "We aren’t going to be staying for long. Li Dai Lu offered to let us stay here if we needed to, and while we aren’t planning on it, I thought it would be best to warn you of the zombie tide coming."

"Ah," nodded the woman as she and I started down the path through the woods, the men quickly following us. "The mysterious owner of the ranch and the sister-in-law I have never met. Tell me, what is she like? The men that were here before me claim that she could walk on water."

Wang Shu Lan rolled her eyes at that statement, and I couldn’t help but giggle. "She is intense," I said at last, remembering the first time I had seen her in the cage. "But the best part about her is that she knows what she wants and isn’t scared to get it. Being in the same room as her is a lot like being in the center of a tornado. You are safe and sound, but you can’t say the same for the world around you."

"She seems perfect for my little brother, then. He always did like to control everything. It would be amusing to see him now, knowing that he can’t even control his wife," laughed the woman as we continued down the path.

"I wasn’t able to spend a lot of time with them, but he definitely seemed devoted to his wife. It was actually really nice," I smiled at her. "Oh, and they are expecting twins!"

"Ooh! I’m going to be an aunt! That’s amazing! If you ever see them again, tell them to stop by and visit. It’s been years since I’ve seen anyone from my family, and I miss them."

I nodded my head, trying to think about how I would feel knowing that my family was still alive, but I would never be able to see them again. That thought caused a sharp shoot pain in my heart. I missed them like crazy every day, but I also got a sense of relief knowing that my grandparents weren’t trying to survive in this apocalypse.

The trees continued to part until we reached the tree line, and I got my first view of the ranch.

It was truly the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in any of my lives. The sprawling grass and fields were luscious, emerald green, which set off the darker ranch house and surrounding buildings perfectly. The sun was setting behind the mountains, providing the perfect backdrop for the paradise I was looking at.

Horses ran in the fields off in the distance, their massive bodies seemingly small against the grandness of everything else.

"Welcome to Elysian Fields," smiled the woman, watching my reaction.

"This place is paradise," I smiled back at her. Well, almost paradise. I was still partial to my cabin and bunkers back in City D. "I don’t know how anyone would want to leave here."