Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 286: Here Goes Nothing

Chapter 286: Here Goes Nothing

We stayed up late into the night, telling her about everything that was going on. The different power users, the zombies, and the Reavers. We told her all about the running of City A and Wu Bai Hee. We even explained about the women and the zombies following them.

We talked for so long that the sun was just starting to come up when finally, Wang Shu Lan leaned back in her chair and looked at her husband. "Huh," she grunted, and I had to laugh. Yeah, it was a lot to take in. The outside world was almost as unrecognizable to her as her world was to me.

We had gotten more and more comfortable as the night wore on, and we became familiar with each other. She moved into a chair so that she was sitting comfortably on her husband’s lap while the guys maneuvered me until I was draped across Rip and Bai Long Qiang, the latter rubbing my feet.

Wang Shu Lan had given us a bed for Wang Chang Ming, who had long fallen asleep, and Mama Li had lit a fire and made us an amazing meal of spaghetti and meatballs.

I was sure that Yuan Bao could have made better ones, but that belief was the only thing keeping me from going down on one knee and proposing to Mama Li.

I was a slave to my stomach, and nothing tasted as good as what someone else made you.

"And that’s the world as we know it," I nodded with a smile.

I was doing everything that I could to not yawn. I really didn’t think this through. And I also knew that if I was this tired, then the guy had to be even worse because they were entering day three of no sleep.

"Well, the world has been going to pot for more than a few years now; one more day won’t change much. I’ll show you guys where you can sleep for the day. City A might not be that far away, but you need some sleep before you deal with that shitshow," offered Wang Shu Lan, and her husband nodded.

"Thank you, we appreciate that," replied Bai Long Qiang, and the other guys muttered their thanks.

She was right. We were at least a day, if not more, ahead of whatever was coming, and the guys needed a place to truly unwind. Given the amount of guards here and how well everything had been protected, it was clear that they didn’t need to worry about something happening to them here.

We all got up and were led down the stairs into the basement. "This was originally just used as a storeroom with a few empty rooms. Feel free to help yourself to whatever you want. The door at the top of the stairs can be locked from the inside, and you will have the whole floor to yourself."

Wang Shu Li continued to show us around, and I found the small room where Wang Chang Ming was peacefully sleeping. Whispering my goodnights, I crawled into bed beside him and smiled when he curled up into my arms and let out a contented sigh.

Yeah, life was pretty good right now. Everything aside.

-----

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, looking at the menagerie in front of me. There were eight horses, nine cows, one bull, three pigs, more chickens than I could count, two dogs, and at least five cats.

"Definitely. I talked to your Fan Teng Fei, and he assured me that he had the space and ability to keep them all alive until you got to your own version of paradise. The horses are to make your travels easier. Without cars or anything along those lines, you will get to where you are going a lot faster using them. The cows will produce milk, and the bull will make sure that you always have a new generation coming."

Wang Shu Lan emerged from the barn next to us, carrying two big buckets of eggs in each hand. "And I have discovered that there is something called chicken math that has led me to my current predicament of more eggs than I can use and more chickens, too. Just don’t get into duck math. It really isn’t worth it."

She gently placed the containers on the ground in front of her and let out a long sigh. "Seriously, with what we have, this is only a small dent in our supplies."

Just as she was speaking, a whole team of men came forward carrying large wooden crates of fruits and vegetables. "Ah, just what I was waiting for. Thank you," she nodded to the guys, and they set down their burden and turned around to walk away. "Here are some fresh vegetables to keep you going until you can start a garden of your own. I also included a lot of seeds."

"You have done too much," I whispered in awe as the supplies she was giving us continued to multiply the longer we stood there.

"Li Dai Lu set us up for success here, even if she didn’t know it. By helping you, a friend of hers, I am simply repaying the debt I am in. There is no way we could have survived if it wasn’t for her," said Wang Shu Lan adamantly, but still, I felt bad.

She had assured me several times last night that this ranch was designed to withstand a zombie tide, but leaving her to face it alone after everything she had done left a sour taste in my stomach.

But I did know one way I could replay her.

"Can you get all of your men out of whatever buildings they are in?" I asked as I reached down to take off my boots and socks. They had set us up for survival; the least I could do was top them up... and maybe give the land back a little something as well.

"Are you sure?" asked Bin An Sha softly as Wang Shu Lan let out a piercing whistle.

"I am," I replied as hundreds of men poured out of the woodwork and gathered around Wang Shu Lan. "This will probably go better if you all take off your socks and shoes."

While I knew I could easily give them a top up with their shoes on, it only occurred to me now just how much faster everything would go if they were connected to the ground too.

"You heard her, shoes and socks off," shouted Wang Shu Lan, sounding a lot harsher than I had ever heard her before. Then again, she was part of the royal Wang family of City A, so I could only assume that she was used to being obeyed.

The men scrambled to do her bidding, and I took in a deep breath. "Here goes nothing..."