Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 332: Home

Chapter 332: Home

I looked around what had to have been the front lobby of the City D Military Base. "I don’t think that is a good idea," I admitted.

This place felt like a scene from a horror movie; the blood and partially decomposed bodies screamed serial killer around, beware. Mind you, I didn’t have any ants on my arms right now or any vision about something terrible happening, but this place was sketchy as hell.

"It will be fine," grunted Bai Long Qiang as he stared up at the staircase off to the right.

"There are no zombies around, or Reavers for that matter. This place is safe."

I looked down at the dead body at my feet and shook my head. "Just because there are no zombies or Reavers around that we know of, it doesn’t mean that there still isn’t a threat."

Bai Long Qiang spun around and looked at me. "I hope you aren’t implying that if a human was here, then we need to consider them to be a threat."

Blinking rapidly, I looked at the other men as they stared at me, too. The same look on their face as was on Bai Long Qiang. Since when did I become the bad guy?

At least Rip and Bin An Sha seemed to be on my side.

"Anyone left by themselves for years with no human company, surrounded by dead bodies, and potentially suffering from PTSD from whatever happened here during the tide would not be in their right mind," I sputtered.

Did I want to be by myself here? Absolutely not. I had no idea where anything was! But that didn’t make my point less valid.

Humans were social animals. Even introverts, left by themselves for an extended period of time would stuffer mentally. And if they witnessed all of their friends dying in front of them while they lived... well, survivor’s guilt was considered a mental condition for a reason.

"We are trained not to fall apart," Cheng Bo Jing shrugged as if there was nothing to worry about, and I looked at Ye Yao Zu.

"While normally I would agree with you on this matter, the soldiers here are conditioned to withstand torture and stress. I don’t see any of them suffering from a mental breakdown over something like this," shrugged the man, and I really wanted to stab him right now.

How was I being the irrational one?

If there was a survivor here, and it seemed like my five guys from this base were hoping that there was, then he or she managed to survive a zombie apocalypse by themselves.

Even if it didn’t break them mentally, they would be more than a bit hostile about people breaking into what they considered their territory.

Bai Long Qiang let out a long sigh just as Rip was about to speak. "This is going nowhere. We are going to split up; if you are that scared, you can come with me."

Blinking again at the way he was speaking to me, I tried to considerate and put myself in his shoes.

"It’s not just me that I am worried about," I said slowly, trying to reign in my temper. I wasn’t a confrontational person by nature, especially around people that I loved. But they were really pushing my buttons right now.

"Fine, we’ll go in teams of two. Rip and Bin An Sha haven’t been here before. They can go with Fan Teng Fei and Si Dong. Cheng Bo Jing has Wang Chang Ming, and Ye Yao Zu will be fine by himself," grumbled Bai Long Qiang as he made his way to the staircase.

"At least have Cheng Bo Jing and Ye Yao Zu team up, I really don’t see a three year old being that much of a backup, and if something happens, then one of them needs to protect Wang Chang Ming," I argued back.

"That works for me, Little Fox," smiled Ye Yao Zu as he pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen on my face. "We’ll be safe. And when the sunsets, we’ll meet here and find a place to stay for the night."

Well, there went my idea of getting back to the hotel by dark.

"Fine," I nodded, a tight smile on my face as I looked at the six men in front of me. "Just be safe."

"Always," smiled Si Dong as he bolted up the left staircase, taking them two at a time. Bin An Sha let out a long sigh and followed after him.

"Let’s go," urged Bai Long Qiang. I really tried not to roll my eyes, but it was a futile effort. This place hadn’t been touched for a long time; a couple of minutes either way wasn’t going to make that much of a difference.

"Coming," I replied instead, following after the man who was already halfway up the stairs.

-----

He stared at the base from the sidewalk. The nine of them had entered over an hour ago, and he hadn’t seen a sign of them since.

But it was a massive place, really a small town if you thought about it.

There would be plenty of small places to hide for days, if not years, and never be found.

You could scream until you damaged your vocal cords, and not a single person would be able to hear it happen.

Letting out a low chuckle, he put his hands in his pants pocket, ignoring the dirt and blood splatter on them. Whistling a tune he hadn’t thought about in years, he stepped foot on the base.

This was the perfect place for him to have fun with the little birdy. Maybe he could even find a cage for her, you know, to remind her of the old days when they were all friends.

His mind made up, he continued forward, bypassing the main building and going to one of the side ones.

It was lucky that County K was lazy, and all their bases were the same. It made it even easier for him to get around.

It might be his first time in City D, but this base might as well be his home.