Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 335: You’ve Changed

Chapter 335: You’ve Changed

Rip nodded his head in understanding. "I see. I take it he was alive until now, and the second he saw you, he killed himself?" mused the man, the smile on his face never leaving.

"No," grunted Bai Long Qiang, shaking his head as best as he could, given the fact that the monster still had him pressed against the wall.

"No? So he didn’t just die. Is that what you are telling me?"

"He might as well have," screamed the man, tears coursing down his cheeks. "I didn’t know until now that he was dead. It was a shock, okay? Especially after knowing..."

"And now we have come full circle on the issue of your intelligence," chuckled Rip, his arm never showing the slightest bit of fatigue. "Are you really dumb enough to assume that he wasn’t dead all this time? That his death was such a shock to you that you sent my woman off on her own?"

"Our woman," sighed Bin An Sha as he used the tip of his blade to clean the dirt from under his nail. "You are going to have to work on your sharing."

"Fine," hissed Rip, turning his attention away from Bai Long Qiang and toward Bin An Sha. "But I refuse to share with someone who thinks so little of her security."

"Yes, I understand that," mused the doctor. "But as of right now, we are just wasting more time than we could be spending looking for her. So, put down the dunce before you accidentally kill him and have him bring us to where he last saw her."

"I have never once ’accidentally’ killed someone, and I don’t see me starting right now," growled Rip as he tossed Bai Long Qiang onto the floor beside him. "Well? Hurry up. Where did you last see her?"

Choking out a cough, Bai Long Qiang didn’t respond at first. His hand against his throat, he looked up at the Reaver. "Fuck you. My father just died; I don’t need this bullshit."

"Actually," smiled Fan Teng Fei as he walked forward, only to crouch down in front of the other man. "I’m on his side," he continued, scrunching his nose as he tilted his head toward Rip. "Now, I am sure that this must come as a shock to you, but the majority of us stood by your side simply because it was the only way that we could stay in Wang Tian Mu’s life."

Stretching out his hand, Fan Teng Fei gently placed his index finger under Bai Long Qiang’s chin and tilted his head up until he was looking at him. "That means I have no problem helping you join your father. I remember where his office is, and I really don’t need you around to find it."

"Fuck you!" screamed Bai Long Qiang as he frantically looked around at all the men he had called brothers. "Why don’t you understand? My father died!"

"Did you know that this base held over 200,000 people, all told?" Cheng Bo Jing mused. And yet, not a single one of them is here right now. I wonder how that happened."

"I am pretty sure my parents are dead too, and my brother... and a few cousins," nodded Si Dong as he approached the man still on his knees. "And I don’t care." He practically sang the last few words, and he crouched down beside Fan Teng Fei.

"You see, when the end of the world happened, and our team was picked off, one by one, I told myself that if I could see my Cuddles again, I wouldn’t care about anyone else. She was what kept me going," continued Si Dong a glazed look in his eyes.

"A zombie could attack my father right now and tear him limb from limb in front of me, and as long as I knew Wang Tian Mu was safe, that would be all that mattered."

"Clearly, I am not like you," hissed Bai Long Qiang. She is my soul mate, but that was my father—the one who gave me life."

"Actually, I hate to point it out, but the one who gave you life was your mother. Your father just donated some sperm," chuckled Ye Yao Zu as he approached the group, Wang Chang Ming still asleep in his arms. "But like Bin An Sha said, we are wasting time, time that my Little Fox may or may not have. Let’s start at his office and work our way out from there."

"And let’s hope that we can find her," smiled Cheng Bo Jing as he walked past Bai Long Qiang. "Because I am starting to think that I am not the only sociopath here."

"Oh please," sighed Ye Yao Zu. "Narcissism is a disease. You should really look into getting that treated."

The rest of the men laughed and walked down the hall where Bai Long Qiang had come from. Not a single one of them looked back to see if he was following. He made his bed when he left Wang Tian Mu by herself. Now, it was time for him to lie in it.

-----

I came awake slowly. My head was absolutely pounded as I tried to remember what happened and where I could be, but honestly, I was drawing a blank.

"At last, Sleeping Beauty is awake," chuckled a voice near me. "I was worried that I might have hit you too hard. Can’t damage the merchandise, now can I? That would be bad for business.

Opening my eyes, I took in my surroundings. I was trapped in a cage that looked suspiciously like my old one at Camp Hell. However, instead of being on the ground and feeling the warmth and life from it, I was hanging from a thick chain tied to the ceiling.

Any move I made would cause the cage to swing madly back and forth.

"Ah, isn’t it impressive? It took me almost an hour to find where they kept the kennels, but I knew that you would be missing your home."

The man looking up at me from the floor looked both familiar but not at the same time.

He chuckled at the confusion on my face before messing up his hair with his hand.

"Hello, Healer, long time no see."

"Hello, Alpha, you’ve changed a lot."