Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 359: A New -

Chapter 359: A New Chapter

"I asked if there was a door," sighed Ye Yao Zu, pinching the bridge of his nose. Okay, now he could see exactly where he screwed up.

"You asked if there was a door," agreed Rip. "As in, you couldn’t leave here fast enough."

"As in, you didn’t want to be here with the rest of us," continued Si Dong, staring at his friend.

"As in you pointing out the one thing that she didn’t think about as she created something that would keep us safe for the rest of our lives," finished Cheng Bo Jing.

"Yeah, yeah, I screwed up, okay? Help me get out of it?" asked Ye Yao Zu, raising both eyebrows up in hope.

"Nah," grunted Bai Long Qiang, heading toward the cabin himself. "As the one perpetually in the doghouse, it is nice to see someone else in there for a change. I’m going to enjoy the reprieve as she continues to be pissed at you."

"Wait! This isn’t fair!" shouted Ye Yao Zu as, one by one, the guys walked past him and into the stunning cabin.

Rip would fully admit that when she first started talking about this place, he was thinking about a small log hut deep in the woods.

He was fully prepared to build and expand on it, thinking that it might only fit two people comfortably. That was his idea of a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

Hell, it was where he hid most of his bodies back in County E.

But this, this might as well be a mansion. The entire west side of the home was floor to ceiling windows, spanning at least two floors. He could just picture sitting on the couch, watching the sunset over the lake with his Little Bird in his lap.

It was then that he realized what had really just happened. They had found their forever home, the place where they were going to potentially build a family, a place where they could just be.

No zombies, no Reavers, no fights. Just the eight of them and Wang Chang Ming.

That was what he wanted, and come hell or high water, that was what he was going to get.

Leaving Ye Yao Zu in the dust, he strolled purposefully into the house and found Wang Tian Mu in the kitchen, staring absentmindedly at the countertop.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, pulling her into his arms as he ignored the rest of the guys in the room. There was no such thing as privacy in a family like this, and he was becoming used to it.

Gradually.

"They say that the kitchen is the heart of the home," she said, leaning back into his embrace. "This was where my mother and grandmother spent most of their time when we were here. When my grandparents didn’t have to maintain the image of the Song Family."

"You must have some amazing memories of them," smiled Bin An Sha. "Did you want to share them?"

And slowly, bit by bit, the tension in Wang Tian Mu’s shoulders released as she told funny story after funny story about her family.

That night, no one wanted to go back to the bunker. Instead, they took over the master bedroom and pushed as many mattresses together on the floor as possible, sleeping in one massive doggy pile. As it should be, Wang Tian Mu was at the center of her men, the heart that beat outside of their chests.

-----

The following day, I woke up to the smell of waffles cooking, the nuclear alarm sound that the waffle iron made echoing through the house.

"I told him that it would wake you up," grunted Bai Long Qiang as he pulled me closer into his arms.

"How the hell do we even have power here?" I asked, still more than half asleep. I was pretty sure that I had not outfitted the main cabin with the ability to withstand an EMP, so everything in here should be completely fired.

"Do you want the honest answer or the one that makes us seem smarter?" replied Bai Long Qiang with a question of his own.

"Let’s start with the honest answer," I sighed, almost too scared to even ask.

"A really, really long extension cord," shrugged the man, moving around on the mattress until he was lying on his back. Reaching forward, he draped me over him. "Did you know that you had a hole in your pantry that led all the way back to the bunker?"

"Yeah, seeing as I was the one who asked it to be done," I answered, sticking out my tongue.

"So yeah, really long extension cord." The annoying sound of the waffle iron going off again echoed throughout the house, announcing that yet another waffle was golden brown and delicious.

"Did you at least make coffee?" I mean, a girl could always use a cup of coffee in the morning.

"We did," he assured me, running his fingers through my hair. "Rip even carried that monstrosity that you had in the bunker over. All that is missing is you."

"Fine," I yawned, not sure if I was quite ready to face the day. "I’ll get up."

"You don’t need to do it on my behalf. I am more than happy to have you stay in bed all day with me."

Smacking him on the chest, I got out of bed, leaving Bai Long Qiang to follow or not. A few days ago, it was the beginning of the end. Now, it was like I had a new lease on life.

The cabin was still in perfect working order. Everyone was alive and well, and we were all together. I had finally completed my mission, and I couldn’t be happier to have that Chapter behind me. It took a while, but I did it.

Now, all I needed to do was help rebuild human civilization and give hope to all those still fighting out there that City D was waiting for anyone who wanted to come.