Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 79: A Zombie Tide

Chapter 79: A Zombie Tide

Turning on the monitors, I swore softly to myself.

"Everything okay?" asked Ye Yao Zu as he lowered himself into one of the other chairs.

"It completely slipped my mind that if the surface was hit with an EMP, the cameras inside of the cabin would be damaged too," I grumbled, really not impressed with my lack of foresight.

"Did you want me and the guys to go check it out?" offered Ye Yao Zu with a shrug of his shoulders.

It was a sweet offer, but I shook my head. They had just gotten back from a training mission, and they were probably exhausted. The last thing they needed to deal with was clearing out my family’s cabin.

"Nah, I got it," I assured him. I got up out of the chair and walked over to the room containing all of the weapons Cheng Bo Jing managed to sneak away for me. "Where is the rest of your team?" I asked suddenly.

Honestly, the other eleven members really didn’t enter my mind once. I was sure that it was horrible to admit to, but I had completely forgotten that Bai Long Qiang’s team had more than just the five of them.

"They’re gone," smiled Ye Yao Zu, a sad smile on his face.

"What do you mean, gone?" I demanded, spinning around to face the man. It was a simple training exercise. There wasn’t supposed to be any danger involved with those.

"They are with their families now," he clarified. I nodded my head. That would make sense. Most of the others had parents or a family of their own that they would want to get back to.

"And you don’t want to be with yours?"

"You and the guys are my family. I am sure that my parents are just fine, but there is no other place I would rather be than here with you," he chuckled. He raised his hand to pet my hair before dropping it to my side.

I smiled at him. "I am glad you are here. Now go watch your movie. I am going to check out the cabin and be right back."

"Be safe!" he called out as I grabbed a 9mm from the display case and walked toward the kitchen. Opening the butler’s pantry, I pulled one of the upper shelves.

Releasing the latch, the entire wall opened, revealing a long, dark tunnel.

There was a low whistle behind me as Si Dong walked up behind me. "Now that is sweet," he muttered in appreciation.

"I have a thing for hidden rooms," I admitted with a shrug. Since I was building this place from the ground up, I was able to get everything I wanted, including hidden tunnels and moving bookshelves.

"I’m coming with you," he said. Well, at least he didn’t laugh outright at my statement.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I was here longer than the others. I got a bit more rest. I’ll come and watch your back."

----

There was no one in the cabin, and I beefed up the security to make sure that things stayed that way.

Days blended into weeks, and before I knew it, it was spring.

The guys and I managed to get into a routine that was so much easier than anything we had before. I thought for sure I would try to kill at least one of them since we were almost on top of each other all the time, but it was the opposite. The longer they were around, the more comfortable I became.

"Ye Yao Zu," I asked softly one morning. I was in the kitchen making a few loaves of bread while the others were out walking around the perimeter. Ye Yao Zu offered to help me in the kitchen.

"Yeah?" he replied from where he was sitting on the counter.

"Have I really gone crazy?" I asked as I kneaded the dough after the first proof. I could feel my eyes starting to tear up, but I refused to let them fall. It would screw up the bread.

"You know you aren’t," he smiled at me, but I could see it in his eyes.

I sniffed. "What else would you call it when you spend five months talking to yourself and seeing ghosts?"

"How did you figure it out?" he asked softly as he got down and went to stand behind me. I wanted to lean back into his arms and draw strength from him, but I knew if I did, I would fall to the floor instead.

"The food," I said, clearing my throat. "I do an inventory every month, and only my portions are eaten. The amount that you guys should be eating is still there."

"At least that is more food for you. You’ll be able to stay here longer. You’ll be safe." I could hear the pain in his voice as he said that, and I looked up at the ceiling, trying to blink back the tears.

I pursed my lips and blew out a long breath of air as I tried to collect myself. I rolled up the dough and put it into their respective pans, and covered them.

Setting my alarm for an hour, I turned around and stared at the man in front of me.

"Are you..." I couldn’t finish that sentence. I couldn’t put that out into the universe.

Ye Yao Zu only smiled but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t like he could actually answer me. He was just a figment of my imagination. If I didn’t know if they were alive or dead, he wouldn’t know.

"Don’t worry about us," he said finally. "You know we will find you eventually."

"In a bunker that I never even told you about?" I let out a bark of laughter. It was either that or burst out crying.

"But it’s fine. If you can’t find me. I’ll go find you. I got your location before shit hit the fan, I’ll start from there and work my way back."

"And if we are dead?"

"Then I need to see your bodies to know for sure. But I can’t keep doing this. I can’t be happy and safe with more food than I need, knowing that you might be out there suffering," I said, begging him to understand.

"No," he snapped, shooting down my suggestion. "There is no way our lives are more important than yours. Even if we are alive, your safety is more important than ours."

"A zombie tide is coming!" yelled Bai Long Qiang as he and the others appeared in the middle of my living room. "They are half a day away from City D, and there are thousands of them. You need to get everything locked down and hide!"