Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 81: Get To Safety

Chapter 81: Get To Safety

I was not sure how we went from a zombie apocalypse to a nuclear one, but... "Yeah, it can," I assured Cheng Bo Jing.

"It might not happen," offered Si Dong. "Didn’t the Admiral put Commander Huang Nian Zu on it?"

Both Bai Long Qiang and Cheng Bo Jing snorted at that. Huh, it was the first time I had ever seen them agree on an issue that didn’t involve me. This Commander must be something special if both men hated him.

"I am not going to hold off much hope," sneered Cheng Bo Jing. "That man can barely find his own ass with both hands, let alone a device at the bottom of the ocean."

"Okay," I interrupted, letting out a long breath. "So, I need to stay here long enough for the zombie tide to blow over, leave with enough time to find all of you and be back here before the world ends for a second time. Do I have that right?"

"No!" growled all five men as they turned their attention to me.

"You will stay here. Period. End of story. There is no point in setting all this up only for you to not use it," said Bai Long Qiang as he waved his hand around the bunker as if to emphasize his point.

"That’s all well and good. But unless you are in here with me..." I let the threat trail off.

I would fully admit that he was right. I set this up as a way to survive whatever was to come. And now that it had arrived, it would be completely pointless to set aside years of work to go out into the real world.

But the fact that they were out there, having to face these zombies and a potential nuclear disaster, made the ants under my skin start crawling again.

I had to go find them.

And if I couldn’t...

Well, I never wanted to be the last person on Earth.

I smiled tightly at the guys and stood up. "I’m going to go read for a bit. You guys hang out here," I said as I made my way to my room.

If I were leaving this place, I would need to prepare first.

-----

I was lying in bed a few hours later, trying to sleep, when I started to feel the softest of vibrations began to shake the bunker.

Bolting upright in bed, I frantically looked around.

This area was not known for earthquakes, but that didn’t mean that there couldn’t be an anomaly or something.

I wasn’t worried about getting buried inside the bunker. The metal plating around it made sure that it could withstand anything. And as long as I was still able to get fresh air, I could live.

"Wang Tian Mu!" shouted Bia Long Qiang, causing me to get out of bed and run into the living room.

I lost my balance a few times trying to move, the light vibrations turning into a relentless pounding.

Looking up, I expected to see dirt falling down from the ceiling, but the exterior was doing its job. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the ground around it from shaking.

"What the hell?" I demanded as I fell onto one of the couches. I heard a few cups breaking in the kitchen, but that was to be expected. I just hoped the medicine bunker would be fine. I didn’t want to lose any of the supplies in there.

"Shhhh!" replied Fan Teng Fei as he held a finger to his lips. I quickly shut my mouth and started chewing on my bottom lip. What the fuck was going on?

"It’s the tide," explained Ye Yao Zu, whispering in my ear like he was scared that the zombies on top of us could hear the voice in my head. "They tore through City D in a matter of hours. The first half is still there, eating whoever they can as the rest are continuing on."

The ground around us continued to shake, and I shifted so I was lying in the fetal position on the couch. The guys surrounded me, their backs to me as if they were trying to protect me in my moment of fear.

I wanted to ask if they really thought the zombies could find me, but I remembered Fan Teng Fei and kept my mouth shut.

It might have been a few hours or only a few minutes, but the shaking started to calm down until it was nothing more than a slight vibration.

Was that it? Was the tide gone?

Was I safe?

I opened my mouth to ask, but suddenly, all of the guys held their service rifles in their hands, pointing to the hatch a few feet away from us.

That was when I heard it.

The chain that I was using to lock the wheel on the hatch started to rattle together as something tried to open the door.

"Very quietly, I want you to go into one of the other bunkers. Make sure that there are a lot of walls between you and this place. We think they can track through scent, so keep that in mind," said Cheng Bo Jing softly as he walked around the couch until he was standing shoulder to shoulder with the others.

"Go now," continued Fan Teng Fei.

I hadn’t heard the chain snapping, but I also knew that if it got to that point, it would be too late for me to run.

I got up off the couch and sprinted to the other end of the bunker, passing by the main entrance ladder and the chain that was still doing its job.

Finding the shelf with the hidden mechanism for the food bunker, I quickly opened the door.

I frantically looked around, my eyes not really seeing anything.

There! That was what I needed.

I found a case of beer on the shelf and frantically started opening the bottles. Beer and wine had the strongest scents of all alcohol, and if these zombies were able to track me by scent, these should slow them down.

I threw one of the open bottles toward the living room and watched as it fell on the rug in front of the couches.

My house would smell like a frat party, but hopefully, it wouldn’t smell like me.

"Go!" screamed Si Dong just as the chain snapped and dropped to the floor.

Not wasting any more time, I slipped into the tunnel, quietly closing the door behind me.

Sprinting as fast as I could, I ran to the food bunker. It was a few miles away from the main bunker, but I didn’t have a choice.

I needed to get to safety.