Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 90: Need A Lift?

Chapter 90: Need A Lift?

I woke up to the buzzing of my alarm. Rolling over in my bed, I let out a low groan and smashed the old-fashioned digital alarm clock a few times on top until I hit the right button, and everything went silent again.

"You know, it is completely fine to spend the entire day in bed," purred Si Dong. I opened my eyes and saw him lying on my bed beside me. His hands were folded on his lap, and his legs were crossed at the ankles. He looked entirely too comfortable.

"Nope," I grunted, closing my eyes again. "I need to find you guys. Then we come back here and live happily ever after."

"I am all for living happily ever after with you," assured Si Dong. "But I don’t remember reading about a princess that had to go searching for her prince charming. You just stay here and let us come to you."

I pried open a single eye and looked at the ghost on my bed. "Clearly, you haven’t been reading the same fairy tales that I have. The Little Mermaid traded her voice in order to be with her prince charming. The Beast blackmailed Belle’s father, making her leave her home and live with him. Snow White ran away from her home to meet the seven dwarfs. Most of the fairy tales involved the princess leaving to find her prince charming."

"The seven dwarfs were not Snow White’s prince charming. The prince still had to find her in order to kiss her awake," grumbled Si Dong as he watched me roll out of bed.

I bit my tongue on that comment. I was rooting more for the seven dwarfs than I was for Prince Charming.

It was like when Venus showed up with the turtles. Why settle for one when you can have all?

I bit my tongue so hard that I could taste blood in my mouth. Reverse harems, while fun to read, were not done in real life. I needed to be happy that I could have at least one of my guys.

And to have all five in the same place... well, that would be perfect, too.

Shaking the thoughts in my head out, I stumbled toward the bathroom and jumped into the shower. I had no idea how long it would be until I could have another one, so I needed to take advantage of it while I had it.

After the shower, I got dressed in some leggings, my hiking boots, and an oversized sweater. I wanted something warm and comfortable for the journey.

I stuffed two other outfits into my go bag and attached the holster and gun to the small of my back.

My gun, plus a few knives, should be enough to deal with whatever was out there. And if not, I had enough supplies to go to ground until the danger had passed.

After a quick breakfast of leftover bacon and eggs, I was ready to go out into the real world for the first time since November.

I climbed up the ladder and shook my head at the chain hanging from one of the hooks. It was a good idea, but when I came back, I would have to find something better. Spinning the metal wheel, I lifted the hatch lid and squinted at the bright sun.

It was April, and spring was out in full bloom. The bushes around the hatch were starting to flower, their leaves already concealing my exit. Sliding out, I quietly lowered the door and spun it until it locked. I found some decomposing leaves around me and started to put them over the silver metal.

It wouldn’t stop me from being able to find my bunker, but it might be enough to stop someone else from finding it. My worst nightmare was that I would come back to find a squatter in here eating all my supplies.

I crawled through the dense bushes and out of the protective barrier of raspberries.

Standing up, I took in a deep lung full of fresh air and promptly started to cough. I guess I wasn’t used to it yet. Oh well.

Retracing my steps, I found my way back to my family’s cabin. The driveway connected to the road, and I thought it would be smarter to follow the road than the trapeze through the forest, hoping I was going in the right way.

I also figured that the guys would be taking the road, too, so I might stand a chance to meet them that way.

My mind made up, I gripped the straps of my go bag on my back and left my sanctuary.

-----

I must have been walking for a few hours by now. My body was covered in dirt and sweat, and I was once again wishing for the convenience of my shower.

I pushed the strands of my hair out of my face and let out a long sigh. It was just past lunchtime if the sun was anything to go by, but I was already done for the day.

I stood still for a few minutes, my hands on my hips as I tried to suck in enough air to fill my lungs and help with the lactic acid build-up in my legs.

Between this self-imposed hike and running from the zombies in my bunker, my legs really hated me.

Apparently, I was so far into my head that I never even noticed the sound of a car coming up behind me.

In fact, I didn’t even notice it until it was stopped beside me.

"Need a lift?" asked the man as he leaned across the passenger seat of his truck.

"I didn’t think that cars still worked," I said instead, not answering his question.

"The majority didn’t. But I am a sucker for the old school cars, and this 1979 Ford truck was perfect. True, it should have been in a museum instead of my garage, but a diesel engine will always work. You can’t always trust the latest and greatest when it comes to technology."

The man smiling at me was somewhat handsome. His black hair was gelled back like he was about to walk into a business meeting, and he was wearing a three-piece suit.

I blinked at his outfit a few times. If the guys were right, this was the end of the world. I was expecting Mad Max outfits of some kind or other... hell; my outfit of choice was fleece pajamas...

But no matter what scenario I could think of, three-piece suits were not part of it.