Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 91: Sha Ling

Chapter 91: Sha Ling

"I’m Sha Ling," introduced the guy in the car when I was clearly quiet for too long. "I promise, I’m not a bad guy." He chuckled at his own joke, but I simply rolled my eyes.

"I am sure that most bad guys would say that they weren’t a bad guy," I argued. I mean, seriously, I don’t think serial killers really introduced themselves as serial killers. It would put a serious kink in meeting people.

"I was a head-hunter from some of the top companies in Country K before the end of the world," he continued, the gentle smile on his face never changing. "I had a whole resume on the computer, but it crashed before I could print it off. Some of the companies I was connected to were Wang Enterprise and Sunset Corps, to name a few."

That was all nice and good, but it didn’t explain why he was still talking to me.

"I can give you a lift to the Sanctuary in City Y. It is the closest one from here with an actual military base. It is the safest place for a lone woman to go to. You need to be careful; the zombies and reavers are the least of your concerns. You need to be aware of the biker gangs and the gangs of asymptomatic. The world is now a war zone."

I thought about what he said, and it seemed to make sense. Still....

"How far away is City Y?" I asked, cocking my head to the side; my hand was on the butt of my gun as I stepped forward to the window.

"It will take a bit over a week if you are walking, but if I push through the night, I can have you there by tomorrow afternoon." Once again, he smiled at me, and I started to feel stupid for being so suspicious. The guy was in a suit and tie, for fucks sake.

He probably hadn’t even had a speeding ticket before the end of the world.

I was definitely losing my mind if I thought he was a bad guy.

I looked down at his hands. There wasn’t even a hint of a callus or rough skin to be seen on his hands. There was no way he was doing something like killing people in his spare time.

No. The guys were probably waiting for me in City Y, so if I could get there faster, then I could get back to the bunker all that much sooner.

"Then, if you don’t mind, I would love a ride. Do you smoke? I have a pack of cigarettes to pay you with. If not, I have a protein bar you can have instead," I offered as I watched him lean back into the driver’s seat, giving me room to be able to get into the cab.

Before opening the door, I took my gun out of the holster and hid it in the sleeve of my shirt. I probably didn’t need it, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

I climbed into the truck and placed my go bag in between my legs as I closed the door behind me and put on my seat belt.

"I don’t need payment," he assured me. This time, I could see the smile in his sparkling brown eyes.

I relaxed into the seat just a bit as he pulled back onto the road and started driving again.

"How did you become a head-hunter?" I asked, always curious as to how someone fell into that type of profession. I mean, his job was literally finding the perfect person for other jobs. It seemed... redundant to some extent.

"Ah, that is an interesting story. I seemed to have a knack for finding the perfect position for the perfect company. I liked to think that I was a matchmaker... but instead of finding your soul mate, I found your soul job." He chuckled, his laughter infectious.

I couldn’t help but smile with him, the tension in my shoulders dropping even more with every passing mile.

"What about you? What did you do before everything?" he asked, genuinely interested in my response.

I smiled at him and stuck out my tongue. "What? Are you going to find me my soul job?" I joked as I looked out the window at the passing trees.

"You never know; I just might," he laughed back, his attention on the road in front of us.

It was weird; I was getting along with someone for the first time since I had arrived in this world, and it felt natural; it felt right.

"I was a doctor, actually. Head of City D General Hospital Emergency Room," I answered, proud at what I had managed to accomplish in such a short time.

"No way! You don’t look older than sixteen," he said, the shock evident in his voice.

"I am almost 21, I’ll have you know," I answered back with a bit of sass. My age and my looks had always been a bone of contention with me since I looked so much younger than I was. Other women would assure me that I would like that fact when I got older, but right now, it was like a knife to the chest.

One more reason why I couldn’t be trusted as a doctor.

"That is amazing! Really, your parents must be so proud of you!"

"I am sure that they are. But unfortunately, they passed away a long time ago," I said softly, a sharp pain in my heart now for a completely different reason.

I guess I should be grateful that they weren’t around for the apocalypse, especially my grandparents. It would have been a lot more than they could take.

"What about a boyfriend? Someone as beautiful as you must have a boyfriend, right?" There was a slight smirk on Sha Ling’s face, and his eyebrows rose up and down in a funny/creepy manner.

"I have one," I said, not looking at the other man. "I just have no idea where he is or if he is even still alive."

"Oh, you poor doll. All by yourself in this big bad world with no one to protect you or look for you. But don’t you worry, I know the perfect place for you."

Before I could turn around to ask him what he meant, I felt a needle jabbing into the side of my neck, and everything went black.