Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 95: Welcome To Camp Hell

Chapter 95: Welcome To Camp Hell

"Pleasure doing business with you." Sha Ling rolled his eyes. He didn’t know why his charm wouldn’t work on the fucker, but he could easily see through the mask. Most humans couldn’t.

Maybe this dude wasn’t human.

Whatever.

Sha Ling turned around to the passenger’s door and flung it open. The chick from City D dropped halfway out and just hung there like a rag doll.

Rolling his eyes, Sha Ling leaned over and undid her seatbelt, letting the rest of her body fall to the gravel parking lot.

The bag that she came with could stay with him. There were probably a lot of good supplies in there, too.

The bag didn’t look cheap, and since she was a doctor, she was probably a rich bitch too.

Leaning forward, he grabbed a fistful of her black hair and dragged her over to where the Alpha stood.

"I’ll be back in a month, hopefully with some fighters," Sha Ling said before closing the passenger’s door and climbing into the driver’s seat.

He didn’t have a lot of sedatives left, so he was going to have to use them wisely. Otherwise, he would just have to rely on his charm to get the merchandise there.

Backing out of his spot, his tires spun as he stepped on the gas. He missed dealing with Wang Conglomerate. They, at least, weren’t cheap bastards like the Alpha was.

-----

The first thing to hit me was the pain.

Pain in my body, pain in my head... pain in my frigging face.

"What?" I groaned, trying to remember what happened. My brain seemed to be clouded in a layer of fog, and I couldn’t remember anything.

Zombies in the bunker... did they get me?

No... I got out. Went to look for the guys... the truck... Sha Ling.

I bolted upright, only to knock my head against something solid on top of me.

I blinked my eyes, trying to see in front of me.

Were those... bars?

I was in a fetal position, my body curled up on itself, and I couldn’t move.

"Welcome to Camp Hell," came a rough voice over top of my head. I tried to move to be able to see him better, but I couldn’t. "You’re a doctor?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but all I could do was cough until I puked.

"Disgusting human. You are lucky you didn’t get any on me. As it is, you are going to have to lay in it." The voice sneered, his words barely registering in my befuddled mind.

"You are a doctor. Yes or No."

I nodded my head, yes, not wanting to tempt fate and puke again. The sour smell was already treating a second round.

"Good. You will heal my fighters. If they still die, you will be beaten. If they live and win, you will not be touched for a night."

Once again, my brain was trying to make sense of his words. I mean, I knew what he was saying... I just didn’t understand it.

There was a scoffing sound and then the sound of footsteps going away.

Then, there was nothing but silence.

----

Taking in a deep breath, I tried to turn over, only realizing that it was next to impossible to do.

"It’s easier if you roll onto your hands and knees, move over, and then roll over again until you are on your other side," came a soft voice beside me.

I did as she suggested and rolled over until my knees were under me, and I put my hands on the ground under my chest.

"Perfect. Now take one step to the side, toward me," she continued, and I followed her directions. It was hard; the cage seemed to be the exact same width as I was... maybe a few inches bigger.

"Don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it. Believe it or not, these small cages are the best protection we have here."

When my right side was pressed against the bar, I slowly rolled to my left until I was curled up on my left side instead of my right.

I was really missing my king sized bed right now.

Letting out another sigh, I blinked a few times until I could clearly see the girl in the cage, maybe a foot away from me.

"Hi!" she smiled, her smile bright even though she had to have been in pain.

One of her eyes was completely swollen, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if her cheekbone was broken from the hit she must have taken. There were more bruises up and down her exposed arms, and I could see literal fingerprints around her neck.

"Don’t worry," she continued, her one good eye looking at me. I realized that the reason why she was so soft-spoken was because her throat was so damaged; she couldn’t be louder if she had tried. "It’s going to be night soon, but for now, nothing happens here in the day."

"I’m Tian Mu," I said, not knowing what else to say. In the ER, I had seen plenty of victims of domestic violence, but this was something completely different. A shiver ran up my spine as I rested my cheek against the bottom bars.

In the ER, I was the one in control. I understood what the women needed to heal, and I gave it to them.

Here... I was one of those women. If not right this second, very, very soon.

"Ming Zhu," smiled the woman. I wanted to close my eyes against her pain, but that seemed too disrespectful. She survived whatever hell she had been put through, and the least I could do was acknowledge it.

"Beautiful name," I said, holding out my hand toward her. One thing they taught you in med school was that touch could be healing.

The other woman smiled and reached her hand out to mine, gripping it firmly in her own.

She let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes. "Sorry, a bit sleepy. I wasn’t put back here until a few hours ago and then your arrival was enough to wake me up."

"It’s all good," I replied, giving her my best doctor’s smile. The one I had perfected after so many years of being forced to smile. "You need sleep to heal."

I wanted to tell her that I would wake her up later, but I had no idea what would happen next.

God, I wish I could heal through touch. I would take all of her pain into me. She couldn’t be more than eighteen and yet...

Is this what the world turned into once we lost all power?

A bark of laughter passed through my lips before I could stop it.

Fuck. It wasn’t fair.

Taking in a deep breath, I concentrated on the hand inside of mine. Please let this touch comfort her in some way.

The drugs still not out of my system, I closed my eyes, tightening my grip on her even more. I had no idea what I was in for when the night came, so I needed to get sleep while I could.