Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Standing in front of all the men that Zhou Gang Jia asked us to train, I let out a low groan. The way people learned how to use their powers in my day (yes, I know I was sounding old, but sometimes that was how I felt) was to get thrown into a horde of zombies and left to fend for themselves.

I understand that it was a very cruel, sink or swim, type mentality, but it worked. No one was around to say; 'You are a fire user,' or 'You are a spirit user', you learned how to work things out the hard way and it made you stronger.

Now, I was not going to throw the boys out to learn about their powers in that type of way, but they still used their powers for the first time against the zombies.

"What are you thinking?" asked Wang Chao as he came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"As if you didn't know," I laughed softly as I tried to think about how to go about doing this. The men might have had a day's head start, but practicing here inside was not the best way to go.

"I want you to say it out loud," he said as he looked over my head at all the people in front of us, but I was pretty sure that his eyes were zeroed onto Zhou Gang Jia.

"This is not how you learn to use your powers," I said, complying with what my man wanted. "This only makes people weaker and not able to survive an actual fight."  No, I was not trying to start a fight by telling over 200 people that considered themselves the best of the best in the military that they were weak… but…

As predicted, the quiet room quickly exploded as the men and women took offense to my wording.  Maybe I should have just gone back to sleep. I wouldn't step on as many toes that way.

"Are you saying that we are weak?" roared Rear Admiral Zhou Gang Jia as he approached me and the guys.

"No," I shook my head. "But I think that even you agree that going for a mile walk is vastly different from going for a 5-mile run," I continued as I tried to find the right analogy that he would understand.

"I don't understand," said the offended man, causing me to sigh. Maybe I should work on my comparisons.

"We are not pushing anyone to fulfill their full potential by having them all here in one room and slowly going through the list of powers that they could potentially have," said Liu Wei translating my sentence into something that they could understand.

"Then what has to be done?"

The four men around me let out a chuckle at the dumb question. "You need to bring people out to fight zombies without swords or guns," said Liu Yu Zeng, pointing out the obvious.

"Then they run the risk of being killed and that is not acceptable," returned Zhou Gang Jia, completely dismissing the idea.  I looked at the man in curiosity. "Do you think that you will never come across a zombie?" I mean, even thinking that was completely crazy as far as I was concerned.

"We stay here," shrugged the Rear Admiral. "As long as we keep the gates closed until the rest of the military comes, then we will be fine."

"And supplies?" I pushed, wondering about his thought process. I had never met or heard of the head of a safe zone taking such a blasé attitude, especially when it came to supplies. 

"Well, you will have to earn your keep in some way or another." The grin that the man sent to me caused me to raise an eyebrow. I scoffed in response.

"How about we get your men trained and then we leave," I suggested looking up at Wang Chao to see if he would be on board. After all, he and Liu Wei were the reasons why we were here in the first place. Seeing Wang Chao nodding his head I let out a small sigh of relief. I was not going to get supplies out there while an entire base stayed safe behind a gate. I did that before and it ended up getting me killed.

Cracking my neck, I stepped out from Wang Chao's arms and to the people waiting to be trained. "Alright, those who have had their powers determined, move to the right, those who don't, to the left." And apparently, I couldn't say 'to the left' without wanting to break out in song, but we all knew my head was an interesting place.I think you should take a look at

As the people moved to the appropriate sides, I turned to Wang Chao. "You and Liu Yu Zeng take that group," I said pointing to the right. Although none of the men were normal in terms of abilities, Wang Chao and Liu Yu Zeng had the best chance at explaining to the group how to harness their powers and have them actually listen.  "Liu Wei and Chen Zi Han will be with me for the unknowns."

I felt that if I spilt up the only two military people in my group then I stood a better chance of getting both groups to take their lessons seriously.  With a quick kiss from both men, Wang Chao and Liu Yu Zeng went to the right side of the room, ready to teach.

The left side… I sighed at everyone that had not developed anything up to this point. This meant that they were either not here yesterday or they were not elemental users. I looked at the Rear Admiral beside me with a raised eyebrow.  "Which group do you belong to?" I asked.

Zhou Gang Jia glared at me and walked over to the left to stand beside Zhao Jia Li. Yay me! I get the two people that would rather see me dead than learn from me in my group.  Was it really too late to go back to bed?

Forcing myself to walk toward my group, I was relieved to know that I had Liu Wei and Chen Zi Han at my back. Hopefully, we would survive the next few hours.

We ran the whole gambit of powers and then divided the groups into their different sections so they could start practicing.  I was the tiniest bit relieved when no one else came up with poison as their power. I trusted Liu Yu Zeng with my life, but I would find a way to end any other power user with poison as their element.

Like I said, I firmly believed that powers coincided with personalities. My man could be a bit underhanded and venomous, but I knew without a doubt that he was on my side. Anyone else? Well, I was not going to chance another Colin.

After four hours, only Zhao Jia Li was standing in front of me with no idea what her power could be.  Fuck my life.  There was only one type of power that I had not gone through yet, and it was the one that came with the highest status in the new world. 

"Wang Chao!" I yelled as I continued to stare at the woman in front of me. Was there any way that she could be an Asymptomatic? Yes, but I was never that lucky.  Wang Chao came over to where Zhao Jia Li and I stood facing each other, the other two having gone off with the groups to provide some one on one teaching.

"Yes?" he asked as he came to my side causing the woman in front of me to grind her teeth.

'Do you trust me?' I asked inside of my head, taking a deep breath.

'With my life,' he assured me, sending me a feeling of love through our mental bond.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I took a knife out of my space. Pulling his right hand forward and into mine, I cut a long deep wound across his palm. The man never even twitched, but the woman in front of me screamed.  And that was why I had to use Wang Chao for this particular test. He was the only one out of all the people in this room that she care enough for.

I felt him try to pull back his wounded hand when Zhao Jia Li let out another screech and grabbed the wounded appendage. 'Trust me,' I said in my head as the other woman let out a string of curses towards me.

'I don't like her touching me,' came the grumbled reply.

"Heal him," I said out loud to the woman still making a fuss over the amount of blood flowing out of the wound and demanding answers as to how I could have done this in the first place.

Her head snapped up at my words and I saw her frantically look around the large training hall for a first aid kit or something. "Heal him!" I snapped, not liking her touching him any more than he did.

"How can I, you bitch!" Seriously, nails on a chalkboard. I stretched my neck, trying to calm down. Couldn't I just kill her and be done with it?