Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



We piled into the Recruiter's car, not bothering to mention that we could get there on our own. There was no point in showing too many of our cards all at once. I made a big deal over him having his own working car, and he seemed to have puffed up at the compliments. 

Wang Chao sat in the front seat, and I was spread out over the laps of Liu Yu Zeng, Liu Wei, and Chen Zi Han in the back seat. I was pretty sure that this was considered to be illegal before the end of the world, but really, who was out giving tickets for too many passengers inside a vehicle? 

We drove for about an hour in relative silence, only the low murmurings of the guys keeping me from going insane. I could feel my skin starting to crawl the closer we got to the Reavers. Taking in a deep breath, I looked out of Liu Wei's window as we continued on our journey.

"Almost there," came the Recruiter's voice, startling me out of my thoughts. "Only about ten more minutes or so. However, there are some things that you are going to have to be aware of before we get there."

Here we go, the same speech he gave me in my past life. 

"The camp is divided into several different sections, but you will only have access to one of them," he started, getting into the heart of the matter now that he thought we had no way out. His kindly demeaner shifted into something a lot harder, crueler. 

"You are not to leave the fighter's section. Your woman will be placed with the other females, and you will not be seeing her for a very long time. Even if you do, there is no guarantee that you will recognize her at the end of the day," the Recruiter snickered, not understanding how close to death he was getting. 

"You will fight until you can't fight anymore," he continued, his eyes on the road in front of him, not bothering to look at any of the men. "If you win, there is a healer there to fix you up until your next fight. If you die, you're dinner. Are there any questions?"

"And just how long are you planning on living once you drop us off?" asked Liu Yu Zeng, and I watched as a small tendril of his smoke slowly made its way from his hand and up to the man driving us to our 'doom.' Entering his ear, the Recruiter didn't even flinch. 

He did, however, laugh. "You might have been big, powerful men in your last life, but in this new world, you are nothing more than zombie food."

"You seem so certain of that," mused Chen Zi Han. "And yet, you didn't ask us any questions beyond what our names were."

The Recruiter paused for a second, his laughter quickly cutting off. "No fighter has any power," he said with a shake of his head. I let out a soft sigh. What on Earth could I have been thinking in my past life, dreaming about his man coming to save me in my hour of need? Well, I guess I dodged a bullet there. 

"You seem so certain," I said with a smile, looking at the Recruiter in the rearview mirror. 

"Those with power are attached to a city force; only those that are desolate are willing to risk their lives fighting," he shrugged, no longer worried after talking himself into believing that no one in the car had a power. 

"Sure," I nodded, the smile on my face getting bigger as Liu Yu Zeng's tuft of mist appeared from the Recruiter's ear to almost wave at me. I wiggled my finger in return, noticing the veins around his ear starting to turn black. 

I would bet money that he would seem in perfect health until he left us at the came and then die 'completely unexpectantly.'

"Another one bites the dust," I hummed under my breath as we took an offramp. 

"Did you say something?" asked the Recruiter. "Because I have to say, I am surprised at how well you are taking this."

I shrugged my shoulders in response. "It's a little too late now for regrets, isn't it?" I asked, never taking my eyes off of the man. 

"Maybe I can put a good word in for you," said the Recruiter out of the blue. "That way, you will be passed around less." 

"Don't worry about that," I assured him. "I can handle almost anything that they dish out." I was confident in that regard. I knew I was more than capable of handling whatever they threw my way because I had done it once before. And now that I had my men with me? Well, I was damn well unstoppable. 

He sneered at me, his eyes glancing between me and my men. "Well, at least you are used to being passed around."

"That I am," I assured him. He had pulled up to a random gate in the middle of a forested area. There were no distinguishing signs, nothing to point to where we were or even how to leave. Hell, even the sign at the offramp was gone. But that didn't bother me at all. After all, if I knew how to find my way here, I wouldn't have bothered hunting down the Recruiter in the first place. 

"Get out and open the gate," he said, gesturing for Wang Chao to get out and do his bidding. My man looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded my head. I was definitely not impressed at all about how the 'gentlemanly' Recruiter was treating my men. Maybe I would kill him faster than whatever Liu Yu Zeng had planned. 

Wang Chao got out of the car and untied the rope keeping the fence closed. The Recruiter sneered at him the whole time, and I could tell that he was absolutely loving the fact that he got to order The Wang Chao around. 

Waiting for Wang Chao to get back into the car, our driver turned around to sneer at the four of us in the back seat. "Welcome to Camp Hell," he grinned, blowing me a kiss. "I hope that you are around for a very long time."

"Says the pussy who wouldn't survive two seconds in a ring with me," responded Liu Yu Zeng with a grin of his own.

"Why would I ever find myself in a ring with you? Unlike you, I know how to use the brains God gave me to make a better life for myself."

"Because, at least in the ring, death would be a lot faster than what is waiting for you outside of it," I said as Wang Chao got back into the car. 

"Resorting to useless threats," tisked the Recruiter, looking at me with a smug smile before restarting the car and driving down the gravel road. "And here I thought you were better than that."

"To issue useless threats? Oh, I promise you, we are much better than that," said Wang Chao, buckling his seatbelt. 

"Sure. Sure."

------

Wang Chao stared out the front window as the car approached the Reaver encampment where the love of his life was held prisoner. He could hear the yells and cheers even at this distance. 

"Remember, do not speak until you are given permission to," said the Recruiter, bringing the car to a stop. Wang Chao and the others snorted as they got out of the vehicle, not saying a word. How stupid could the man be not to realize that not once since he encountered them was he in a position of power?

Shaking his head in bemusement, Wang Chao stood still as a Reaver approached them. He looked up at the male, who had to be well over 7 feet tall and built like a brick wall. He was dressed as impeccably as the Recruiter was in a suit that had to be specially made for him. His black hair was combed to the side, and he even wore a pair of gold glasses similar to what Liu Wei wore. 

Except his didn't have any lenses in them.

In fact, besides his height and build, there wasn't much else that gave away his… species. Well, except for the chunks of flesh missing from his cheek and neck. 

"What have you brought me this time?" asked the Alpha, looking over the five people in front of him. His eyes lingered too long on Li Dai Lu for Wang Chao's liking. He watched as his wife turned pale under the gaze of the Reaver and started swaying. Liu Yu Zeng caught her before she could collapse in a heap on the ground.

"Four fighters and a woman," smiled the Recruiter as he took a step back so that the Alpha could inspect the goods. "The fighters are of extremely high quality. One was a general in the military, while the other three were part of one of the most feared Syndicates in this country. They should entertain your customers quite well."

The Alpha nodded his head as he pushed his glasses up a bit higher onto his nose, his gaze never leaving Li Dai Lu. 

"Send the males to the pit. I'll talk the female to the cages myself."