Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"Sorry, Daddy," I said, turning my head to whisper in his ear. "That is not my kink," I continued with a wink. 'But if anyone could get me to yell Daddy, it would be you.' Finishing the thought off in my head, I let out a gasp of surprise as he picked me up and flung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Landing a crisp blow to my bottom, I squealed in surprise, but I also couldn't help but laugh at this playful side of his.  And that was what it was, his playful side.

We both successfully managed to ignore Zhao Jia Li as she let out a high-pitched sound of her own in protest of our actions. "I will be telling Daddy about this!" she shouted after us as Wang Chao took the stairs two at a time.

"Somehow, it is less sexy when she says it," I said with a fake shiver. Wang Chao only grunted in reply, giving me another smack.

Being near him like this, or even not like this, allowed me to calm down from the anxious state I had been in all day and I sighed in contentment. Letting him carry me wherever he wanted, I simply hung here. Enjoying the moment.

"You found her then?" yelled Liu Wei as we entered our apartment.

"Yup!" Wang Chao replied as he carefully repositioned me until I was cradled in his arms before letting me stand on my own feet.  I swayed a little as the blood rushed down from my head and back throughout my body where it belonged.

"Welcome home," said Chen Zi Han as he looked over the back of the couch.  It looked like they had put on some alien movie to pass the time. Liu Wei walked into the living room from the kitchen carrying a big bowl of popcorn.

"Just in time," he said as he gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. "I didn't think you would want to miss it."

Honestly, I was not a big fan of alien movies or horror movies of any kind. Throw in slasher flicks and I was guaranteed to have nightmares all night long. What can I say? I can face down a zombie horde of shark-altered humans… or was it human-altered sharks? Anyways, I could face those down without flinching, but having someone call me on the phone asking me if I like scary movies and I would be hiding in the closet for the rest of the week.

What can I say? I'm unique.

But sitting on a couch with all of the guys? I could more than deal with watching an alien movie where the crazy cat lady turned out to be right.

"How was your day?" asked Wang Chao as I leaned my upper body across his. Chen Zi Han had pulled my legs over his own and was giving me a foot massage. How could anyone not be content if this is what they came home to?

"Made some friends," I said breezily, referring to the people in the first gas station. "Picked up some chocolate bars and other goodies, I think I got a stalker, oh, and I pick up some more guns," I said as if it were just a normal day. I was hoping that by adding a stalker to the middle of my recap, the boys would overlook it.

Unfortunately for me, Wang Chao and Liu Wei didn't overlook anything. I guess that was what made Wang Chao such a successful CEO and Liu Wei the perfect assistant.

"Stalker?" Wang Chao demanded, even as his finger brushed over my bare arms softly.  I had put a power generator and heater into the apartment so that we were able to stay nice and warm.

"What?" I asked, feigning innocence. With a look of surprise on my face, like I just understood what he had said, I nodded my head. "You are right, Zhou Jia Li is quite the stalker," I continued, trying to completely divert the subject.  Unfortunately, it was not nearly as successful as I was hoping it would be.

"She said that she felt eyes on her at the second gas station we went to," said Liu Yu Zeng from where he was sitting on the oversized chair.

"I felt her fear for a brief second," admitted Chen Zi Han as he briefly squeezed my foot before going back to rub it.

"I did too," echoed Liu Yu Zeng. "But I ignored it. I thought only those with the spirit powers could do the whole empath thing."

"I think I felt it too," said Liu Wei, looking up at me from where he was sitting on the floor in front of the couch. "It twisted in my stomach, making me feel sick for a brief second and then it was gone."

"What could it mean?" asked Wang Chao as he looked at me.

"I have no idea," I admitted. I had never heard about a case where non-spirit users could develop a kind of empath power.  I think you should take a look at

"Putting that to the side, tell us more about this stalker," demanded Liu Wei.

"I don't suppose that he could have been so enamored by my beauty, that even in my parka and snow gear, he fell in love with me at first sight and was determined to make me his?" I said, a bit of a smile playing on my face.  I will completely admit to being a romance junky in my first life, and now that I had a phone and tablet filled with downloaded OTT romances, well… let's just say that I was a very happy camper.

I felt the brief sting of a slap on my leg as Chen Zi Han growled at my flippant response. "I think you have enough men completely enamored by you that we don't need to bring any more into the mix," he said and the other three men nodded their heads.

"I completely agree," I said. The four of them gave me enough of a headache, I didn't need to add a 5th one. We were perfect and complete just the way we were.

"So, the stalker," said Liu Wei bringing me back to the current topic. "What makes you think that you have one?"

I tilted my head down and looked at him seriously. "Are you doubting my thoughts and feelings?" I asked, somewhat pissed.  It always seemed to go that way. A woman made a complaint against a man for harassment or stalking or abuse and all we were told was that we were imagining it, or we should take it as a compliment or questioned if that really happened.

It happened a few times in my first life to the point that I had to move to a different province just to get away from the guy.

"I am never doubting you," reassured Liu Wei as he pulled on a strand of my hair that was hanging over the couch.  Maybe I should get a haircut sometime since it was so long.

"Don't even think about it," grumbled Wang Chao. "Liu Wei is not the only one obsessed with your hair."

"You know," said Liu Yu Zeng as he looked at me with a rare, serious look on his face. "I never realized just how good you were at changing topics that you were uncomfortable with."

"I have no idea what you mean," I said returning his look. But I did. I knew that I could deflect with the best of them, it was one of the things that I picked up in foster care. If you don't dwell on the bad, then you could almost convince yourself that it never happened.

"Your stalker," he replied, speaking slowly and enunciating every syllable.

I sighed, knowing that I was not going to be able to get out of this. "I really don't know, and I don't know if I could even call him, her, it a stalker. It is just a feeling."

"Don't downplay how you feel," said Wang Chao as he gently stroked my head. "Those feelings have proved right every time."

I nodded in understanding. I needed to have more confidence in myself and in the guys around me. "I first felt it when we walked out of the second gas station. It was just like someone was staring at me, but instead of being an annoyance, it actually terrified me. Like whoever it was wanted me dead." I took a deep breath and pushed that memory to the side.

"The second time I felt it was when I was inside the base and I let my purple fame burn the dead bodies of the guards. But that time it wasn't as malevolent as it was the first time, more like curious as if it was trying to figure me out."

"Do you think that it could be whatever the people in the first gas station were talking about? Where something was killing off anyone that step out of the doors?" asked Chen Zi Han.

"I don't know. If it was, then why didn't it just kill us at the first gas station," I said, admitting that I had the very same thoughts. "And why did it follow us to the second gas station and finally back here to the base?"

"I don't know," admitted Wang Chao, his gaze off in the distance like he was trying to think something through. "But you don't leave again without all of us," he declared, his voice full of authority. "Nobody goes off on their own until we can figure this out."

"And the others?" asked Liu Wei looking at Wang Chao. He was referring to everyone else in the base.

"Step one," he said, not saying anything else.

And who was I to argue with the man?