Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



With every thought that passed through Liu Wei's head, he got more and more worried. He really didn't know where he stood with Li Dai Lu. Sure, she liked to cuddle with him and accepted his kisses, his hugs, and his touches, but what did that actually mean?

The more he tried to work things out, the tighter his chest became until he felt like he couldn't take a breath.

'You really wonder what her feelings are?' asked Wang Chao in his head. Liu Wei turned to look at the man in the front seat, his eyes wide and wild.

'Not all of us can read her mind,' he snapped back. Yes, he was jealous of his brother for being claimed by her. Yes, he was jealous of Wang Chao for always knowing what was on her mind. And yes, he was even jealous of Chen Zi Han for being able to sleep with her last night.

'You don't have to,' the other man said as he looked back at his best friend. 'Who did she trust to throw her? Who did she go to first when she needed help? Who is she currently sleeping on?'

'Me,' admitted Liu Wei. 'But she hasn't licked me yet,' he added, hating how weak he sounded and for such a stupid reason.

'You haven't licked her either, is she not yours?' came the response, a slight smirk in the voice.

That caused Liu Wei to freeze for a second. It was true, it's not like he had licked her yet. 'Why did she lick you?' he said, catching Wang Chao off guard.

'Because she was worried that I would go to Zhao Jia Li and be her 'male lead' as she calls it,' said Wang Chao. Both men let out a low scoff at that idea. But it did give Liu Wei an interesting insight.

'So she is just as confused as the rest of us?'

'Pretty much. But her fear that we are going to up and leave her is much stronger than even your fear,' admitted Wang Chao. He didn't want to betray Li Dai Lu, after all, he only knew this because he could read her mind, but at the same time, he wanted his friend to know where he stood too.

This relationship was strange and confusing, and all five of them were simply stumbling around in the dark trying to figure things out. But at the end of the day, Wang Chao would much rather share her with the men that he considered brothers than watch her walk away and choose someone else.

And he knew that the others felt the same way as well.

'Understood,' replied Liu Wei as he turned his attention back to the woman in his arms. And he did understand. No one was perfect and every relationship was different. Thiers might be a bit more different than most, but he was not going to let the thoughts of others, or even himself, ruin a future with her.

Feeling more secure, he leaned his head back in his seat and closed his eyes as well. He might not be able to sleep with her tonight, but he could nap with her right now… and that was enough.

---

I woke up just as Liu Yu Zeng was lifting me up and out of the SUV. My mind still in a daze I looked at him, blinking slowly to try and get the sleep out of my eyes. When I heard his chuckle and we were moving, I realized that I had blinked a bit too long and had dozed off again.

"Sorry," I murmured, not sure why I was feeling so tired all of the time.

"It's all good, Sweetness," he cooed as he lifted me higher in his arms so that he could go up the steps with me easier.

"I am pretty sure I can walk," I offered, still not willing to open my eyes and leave his arms. I licked him and he licked me, that was the end of it as far as I was concerned.

"Pretty sure you could too," he agreed, "But since I am not letting you, why don't you just shut up and go back to sleep."

"What about the SUV?" I asked, worried that it would be left in the middle of the street.

"Wang Chao has it parked in the underground parking. It will be fine. Plus, it blends in nicely with all the other black SUVs down there."

I rolled my eyes. Yes, I knew that getting a black SUV was more than a little… standard… but at the same time, I didn't want to stand out, because standing out could get you killed. I ignored the man carrying me and simply rested my head on his chest, not waking to make things difficult for him.

After all, he was the one climbing up God only knew how many stairs.I think you should take a look at

"When we bought this place, we didn't take into account a zombie apocalypse or an EMP," said Wang Chao from somewhere ahead of us.

"Well now, don't you feel silly for not planning ahead," I snipped, a grin on my face.

"Yes, Sweetheart, in the future we will plan for everything, including alien invasions and the world returning to normal," said Liu Wei from behind us.  I looked over Liu Yu Zeng's shoulder and smiled at the man.

Then I paused. I was missing one. "Chen Zi Han?" I yelled, letting my voice echo through the stairwell. I didn't really care about zombies or anything else right now. I just needed to know where he was.

"Yes, Princess?" he yelled back, sticking his head over the railing so I could see him a few flights of stairs ahead of us.

"Nothing! Just making sure you were there," I said as if my heart rate hadn't sped up.

"I'm always here, Princess, even when you don't see me," he assured me before taking his head back and continuing up the stairs. I smiled at that thought. I am sure to some that might come out creepy or stalkerish, but as far as I was concerned, he was more than welcome to go full-blown stalker on me. At least that way I knew he was always around and always had me on his mind. 

What can I say? I am territorial and it is almost to the point with these men that if they are not territorial in return I might take offense to it. I mean, they didn't have to worry about one another, but they were more than welcome to kill, torture, or otherwise maim any other men that came near me.

I know I would do the same to any woman.

Huh, maybe Liu Yu Zeng wasn't the only psychopath in our little group. Or was it sociopath? I always got the two mixed up.

"You are born a psychopath, the environment creates a sociopath," said Wang Chao, reading my mind.

Well, I guess you learn something new every day. That still didn't answer if I was a psychopath for being willing to cut anyone into ribbons with my own hand for going near my men or a sociopath, but either way… I was pretty sure it wasn't normal.

"We define what's normal," continued Wang Chao as if he was having a conversation with me instead of just interrupting my thoughts. Rude much.

"Not rude, I can't interrupt a conversation that you are having with yourself, that doesn't make sense." I debated whether or not I wanted to open my eyes to glare at the man, but I decided that I was happy where I was and I was not going to bother with the man.

I did open one eye to glare at him, but since his back was turned, I don't think that it had the effect I wanted it to.

"Movie tonight?" I asked when a few minutes of silence had passed.

"Sure," said Liu Yu Zeng as he looked down at me. "Are you sure you are up for it?"

"Yeah, I tend to be more nocturnal than diurnal, not to mention that the snow makes me want to hibernate until spring," I said, not really caring one way or another. I was much happier to sleep when the sun came out, but unless one of the boys were with me, I never had that great of sleep at night.

"Sound good to me. What do you think? Action or horror? I know, I saw a horror movie about a clown, should we watch that?" asked Liu Yu Zeng smiling.

"Try it and you will be sleeping by yourself for a month," I said shuddering at the very idea of a clown. As far as I was concerned, there was nothing more creepy, or terrifying than a clown. Even when they didn't star in their own horror movies, those things terrified me.

I remember I was a kid when one of my foster families took me to a parade. There was a whole lineup of clowns walking down the street waving, and one approached me. It said that it was one of my friend's mom, but I was convinced that the clown had eaten the mom and was talking to me out of her mouth. Kind of like the wolf did in Little Red Riding Hood.

Nothing anyone did or said could convince me otherwise and I even refused to go over to their house after thinking that even if the mother looked normal, it was in fact still a clown in disguise.

I heard Wang Chao's laughter echoing through the stairwell. It was a full belly laugh that I had never heard from the serious C.E.O. before.

Fucking mind readers.