Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"The commander specifically requested that I go down with them to find the device," admitted Wang Chao, not looking too impressed. He stood up and walked back over the island. Chen Zi Han followed him and put the pot pie back in front of him.

"Any idea what the device is?" I asked as I rubbed my eyebrow in frustration. 

"It is a device that gives the user access to the weapons system on a few of our satellites," said Wang Chao, not bothering to hold anything back. Now that he understood what he just volunteered us all for, I was sure that he would be going back to the commander later and demand more answers.

"Why would they need access to those weapons? What kind of weapons would they be?" asked Liu Yu Zeng confused. Hell, even I was confused. I think that there was enough shit to deal with on Earth without bringing weapons from outer space into the mix. 

"There are five different categories of space weapons or anti-satallite (ASAT) weapons," said Liu Wei as he adjusted his glasses. "They are nuclear weapons, direct-ascent weapons, orbital systems, energy weapons, and jamming systems. There is… sorry, there was a space arms race going on between County M, County K, and Country S right before the retrovirus was introduced to the population."

"Was there nothing restricting this arms race?" asked Chen Zi Han.

"There were treaties and agreements, but they basically only banned the use of nuclear weapons as well as any weapons of mass destruction. Everything else was not really regulated," admitted Liu Wei. I was impressed with all the information stored in that man's head at any given time. I didn't even know that satellites were capable of having weapons. I thought they were only for communications and GPS. 

Shows you what I knew.

"One country even came up with fighter satellites," shrugged Liu Wei.

"And if Country K was able to install nuclear weapons on theirs?" I asked, already dreading the answer. I was pretty sure that humanity was trying to kill itself and doing a damn good job of it. First the retrovirus, then mass EMP strikes, and now a potential nuclear attack coming from our own country. 

"Then whatever weapons they managed to install up in space, they would have complete access to right now," nodded Liu Wei. The four of us turned to look at Wang Chao.

"What are your thoughts?" I asked him. He was suspiciously silent throughout the whole conversation and that was worrying me.

"I think that we… I… am being used," admitted Wang Chao after a few seconds. He opened his bottle of water and took a sip before turning his attention to me. "And I don't know what to do."

"You know, for a cold-blooded CEO, you have a soft spot the size of a country. Country K to be exact," I said with a sigh. I couldn't understand it really, I didn't have that type of loyalty to any country, and maybe that was more of a mark against me than it was against Wang Chao.I think you should take a look at

"Maybe in the future, we should just go around anyone in a military uniform. They seem to bring us bad luck," joked Liu Yu Zeng as he took a sip from the glass of whisky that I had found in my space. 

"I second that motion," I said, raising my arm straight up in the air. "All in favor?" The four men, including Wang Chao, raised their hands in agreement. "Motion passed, four yays, zero nays. After this, we will be avoiding any and all military," I joked and the men around me smiled.

However, when we heard a knock on the RV and then the handle turning, the smiles on our faces were quickly erased.  Liu Yu Zeng, our unofficial butler, went to unlock the door before letting the commander in.

"You should be more careful," said the commander as he went to the island where some fruit was sitting in a bowl on the counter. Picking up an apple, he rubbed it clean on his shirt before taking a big bite out of it. "There are a lot of zombies around here."

"I know," I said from where I was cuddled up on the couch. I handed my melting ice cream to Wang Chao and he put it back in the freezer. "But zombies are a lot less scary than humans. Don't you think?"

The commander simply looked at me and continued to eat his apple. There was nothing that I hated more than people stealing my supplies right in front of my face. With a flick of my wrist, I pulled the apple in his hand into my space and into the pig pen. At least one of them could benefit from the apple. 

"What do you want, Commander?" I asked as I looked at him. When I saw him eyeing my fruit bowl a second time, I vanished the whole thing into my space refusing to share with a man that clearly wanted one of mine dead. And even if he didn't want it, he was definately steering us in that direction.

"Where did the fruit go?" asked the commander, cocking his head to the side like the bowl was going to magically appear in front of his eyes if he just stared hard enough. I mean, if I was in a good mood, that might happen. But I was not in a good mood.

"It's gone. Now, answer my question," I snapped. It was late out and I was tired. I wanted to get this commander out of my home and get some sleep. I didn't think that that was too much to ask.

"I don't want anything from you," snapped the commander back. The poor man, it must be so hard being that stupid. Then again, we agreed to help him without knowing all the details, so maybe we were the stupid ones. I titled my head to the side as if to consider who was stupider. 

Nope, he still won.

"If you want the help of anyone in this room, I suggest you become a bit more… polite," I said with a smile as I rested my head on my hand. 

"I need to talk to Wang Chao," admitted the commander after a few minutes of silence.