Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"Now, Sweetheart," said Liu Wei as he helped me climb onto the back of Reaper. "You say that like it is a bad thing. That isn't nice. Maybe they like the feeling."

"Sorry," I said as I looked over at the commander. "I take it back. You aren't fucked."

"Much better," said Liu Wei, continuing to joke, but we both knew that they were fucked. There was no way that we would be willing to go for that long of a swim. Even if we had our own zombie bodyguards to keep the other zombies away, there were still too many things that could go wrong.

The device could either stay down at the bottom of the ocean for eternity, or I could send my new Beta after it. Either way, unless we took a boat there or something, we weren't jumping in the water.

"So, what's the new plan, because we are not spending a moment longer than necessary in the water," I said, looking between Wang Chao and the commander.

"Awe, are you scared?" asked the Fucktrumpet.

"Terrified," I said completely seriously. I think anyone with half a brain would be terrified of going into those waters right now. She either has no idea what is in there, or she has half a brain. But then again, if she was volunteering to be chum, she was more than welcome to jump in before us.

"Seriously?" she scoffed and looked at the people around her. I wasn't sure what she was attempting to do, but my coffee high was starting to diminish, and we might want a plan in place before that happened.

"Yup," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "But feel free to jump in there and prove what a big bad you are."

"I have been in that water almost every day since I was 5. There is nothing scary in there."

"Sure," I said with a nod, feeling a lot like a bubblehead. "Then, by all means, you are more than welcome to go complete your mission by yourself."

I rested my head on Liu Wei's back and waited for the menfolk to talk.

----

"If you don't have a boat, then I am afraid that there is no way for us to go," said Wang Chao, looking at Huang Nian Zu.

"You've swum longer in the past. Has retirement softened you up that much?" smirked the other man, and Wang Chao had officially had enough. This man was so quick to risk him and his family, but who the hell did he think he was?

Wang Chao put on a burst of speed and was off Ares with a hand around the commander's throat before anyone could react. There was a quick cocking of guns as the Sea Dragons brought their arms up, and at the ready, their muzzles pointed right at his head.

"Ah, ah," said Li Dai Lu, and with a flick of her wrist, all the guns had vanished into her space. "Wang Chao is simply teaching your commander. As an Admiral in the service, he does have the right to do that, right?" she continued tilting her head.

Liu Wei helped her off the bike, and the remaining four members of his family went to stand behind him, offering their support.

The soldiers were silent, not sure what to do, but Wang Chao didn't have that trouble. He dragged the more petite man down the beach and to where the ocean met the land. "Since you think it is no big deal, you spend 45 minutes in there," he snapped right before he chucked the commander into the water.

There was a giant splash, and within seconds, the commander was standing up to his thighs in the shallow water.

"What are you trying to prove, Admiral?" sneered Huang Nian Zu, using Wang Chao's old title as an almost derogatory term. But the other man was pulled into the water before Wang Chao could even open his mouth to answer him.

The men and women in his troop took a step forward and scanned the still surface of the water. "Where the fuck is he?!" demanded the woman whom Li Dai Lu had coined with the name Fucktrumpet.

"Since the water is so safe, why don't you go in and find him?" offered Li Dai Lu. The woman stepped forward, ready to do just that when one of the men grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Use your head," he growled as he pointed out to the water and the zombies that were surfacing.

"What the fuck are those?!" gasped the woman, not able to take her eyes off of the light blue head that was staring back at her. All she could see was the crown of its head and its eyes, but it was very obvious that whatever it was, it wasn't normal.

"That's not very nice of you," said Li Dai Lu, walking over to stand next to the other female. "That could have been one of your comrades."

"Not possible," replied the other woman with a shake of her head.

"If you say so." Li Dai Lu walked towards Wang Chao, coming to a stop right beside him. For a moment, the two of them just stared at the peaceful surface of the water.

"Are they going to bring him back?" he asked finally.

"I don't know. Do you want him back?" she returned, turning her head to look at him. "You have the final say."

"I don't know," admitted Wang Chao. Li Dai Lu simply shrugged her shoulders like it wasn't that big of a deal. And to her, it really wasn't.

"Then he can stay out there until you decide." Wang Chao grunted his understanding, and his woman turned around and went to lean against Chen Zi Han.

It was nice to have that type of support, thought Wang Chao as another set of footsteps approached him. Turning his head, he looked at the woman who clearly had a death wish. "Please, save him," she started. She was about to touch him when Wang Chao held up a hand to stop her.