Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Chen Zi Han couldn't stand the idea that Li Dai Lu would suffer from an infection or worse. The man Wang Chao had called Bin An Sha made a good point. The water they were swimming in was not the cleanest, and there is no telling the amount of bacteria that might have entered her wound.

She could heal fast, but that didn't mean that bacteria couldn't have gotten in before it healed.

"I am concerned about secondary drowning. What can you tell me about that?" he asked the other man as he began to slowly unzip the back of Li Dai Lu's wetsuit.

"Secondary drowning affects children more than it would an adult," said the man, but Chen Zi Han saw his forehead scrunched in concentration. "And that is because an adult understands the symptoms of not being able to breathe and express it better than a child."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Liu Wei, looking at Chen Zi Han in concern.

"When we were still underwater, I noticed that Princess had stopped breathing," answered the other man, and now there were five identical looks of concern on the faces of the men. "I removed the water from her lungs and then put the oxygen hose back into her mouth, but I don't want there to be any unseen issues. Especially when she is passed out like this, can can't communicate. I also don't know how long she had stopped breathing for."

"How did you manage to get the water out of her lungs while underwater?" Bin An Sha asked.

"I literally pulled the water out of her lungs until there was none left," shrugged Chen Zi Han as if it was no big deal.

Bin An Sha turned to look at the other men to see if they were having an easier time understanding what had happened than he did.

"He is famine. He literally pulled the water out of her lungs. He just wants some reassurance that he pulled the right amount out. If not, he will need to pull out more or put some in, depending on your answer," explained Liu Yu Zeng.

Chen Zi Han nodded at the explanation and then looked at the man who was examining Li Dai Lu. "Do you have any way to tell that?"

"No, why would I?" demanded Bin An Sha as he started to get frustrated. No matter how much he wished that he could just wave his hand and fix everything wrong with the woman in front of him, he just couldn't.

"Does he know?" asked Liu Wei, turning to Wang Chao. The other man shook his head.

"No, City A is locked down so tightly that the average person doesn't even know that there is an apocalypse happening outside of the gates, let alone be under enough stress to call upon their powers," said Wang Chao, somewhat concerned with the state of City A.

"And by the time the city walls crumble, they are going to lose their powers they didn't know that they had and be completely defenseless. Do you think that was the city's master plan?" mused Liu Wei with a chuckle. "Could you imagine what would have happened to us if we were still there when the gates closed?"

"I would prefer not to," answered Wang Chao with a shudder.

"How do I figure out if I have powers or not?" demanded Bin An Sha, not willing to be behind the others. They already had the advantage of knowing Li Dai Lu longer; he didn't need them to have the extra benefit of superpowers that could help her.

"You need to be under stress or follow Li Dai Lu's lessons," replied Liu Yu Zeng smugly.

"I am pretty sure that I am under stress right now," grumbled Bin An Sha, realizing that he wasn't going to get the answers that he needed from the others. It would be best to spend his time caring for the woman than to engage in the childish conversations around him.

Once the zipper was lowered, he carefully supported her right shoulder by her collarbone and tried to unpeel the wetsuit from her skin. She let out a moan of pain, and Bin An Sha could feel the head of her humerus was no longer articulated with the glenoid fossa of the scapula.

"Why did no one say that her right arm was dislocated?!?" he demanded as he turned his attention to Liu Wei, who was still holding her.

"It's dislocated?" asked Chen Zi Han, concerned. "I thought the pain was from the bullet wound."

"I don't know; I didn't see what happened. It must have occurred while we were fighting the zombies right before Beta brought her to the surface," answered Liu Wei as he tried to remember exactly what had happened in the darkness of the water. 

"Might be why Beta was trying to get her to the surface so quickly," pointed out Liu Yu Zeng. "But why hasn't it healed?"

"What do you mean, hasn't healed? Do you know how long it takes to heal from a dislocated shoulder? The pain might stop almost immediately, but then it is another 12 to 16 weeks for the muscles and tissues to recover," snapped Bin An Sha, now more determined than ever to take her away.

How could these four men possibly take care of the queen if they don't even notice something as significant as a dislocated shoulder?!

'We can take care of our Queen,' said the voice inside of his head. 'Look down deep within yourself. Find the green flame. Call it to you.'

'What the fuck are you talking about, green flame? I have other things to care about instead of finding green flames,' sneered Bin An Sha as he gently juggled removing the wetsuit with stabilizing the joint while not putting undue pressure on the bullet wound.

'The green flame will heal,' replied the voice.

'Oh yeah? I thought you were War; how can War heal?'

'You don't understand the true nature of war. Not many do, so your ignorance can be excused. But you are able to heal. Or do you not want your power?'

"Hey, Wang Chao," called out Bin An Sha as he finally managed to get Li Dai Lu's right arm out with some help from Liu Wei. "Is healing a superpower?"