Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Bin An Sha looked at the four men who seemed to be standing around him lazily, waiting for the zombies to come. He understood psychologically that once you became used to doing something, it no longer seemed like the dauntless task it was when you first started, but this was being a bit ridiculous.

"You are just going to wait?" asked Bin An Sha softly as he approached Wang Chao. He had a sudden urge to slide his knife through the other man's ribs a few times but forced himself to remain still. At the end of the day, he couldn't be that obvious.

"Meh, they'll come to us, or they'll run away. But one of the first lessons that Li Dai Lu taught us was not to go looking for a fight," shrugged Wang Chao as if it didn't really matter. However, he could feel the bloodlust coming off the man. Who it was directed to, though, was anyone's guess.

"Why not?" asked Bin An Sha, his head cocked to the side, curious.

"Because unless you are completely confident that you are going to win, it is a great way to die. It's okay; you just go fight however you want. We'll stay here and make sure your heart is still beating at the end of the day," said Liu Wei, placing his hand on the other man's shoulder.

Bin An Sha looked around, trying to figure out what the catch was. Not finding an obvious one, he nodded his head. Turning around to look at the zombies, he tried to find a good target.

They all looked the same, all of them were emaciated, they all moved in the same manner, and their heads were the same size. In fact, there was no way to even identify who they were before they transformed except for the scraps of clothes handing off their bodies.

Realizing that he was not going to be able to pick off targets one by one, he rushed into the front line, depending on his speed and accuracy to make the kills.

To say things didn't go as planned was a gross understatement.

He rushed up to the seemingly male zombie in front of him as fast as he could, bringing the knife in his right hand up to make the first slash across the target's neck. However, the target moved at the last possible second, allowing Bin An Sha's knife to sail by the neck harmlessly while exposing his right ribs.

The zombie's hit impacted his ribs with a brutal force, causing the air to rush from his lungs as at least one rib snapped from the pressure.

Stumbling backward, he quickly re-sheathed his left knife and clutched his right side. The zombie approached with measured steps, the creepy smile on its face reminding Bin An Sha of a fun house he once saw filled with clowns.

Almost as if time slowed down, Bin An Sha watched as the zombie reached out to grab his neck, his black claws extended toward his fragile skin. The sun seemed to glitter off the surface like light glittered off the surface of a diamond or quarts.

He struggled to take in a breath, knowing that with his broken rib, he was a sitting duck, not able to move nearly as agilely as he could before. 'Heal yourself, you fucktard,' growled the voice inside of his head, startling him out of his own morbid thoughts.

Calling on the green flame, he forced it into his side and took in a large gulp of air just in time to duck under the claw and come up with a knife strike of his own. His knife sunk in between the fifth and sixth ribs, piercing the creature's lungs as he aimed it upward toward the heart.

Relaxing for a second, thinking that he had a kill shot, he was unprepared for the scream of the zombie and the backhand that sent him flying into the air, his knife still in his hand.

"How is it working out for you?" asked Liu Yu Zeng as he came to crouch down beside the wounded man. "I saw that you could heal yourself. That is going to be a great benefit against creatures that can also heal themselves. It will be like a fight that never ends. Oh, wait, you will get tired much faster than the zombie, so I guess the fight will still end somewhat quickly."

Bin An Sha looked up at the man who was smiling down at him, a sneer on his face. "Li Dai Lu made this look easy," he said, justifying his behavior.

"Yeah, she is pretty phenomenal like that," answered Liu Yu Zeng as he nodded his head in agreement. "However, this is her second time in a zombie apocalypse, so it stands to reason why she is so good. All of us mere mortals can only hope to live up to her standards."

The zombie rushed to approach the two men. The one on the ground had the most delicious smell coming from him, while the other one simply looked over his shoulder, bored. It wasn't until the last possible second that the zombie noticed the black smoke coming from the second man. By then, it was too late.

"If I can offer you a suggestion?" smiled Liu Yu Zeng as he stood up. There was a light gust of wind, and once again, it took away the ashes left by the zombie. "They can smell your fear. Makes you tastier. Try to suppress it if you want to live longer. However, if you are trying to die, there are a lot easier ways to go about doing that. Like standing between me and my woman."

With those parting words, Liu Yu Zeng left Bin An Sha to his own devices. Whether he lived or died depended on how smart he was and how long Li Dai Lu wanted to keep him around. Personally, Liu Yu Zeng had lived in the underworld long enough to know not to keep a snake at your back. You never knew when you would wake up dead.