Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"He's joking, right?" demanded Liu Yu Zeng as he pulled up to Wang Chao and took off his helmet. "You are joking, right?"

"I don't know who you are, but this is our territory. And no one goes anywhere without paying their dues," said the man holding the gun. 

"See, I told you! Taxes are nothing but robbery!" joked Liu Yu Zeng as he turned to look at the rest of the guys.

"I suggest that you put that gun down and walk away before you can't walk anymore," suggested Wang Chao, taking off his helmet. 

I watched as the man shifted his weight, and at least twenty other men poured out of the forest and surrounded us. I huffed in disappointment. Clearly, there were still too many humans around if we ran into this many after just a few hours of driving. 

I opened the door to the truck, and Chen Zi Han quickly appeared to help me down. Walking up to the leader, I ignored the lascivious looks and the cat calls. Yeah, this was the world I was more familiar with.

"Who do you belong to?" I asked as I came to a stop beside Wang Chao. 

The leader looked at me for a moment before scanning my guys. "Ourselves," he sneered, like it was the most obvious answer, and in a way, it was.

"Power users?" I asked again.

"You ask a lot of questions for someone that should be seen and not heard," he scoffed before licking his lips. "And if these men haven't taught you your place, I will be more than happy to."ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Noᴠelꜰire

I held up my hand to stop one of my men from shooting the guy in front of me. I had no idea whose 'finger would slip', but I knew that at least one of them was planning to put a bullet in the guy's head for talking to me like that. 

However, bullets would not be useful to us right now. Information, on the other hand, would be.

"So, not power users. Asymptomatic then," I mused with a nod. "A useless piece of crap that is only good as a scavenger, picking up the cast-offs of those with true power. You poor, poor man. How does it feel to know that a woman like me is stronger than you?" I continued, calling up my pink flame and letting it dance on the palm of my hand.

I watched his face go pale as he took a step back away from me. 

Realizing what he just did, he stepped forward once again, but the damage was done, and we both knew it. "Now, my man told you to walk away before you couldn't walk anymore. Unfortunately, you didn't listen." Throwing out my pink flame, I watched as it engulfed the man, his cries of pain echoing through the woods around us. 

I walked over to Cerberus and leaned against his hood, getting more comfortable to watch the show. I had purposefully chosen my pink flame because it was my weakest one. Dominance and torture were all that mattered in this new world, and I was going to start out strong.

"I'm sorry," I said, calling back my flame. The leader staggered forward a few steps but remained standing, his body covered in burns and blisters as he stared at me. "You were going to teach me my place."

"Fucking bitch," he growled, and I could see his men starting to shift back and forth, wondering what their next move should be.

"That I am. But if you think that I am the only one here with a power, then I am afraid you are very much mistaken," I answered with a smile. "Boys? If you would be so kind?"

Liu Yu Zeng smiled brightly as his mist flew to the men surrounding us, completely engulfing them before they could even scream. 

I never took my eyes off the leader as he stared at his men, literally rotting in front of his very eyes. 

"Too bad for you," I said, standing up straight and calling on my blue flame. "But at least you aren't going to be suffering any longer. That has to count for something, right?"

The leader screamed as my flames once again engulfed him, only to be quickly cut off as he turned to ashes. Huh, I guess my blue flame got stronger without me realizing it. 

Looking around, I saw that we were the only humans left standing. Nodding in satisfaction, I turned to Wang Chao. "Next time, hit them first, then negotiate, if necessary," I advised him before walking back to Cerberus and getting into the truck. Yeah, for better or worse, the world was back to normal.

----

Wang Chao and the rest of the men watched their Queen walking away from them and sighed. "We need to get done whatever brought her out here fast and then get back home," said Wang Chao. They hadn't even been out in the real world for a day, and he was already done with it. He could only guess how Li Dai Lu was feeling. 

The other three men grunted their agreement and went to their bikes. They had experienced a life that they never knew possible, and now they were anxious to get back to it. 

-----

"My Lady," said a young girl as she curtsied to the woman sitting on the couch before her. "Your dinner is ready."

Wu Bai Hee looked at the girl with a smile. "Thank you so much," she said gently. "Have you had a chance to eat yet?"

"Oh, yes, My Lady," gushed the girl. It was the dream of most girls in City A to be able to serve Lady Wu Bai Hee. She was the kind Goddess, always making sure that the citizens were looked after. It was well known that she was willing to starve in order to make sure that everyone had the ability to eat.

"That is good," she replied, standing up. "Why don't you leave early and get back to your family? The sun is still setting early, and it will be dark soon. It would devastate me if something were to happen to you."