Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Wang Chao studied the zombie Alpha in his grasp. He hadn't expected this to work as well as it had. He had been practicing his telepathic abilities one day in the mountains and accidentally discovered that he could levitate things just by thinking about it.

He lightly snorted when he remembered the outraged mountain goat when it realized that it was suspended in the air. That was the moment that Li Dai Lu's words from a long time ago echoed in his mind. She had told him that there was a wide range of powers under the umbrella of a spirit power user. 

She said that she had known some users to have control over telepathy, mind control, telekinesis, hypnosis, teleportation, levitation, vocal commands, and the ability to read minds. However, she also pointed out that she had never met a spirit user who could manipulate more than one aspect of their power.

Wang Chao was happy to be proof that people just stopped pushing themselves after realizing that they could do one thing. He was able to do all eight.

"I used to consider myself one of the weakest," said Wang Chao out loud as he pulled the zombie closer to him. He studied the being, his light purple skin with darker veins just underneath the surface. He could even see the serrated edges on his teeth as his mouth hung open, trying to bite anything that he could.

"And I will fully admit that I am," he continued, seeming to have a one-on-one conversation with his captive audience. "See, one of them can poison anyone or anything in his way."

The Alpha opened his mouth but simply ended up gasping for air. Wang Chao nodded his head in agreement. "I know it seems impossible, but he is just that good. Which really bothers me because, in my mind, that makes him the strongest. There is no limit to his gift."

Letting out a tired sigh, Wang Chao twisted his wrist, and once again, the zombie started spinning like a ballet dancer. "There is another one that just has to think about it, and people drop down dead. Like the first one, he doesn't even have to be near them, and they just die. If you can't tell, those two are bothers."

Wang Chao stopped the zombie from spinning and raised him up higher into the air. "The third one is able to leech the vitality out of a group of people, just like sipping a drink up through a straw. One moment, they are whole and healthy; the next moment, they are a shriveled husk. He controls three different elements, lucky bastard. Now, don't get me wrong, each of us has three different powers, but we tend to gravitate to only one while the other two are more of a backup."

  Flicking his wrist to the right, he watched the zombie go flying in that direction, almost crashing into a warehouse before Wang Chao stopped his momentum. A quick gesture to the left and the zombie was back in front of him, still helpless.

"Now, I am sure that this is all impressive to you, everything that I can do. However, for the most part, I can't kill people as effectively as the other three. This is what makes me weak, in my opinion. I can suggest that you fight amongst yourselves," said Wang Chao, rotating the Alpha so he could watch his horde start to fight each other with everything that they had.

"But when it comes to zombies, all this does is cause you to multiply. I can stop time," continued Wang Chao, and the horde froze. Even the limbs that were casually tossed into the air froze at his command. "But at some point in time, it goes back to the way it was."

The zombies regained their movement and continued to fight each other. "Like I said, I am weak. I can cause war and chaos, but not death," Wang Chao shook his head. He took a quick internal glance to see if keeping the zombie suspended was draining his powers too much. This was the first time he had really had access to a 'subject' as big as the zombies to test out his skills.

"And if I am the weakest link, then would my Queen still want me around? I mean, I fucked up a lot, I am still making up for all of that, but maybe if I had a different power, I could be more useful. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions?" joked Wang Chao, but only he knew how much it was killing him inside to be the weakest. 

It was no wonder War had such a massive chip on his shoulder, constantly trying to prove himself. And it was no wonder why he had to drag the other three with him. Death followed him. He was not Death.

The zombie opened his mouth, but he was still unable to say anything. 

However, Wang Chao understood. "You surrender? Yes, that is probably for the best," nodded the second Horseman. Slowly putting the zombie down, he waited for him to collect his bearings before completely letting him go.  "Mao Jing will be the one in charge of the city from now on. If you have any issues or complaints, you can go talk to him."

The Alpha nodded his head and took a few slow, unsteady steps toward Mao Jing.

"Need food," he gasped, finally finding his voice again. "Hungry."

Mao Jing nodded his head in understanding. "I will see what I can do," he grunted, his mind now racing to see what he could come up with. It wasn't that he was squeamish about throwing humans to the zombies; God knows that there are enough of them more than willing to do it in exchange, but he needed to find something sustainable. 

"We are about an hour and a half to the coast," interjected Li Dai Lu, one man on each side, as she approached the zombie and human. "Send half of your horde there to eat. The water feeds you better than humans can."

"Not our territory," growled the Alpha, not happy with that response. Wang Chao watched as his wife closed her eyes and sighed. There was a brief moment of silence before she opened her eyes again. 

"It is now. You fall under my command. Beta will be waiting for your horde at the shore and show them how to hunt underwater. Maybe they can even bring something back," she continued like it was not a big deal, but Wang Chao knew otherwise.

How much power did she wield that she could command zombies on a whim? Then again, she was Hades reborn, so that would make sense. And she wasn't even at full power yet.

"No!" growled Hao Jing Ya, storming over to where everyone else stood, no longer as fearful of the zombies as she first was. Or maybe she was so pissed that she forgot to be scared.

"Excuse me?" asked Li Dai Lu softly, and Wang Chao joined his brothers in standing behind her. 

"Mao Jing is nothing more than some rich brat that was kicked out by his father. He will never be in control of this city. This city is mine," continued Hao Jing Ya, the harmless mask on her face long crumbling away. 

"No, it's not," argued Li Dai Lu, not at all concerned about the other woman's temper tantrum. "This fight was to determine who would gain control of the city, or did you forget that small fact?"

"If that is the case, then Wang Chao needs to be the one to run it," smirked Hao Jing Ya as if Li Dai Lu fell into her trap. The poor woman had no idea who she was messing with.

"I see," nodded Li Dai Lu, taking a step toward the other woman. It took all of Wang Chao's control not to reach out and bring her back into the safety of her men. Looking beside him, he noticed that Liu Wei was having the same issue. "You want him to stay and take complete control of the city."

"He was the one that won the fight," pointed out Hao Jing Ya. She turned to look at the zombie in question as if he would back her up. Luckily for him, he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.  If it was the weak one that he was dealing with before, there was no way he wanted to see the powers of the other three men. Let alone the woman who held their leash. 

"You are right," nodded Li Dai Lu. "According to the challenge rules, Wang Chao is the new Alpha. Do you submit to him?" she continued a smile that was not a smile on her face. In fact, every male there could feel just how pissed off she was getting.

Hao Jing Ya, on the other hand, didn't seem to understand what was going on.

"And he will need me by his side to learn the ropes. City I is not like the rest of them; it will take him a while to understand the differences."