Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Liu Wei was decidedly unimpressed with Zhao Jia Li's early morning interruption. It wasn't as if he was getting as good of a sleep as his brother, but it was still something.  Waking up to her incessant banging had just managed to give him a headache. 

"You guys were supposed to be downstairs an hour ago for assignments," said Zhao Jia Li as she continued to look around for Wang Chao.

Liu Wei raised an eyebrow to look at the woman in front of him. "Assignments?" He knew what she was talking about. During his time in the military, there were all sorts of assignments, but they were now civilians, for all intents and purposes, so what fucking assignments?

"Yes," she nodded like some Captain had the ability to order around a retired Major or a retired General for that reason. "You and Wang Chao are supposed to join my group in the training gym to help us figure out our powers."

Liu Wei looked at her like she was speaking a different language. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked. He was pretty sure that the woman in front of him had a screw loose or something.

"You and Wang Chao are going to teach me, my team, and the rest of the people here how to access any superpowers we might have," said Zhao Jia Li with a smile on her face.

"And the rest of my team?" asked Liu Wei, crossing his arms, and leaning against the door frame.

"What about them?" she replied, confused as to why he was bringing up unrelated people. "I am sure that the Rear Admiral has plans for them," she said, waving her hand in the air like it was not an important matter.

Raising his eyebrow he turned to look at Huang Xiu Yan who was waiting quietly behind her Captain. "Do you have any ideas?" he asked letting her feel the full force of his stare.

"According to rule 24 (f), nonmilitary personnel cannot attend military training due to its specific nature. Therefore, Li Dai Lu, Liu Yu Zeng, and Chen Zi Han are to go out and collect supplies on their own until such a time that all military training has been completed," said Huang Xiu Yan, coming to attention under Liu Wei's gaze.

He let out a low chuckle and promptly slammed the door in the face of the two women.  He might not hate Huang Xiu Yan as much as Zhao Jia Li, but neither one was Li Dai Lu and so he really didn't care what they thought.

There was maybe a two-second pause before the pounding resumed. Unconcerned, Liu Wei made his way back over to the couch where Li Dai Lu had fallen back asleep on top of his younger brother. "Comfortable?" he sneered as Li Dai Lu stirred with the constant knocking.

"Jealousy is not an attractive look on you, brother," smiled Liu Yu Zeng, one of his arms behind his head and the second one wrapped possessively around Li Dai Lu, preventing her from rolling off of him and onto the floor.

Liu Wei simply smiled, admitting that he wished that he was the one that she used as a mattress, but he also knew that his time would come. This was not a sprint where the first one automatically won, this was a marathon, and the only winner would be his Queen.

"What the fuck is that noise?" demanded Wang Chao as he came out of his room. His own grey sweatpants were riding low, showing off his 8-pack and Adonis belt. Unfortunately for him, the one that he wanted to impress was still very much asleep. And he knew that waking her up would have the opposite effect.

"Your girlfriend," smiled Liu Wei as he brushed a strand of hair off of Li Dai Lu's face.

"Funny, I'm pretty sure that she is currently asleep, and so, not banging on the door hard enough to wake the dead," said Wang Chao, his expression and his voice monotoned, and completely unimpressed.

Liu Yu Zeng gently chuckled, not willing to disturb the sleeping beauty on him, but also not able to refrain from laughing.  "Is there something funny?" asked Wang Chao, turning from Li Dai Lu to Liu Yu Zeng.

"Considering the fact that the dead have indeed awakened, I think you need a new expression," said Liu Yu Zeng with a smile on his face.

"Noted," deadpanned Wang Chao as he moved to go answer the door.

"If you want to stay in our little group, I suggest you put on a shirt," said Liu Wei with a smirk.  "Li Dai Lu doesn't like the idea of anyone else seeing what is hers."

"She told you that?" asked Wang Chao with a smile of his own.

"Not in so many words… more of an order for me to go put on a shirt if I was going to answer the door," smiled Liu Wei as he recalled her expression, partly pissed and partly sleepy.

Wang Chao turned around and went back into his room without another word. Taking a few minutes, he returned to the living room, fully dressed. Seeing the Liu Brothers with Li Dai Lu, he went to the door to see who it was.  At least, at the end of the day, he knew that the brothers would protect their queen from anyone dumb enough to cause her harm.

Opening the door, he quickly got out of the way before the hand of the intruder could hit him instead of the door. "Wang Chao!" gasped Zhao Jia Li as she quickly retracted her hand. "Sorry! I didn't realize that it was you."

"You didn't know it was me? This is my room, who else would it be?" said Wang Chao looking at her like she was crazy.

"I know this is your room," she stammered with a blush. "But Liu Wei opened the door the first time, so I could only assume that he was sharing a room with you."

"Liu Wei opened the door?" Wang Chao asked, looking over his shoulder at the man in question. Liu Wei nodded his head but continued to stare at Li Dai Lu as she slept.

"And yet you kept knocking even after he closed the door in your face?" Wang Chao seemed confused, as to why she persisted in knocking when she must have already delivered the message.

"Well," said Zhou Jia Li as she looked around for an excuse. "I told him that you and he had to report an hour ago for an assignment," she started, changing her approach.

"What assignment?"

"You are to teach the different teams today how to access and use their superpowers," came the confident reply. "It was the Rear Admiral's order," she continued as if that made all the difference in the world.

Wang Chao nodded his head and crossed his arms across his chest as he stared at the woman in front of him.  If that were the case, then Liu Wei would have rounded everyone up and not continued to stare at Li Dai Lu like a creepy stalker. There must be something more going on.

"Just me and him?" he asked, tilting his head to look at the girl behind her captain.  Seeing Huang Xiu Yan nodding her head, he began to understand where this was going.

"What about the others?" he demanded, his gaze never leaving the second girl.

She nervously cleared her throat.  As much as she had been hanging out with Li Dai Lu, she was not as comfortable around the guys as she was with her. "According to protocol, nonmilitary members cannot see or have access to our training, so the Rear Admiral has proposed that they go out and collect supplies."

Wang Chao let out a bark of surprised laughter. "So, Li Dai Lu, Liu Yu Zeng, and Chen Zi Han are to go out and collect supplies?" When Huang Xiu Yan nodded her head, he continued, "What team was going to go with them?"

She looked down at the floor, a light blush turned her cheeks a pinkish color. "No others, just the three of them. The rest were to attend the training."

Wang Chao frowned and nodded his head that he understood.  Not willing to wait around, Huang Xiu Yan quickly left the hallway to return to the training room where everyone was waiting for the youngest General in Country K's history.

"Wang—" Zhao Jia Li started, only to be cut off by a door slamming in her face for the second time in less than 15 minutes.

Wang Chao looked at the men assembled in the living room, each taking up position around Li Dai Lu as if she was the sun and they were helpless to resist her gravitational pull.

"Well?" Wang Chao asked as he found his own position within her orbit.

Liu Wei simply let out a sarcastic laugh as he played with a strand of black hair that hung over the couch.  He had positioned himself quite comfortably on the floor while leaning against the couch. This way, he was within easy arm's reach in case Zhou Jia Li managed to worm her way into the apartment.

"Do we even count as still being part of the military? I mean, I am pretty sure that my service record shows that I am retired," pointed out Liu Wei as he stared down at the silken strands that slipped between his fingers like water.

"That was so we could investigate General Heung and the Blood Moon Organization," said Wang Chao as he waved his hand.

"And yet, we are still honorably discharged," smiled Liu Wei. "Besides, what military?" he asked, his own eyebrow raised in challenge.

Wang Chao could only grunt in agreement.