Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"Lower your guns and toss your keys over here," said the man, clearly the leader of this group as he held his gun steady on me.

"Is there any reason why you have your gun on me rather than the boys?" I asked. I knew that there were other guns on my men, but I wanted to know why the leader was focusing on me specifically. I mean, I thought that I looked the least threatening of the group. The other two were well over six feet tall and all muscles.  Then again, it's not like you could really see the muscles under all of our layers.

The man with the gun simply stared at me, his gaze never leaving mine as he waited for the boys to do as he said. 

Good luck with that.

He jerked his gun when Chen Zi Han and Liu Yu Zeng didn't move. I let out a quiet chuckle. "Do you really think that you are the big bad with that gun?" I asked, starting to not like the fact that so many guns were on the boys.

"We have more than just guns," snarled another man coming up between the leader and the other man that had his gun trained on Liu Yu Zeng. I looked at him and watched as a small red flame appeared in his hand.

I very slowly clapped and my grin turned a bit more malevolent. "What? You have a lighter on you?" I smirked looking at his small flame. Now, I was not one to judge the size of a flame, I was very aware that even a small one could do a lot of damage, but it was clear based on the size and color that he was new to being a power user.

(Get your minds out of the gutter, please. I am actually talking about his flame and nothing else) *eye roll*

The fire user let out a growl as his temper soared, causing his flame to become bigger. The only problem was that he would not be able to keep it going for too long. I could already see a bead of sweat coming down his temple as he fought to keep his flame going.

Calling out my pink flame, I set it on the palm of my right hand and stared at the man in front of me. "I'm pretty sure that mine is bigger than his, but if you want to measure, then by all means."

I  had a theory in my past life that the particular power user that you were was dependent on your personality. Those that had earth tended to be very grounded and calm. Those with the air were more bright and cheerful while those with water abilities were always the meticulous ones.

Fire users though? We tended to be quick to temper. And I was no different.

Still at an impasse, I looked at the leader in front of me. Waving my hand, Liu Yu Zeng and Chen Zi Han put their guns away and stood up straight beside me. "They have put their guns away. Now, where are the chocolate bars? I'm in the mood for something sweet."

The leader continued to put me in his sights, never once lowering his gun or allowing the men behind him to lower theirs.

"What more do you want?" I snapped as I looked at the man in front of me.  I was quickly losing what little patience I has.

"Keys," he snapped back and I let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Not happening," I informed him. It was entirely my fault that he found out I had a working ATV, but that didn't mean that I was willing to give up what was mine.

"I can kill you and take it," replied the leader, taking the safety off.

I let out a low chuckle. I didn't respond well to threats. Maybe I should come with a warning label… cute and fuzzy until provoked… or something along those lines. With a swipe of my hand, I took their guns into my space and simply smiled.

"You were saying?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. Pushing past the men that were stunned silent, wondering where their guns has gone, I made my way to the cash register and where the chocolate bars should be.

Note I said should be… because there was not a single chocolate bar, gummy, Starburst, or gum sitting on the racks.

Well… maybe they were on a different shelf.  That could happen! There should be a whole row of chocolate things somewhere in the store.

Once again, I had to push my way between the men and women that were using this place as a sanctuary for some reason or another. Entering the aisles, I stared down the center at empty shelves.

This was definitely not going as planned. I walked towards the back of the gas station store to where all of the refrigerators and freezers were and saw a bunch of drinks, ice cream containers, and frozen meals that were no longer frozen.

I opened the fridge and grabbed any and all of the drinks that I could and made, even more, vanish into my space.

"You are taking everything!" yelled a middle-aged woman as she came rushing up to me, trying to hit me. Sliding out of the way, I looked at her in disbelief.

"And you took all the chocolate bars," I said. If she was going to complain that I had taken all of their warm drinks, then I could just as easily complain about the lack of chocolate bars, or chips, or….Cheese puffs…mmmmm…. Cheese puffs.

I wonder if they were even a thing here since I have yet to find a bag of those orange yummies.

My brain focused on the snacks I may or may not be missing out on, I didn't see her nails until it was almost too late.

Leaning away from her, I felt the rush of air brush past me and saw her coffin-style nails millimeters from my face.

"That was uncalled for," I grumbled at the woman as I put all of the drinks into my space. And if I did it right, they should have gone directly into the fridge to hopefully cool down.

Meh, if they were still warm, there was enough outside snow to make a fridge out of.

"Those were ours!" she screeched, just as an older man came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her back.

"You are right," I said with a bright smile on my face, "Those were yours, but now? They are mine."

I walked through the crowd again, this time I didn't need to push past anyone, they parted like the red seas.

"Do you guys have Cheese puffs?" I asked, looking at my guys.

"Sorry, Princess. Never heard of them," said Chen Zi Han, breaking the bad news to me.  I will admit, a small part of me died when he said that.

"Oh," I grumbled,  looking down at the ground in disappointment. "Ready to find another place?"

"Do you ever read a room?" asked Liu Yu Zeng, a surprised look on his face.

"Sometimes," I admitted. "But when you are the scariest one in a room, is there any need to read it?"

"You really think you are the scariest thing around?" someone scoffed from the middle of the crowd.

"No," I assured them. "Not the scariest thing around, just the scariest thing in this room."

I opened the doors to leave when an unfamiliar hand grabbed my arm.  Before I could even turn around to take a swing at the person, Chen Zi Han had the man pinned to the floor and cut off his air supply before I could say a word. "You do not touch," snarled Liu Yu Zeng as he crouched down beside the man. "Do you understand?"

The man nodded as he gasped for breath, his face turning from red to purple as Chen Zi Han held him down. "Danger," gasped the man, looking between me and Liu Yu Zeng. "Danger, outside."

"Let him up," I said to Chen Zi Han. He pulled the other man to his feet but refused to let go. Instead, he moved and put the other man into an armbar where if he struggled too much, he would end up breaking his own arm.

"What did you say?" I asked as I approached the man in front of me. He was practically folded in two as he tried to relieve some of the pressure from his joints.

"You can't go outside. There is something that—" the man couldn't finish before the leader who originally held the gun to my head stepped forward.

"What he is trying to say, if you would just let him go, is that there is something out there that is eating people. We've been trapped here for a month, but every time someone moves to leave, the… thing… would attack."

Liu Yu Zeng and Chen Zi Han looked at me for confirmation. "Meh," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "I guess I really am the scariest thing in this room." Turning back around, I stepped out of the door and into the blistering cold.