Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



If Wang Chao was asking me to give them a chance, then I would. But I would do it in my own way and on my own terms. 

"I understand that you guys have probably been a team for a long time, and, while I can appreciate it, I care more about you as individuals. Therefore, I don't guarantee that I will want to keep you all. It is up to you to prove that you belong here."

"May I ask what benefit there is to staying with you versus going off on our own as a team?" asked the man in the middle and I have to admit, I was impressed with his question. If he was so desperate that he was willing to join us no matter what, then I would have some concerns.

"Good question," I said nodding my head, but completely ignoring it. They would learn the benefit of being with us in due time. "What's your name?"

"Cao Mu Chen," he said as he took a step forward.

"Are you the new captain?" I asked looking between all of the men. I knew that Li Yi Ming was the original captain, but he was clearly no longer here.

"I am," he said as he continued to look forward, but not actually at me. I didn't know if I should take offense to that or not. I understood that this might be a practice in the military, and after being around the zombies for so long, I knew that it was a sign of respect, but still…

"Are you trying to insult me by not looking at me or are you trying to be differential to me? Or are you not willing to look at me because of Wang Chao?" I needed to know the answer to this because it could become a big deal in the future. If he recognized me as a leader, then that was fine, but if he was doing it in order to not insult Wang Chao by looking at something that was 'his'… we would have issues.

Poor Cao Mu Chen looked startled and his eyes widened as he turned his gaze to look at me. "No disrespect intended, Ma'am."

And that too would have to come to a quick stop. "You are no longer in the military," I said as I looked at him seriously. "You do not need to call me Ma'am. Your choices are Head, Boss, or Li Dai Lu. Do you understand?"

  I saw Cao Mu Chen briefly look over at Wang Chao and my eyes narrowed. Before Wang Chao could so much as twitch, Cao Mu Chen turned his attention back to me. "I will try to call you Boss, but Ma'am might slip out," he admitted. I smiled at his statement.

"At least you are honest," I said. "Now, what is your specialization?" I asked, tilting my head to the side and staring at the new Captain.

"My specializations are in leadership, cold weapons, and hand-to-hand combat," he said, coming to attention. Nodding my head in approval, I continued. "How are you with swords?" My question seemed to startle him and he flinched slightly.

"The military does not train us in using swords as part of active combat," he said, skirting the issue.

"Not what I asked," I said simply as I continued to stare at him, taking in every expression and micro-expression that he showed.

I didn't do this type of interrogation when I was letting people into my compound before, and it was a mistake that I would not be repeating at any time in the near future.

"I am… good at them," he confessed. Not the answer I was looking for.

"Look," I said as I stared at him in the eyes. "This is going to be nothing like your old life, do you understand? So if you think that you get points for being modest, you are sorely mistaken. If you are good at something, say it. If you are not, tell me now. We are going to hash everything out right now because if I find you were holding something back or not admitting to something… well, Liu Wei won't be the one to hunt you down and kill you. Am I clear?"

"I am one of the best swordsmen in my class at the academy and I studied it extensively in private," he said, sticking his chest out. "I have yet to come across anyone better than me with it."

"What is your weapon of choice if you could choose any of them?" I asked.

"Katana," was his instant reply. I nodded my head and took out an unused katana from my space. It was a good thing that I bought every sword I could find both in person and online because otherwise, I would be running out of them really fast.

I pointed to the right and, once he had gone to stand behind Wang Chao, I turned my attention to the next man in the center of the line. Pointing to him, he took a few steps forward and snapped to attention.

"Were you paying attention?" I asked as I raised my eyebrow.

"Yes, Boss!" came his reply. It looked like he was going to salute, but stopped himself just in time before his intention became obvious.

"Good," I said. "What is your specialty?"

"Communications, technology, and hot weapons," he said before looking somewhat downcast. "But it's not like we have much in the way of communications or technology right now," he continued before lifting his head again and looking at me.

"Can you define communications and technology?" I asked. I mean, he would be seriously good to have if I could put him on the solar panels and the like. Not to mention all the other plans that I had for the future of this building.

"I kept all of our communications equipment in order, both personally and in correlation to work. I was also the hacker of the group. Not only that, I could build anything that was needed, as long as I had the parts for it. And even then, I could make do with what was on hand."

"How are you with hardware?" I asked, my eyebrows lifted. This man might just be perfect for what I want to get done.

"Good," he replied. "But everything is pretty much fried right now."

"Sure," I said, waving my hand. My mind was already spinning on how I could make use of this man. "What is your name?"

"Jiang Ming Tao." Nodding my head as I tried to figure out how I was going to remember all these names, I tilted my head to the right. I was not going to give him a cold weapon simply because what I had planned for him meant that he would not be seeing much combat from now on.  Hopefully, he would be okay with that.

I looked at the lineup and picked someone at random. "You," I said as I pointed to the man on the far left of the line. He was so big that he might actually give my guys a run for their money. I heard Wang Chao let out a soft sound of protest at that thought, but I only smiled in response.

When the man stepped forward, I didn't even need to open my mouth to ask anything. "Feng Dong Yang. Specializations are hot weapons, cold weapons, and hand-to-hand combat. Although I am not as good with the sword as Mu Chen, I can hold my own." he said coming to attention. I smiled at his response.

"All muscles, huh?" I gently teased him.

"I prefer to leave the planning to the smart ones," he said showing a boyish grin that took years off his appearance. He tilted his head to Cao Mu Chen and Jiang Ming Tao to indicate who he meant as the brains of the team.

With his good-natured response, I let out a bark of laughter. Honestly, I didn't know if he would be insulted by my comment or have a quick reply. I was glad that it was the second one. I pointed my finger at him and then to the right to let him know that he also passed my test.

I went through everyone one by one until there was only one person standing by themselves in front of me. All the other members of his team were on the right as Wang Chao was right, they would be useful in the kingdom I was building myself.

I raised my eyebrow at the man. He was smaller than all of his teammates, but he was still a hulking monster compared to me. "And last, but not least," I said to him, waiting for him to introduce himself. I was a bit surprised when he looked at me nervously looked at me and then at the ground.

Cao Mu Chen came out of his line to stand beside his teammate. "Sorry, Boss, he doesn't really talk much," he said apologizing. I simply looked at the two men now standing before me, wondering where they were going with this. They clearly knew what I was expecting, seven people passed, Cao Mu Chen being the first one, and yet, neither one spoke after the brief apology.

I raised an eyebrow. "Name?"  The sound of my voice startled the two in front of me, like after hearing that the last one didn't talk, I would not be willing to have him stay here. I mean, he was put on this team in the first place. He had to have some skills.

"Jin Si Cong," said Cao Mu Chen as he looked at me, a fierce expression crossed his face like he was willing to risk everything for the man beside him.