Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



As soon as the five of us passed through the door, it slammed closed behind us.

Letting out a completely calm and intimidating yelp, I spun around and tried to open the door. I frantically ran my hands up and down each side trying to find a handle or bar that would allow me to open the door, but there was nothing. I banged on it a few times and still nothing.

I turned to look at the men, my eyes wide. The only thing that could possibly make this worse was if we were in a basement. The men all looked calm and composed, but at this point, I was ready to kill them for not freaking out…. Not like I was freaking out… Not at all….

The men were looking around the room using the sole light in the upper right-hand corner as a way of making things out. But there was actually nothing to make out. The room that we had entered was maybe 10 feet by 10 feet with metal walls and a metal floor. There was no furniture, no signs on the walls, Hell, there wasn't even a light switch for the light.

I was about to open my mouth when the floor gave out under our feet. 

Okay, so that might be a bit dramatic, but I was not in the mood to be rational. I jumped onto the nearest man who happened to be Liu Yu Zeng and smacked him upside the head when he started to chuckle. "It's an elevator, Sweetness," he said as he held me to his chest.

Have you ever been the only person in a room that was scared or upset and no one else was? Instead of it being a comfort, like 'Maybe there is nothing to be scared about if they aren't scared' you get pissed at them for not having the same level of panic as you. Yeah, that was me right now.

They seemed to be completely fine going into the basement of a strange military base in the middle (okay, beginning) of an apocalypse with no exit in sight. Meanwhile, I was ready to crawl out of my skin to be anywhere else but here. This just goes to show that you should always use your common sense. It is there for a reason.

My common sense said "Don't go in there," did I listen? No! Where am I now? No fricking clue!

The elevator seemed to take forever to get to wherever it was supposed to go. Since none of us pressed a button (I didn't press a button when I was trying to find a way to open the door… right?!?), I could only assume that we were going to the only floor possible. My issue was that we were still going down, so how far down were we going?

"Most studies point to an EMP being ineffective more than 35 feet underground," said Wang Chao out of the middle of nowhere. I really didn't care about that. Pausing for a second, I thought about his words. If anything below 35 feet from ground level was fine, then this elevator must be taking us down at least that much.

Now, I knew that I didn't like basements. That was a given. But I could go into them. However, the idea that I was going down 35 feet was enough to send me into a full-blown panic attack. I mean, there was no way we could make it out if this whole thing collapsed on top of us.

"It won't," said Wang Chao. Now, I was sure that he was trying to be reassuring, but this was not the time to be calm and rational. Especially around me.

"And how do you know it won't?" I asked, still clinging to Liu Yu Zeng as if he was a tree.

"This entire building is built using a special concrete with steel reinforcement. It is another reason why it was able to withstand the brunt of the EMP," said Wang Chao using logic against someone that was too wound up to be useful.

"And do you know what is going to be waiting for us when those doors open?" I asked as I turned to look at him. "I mean, what are they doing that they need an EMP-proof base in the middle of a forest, in an area of the country with a relatively low population? Did you ever think of that?" I demanded. At least my anger was cutting through some of my fear.

When the four men were silent I realized that they didn't completely understand. "Governments are not the most forthcoming of entities. After all, it was the government from Country M that thought it would be a fun idea to genetically mutate its soldiers. It was the government from Country K and probably every other country in this world that thought it would be a good idea to follow in those footsteps. Do you really think that a base like this is not doing something itself that the public shouldn't know about?"

I took a breath, a bit worried that I was not making sense. "All I mean is that we have no idea how to get back to the surface level let alone no way of getting out of this building. We are completely trapped and the only thing that is keeping us somewhat safe is the metal door, and we have no control when that door opens.  So, what is your suggestion?"

"This is not a science complex," said Wang Chao as he took my face in his hands. He looked deep into my eyes and I could feel his sincerity. "If I thought that there was any way that you would be in danger, I would not have let you enter. Please, trust me."

I nodded my head. I trusted him just as I trusted all of my boys. But that didn't mean that I trusted the rest of the world.

I took a deep breath and climbed down from Liu Yu Zeng. If we needed to fight, he would need his hands. There might not be anything when the doors opened, but on that same token, there might be an army. Either way, I wanted to be prepared.