Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



Between the three of us, there was enough of an opening that I could see a section of the zombie's burning soul completely exposed to me. "Enough!" I shouted in my mind. "Get over here!"

Instead of the light grasp that I needed on every other flame that I called to me, I pictured gripping it in my hand like the zombie had me gripped by my ankle and pulled it to me as hard as I could.

The flame shot down the path that Chen Zi Han, Liu Yu Zeng, and I had created until I could hold it in the palm of my hand. I looked down at the small trembling fire and I wondered how this tiny thing could have given us so much trouble.

I called back a part of my purple flame and allowed it to consume the light blue one. Feeling a renewed strength coursing through my body, I let out a sigh of relief. The zombie was dead. We were not.

My vision returned to normal just in time to see the jaws of a massive shark gaping open in front of me.

I forgot about the actual fucking sharks!

Through pure fear, I punched the shark in the nose, remembering that it was one of the most sensitive parts of its body. Thank you, Shark Week!

Mind you, seeing as the nose was at the very tip of a mouth with hundreds of sharp teeth, I didn't really think that punching them in the nose would have been the first thing tried when trying to deter such a big fish. I was willing to bet that there was a lot of trial and error on that one.

I blinked back into my space for a second, frantically trying to get to my first aid kit in the kitchen. Pulling it out from under the kitchen sink, I placed it on the kitchen table. I sat down and pulled up my mangled wetsuit leg, only to find that there were no injuries anymore.

I didn't know if it was because of my weird ability to heal quickly, or if it came from consuming the soul of the zombie, but either way, I was happy to no longer be the dinner bell bringing in the sharks.

My milkshakes were more than welcome to bring all my boys to the yard, but I drew the line at my blood.

I had a weird obsession with keeping it inside of me at all times.

I know, weird, right?

But now that I realized that I was healed, I blinked back into the water, taking a second to appreciate how normal this was becoming for me. I would like to take this second to say that while I might not be freaking out as much about going back underwater, in no way, shape, or form would I be willing to do this if my men weren't there too.

I have not converted to loving the water.

Anyway, the shark that I had punched had swum off, leaving a blessedly empty space in front of us. But, as with everything in my life right now, there were good things and bad things.

The good thing was that the three of us, working together, managed to kill a single zombie. The bad part? I had no idea how many zombies hid in the darkness right now.

The good news was that since we were on the bottom of the ocean floor, I knew which way was up. The bad part? I didn't know which direction we needed to go in in order to make it back to the shore.

The good news was that I had Chen Zi Han and Liu Yu Zeng beside me. The bad news? I didn't know where the other two were.

See, I was being more positive by looking at all the good things in my life right now. I am sure Wang Chao would be proud.

I grabbed the hands of my two men and pulled them back into my space with me. As soon as we appeared in the field, I called Wang Chao and Liu Wei into my space. They collapsed panting onto the ground, blood running from their arms and legs.

"You know it will be fine, right?" I said as I crouched down to be beside his head. Apparently, I was holding a grudge after he said that to me at the kitchen table.

The man in question looked up at me as he continued to pant. "I'm alive, aren't I?"

"You are," I said, nodding my head in agreement. I had to give it to him. He was alive. But I was also wondering what his state would have been if I hadn't taken him into my space.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking at Liu Wei.

"I will be," he said with a half smile. "But those things are fucking hard to kill."

I sat there, stunned, as I looked at him. I think this was actually the first time that I had ever heard him swear. That couldn't be right, right?

"What about you guys?" asked Wang Chao as he slowly sat up and looked at the three of us.

"Holding hands worked," reported Chen Zi Han as he sat down in the grass. "We went back to where Li Dai Lu was being held by the zombie." He paused for a second and shuddered at whatever was going on in his head. "It was not … easy," he continued, as stoic as before.

"I don't think our powers work on them as they do for the zombies on land," added Liu Yu Zeng as he went to go sit down beside his brother.

"They do," I said hesitantly. "But where there is nothing but a flame inside the zombies that we are used to, in this one, there was water surrounding the flame." I tried to think of the best way to be able to describe what I saw. "It was almost as if the water was acting like a protective barrier. Like when my fire caused some of the water to evaporate, more water would rush in, returning it to its normal levels."