Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm

The guys moved onto the ranch and into my house on October 5th, 2120 and I was ready to kill them by October 6th. As I suspected, they did not move in alone, as they promised me. Oh no, these men had to bring their own men.

Now I realized why Liu Wei wanted to build the extra cabins and barns out back. Storage for supplies my ass. So the house that I once bitch about being too quiet was now taken over by more than a hundred men. And they were really not so quiet. Even when they tried to be. If I was not in a bitchy mood, I would fully admit that I didn't have to worry about anything when it came to those men. They were highly trained soldiers and acted like it.

They didn't walk through my fields; they were very polite when they needed to come into the house for any reason. Really, they acted much better than anyone I had taken into the old compound. But so many men. And not a single woman! I had asked Liu Wei about it and he just shrugged, "Wasn't interested."

I wasn't sure how to take that statement, but then I realized that I would not have been happy to be questioned on my decisions, why should I question him?

Besides, no women on the teams meant no catfights either… which was really nice. Not to say that having women together led to catfights... they just tended to occur on a more frequent basis. I'm sure that women would fit in on the teams and be as useful as the men...

But the problem with women was that we were competitive. We compete for everything and anything and could not stand when someone else had something that we didn't. Seriously, even if we didn't want it, it was still ours. I might not be in a relationship with Liu Wei or Wang Chao, but they were mine… have another woman thinking otherwise was a death sentence… for them.

Or maybe I should consider that as territorial more than competitive? Whatever it was, women had it in spades.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like women could not get along together, but there had to be special circumstances for that to happen.

I couldn't think of any off the top of my head, but I'm sure that there were.

But it seemed that even when men had their issues with each other, after working it out, it was over and done with.

The other problem with women? Things were never done with a woman.

Ever.

Look at me, I came back from the dead just because someone pissed me off.

But that was neither here nor there. The men were under my guys…the guys… you know who I mean, and they left me alone… for the most part.

This was one of those days, though, when they reminded me of their presence in a grand way. I don't know what they did when it was time to train every day, but I swore to god that the entire house shook with it.

I was hiding upstairs in my bedroom, needing some alone time, when I heard a knock on my door. Yelling at whoever it was to come in, I poked my head out of the cocoon that I had built for myself. Seeing that it was Wang Chao and Liu Wei I turned my back to them and grumbled under my breath. "You have exactly 24 days to get whatever else you need to feed and house all those men. Don't be stealing from my supplies to do it."

"Of course, Sweetheart, we have all that under control. They are going to take the area in the back by the mountains and once everything is set up, we won't even notice them there. And just think... free patrols by people that have been trained to do it," said Liu Wei coming to sit down next to me. I supposed he had a point. Unlike at the Phoenix Compound, these men were highly trained. Fine, they could stay.

"We have a surprise for you, little girl," said Wang Chao in a voice that sent shivers up my back.

My head peaked out again, wondering what the surprise could be. Every time they offered me a surprise, it was always something good. More weapons, more food, more everything. I was starting to really like surprises.

I quickly untangled myself from my cocoon, and sat up, crossing my legs. I'm sure that if I was a puppy my tail would be wagging uncontrollably behind me. Luckily… I was not… but that didn't stop me from vibrating. "What's my surprise?" I asked, looking around. Not seeing anything, I gave them a suspicious side-eye. "Where's my surprise?"

Wang Chao took out a small box from where he had hidden it behind him. Sitting on the other side of my bed from Liu Wei, he handed me the box.

"Too big for a ring," I smirked. "Definitely not something sparkly…"

"Stop guessing and just open it," said Liu Wei as he leaned against my headboard and got comfortable.

I opened the box and looked down at the syringe laying on a bed of fabric in front of me. The vaccines had been rolling out across the country for the past seven days, but we had agreed that anyone that would be staying at the ranch would take the vaccine at the ranch so we could monitor them.

But the name on the needle was not the same brand that they were giving out to the citizens of Country K. "This is the last one that we took from Country M," said Wang Chao and he too laid against the headboard. They looked like they weren't going anywhere, anytime soon.

"It's your turn, Sweetheart, and we will be here every second of it," promised Liu Wei as he sat forward and gently took the box from my hands.

I pulled off my hoodie… no judging… I was alone in my room and ready for bed. Hoodie, a sports bra, and sweatpants were mandatory. The fuzzy socks, not so much, but when I was in the mood for comfort, the fuzzy socks came out.

I held out my left arm to Liu Wei as he prepared to give me the vaccine that would change my life, again. I wouldn't come out a zombie since I already had the firepower and was genetically predisposed to be a power user, but still, my heart pounded as I looked at Wang Chao, panic and something else sweeping across my face.

"We'll be here the whole time," he said, echoing Liu Wei's words. He put the palm of his hand on my cheek and gently caressed me with his thumb. I stared deep into his eyes as Liu Wei injected me with the Vaccine.

I continued to hold his eyes until the pain took over my body and I blacked out.