Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



We left Bin An Sha home, looking like a puppy with separation anxiety. Oh, well. I needed some time away from having mushrooms being shoved down my throat.

We went to the closest marina to Liu Yu Zeng's place to look at potential yachts. We parked the truck and bikes in the parking lot and walked down to the wharf. My first impression of the boats, ships… yachts was that they were decidedly unimpressive... and borderline ugly.

I don't exactly know what I had in my head for what I was looking for, maybe something along the lines of a cruise ship, but these boats didn't look big enough to be safe out in the middle of the ocean.

"This one is mine," said Liu Yu Zeng as we approached something more along the lines that I was expecting for a yacht. It was all white along the exterior, with four levels clearly above water. Walking closer to it, I nodded my approval. It also didn't hurt that it was three times the size of the boat next to it.

Whoever said that size didn't matter was not thinking about going out on the ocean for a few months with free-range sharks and zombies swimming underneath you.

  "I don't know if it will work or not, but we might as well take a tour while we are here," he continued with a shrug as he jumped into the small platform at the bottom of two sets of stairs. I looked down briefly and the thin line of water between the dock and the boat and saw two beady eyes staring back at me.

Yeah, that was going to be an issue.

I hissed at the zombie, sending out a wave of bloodlust, and watched as it disappeared under the waves.ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelenglish.net . ꜰire

"Everything okay?" asked Wang Chao as he came up to stand beside me.

"Fine," I snapped, still staring into the water. "Apparently, I am a zombie magnetic now," I continued to grumble as yet another pair of eyes looked up at me from even deeper in the water. A picture of me trying to get onto Liu Yu Zeng's yacht only to be grabbed by a zombie and dragged down into the water popped into my head before I could stop it.

"Liu Yu Zeng," called Wang Chao, and the other man turned to look at him. "Give me your hand," Wang Chao continued, holding out his hand to Liu Yu Zeng.

With a confused look on his face, Liu Yu Zeng reached forward and clasped the other man's hand, causing the ship to bump gently into the dock.

I looked down and realized that there was no longer a big enough gap for me to see the zombies, and I sighed in relief. Chen Zi Han quickly hopped onto the boat and held out his hand for me to grab.

With one last check to make sure that there was no way for a zombie to drag me under, I got onto the boat as gracefully as I possibly could. Liu Wei quickly got on after me, and once he was certain that everyone was safe onboard the ship, Wang Chao finally let Liu Yu Zeng pull him up.

"I am really hoping that this one works," I said, looking at my men. "I don't really want to keep getting on and off of these things."

Chen Zi Han grunted his agreement, and Liu Wei only chuckled. "How about I take you around as Liu Yu Zeng goes to see if everything is in working order," said Liu Wei as he wrapped an arm around my waist. Chen Zi Han quickly placed a kiss on the hand he was still holding before he let go.

"I'll go help Liu Yu Zeng," he said as he walked up the seven steps to the first floor. Opening up the gate, he turned to look down at the rest of us. "Don't stay down there too long."

There was a moment of silence while Wang Chao, Liu Wei, and I just stood still, the boat gently rocking under us.

"Ladies first," said Liu Wei, and I quickly went up the stairs, wanting as much space between me and the zombies as I could.

Getting to the first official level of the yacht, I looked around. There was what looked like a hot tub right beside me with a bunch of lounge chairs around it. There was a sky roof between two of the chairs, and I could only assume that that meant that the sleeping quarters were down a level… near the water's surface.

I shuddered at the thought of zombies being able to watch me sleep.

"If you are really that stressed about being on the water, why are we even doing this? Let's find a nice piece of land and stay there. It doesn't have to be the ranch. We can always make a new ranch if you want," suggested Wang Chao as he wrapped his arms around me.

He had a good point, and I know he did. But I just wanted to stop people-ing for a while as I mentally prepared myself for the next few years. I figured that being lost on the ocean for a few months would accomplish all that.

"You know, I seem to remember a cabin in the middle of the mountains about 900km away from here," suggested Liu Wei, looking at me with a smile on his face. "I don't know if it would be good for farming or raising animals, but it is definitely deserted; we can see for miles, and best of all, there shouldn't be anyone around because no one knows about it."

"If no one knows about it, then how did you find it?" I asked, cocking my head to the side and smiling at him.

"Because it is mine," he said with a shrug like it was no big deal. Wang Chao's head swung around and looked at him. "You have a house I don't know about?" he demanded, almost offended at the very possibility.

Liu Wei smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "It was a retirement plan for when I wanted to get away from everyone and everything."

Huh, it looked like I wasn't the only one to think like that.