So, a quick recap of how much my life had gone down the drain:

I won an alpha battle with an Alpha zombie, was on my way home to get a cup of hot chocolate to deal with the cramps and overall pain associated with my Aunt arriving, and the boys have been asked to go find someone.

Did I miss anything? No? Didn't think so.

Fuck Face stood there smirking at men around me like he knew just what buttons of theirs to push in order to get the results that he wanted. Clearly, this Rear Admiral or Vice Admiral really meant something to the boys.

I closed my eyes and slumped back into Wang Chao's arms. There goes getting home in the next three days.. Hopefully, wherever this City J was it wouldn't take me too far away from home.

"I am so sorry, little girl," whispered Wang Chao as he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me securely. I nodded in understanding. I knew that it was not like the boys were willing to go out of their way and rescue any random people, so this had to be important to them. "The man was like a father to us after our own had died," said Wang Chao, clarifying the relationship between him, Liu Wei, and this Vice Admiral.

Well.. fuck.. I guess it is a done deal then. I closed my eyes as a wave of pain overtook me. I had wanted to have already been in my RV, laying down in bed under my blankets with a heating pad on me and a cup of hot chocolate in my hand. But the best-laid plans and all that crap.

"Can we just hurry up and leave?" I asked him in a low voice of my own. Liu Wei and Fuck Face were discussing the plans, but I wasn't really paying them any attention. I wasn't worried about any zombies nearby as it was still too soon after the last battle for them to come out of the woodwork. Not to mention all the easy prey in the city.

Wang Chao hummed in agreement, "Just a few more minutes, little girl," he croon again, causing all of my tense muscles to simply want to melt into the man. I gave him more of my weight as I turned around and cuddled my face into his chest and breathed in his scent. The smell of leather and wood with just a hint of sage and bergamot hit me. Taking in a few more breaths, I realized that I could quickly become addicted to that scent.

historical

I let the world fade away and concentrated on the feeling of Wang Chao's arms around me, his scent in my nose and his heartbeat in my ear.

But I probably should not have let him affect me as much as he did, because I missed a few crucial pieces of information as I wallowed in his embrace.

Crucial piece #1: City J was even further south than City H and would take us at least 3 weeks of traveling to get there. And that would be traveling by foot.

Why, you ask. Why on earth would I be traveling by foot when I have like 25 campers, 2 heavy-duty ATVs, and at least 15 of the smaller ATVs?

Well, that would be part of crucial piece number 2 that I missed.

Crucial piece #2: Fuck Face and his men were planning on traveling with us. Fuck My Life.

I would like to point out that I didn't come out of whatever spell Wang Chao had me under until after everything had been settled and we were on our way. Stupid fucking men.

"So.." I said, wondering how I was going to keep my temper AND tell the men off at the same time. "Could someone let me know how exactly this happened?"

"Which part?" Asked Liu Yu Zeng, not aware of the land minds that were littered all around him. There was a reason why Liu Wei and Wang Chao had not volunteered a response.

"The part where we are going in the opposite direction as home, with Fuck Face.. while walking," I replied, taking a deep breath and putting one foot in front of another. My cramps were coming out in full force, and my Aunt was worse than anything I had experienced in the last 15 years of all of my lives combined. Normally, I skated by just fine.. but no, not today. Today my body had to knock me on my ass while the boyos around me made it so I couldn't do anything about it..

Because..

Of...

Fuck Face!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so I will fully admit to spiraling down into a hopeless rage inside of my head, but clearly I was doing a great job at hiding it from anyone else around me. For fucks sake, I couldn't even take 5 minutes to deal with things and clean myself up because men were selfish bastards that did not understand anything!

Breathe Dai Lu... Just breathe.

"Ok, how about we take a quick stop here," said Wang Chao, clearly listening in to my thoughts. "If the rest of them want to keep going, let them. We are taking a 15-minute break. Let everyone know."

I sighed in relief and without another word, disappeared into my space.

I remember back on the ranch thinking that this place was redundant as I had everything that I needed at the ranch, but now I was ecstatic as I stepped foot into the house, peeling off my clothes as I went. Since time froze inside my space, I could take hours, even days to myself and have it be less than a second away from the guys.

And I was going to take advantage of that.

Turning on my shower, I stepped inside and let the hot water fall down on my head like a waterfall. Once the heat had worked through some of the tense muscles in my shoulders and back, I grabbed my shampoo and started to wash my hair. Taking my time, I washed it with shampoo twice and then put in the conditioner. I found my favorite body wash and quickly lathered myself up as the conditioner continued to work its magic.

Once I felt clean enough, I stood back under the shower head and let everything rise off. It was amazing what a good shower could do to your outlook.

Getting out, I quickly dried myself off, got everything settled as far as my Aunt was concerned, and then dove into bed and under the covers.

Taking just long enough to turn on my heating pad and placing it on the small of my back, I fell asleep, a contented smile on my face.

After a good 10 hours of sleep, I got up, make myself some breakfast, got a travel mug of hot chocolate and a piece of vanilla cake with vanilla icing and sprinkles over top. Walking out the door, I sat on the porch swing of my wrap-around deck and looked out into the fields where the pigs, horses, and cows were enjoying themselves.

The chickens and ducks were in another part of the farm that I couldn't see from my place, but I was fine with that. Chickens and ducks were way too noisy for what I wanted from this morning.

Finishing my cake and hot chocolate in peace and quiet, I returned the dirty plates to the kitchen and after a quick wash, was willing to go back to the real world and face whatever was going to come my way.

Closing my eyes, I reappeared in the exact spot that I had left. Cracking my neck, I nodded to Wang Chao. "Ready when you are," I said, looking around me. The men had just started to take a seat and relax when I had returned.

"We'll be ready in 15," assured Wang Chao as he looked me over. Seeing that my hair was washed, I was in clean clothes and in a much better mood, he smiled at me. "I'm glad you have that place to be able to recharge."

I nodded in agreement. "Maybe one day I'll take you there and show you around," I said, looking up at the man that had stood by my side for the past year.

He nodded in return, understanding that it would take more time for me to bring them into my last sanctuary, and completely fine with that. That was one of the best parts about Wang Chao, he didn't push unless it was necessary.

Liu Wei on the other hand... "Hello, Sweetheart, don't you smell sweet, like cherries and vanilla," the jerk whispered in my ear causing goosebumps to break out over my skin.

"Oh no," I said, pushing him back. "You, Sir, are in the doghouse."

Liu Wei pretended to shudder, "Call me that again, Sweetness," he said, trying to seduce me with his voice. The fact that he was succeeding was something that I would never admit to.

"Doghouse," I enunciated. "Why the sweet Hell do we have to travel with Fuck Face and his men?"

"I'm sorry," said Liu Wei, gathering me in his arms. The fact that he was speaking to me in his normal voice made me relax. He understood that I was not happy. "I tried to convince him otherwise, but he insisted. It will only be for a few weeks and then we will part ways as soon as we get Zhou Gang Jia, or at least, make sure he is ok."

I nodded my head. At least with Fuck Face and his men we would have enough cannon fodder for the zombies.

See.. silver linings.