Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story-Chapter 325: Going Home
I turned around and looked at the entrance to the City A Sanctuary. The chain link fence had been torn down, and all the barriers dividing the different sections were completely erased. ππ³π¦ππ€ππ£π―β΄π·π¦π.πππ
It looked just like I had pictured it would before the end of the world, without the hundreds of thousands of zombies swaying back and forth as far as the eye could see.
The zombie alpha stood at the front of the tide, completely unmoving as he watched us leave. There were probably no more than 250 humans in our group, the only survivors of a city that once held a million people.
But life had taught me a very valuable lesson; there was no point in looking into the past and lamenting. Things happened, people and times changed, and the only way to survive was to put one foot in front of the other.
Raising my hand, I waved at the zombie, something I never thought that I would do.
At best, they were a food source for my power; at worst, they were the thing nightmares were made of. And now, we had an easy alliance with them.
Like I said, times change and so do people.
Before we had left, I asked the zombie alpha how so many zombies could survive in a city without humans and he had shrugged in a very human way. It turned out that they didnβt need to eat to survive. They could and did enjoy it. But it was also one of those things that they could give or take.
If they were injured, then they would need to eat in order to help their body heal quicker, but for the most part, they could put their body into a kind of stasis.
That fact blew my mind. If they hadnβt awoken in their current state injured, then they would have just ignored the humans and gone on their merry way. But that wasnβt what happened.
When they first woke up, their body was constantly trying to optimize itself, thus the need for food. But now that this has been going on for some time, as long as they werenβt injured, their body was happy as it was.
My mind completely blown, I then asked why the tide? Why take over human cities?
That answer was even more straightforward than I could have imagined. The zombie alpha told me that all they wanted was a place to call home, to live as they wanted without worrying about people attacking them.
That was it. City A was going to become their home, and they wanted as much to do with us as we wanted to do with them.
Just when I thought that we had shared a complete Kumbaya moment, the zombie looked at me, its massive teeth spread out in a grin. "But we do enjoy a good hunt, too."
"Come on, Little Bird, itβs time for you to show us your home," smiled Rip as he gently pulled me forward. A part of me was sad that this Chapter in my life was over, but another part was ecstatic. After all these years, I was finally going home.
"I have a couple of options for us," I said excitedly as I thought about everything. Now that I didnβt have to worry about constant zombie attacks, there was no reason not to enjoy the cabin as much as the bunkers. "You can help pick which one you like better."
Even if the stray zombie or horde came by, I could take away enough of their life force to convince them that it was a bad idea and have them turn around. But I did not want to be put in charge of anything.
Well... maybe?
"I think that I am going to like whichever one you like the best," smiled Rip as the rest of the guys formed a loose circle around us. For right now, we were at the rear of the pack, watching everyoneβs backs so we didnβt get attacked from behind.
But honestly, knowing what I know, Iβd be more worried about possible Reavers or humans than zombies.
As we walked down the abandoned highway toward City D, I described to Rip and Bin An Sha the cabin and everything around it. I didnβt disclose anything about the bunkers because while I trusted 99% of the people around me, I still wasnβt about to take the chance of someone else overhearing.
The first rule of prepping was that you didnβt talk about prepping...
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"I think that we need to look for other survivors," said Chang Guo Zi as he stared into the fire when we stopped for the night.
The camp had been set up, and people were huddled around the multiple fires, staring off into the darkness, expecting an attack at any moment.
We had almost twenty people per shift walking around the area we had set up, but it wasnβt enough for those still traumatized after so many nights in a row of attacks.
"Iβm sorry, what?" I said from the comfort of Cheng Bo Jingβs arms, looking at the man who spoke. Wang Chang Ming had already gone to bed in our tent, and I was enjoying some time with Cheng Bo Jing.
"I said, I think we need to go out and look for more survivors," repeated Chang Guo Zi. His arm was wrapped around Lai Dan Dan, and I was so happy to see that he had finally gathered the courage to put his fears aside and ask her out. But that didnβt mean I was pleased with his proposition.
"Yeah, thatβs what I thought you said," I replied with a sigh.
"And you think that it is a bad idea," nodded the leader of Rising Phoenix.
"I think that you are putting the cart before the horse. I havenβt been to City D in more years than I care to count. I have no idea what state it will be in, whether or not there are any zombies there, or anything else interested in killing us. Essentially, we have no idea what we are getting into, and you want to go off and bring in more people?"
