Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



There was a lot of fear and hesitation at the beginning, but I guess that was to be expected, seeing as they watched me feed their co-workers to the zombies. However, once I brought out a buffet of food, the hesitation was gone, and they went to the tables, avoiding the blood spills like it was just another day.

Then again, they did work in an underground fight club, so it probably was for them.

One of the women who appeared to work behind the bar sat down first and started piling food on the plate in front of her. "What?" she demanded when the others simply stared. "Whether we live or die, at least we are going to have a full stomach, which is more than I can say for the past two years," she continued with a shrug. 

One of the men grunted and went to sit down beside her. "I don't suppose you have any orange juice," he joked, looking at me. "I would give my right arm for a glass of orange juices."

"I don't need arms," I responded, placing a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in front of him. "But if you are willing to sell your soul, I have an unlimited supply," I joked, not really thinking much about it.  There was a short pause before the man snorted. 

"Done. Where do you want me to sign?" he asked, a half smile on his face.

"No need to sign; I take verbal promises, too," I assure him. "And there are several positions open right now. Do you have one that you would prefer?"

"Fight manager," he said quickly, raising his head to look at me. "I want to be the fight manager. There are a lot of good fighters here, and a lot of them have gone missing."

He paused, and I waited for him to continue. I knew exactly where those fighters had ended up.

"A lot of them were friends. At least if I am the fight manager, I can protect them to a small extent," he continued, pushing the mashed potatoes around his plate. 

"Done," I answered with a shrug. "And I have plans for that recruiter. So, if you see him, send him my way."

"Really?!? You know what they have been doing?" a new man asked, his head popping up for the mountain of food on his plate.

"I know," I said solemnly. "And be careful. Too much food on an empty stomach, and you will make yourself sick."

"It's worth it to be sick to my stomach. At least that way, for a few minutes, my stomach will be full," he replied, going back to digging into his hot lunch. 

"What about you?" I asked, looking at one girl who stood to the side, her arms wrapped around her waist as if she was actively trying to hold herself back. "Why aren't you eating?"

"I can't," she said as she stared at the food. "I can't eat, knowing that my brother and sister are at home starving."

"Is it just the three of you?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. "Go get them. There is plenty of food. In fact, if you want, you can go get all of your families. I have more than enough for everyone."

As soon as I finished speaking, all eight of the remaining employees shot to their feet and out of the club.

"Funny," said Liu Yu Zeng, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I don't remember you ever being that kind. Especially when it came to food."

"You think this is me being kind?" I asked in surprise, turning my head just enough that I could see his profile. "Huh," I mused.

"If this is not you being kind, what is it?" he asked with a chuckle as he planted a soft kiss on the side of my neck.

"This is me laying out a trap," I answered with a smile. "One of my foster mothers always said that you could get more flies with honey. We need more people to work here. Ones that are loyal to only us and not anyone else. The only way to ensure that is to show them that they can have what they want at their fingertips… as long as they follow me."

"And bringing in their families ties them to you all that much more," chuckled Liu Yu Zeng. "Smart."

"A person is only as loyal as their options," I repeated. "I am going to make sure that I am their only option."

Liu Yu Zeng was about to open his mouth when the first sets of steps could be heard running up the stairs. 

"Really? There's food? What's the catch? Fuck it! I don't care about the catch. Give me the food!" came a girl's voice as the door to the stairwell was pushed open. The girl who wouldn't eat because she was worried about her siblings appeared with a younger brother and sister in tow. 

The sister pushed to the front and stared at all the food. "I don't think I have ever seen this much food in my life!" she exclaimed, looking around the whole room before coming back to the food. "What do I have to do?"

"Just sell your soul," I joked, causing the girl to look over at me. She couldn't have been more than 16 years old. She was lucky to have an older sister as she did, or she would not be as… energetic as she currently was. Sixteen was the standard age to be selling a lot of things, and none of them were for as much food as I was offering. 

"Done," nodded the sister, picking up a plate and piling it high with pancakes and bacon. "And if this is real bacon, I'll sell you the soul of my firstborn, too," she joked before biting in and moaning. 

"Done," I replied with a smile on my face, echoing her words. "But how do you feel about accounting?"

"Like math or actual accounting? Because I hate math. I mean, stop asking me to find your X. They left for a reason, and don't ask Y," she grumbled, causing me to burst out laughing. 

"I wasn't thinking Algebra, more like adding and subtracting type math. I need an accountant that I can trust to keep the books for me," I said, a gentle smile on my face. I couldn't have cared less about the books or whether this place turned a profit or not. All I needed was one more sibling swearing loyalty to me. That was it. 

"You keep feeding me, and I will learn to love math again."

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