After easily snapping the iron lock off the small door at the rooftop, Lin An cautiously led Wenya through the fire escape into the hotel.
It was already afternoon, and the hotel windows were tightly shut for privacy.
Without power, the interior was dimly lit.
On the ninth-floor hallway, a few zombies aimlessly wandered.
The red carpet was stained with dark red splotches.
Blood splattered across the walls, decorating them with grotesque patterns.
One zombie, a woman with only an upper body, staggered back and forth with a single arm dragging her along the floor.
Behind her, a male student-like zombie held a severed leg, greedily gnawing on it, shambling along as if he were her boyfriend.
It almost seemed like a twisted love scene.
If nothing else, they were likely a young couple who had come here to rent a room.
Lin An quickly locked onto the target, preparing to clear the entire floor.
Zombies wandering in the open weren't the real threat.
The true danger lay in the zombies hiding in the rooms, waiting silently.
With swift precision, Lin An made his move.
He darted out from the staircase corner, his body a blur, and the blade in his hand plunged like a sword, piercing the skull of the male student zombie.
One swift strike.
The zombie's brain was destroyed, and it collapsed, twitching uncontrollably.
The woman zombie, still crawling at its feet, didn't have time to react before Lin An crushed her skull under his boot.
"Raaaargh!"
The sound of a zombie's roar echoed from further down the hall.
Unlike the slow-moving zombies seen in movies, the ones here were fast, with speeds that could easily catch an unwary target.
The remaining zombies surged toward Lin An with mindless aggression.
An upward slash.
With a swift motion, Lin An cleaved through one, then took a step forward.
A reverse strike.
In a seamless twist, two flashing blades split the last zombies in half.
Years of combat training during the apocalypse and his enhanced physical abilities made Lin An a killing machine.
In less than three seconds, the hallway was cleared of zombies.
Wenya, holding a fire axe, trailed behind Lin An, quietly watching.
At first, she had thought of helping him finish off any remaining zombies to avoid missing any.
But now, seeing the corpses of the zombies neatly sliced into pieces, she reluctantly lowered the axe.
It seemed she was of little use.
"I'll look for the room key."
Maybe she was trying to prove she could be of help, so Wenya quickly crouched down, forcing herself to ignore the discomfort as she rummaged through the bodies.
Lin An tilted his head slightly, his gaze on her strange.
"Without power, what good is a room key?"
Not bothering to wait for her response, Lin An yanked the door lock open with his bare hands.
The metal bent easily, and the door handle came off with a single tug.
Nothing was easier than forcing open a door.
"Room 909."
Once inside, Lin An surveyed the room.
It wasn't large; the central piece was a water bed, and the walls were decorated with erotic paintings.
There was a hanging chair, yoga balls, and even some black straps attached to the ceiling, hanging near the bed.
Wenya, her face flushed red, followed quietly behind him.
Though she didn't fully understand their use, they seemed to look very high-tech.
"You stay here and rest. I have something to do."
Once Lin An confirmed there were no zombies hiding inside, he decided Wenya would be safer here.
The ninth floor was cleared, and this room was relatively secure for now.
"Where are you going?"
Wenya's instinctive question was interrupted before she could finish.
"I still have things to take care of."
"It's too cramped here. It's not safe for you to follow me."
Lin An had not come to Dream Prtay Hotel simply to find a place near the hospital.
If his memory served him right, there was a mutated zombie here, and he needed it to level up. He was on the brink of ascending to the first level of his awakening.
Once that happened, his abilities would grow substantially.
The upcoming battle with the mutated zombie was important.
Wenya would only be a burden.
Her real role would be after she awakened, where Lin An could take her to fight against "The Stitcher," or she could help him later by providing mental energy when he formed his own faction.
Wenya didn't press the matter further. She wasn't foolish enough to act like the female antagonists in movies who sought to die needlessly.
Lin An left her some food, as he had noticed her stomach growling earlier, even though she hadn't said anything.
He had to make sure she was taken care of for now.
At the end of the hallway, just as he was about to head downstairs, he heard a sound.
Click.
The door to Room 901 suddenly creaked open. A middle-aged man and a young woman stepped out from within.
"Good day, comrade!"
The middle-aged man greeted, his face covered in stubble and his demeanor overenthusiastic.
He instinctively extended his hand for a handshake, looking like someone used to managing people.
Lin An took a step back, his eyes cold.
The man's hand hung awkwardly in the air.
"Allow me to introduce myself."
The middle-aged man cleared his throat and gestured toward the woman beside him.
"I'm Wang Jianguo, head of the Forestry Bureau."
"This is Xiu Xiu," the woman added, her voice laced with a playful tone as she glanced at Lin An, giving him a flirtatious wink.
Lin An remained unmoved, quickly understanding their relationship.
"First, I must thank you for saving us. I am deeply grateful..."
Swish.
Lin An's knife moved swiftly, pointing at the man's throat, cutting off his words.
The middle-aged man seemed like a government official, but he was rambling too much.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
A hint of killing intent made both of them take a step back, barely steadying themselves.
The middle-aged man blinked, and in his eyes, there was a flash of dissatisfaction.
He was an official, used to receiving respect, but these days, he'd been holed up in the hotel with no idea what was happening outside. From the way Lin An had so easily killed the zombies, he realized Lin An was the only one who could protect him.
"If you escort me to the Bureau, I'll ensure you receive recognition from the higher-ups."
"You'll gain many benefits, even securing a public office position easily."
Wang Jianguo forced a smile, trying to ingratiate himself with Lin An.
Lin An laughed coldly.
"Idiot."
The government office? The official building was probably overrun with zombies by now, and from his previous life's memory, there were at least ten mutated zombies inside.
Xiu Xiu, seeing that Lin An wasn't stopping, grew anxious.
"Mr. Wang, what if we just follow him for now?"
Wang Jianguo's face darkened, but he nodded.
He had seen the horror of the zombies firsthand and knew he wouldn't have survived if not for Lin An clearing the hallway.
Seeing Lin An walking farther, they hurriedly chased after him.
Eighth floor.
Lin An pushed open the heavy fire door and froze.
A dozen zombies were crashing against the door of a room in the middle of the hallway.
It seemed someone inside had made a noise.
Inside the room, a young couple cowered in the corner, their faces pale with fear.
The doorframe had started to give way under the zombies' incessant battering, and the door was seconds from breaking open.
"Yushi Hao, what should we do now!?" the woman cried, trembling uncontrollably.
Yushi Hao turned to her with a glare full of hatred.
"What do you want me to do!?"
"You filthy bitch, you came to the hotel while on your period—are you crazy?!"
In a fit of anger, Yushi Hao slapped the woman across the face, then kicked her mercilessly.
After the zombie outbreak, he had locked the door, intending to hide.
But as the zombies seemed to focus on them, he realized the woman's blood had attracted them.
"Yushi Hao, you didn't mean to do that, right? You said you'd love and protect me..."
The woman sobbed as she looked up at him, grasping at the last thread of hope. Could it be he was just scared?
"Get lost! Who the hell would want you if you weren't a virgin?"
With a frustrated look, Yushi Hao grabbed his phone, desperate to make a call, but the lack of signal rendered the phone useless.
Frustrated, he slammed the phone on the floor, breaking it.
The woman's face twisted in disbelief as she sobbed quietly, her hand loosening its grip on his arm.
Her name was Zhou Fang, a university classmate of Yushi Hao's. He had courted her for a long time and promised her a life full of warmth. When the apocalypse struck, his true nature was revealed.
"Raaaargh!"
A zombie's roar sounded as a decayed arm reached through a hole in the door.
Yushi Hao stared in terror at the arm.
It was now or never.
The woman, still crying, didn't notice as Yushi Hao stood, his eyes gleaming with malice.
From his keychain, he pulled out a small knife and swiftly stabbed it into her ankle.
"You say you love me?" he sneered.
A twisted grin formed on his face as he prepared to repeat the action on her other leg.
"Love me? Then die for me."