"Keep an eye on them."
Erza returned to the 1st Floor's Control Room and regrouped with his family members.
Bucky gave him a thumbs up.
Feera, Mr. Zayf, and Mrs. Numee had mixed feelings.
They saw and heard everything from the surveillance cameras and their military earbuds.
"Erza, was it necessary to treat them like that? They're living humans like us!"
His mother hounded him with complaints.
Erza took in everything and waited for her to calm down a little.
"Mum, human hearts are complicated. At least, an Infected won't hide the fact that they want to kill us."
He told them the scenes of betrayals and cruelty he personally witnessed in his past life.
"Honey, you know our son has always had our best interest in everything. Can't you let him go this time?"
Mr. Zayf calmed his wife down.
Although he had a few comments of his own, he decided to keep it in.
"Big bro! Do you know who you just met? It was that famous actress, Aqua Rose!"
Feera was a little excited that a celebrity ended up in their hotel.
"Can I meet her for a selfie, big bro? Please~"
She was exactly the woman who offered her body to Erza in exchange for water.
"Little bro, it's risky to reveal our numbers to them."
He explained that if they were a part of another big group, they would attack them knowing that they are only a five people group.
Humans would do anything to obtain resources and territories.
"It's already late. Let's have dinner and prepare for tomorrow's mission!"
They did not forget their original goal.
To save their relatives!
…
"Big Mark, thank you! Thank you so much!!"
A white-haired middle aged Asian man bowed furiously to a tall and muscular man.
"Tsk."
Big Mark rolled his eyes.
In a restaurant on the 1st Floor, five raddled survivors were gathered.
"That guy was amazing. All those beatings and no serious injuries on you."
The lady who identified herself as a nurse ran her mouth off without thinking.
"Lily, you bitch! Are you saying that he went easy on me?!"
Chairs crashed to the floor.
"Stop! Please stop! The monsters will hear us!"
A sweet, panicky voice rang out from a beautiful figure.
The owner of the voice was the famous actress Feera was talking about.
"Aqua, how could you offer yourself to that rude and uncouth man?"
The middle-aged man berated her.
"Then what would you have me do, Director Jing? Die of thirst?!"
Director Jing is a film producer that Aqua Rose was working with.
When the apocalypse happened, they escaped from their filming location nearby the hotel.
"And you, young lady! Can you sit further away? You reek of piss!"
Director Jing pointed his finger to a teenage girl sitting alone at the corner.
"Shut up, old man. You aren't exactly hero material either."
Lily threw a casual insult to his face.
"Why you little..!"
Kraang!
Big Mark suddenly stood up and walked to the door.
"B-Big Mark, sir, where are you going..?"
Director Jing's harsh tone turned into as soft as a kitten's mew.
'Bullying the weak while bowing to the strong.'
That was how the plump, suit wearing producer rose up to prominence.
"I'm hungry!"
They were currently huddled inside the manager's room in one of the hotel's restaurants.
As it is only the 6th day of doomsday, there might be food left in the restaurant's kitchen.
The rest of the survivors followed Big Mark to scavenge for food.
…
On the hotel's top floor.
Five bloated figures were resting their bulging bellies in the movie room.
"Big bro! That turkey was awesome! Never thought it'll taste so good after a whole day of fighting!"
Feera patted his food baby.
"It's all in the marinade. I made sure it soaked up all the essence since yesterday."
After watching a movie and digested their food, they gathered around for the Evolution Nectars distribution.
"Today we obtained 264 beads!"
Splash!
He laid it out in a rectangular wooden box.
The hundreds of shiny pink pearls drive them crazy with their tasty aroma.
"These candies are always the best after food dessert!"
Bucky starts salivating.
"Son, how should we divide this? You said that once we ate 100 more Evolution Nectars, we would evolve to Class-9."
The energy requirement for the next class increases ten-fold.
What took them only 10 Evolution Nectars from Strain 1 Infected, would be 100 Evolution Nectars the next round.
"Just distribute it normally, we can hunt more and everyone can promote to the next class."
Mrs. Numee doesn't see the fuss in it.
"Mum, we're lucky this round because big bro prepared the most ideal location to trap and kill Infected. Not to mention the number of materials he used."
Bucky analyzed every single move of his eldest brother, and every move was brilliantly and thoroughly calculated.
However, they lose those advantages once they ventured outside.
Nobody could predict the encounters they would face once they leave the comfort of their 'fortress'.
"That being said, this is my suggestion."
Erza explained that Mrs. Numee and Bucky should be promoted to Class-9.
"Both Mum and Bucks are support-type Awakened. Until they have enough strength to protect themselves, they should be given priority."
Once an Awakened reaches Class-9, they would possess the strength of five human adults!
'Mum's and Bucky's Talent is a rare treasure even among Awakened. They need to increase their Cell Energy reserves.'
"Mum and Bucks get 87 beads each. The remaining 90 beads, we divide it equally between me, Feera and Dad."
Mr. Zayf then asked.
"Son, why not another person upgrades to Class-9 too? The remainder is enough for one more."
During the apocalypse, personal strength is important but teamwork would increase their survival rate!
At Class-10, each of the pink beads on gives a boost of 5%.
And it will drop lower once they breakthrough to another class.
"A collectively strong team is always better than a weak team with a single strong entity."
They distributed their Evolution Nectars according to Erza's suggestion.
…
7.15 pm.
The hotel's entrances from every corner were locked.
To prevent attracting the Infected , Erza had all the lights turned off.
The five survivors on the 1st Floor were startled.
They tried to turn the lights back on but the light switches were not responding.
"Dammit! What is happening? Why won't the lights work?"
Director Jing's annoyed tone caused a ruckus.
They only relied on the dim emergency lights to navigate around.
There were four restaurants on the 1st Floor.
Each of the restaurants had a fridge, kitchen, and bar.
Although they found food, very few were edible.
The rest started to smell as they rot.
On the other hand, there were hundreds of alcoholic drinks laying around.
They tried going in the Control Room, but it was locked tight.
As it was made with sturdy metal doors, they couldn't break it down.
They tried to explore other floors, but the lift operates on the Key Card system.
Only the Key Cardholders could access the floors they were designated.
They tried to find the Key Cards, but none could be found of the Ground Floor Lobby's reception counter.
Erza made sure that no variables could be leveraged by his enemies.
Especially humans!
"The emergency stairs are also locked?"
Lily tried rattling the heavy wooden door but to no avail.
They really began to wonder who the mystery man they met this morning was.
The hotel's owner? Or General Manager?
Maybe a lone tourist that survived the whole ordeal?
'But that crossbow definitely isn't sold in this hotel or anywhere in the area.'
His combat suit was very well prepared as if he was a part of the Special Forces.
"The fact that he used a crossbow instead of guns meant that he knows how to deal with those things."
Big Mark caressed and observed the walls beside him.
'Not a single corpses were found.'
The dried-up brown splashes indicated that battle happened here.
While they were busy finding more food and water, the corridor rang.
Ding ding!
All five of them were startled.
Just as they were backing away, a shadow appeared from inside the lift.
"Oh? I see you guys are having a tour."
The shadow was the man they met this evening, Erza.
His footsteps are paced, not too slow and not too fast.
Erza was not wearing a battle suit, but a casual white shirt and blue jeans.
His face is finally evident, unlike their previous encounter where he wore a helmet.
'Quite good looking.'
The women had a glance at his boyish face and lean body.
"Sir! Excuse me, young sir! Are you from this evening?"
Director Jing pushed away from the women that he was hiding behind and ran to Erza.
"Why? I don't look like how you expected?"
Erza looked at the middle-aged man whose hands are rubbing together.
"No, no, no! You look exactly as I had imagined! Young, heroic and handsome!"
Director Jing started showering Erza with praises.
"You guys found something to eat?"
Erza asked their group, ignoring Director Jing.
The survivors looked at each other and hesitated to answer.
"Relax, I'm not here to rob you guys."
He understood their plight.
'How nostalgic.'
In his previous life, he had experienced the exact same situation as them.
Therefore in this life, he tried to do more charity.
"Here, take this. Would last you guys until tomorrow afternoon if you ration properly."
He swung his arms and a black plastic bag spun in front of the group.
They were fearful but also curious.
"You guys can stay here until tomorrow morning. Just close the doors on your way out."
Erza gave his permission to stay.
Just as he was about to walk back to the lift, a deep voice speaks out.
"Why didn't you fight me with all you got?!"
Anger and fear were mixed in Big Mark's voice.
Erza turned back his head.
"Are you crazy? I had Infected blood on my combat gear. What if I accidentally scratched you and you turned?"
His answer stunned them.
"Wow! Chicken! No, turkey meat!"
Lily screamed happily upon checking the content in the bag Erza gave them
"Gulp! Gulp! How refreshing!"
Aqua Rose drank a small water bottle in a gusto.
Never has water tasted so sweet before to her.
While Lily, Director Jing and Aqua Rose ate and drink voraciously, Big Mark just stared at Erza.
'This guy…'
"You. What do you want?"
Erza halted a figure who was approaching him.
It was the teenage girl who could not control her bladder.
"I-I-I, t-t-thank you!"
She bowed a few times, holding a transparent plastic bag.
Inside the bag was a clean change of clothes, with a small towel.
With that, she could change her piss-soaked, inconvenient school uniform in the toilet.
"Sure."
With a wink, he turned back to the lift.
Just like that, each of the survivors had a change of heart.
Whether to a better or worse, only time would tell.