The first day had come to an end and welcomed a new day for those that were still among the living.
Far away in a hotel room, there were a couple of young ladies gathered together and they had bloodied arrows and bows laying near their beds close by so that they could reach for them right away.
They were all fast asleep and there were some small bags filled with different types of hotel food and drink which came from each of the rooms.
Without any more living people to charge large amounts of money onto their hotel bill the moment they touched any of the things that were placed in the fridges or cupboards, they were able to take what they needed and had expected to find many rooms full of similar things.
The only way that they would not find anything was if someone was left living in that room.
Tanya had emerged from her room and begun killing the zombies by using her excellent archery skills.
She had a couple of close calls but was able to reunite with a couple of her friends that had survived and formed her own small team to gather supplies and search the rooms on her floor to find survivors.
There were some males among the survivors but they had returned to their rooms after the floor they were on had been cleared within the hallway and the ways to enter were blocked off.
It made things much easier to find ways to break into some rooms without being swarmed by zombies that heard them and made it easier to deal with the zombies on their current floor without having any additional surprises.
Tanya and her friends would soon wake up to realise that the day before was not some dream or nightmare but it was their current reality.
Meanwhile in another location, Lucy had woken up bright and early within a store.
Upon reaching the first location as she had planned, Lucy had encountered many zombies and collected the crystal nucleuses that she needed to raise her abilities.
In order for the author to paint their protagonist as someone that paid back favours and was not completely out for revenge, the first stage of her adventure revolved around gaining power and allies with all kinds of skills.
The store which Lucy and Brick had visited had someone who was the son of the older man who served them both.
In order to pay back the kindness given, the female protagonist returned to gain some more weapons but also to check to see if that person was within the building so she could repay the favour of allowing her to have a better means of survival.
The older man and his son were locked inside and were struggling against the zombies until she arrived and offered her help.
She had gained a decent ally that was fit and healthy while the other was older but wiser.
Once they would awaken their abilities, they both would help her in her path towards the top and to get her revenge along the way with many others who would deal with anyone that got in their way.
Lucy had started drinking the same crystal granules dissolved into water as Brick had but she did not begin until much later and had chosen to not yet pass her secrets and advantages onto others until she could trust them completely.
There was a big difference between the natures of Lucy and Brick and their overall experiences which lead them to take two different approaches to their new life.
Lucy chose to hesitate and wait until later because she had already faced betrayal and she wished to have a clear advantage over those around herself so that she could survive even if anything did happen.
Brick had chosen to not completely put his trust in others but he had decided that if there were some potential allies around himself then they would need to be stronger than the main protagonist's group if they ever hoped to stand against them or outshine them.
He did not wish to fight against the main character's protective halo but with his current identity, it was just a matter of time before the main character came for her revenge.
The rising of the sun welcomed the new day for each surviving human and the story for Lucy was just beginning as the story had been written while Brick woke up early and had begun training.
He prepared some breakfast and sat opposite Cherie who had become his responsibility after she no longer had a mother to take care of her.
They both sat and ate quietly until he passed over a small bottle and said. "Cherie, I will teach you a secret about how you can defeat the monsters and will no longer need to be scared of them. If you promise not to tell anyone then I will show you how."
Cherie's green eyes lit up with excitement. "I can beat the monsters too?"
Brick nodded. "Drink a little of this and exercise a lot until you feel tired even if you just want to run around or play within a safe space."
Cherie looked at the water bottle and asked. "Is that the special water you gave me before? It tastes a little funny."
Brick smiled a little and explained. "The special water that I made can help make you like a super hero that beats the bad guys and the monsters but you can only drink as much as I tell you to. It might make you unwell if you have too much."
Cherie nodded and pumped her small fist into the air. "Super heroes are so strong! Can Cherie really be a super hero?"
Brick nodded. "Take a small sip and I will tell you when it is okay to stop. From now on you must follow my words and listen carefully. Never ever accept things from others and do not eat or drink anything they give you. Just like the water from the sink, they might not be good for you. I still have much to teach you."
Suddenly the lights started to flicker on and off before the room became darker which signalled the beginning of next stage of the apocalypse.
The backup generators activated which turned on the power in the area but it was unknown how long it would last.
Brick brought Cherie to the running machine to make use of the little time they had left since it would be more difficult to make use of such electrical devices once the power had fully run out.
They both ate, drank and exercised in the morning before heading outside to welcome their next challenges.