The receptionist, merely an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl, had been scared into tears by this ordeal. Her mouse-holding hand was shaking so much that she couldn't even click on an icon.
"Can't you do it? Do you want me to translate for you?" Zhao Jingye, having heard Tang Zheng mispronounce a few words, finally found an opportunity to mock him.
With no choice, since Tang Zheng rarely used English, and the English teachers at the university didn't teach their medical department, making only a few mistakes was already impressive.
"Forget it, there's only two minutes left, we're running out of time," Tang Zheng muttered under his breath, taking the key. He grabbed the arm of the receptionist and left the front desk, heading for the elevator. Everyone followed quickly.
The other two receptionists, who had survived the disaster, had no time to rejoice before the handsome but evil-looking Asian man roared again.
"Get all the hotel guests out of here, no, tell them all to stay in their rooms and not come out." Tang Zheng initially wanted to get the guests to leave the hotel to reduce the number of zombies. But thinking that time was limited, they might all be stuck in the corridors turning into zombies, which would simply mean artificially increasing the difficulty of passage.
"What's he yelling about?" The bald man didn't speak English and turned to ask Qin Yan. Kang Songde also looked over, clearly concerned about this issue. The rest of the flight attendants wore worried expressions, clutching their metal boxes, completely at a loss as to what to do. Under the relentless pressure of this dire situation, they almost lost their ability to think.
Qin Yan watched the numbers on the elevator, absent-mindedly explaining a few sentences. She was wondering when this hastily formed team would collapse and what she would do then.
Once they have a temporary respite, the bald man might start making unreasonable demands. After all, he and Lao Lin are the strongest fighters in the team with the greatest deterrence. Plus, without resorting to force, the flight attendants may also have to pay a certain price for survival.
"The key is food and water." Having worked together for several years, Qin Yan, as the chief flight attendant, knew her colleagues very well. Sending them out to find food would be almost certainly suicidal. Thinking about this, her gaze fell on Tang Zheng's broad back. This guy was too calm and probably wouldn't agree to an alliance easily, or at least not volunteer to be an unpaid thug. But it would be all right to persuade the high school student and the maintenance worker, and add in Zhao Jingye. As for Kang Songde, Qin Yan didn't think the pampered man with a big belly could contribute to the combat power.
"What are you thinking?" Hu Qiong, who was holding a metal box, squeezed over and asked quietly. She knew her close friend was smart and was more interested in hearing Qin Yan's thoughts than those of the unfamiliar men.
"Nothing." Qin Yan glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Lao Lin watching her. She pretended to be nonchalant and shook her head, but sighed inwardly, "Even if I have ideas, I can't say them in front of everyone."
With a ding, the elevator door opened, and the five Americans inside froze when they saw Tang Zheng's group. The bald man, not the gentlemanly type, rushed in and kicked them out.
"Twelfth floor, Room 1207," Tang Zheng reported, then began to ask the receptionist in his arms some questions. The high school student shrugged and pressed the button for the twelfth floor.
It was summertime, and the cramped elevator was terribly stuffy. Everyone was watching the red arrow on the floor display intently, their eyes not blinking, each person panting heavily. The receptionist's soft sobbing made the atmosphere even more oppressive and tense.
"Damn it," the high school student suddenly shouted, startling everyone.
"What the hell are you yelling for? Trying to get us killed?" Kang Songde, who was just pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead, dropped it as he was startled.
"Once time's up, this girl will turn into a zombie, won't she?" The high school student didn't get angry, but looked anxiously at the receptionist next to Tang Zheng.
The moment he said this, except for Lao Lin, everyone immediately moved away from the walls as far as possible, keeping a maximum distance from the receptionist.
"Less than a minute left, damn, get out quickly." Zhao Jingye reacted, rushing to the elevator door and frantically pressing the button for the tenth floor, wanting to get out.
"Damn, I messed up. I wanted to ask about the hotel layout," Tang Zheng regretted bitterly, calculating that there would be enough time once they were out of the elevator. But he still acted calm, letting go of the receptionist and moving away.
"So you're afraid of dying, huh?" The bald man burst into laughter, not at all making fun of Tang Zheng. He believed only those who feel fear are normal people.
"Quick, to the stairs." The high school student, not wanting to be ignored, quickly reminded everyone as he was about to run out. However, he was stopped by the old man next to him, who asked confusedly, "What's wrong?"
"Why not just throw her out? Taking the stairs is too dangerous." The old man pointed to the receptionist and looked towards Tang Zheng. "You don't have any more questions, do you?"
"Just a few more, you guys go ahead, I'll be right behind you."
Upon seeing Kang Songde anxiously pushing the receptionist out as soon as the elevator doors open, Tang Zheng hesitated for a moment and followed him out, a move that almost made everyone's eyes pop out.
"Are you crazy? What are you going out there for?" The maintenance worker held him back, his face filled with a desperate urgency. His actions were entirely out of goodwill and concern, free of any selfish motives.
"You can't possibly want to observe the process of a human turning into a zombie, could you?" Tang Zheng's hand was on the door-open button. Qin Yan said something and then raised her voice, "I don't see the point in doing that."
"You really think you can do anything, don't you? Close the door." The bald man brushed Tang Zheng's hand away and hit the close button, laughing, "I was just thinking about cooperating with you. There's no hurry to die."
Zhao Jingye sneered, clearly disliking the bald man's flattery towards Tang Zheng and his disregard for himself. The high school student curled his lip, his eyes full of contempt.
"We're here." As soon as the elevator made a 'ding' and stopped, Cheng Chen, the flight attendant, squeezed her face red and went to the front of the door, wanting to leave. Understandably so, the bald man who was standing next to her earlier had sneakily touched her buttocks, and she didn't want to stay in this place anymore.
Cheng Chen thought about crying for help, but given the current situation, nobody would penalize them. Instead, it would only make her feel unsupported. So, she had decided to be more careful in the future and, she made up her mind to stick with Qin Yan no matter what.
"Be careful." Tang Zheng suddenly reached out and pulled Cheng Chen's arm back. Without him having to explain, everyone understood why he did it.
The elevator had just cracked open when a bloody, decaying arm stretched in. If not for Tang Zheng's quick reaction, the flight attendant's face would have been scratched.
"Zombies!" The high school student shouted, aiming his gun at the gap in the door. He pulled the trigger without any hesitation, but the gun failed to fire.
"Idiot, you forgot to unlock the safety, load the gun." The bald man, cursing, had just raised his muzzle when he realized it was no longer necessary.
Standing at the front, Old Lim was faster than anyone. He pulled up his gun and fired in less than half a second. Amid the rapid firing of single shots, everyone saw blood and white brain matter splattering from the gradually opening elevator door.
Before the five zombies could pounce, they were shot in the head, tumbling onto the floor.
........
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