With food sufficient for a few days and a safe hideout, nobody wanted to venture out. Even Lin Weiguo was reluctant to face the zombies. They all preferred to stay inside the room, waiting for the fifteen days of survival game time to end.
"We know that what you're doing is necessary, but we're sorry," Qin Yan, upholding her duties as a flight attendant, found an excuse for the other stewardesses and defended them. "We need time to adapt to this dangerous environment. Please understand."
"If we really have to go, then I'll accompany you," Lin Weiguo jumped up. His intuition told him that the 'black-bellied' Tang Zheng must have another purpose. Li Xinlan shared the same sentiment, therefore, she did not hesitate to express her willingness to go as well.
"Then I'll go too," Qin Yan brushed her hair behind her ear, smiled bitterly, and after another unsuccessful persuasion of Tang Zheng, she decided to join them.
Hearing this, Pang Meiqin and the others tried to talk both of them out of going, especially Bai Guo. This busty but timid stewardess couldn't articulate a full sentence, and only her teardrop-sized tears drowned her fair cheeks.
"Prepare yourselves, we'll leave in five minutes. I'll wait for you in the corridor," Tang Zheng didn't bother with any elaborate expressions of self-sacrifice. He opened the door, peeked outside, went out and then leaned against the wall, slowly moving towards the room 1209 next door.
He leaned his ear against the door, and after confirming there were no sounds from inside, he gently knocked on the door.
Upon hearing noise, the zombies inside let out hoarse roars, they sprinted and banged against the door. The ear-piercing sound of their claws scratching against the door began right away.
"It's more than one. This is so annoying," Tang Zheng gritted his teeth. After seeing Qin Yan and others coming out, each holding a firefighter ax, he returned to his usual poker face. He pointed to the staircase and took the lead.
Just after one day, the zombies that had died on the staircase began to decay, and flies were crawling all over. As soon as people passed by, the flies buzzed and flew up like bombers, then fell back down. Besides the bloodstains, there were puddles of pus flowing out of the corpses, filling the air with a heavy, nauseating stench. Tang Zheng regretted not having prepared a piece of cloth as a mask. At that moment, Li Xinlan handed over a makeshift mask to him.
"Why are you blushing?" Tang Zheng didn't hesitate, he took the mask and put it over his mouth and nose. Then he realized why Li Xinlan was looking slightly unnatural; the mask was faintly scented. Upon closer inspection, he found out that it was made from a bra.
"Oh, does it not mean that you're not wearing a bra now?" The thought of this made Tang Zheng glance towards the young woman's chest. Of course, there were no ulterior motives; it was purely subconscious curiosity.
"I, I couldn't find any other material, so I had to use it instead. Don't worry, it's clean, I only wore it for a day," Li Xinlan looked slightly awkward. Upon realizing where Tang Zheng's gaze was, she instinctively crossed her arms over her chest. Wearing the tight protective clothing had only accentuated her bust more.
"Hey, where's mine?" Lin Weiguo reached out to ask, just to tease her.
"Here." Li Xinlan handed him a mask made from scraps of fabric, which was a level below that of the one she gave to Tang Zheng.
"You're taking advantage of an honest person," Lin Weiguo teased, before accepting the mask without any complaints and donning it on.
"Indeed, it's the married women who are more considerate." Qin Yan also received a mask from Li Xinlan. She didn't dwell on why Li Xinlan had used her bra to make a mask for Tang Zheng, that was her personal choice. Qin Yan was merely pondering that Tang Zheng would undoubtedly prioritize Li Xinlan for protection since she had employed such petty tactics.
"The number of zombies is less than we expected, probably around sixteen," After observing the situation on the hotel's second floor, Lin Weiguo returned to the midway platform of the five-story staircase. The dangerous recon mission was suitable for him. Of course, this was because of his trust in Tang Zheng. If it were someone else, he would not voluntarily take risks.
"It's probably because the commotion we caused yesterday lured most of the people on the second floor away," Tang Zheng picked up his firefighter ax and proposed, "We should still use the 'human train' tactic. Be sure to watch out for special infectees."
"I'll go and lure them." Lin Weiguo grabbed Tang Zheng's hand, with a serious look on his face, "After all, I'm a veteran."
"You're not wearing protective clothing, it's too dangerous," Tang Zheng brushed Lin Weiguo's hand away. "Stop arguing, I have experience."
Tang Zheng is not a goody-goody. He knows that if he doesn't set an example, he can't demand others to do the same. Besides, he's confident that with his skills and strength, he could accomplish anything.
The four of them were lucky, and everything went smoothly. In about thirty minutes, they got rid of the zombies in the corridor. After checking the room numbers one by one, they finally saw the beautifully stylized English letters that represented 'Security room' on the third door of the L-shaped corridor's northern side.
Lin Weiguo reached out and grabbed the brass door handle, applied a little force, tried to turn it, and then gave Tang Zheng, who was on the other side, a nod, whispering, "It can be opened."
"That means there are security guards inside. We will deal with them after we let them out," Tang Zheng backed up, ready to run off at any moment. Until he figured out the type of zombie, the plan was to run first.
All the hotel doors were premium pieces, they didn't make a sound when opened, creating a terrifying silence. Five minutes passed, and nothing happened.
Li Xinlan quietly moved behind Tang Zheng, staring wide-eyed at the door from which a monster might jump out at any moment and whispered, "Are there no zombies?"
"I'll go check." Lin Weiguo was about to get up, but Tang Zheng grabbed his arm.
"If there's no one, why wouldn't they lock the door? Let's wait a bit longer." Tang Zheng turned his head to see Qin Yan and Li Xinlan, they squatted on the ground in apparent tension, gripping their firefighter axes tightly. They were gasping for breath, and their shoulders were shaking slightly out of their control.
Tang Zheng's nasty streak suddenly kicked in, and he flashed a face of astonishment. With his right hand, he motioned them to keep quiet and stay still.
"What's going on?" Neither of the two women dared to breathe. They lowered their voices even more. After seeing Tang Zheng didn't reply, Qin Yan finally plucked up her courage to slowly look back, but she saw nothing.
"You..." Qin Yan was furious. The thought of her disgraceful fear being seen by Tang Zheng made her wish to bite him. Li Xinlan went even further; she pointed her finger at his back.
"You should be relaxed now, right? Breathe deeply a few times." Tang Zheng finished his sentence and continued to stare at the security room door.
"I never thought you could be so considerate. I even feel like being your girlfriend now." Li Xinlan poked at Tang Zheng's back and teased him. Both her and Qin Yan felt a little touched, a man who could care for women was indeed a good man.
"No, I was just worried that your nervousness would slow us down and drag us behind," Tang Zheng straightforwardly denied, instantly making all their feelings of being moved evaporate.
"You... I take back what I just said." Li Xinlan was not amused. She knew that Tang Zheng was joking, but he was too insensitive.