Chapter 60: CH-60: No more peaceful times! (2)

Their movements were frantic, almost reckless, but they didn’t stop. Grabbing the unconscious woman by her arms, they dragged her back toward the entrance.

By the time they crossed the threshold again, both men were drenched in sweat, their faces pale and breathing uneven.

They collapsed just inside the door, coughing heavily as the glass door slowly swung back shut.

But the woman... was alive... For now.

Everyone felt it was alright now when a loud explosion echoed from outside, making the whole city tremble.

*BOOM*

With the explosion came a smirk on Reed’s face.

The cause of this explosion is a meteor... Or to be precise, one of the first meteors that will hit earth.

Due to the solar flare, there had been some malfunctions in the electromagnetic field of the earth. Causing the balance in the space to be disturbed which resulted in these meteor showers.

Scientists in his previous life hypothesed that these meteors are the main cause of the apocalypse... The carriers of the Beta virus(one of the main zombie viruses).

But the spread won’t happen anytime soon... The reason behind Reed’s smirk was the fact that history was repeating itself just as he knew, granting a great deal of reassurance to him.

Back to the topic, one of the men peeped through the window towards the direction of the explosion and saw a lot of smoke coming out of the forest fire.

"Forest fire??"

"Forest fire couldn’t cause such an explosion, idiot."

Another woman argued, denying baseless assumptions.

"*AHEM* Whatever happened outside is nothing we should worry about. For now, our hotel has enough food to cover everyone for the week. So please stay put and wait for the government to take action."

The receptionist, finally composed herself and calmly replied. This time no one argued back because there wasn’t a second option.

The lobby, once filled with noise and complaints, had quieted into a tense, uneasy silence. People exchanged glances, their expressions no longer filled with anger, but with something far more dangerous—uncertainty.

Hope was still there but it was... fragile.

Reed stood at the edge of the room, his posture relaxed, his expression unreadable. To him, this moment was quite familiar.

Hope.

The belief that someone stronger, someone more capable, would come and fix everything, maybe the government or the military or maybe the authorities.

But the truth was... No one is coming to rescue them.

Another distant rumble echoed faintly, like thunder—but heavier, denser.

Someone flinched.

"W-what was that...?"

No one answered.

The receptionist straightened her posture, forcing a calm expression onto her face.

"Everyone, please remain inside. The situation outside is unstable. We will distribute food and water shortly."

Her voice was steady but her hands hidden behind the counter trembled slightly as she reached under the counter.

A few staff members began moving around, organizing bottled water and small food packets from behind the counter. The sight alone brought visible relief to several guests.

Even a small amount of supplies gave people a sense of security.

A man stepped forward cautiously.

"How much do we get?"

The receptionist glanced at the remaining stock.

"One bottle of water per person for now. Food will be rationed."

A murmur spread through the crowd. Some frowned while some looked dissatisfied, but no one protested as they knew it will only make things worse.

Reed leaned slightly against the wall, observing.

A young man stepped forward to help the staff distribute water. He moved quickly, efficiently, handing bottles to others without complaint.

Reed’s gaze lingered on him for a moment.

Elise followed his line of sight but found nothing special... Because the boy wasn’t special... He was useful.

In this accursed world, usefulness mattered more than talent—at least in the beginning.

*BOOM*

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from outside again.

This time, closer.

Everyone turned toward the glass doors instinctively.

Panic surged again, sharper than before.

The receptionist ordered one of the staff to see what’s going on, he rushed to the window, pressing his face against the glass despite the heat radiating through it.

"I—I can see it...!"

His voice trembled.

"A-a building... no, the s-supermarket... it’s-s—"

He swallowed hard.

"It’s damaged!"

That single sentence changed everything.

Everyone understood instantly what was happening, the supermarket had been raided by theives.

Across the street, just beyond the intersection, a large supermarket stood with its metal shutters half pulled down.

It was one of the few places still holding supplies. But it had already become the target for some malicious people.

A group of men had swiftly entered the supermarket. They were a bunch of rough looking men holding various weapons... Knifes, machete, metal bats, even guns.

Through the narrow gap in the shutters, silhouettes moved quickly. Shelves had already been pushed, forming a makeshift barricade, even the counter was flipped sideways while boxes were stacked in haste.

Inside the hotel, the guests had gathered closer to the glass, drawn by fear and curiosity.

"Are they... robbing it?"

"No... no, they’re breaking in!"

"Why is no one stopping them?!"

No one answered, because everyone already knew why. There was no one left to stop anything, even the police were just humans... Defenceless against the wrath of nature.

For a brief moment—

Everything went still. Even the noise inside the hotel faded.

And then—

*CRASH*

A metal bat swung violently from inside, one of the gangsters stumbled backward, clutching his shoulder.

"F*CK!?!"

Before he could recover, something burst in his face.

A white cloud of the fire extinguisher.

"AGHHH! MY EYES! You f*ckers will pay for this one!!"

The staff had struck first and they didn’t hold back.

Inside the supermarket, chaos erupted instantly. A worker lunged forward, swinging a bat again.

*THUD*

Another gangster barely blocked it with his arm, grunting in pain as he staggered backwards for a moment, but then he retaliated fiercely with a punch.

"YOU WANNA DIE?!"

The worker jumped back, knocking into a shelf as products rained down around him.

From the hotel lobby, someone gasped loudly.

"They’re actually fighting back!"

Night.

It’s been many hours after the fight in the next alleyway took place.

The fight eventually resulted in a draw... With the gangsters and the staff dividing the supermarket in two equal territories, forming a stalemate ready to break at any moment.

In the hotel.

The receptionist gave the last bit of instruction to the staff then retired for the night.

She don’t have a room of her own so she took one of the hotel rooms as her own, along with several other members choosing from the remaining ones.

As she reached the corridor, she saw a man leaning against the wall right next to her room, the same foreigner who came last night.

Even though he knew mandarin she didn’t thought much back then, but now as he interpreted her way, it says otherwise.

"May I know of your purpose for seeking me out this late at night??"

"I mean no harm... but this ain’t no place to talk, you know."

The foreigner intoned, indicating towards the room.

Half believing him, she lead him inside the room.

"Please."

With a nod, he stepped in along with her. She reached for the bed while he chose the chair beside it.

"Reed, was it? Please say in what matters I can help you."

"Good memory you have there. The reason I am here is that I want to co-operate with you."

Reed finally told the reason of seeking her out.

"Co-operate? How so?"

"You see... the situation isn’t looking any good right now. And it’s only going to get worse. So i propose we unite as a team and for you to be our leader."

"From what I see, the situation isn’t so desperate as you say. I think the heat way will last only a few weeks at most, plus government will also stabilize the matter."

The receptionist countered, stopped to take a breathe then continued.

"And i don’t think I’m capable enough to be the leader. Why don’t you try it yourself?"

"The situation isn’t going to recover but will only worsen... I can guarantee that. As for why i am not going for it myself... I’ll let you guess."

"I know that you not believe me now. So, i’ll give you some time to think things through."

Reed stood up, gave her a last glance, then left. A soft click, and he was gone, leaving behind only the lingering scent of something metallic, like ozone before a storm.

...

And just like that, eight days passed.

In this eight days, the heat increased tremendously... Now, even the night felt like the day.

The situation had worsened, the food supplies of the hotel has been completely exhausted, causing public panic. The situation barely sustained.

The uneasy truce at the supermarket had frayed, then snapped, leaving the streets outside a no-man’s land.

Inside the hotwl, the carefully hoarded food supplies had dwindled, then vanished.

The receptionist, once the calm face of hospitality, now felt like a raw nerve exposed to the elements. Her eyes, sunken and shadowed, stared blankly at her desk, her movements stiff, mechanical.

The receptionist looked lifeless as she lumbed down to her desk. In these eight days, she had been completely tortured by the people, almost becoming insane.

She had been pondering about the deal proposed by the foreigner named Reed, at first she thought it was just an attempt to gain benefits but now it felt he may just have some info beforehand... Or maybe even more.