The zombies pushed us past the cute front lobby and herded us deeper into the hotel like badly trained employees following a very questionable management policy.

We passed the weird hall with six elevators first.

I looked over briefly to notice that not one of them actually worked. On one of them, the doors sat halfway open with dried blood smeared across the metal frame while the call buttons blinked weakly beside it like they still thought somebody important was coming.

Clearly I needed to leave a horrible review or else none of this was getting fixed.

But apparently today was not that day. Our hosts were very determined to get us wherever it was that they wanted us to go. I would have to leave a scathing letter later.

We were then brought into a hallway that split off toward the indoor pool next, one of those fancy hotel signs hanging crookedly overhead with elegant little arrows pointing toward the spa, fitness center, and relaxation lounge.

Relaxation.

I could go for some of that right now.

Because nothing said stress relief quite like getting kidnapped by zombies with an agenda.

My feet were starting to hurt even more, but that didn’t seem to be an issue for the zombies as they led us further down the hotel.

The only nice thing was that the quiet was only broken by the sound of our footsteps on the carpet.

For a moment, I could almost pretend like we were the only ones left in the world.

Or was that just wishful thinking?

Our tour guides started to slow down when we reached the conference hall.

Ah.

There was the nightmare fuel.

All I could see was an endless stretch of reinforced plexiglass conference rooms that lined both sides of the hallway.

"Please tell me that this isn’t what I think it is going to be," I muttered as a zombie pushed me forward. I stumbled for a step before I caught myself.

"Knowing the way your brain is?" murmured Yuche as he reached out and placed a hand on the small of my back. "Not a chance."

"But in the interest of entertainment," continued Lingyun with a smirk on his face. "What do you think this is going to be?"

"A middle management meet?" I started, seriously thinking about it. I ignored the blood covered plexiglass and the people soundlessly banging on it, looking for someone to save them.

I was no one savior.

"One of those meetings that could have been an email," I continued. "Or... God forbid... a timeshare opportunity." I quietly shuddered before I perked back up again. "Then again, timeshare opportunities normally come with snacks, desserts, and ice cream. Never mind. I want it to be a timeshare."

"There is something seriously wrong with you. You know that, right?" said Zhenlan, his voice crystal clear as he slowly turned his head to look at me.

I nodded my head and hummed in agreement. "And just how long did it take you to realize that?" I purred, a sarcastic smirk ghosting across my face. "You’re getting a bit slow in your old age, aren’t you?"

The moment we passed Conference Room C, there was a loud crashing noise. I turned away from the man walking beside me and came to a stop.

There was a man, had to be military or security or even just a gyn bro, that was banging against the plexiglass windows with a metal chair. He wasn’t getting too far. In fact, the next time he swung for the fences, the chair smashed in his hands, leaving the glass completely untouched.

I lifted one hand and waved politely to him as I could as we passed.

He only glared at me like it was my fault that he was locked in a room of blood and survivors.

I smiled brightly at him as I drew my thumb over my neck as I continued to stare at him. If he wanted, I would be more than happy to kill him. It might be a mercy, all things considered.

His eyes narrowed even more and I watched his hands clench into fists. There was a slight trembling as the earth around him seemed to move, but he quickly dropped to his knees absolutely exhausted.

Huh....

Interesting.

"So that’s why..." I muttered under my breath as a zombie hissed at me.

"What are you talking about?" asked Lingyun, his eyes narrowing as he waited for my answer.

"I was wondering why we were bring brought into a meeting and not being eaten," I replied before I started to move back down the hall, following the zombie’s direction like the good little girl that I was.

"And?" demanded Chenghai.

"And you don’t know?" I replied, throwing him a look over my shoulder. "And here was me thinking that you knew everything."

"Stop being a brat and tell us," snapped Zhenlan.

"I’ve never been a brat a day in my life," I sneered. But I could feel a slight bit of pressure from Yuche’s hand where it was still resting on my back. "They are holding the humans in conference rooms until they starve them almost to death."

"Why?" asked Lingyun, looking around the hall with new eyes. "What’s the point?"

"Because powers don’t work when you are hungry. And you can’t be a threat if you are one foot in the grave."

I felt more than saw the four men around me stiffen as if they didn’t think about it that way. But how else were you supposed to see it? Anyone with powers would fight to the death.... but without food, without the energy to spare, humans were as threatening as a newborn kitten.

That was why we were here... why they wanted us alive... why everything was happening this way.

Humans were on borrowed time, and whoever was controlling the zombies knew it.

Lingyun stared through the glass at a little girl curled tightly beneath one of the conference tables. "This is all types of fucked up."