The End Of Life

There were only 3 zombies in the hallway. Mark stood outside in the hallway. All the zombies were facing the other way. He slowly went to the first one and took quick care of it. He didn't stop there and went for the next one immediately. As the 2nd one fell on the ground there was only one left in the whole hallway. 

The last zombie heard the sound and turned around. It charged towards him, with its hands stretched out. Mark side-stepped, escaping its charge, and slashed while turning around. It fell down as the head detached from its body. 

He looked at his clothes and exhaled in relief when there was no blood on it. He looked at the kitchen entrance and noticed David and Suzie peeking out. He waved his hand, motioning them to come out. They followed along the hallway, crossing many rooms. They reached the end and now could go either left or right. Mark looked at the board showing directions and saw the lobby was to the right. 

Suspiciously, there weren't any zombies in the hallway leading towards the lobby. Mark was on complete alert as he continued towards. As they reached the end of the hallway, they had their backs on the wall. With Mark in the front, he slowly peeked into the hallway and the scene sent shivers down his spine as cold sweat formed on his forehead. 

The lobby was a complete disaster. There were zombies everywhere. Everyone was a zombie, from normal people to the hotel manager. He noticed the former hotel manager was now a huge bloater along with three other normal people. Going head straight into the lobby was maniacal. There was no chance for survival, even if they ran away from them. He looked around and noticed the reception counter was near them. 

The number of zombies between him and the counter was only 2. But he was scared of attracting the other zombies in the room. It would be a pure disaster if that happens. He looked back at David and Suzie. 

"The situation in the lobby is really dangerous. If we attract even a single zombie, it would lead to our doom. But thankfully the reception where the books are mostly kept is very near to us and there are only 2 zombies in the way."

"So, I will go and slowly check the book and come back. David, I need you to stay here and watch the zombies with Suzie. I won't be able to get the view of the whole lobby when I am going. So cover me. If you see any of the bloaters in the lobby moving towards me, then move back to the jeep. We can't risk it here."

David nodded and Mark turned around towards the lobby. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he slowly bent down and made his way towards the reception. He looked around to see if there were any zombies looking at him. 

The zombies did not notice him, and Mark continued towards the counter. The first zombie was between him and the counter while the other was on the counter. He slowly took out his sword and got back. Quickly finishing it with one strike, he did not forget to catch the falling body. He slowly kept it on the ground and looked around. 

The zombies had no reaction, and he exhaled in relief. Continuing towards the counter slowly, he noticed the receptionist turned zombie behind the counter. There was only a distance of 3 steps left till he reached the zombie. As he took a step forward, the zombie turned around. 

As it was opening its mouth to let out a shrill, Mark felt his boy move on its own, when he threw the sword directly at its head. The power he used was surprising as the sword was quicker than the zombie. It went through its head, killing it instantly. But the body slowly started to fall behind. 

Mark's eyes went wide when he noticed the chairs behind the zombie. If it falls, then the biggest thing he was scared of would happen. Once again, his body reacted, and he only took a step forward towards the zombie and caught its body before it fell. His back was drenched in sweat and he was out of breath. 

He slowly looked around and felt relieved when no zombie noticed what just happened. He slowly kept the body down and took out the sword from its head. After making sure that the zombies were not looking at him once again, he took a deep breath and sat against the wall. 

He felt his heart almost pop out when the zombie turned around and got ready to scream. His body moved on its own once again. The reaction speed was way beyond his capacity. As his thoughts started to slowly wander, he shook his head and concentrated on the situation before him. He went near the reception and saw the three shelves. 

Slowly opening the first shelf, he noticed there were no books inside. Closing it, he moved on to the next one and found the registers. There were 5 in total. Taking the latest register out, he flipped through the pages and opened the date, Kevin left for the trip. Slowly looking through the book, he found his university's name. Checking the room numbers, he found out they rented 2 entire floors. 

They were on the 4th and 5th floor of the hotel. Keeping it back inside, he looked around once again before slowly making his way back to the hallway again. Reaching the end, he stood up, feeling relieved. His heart was beating too rapidly and only by taking a couple of deep breaths was he able to calm down a little. 

He looked at David and Suzie's anxiety. Nodding, he said, "I got the details. The university took both the 4th and 5th floors. So let's check both of them quickly and get this done." David nodded and all of them noticed the stairs were near and started to slowly climb them. Mark was at the front with David at the end, watching for any zombies that might suddenly come their way from behind. 

Mark didn't have any suitable weapons to give to Suzie. She was carrying a bag for them. Reaching the first-floor hallway, he looked at both sides and found zombies roaming around. The hallway had the rooms opposite to them. He waited till there wasn't any zombie in the hallway and quickly went to the next floor. 

He wanted to get this as quickly as possible. Fighting against the zombies on the floors would only slow them down and make it tough for them. The 2nd floor had more zombies than the first. He couldn't avoid them like before and took out his sword once again. 

He observed as the zombie slowly walked towards them. Once it reached near the stairs, he took action and killed it immediately. After killing it, he took out the gun and shot the rest in the hallway in one swoop. All the 5 zombies in the hallway fell down before they could groan. 

They continued up and reached the 3rd floor. There were no zombies in the hallway this time. Mark felt it was a bit strange but shrugged it off and continued to the 4th. The university had rented the entire floor. Each floor had 20 rooms in it. The hotel prioritized mainly on the comfortability of each room and so made them big and less in number.

But as they reached the 4th floor, Mark was shocked. The number of zombies increased by a huge margin. In the hallway alone there were 10 zombies. He kept the sword in the sheath once again and reloaded the gun. He needed to be quick and accurate. He looked back towards David and mouths the condition of the floor. 

David's eyes widen hearing the zombies on the floor. He nodded and came to the front. Mark turned towards Suzie and whispered, "Stay here. We both will kill them quickly." She nodded and remained there. 

He looked at David beside him and pointed at him and then towards the lobby. David understood his intentions. He needed to take care of the ones towards the lobby and Mark would go for the other side. 

Mark held out three fingers and slowly counted down to zero. As he closed all fingers both of them went into the hallway and opened fire. Even with the silencer on both the guns, the sound was still audible. There were 6 zombies on Mark's way. 

He quickly shot down the three near him and then went for the ones in the back. His accuracy was to the bullseye. All the bullets went through the heads of the zombies. He was shocked seeing this. His accuracy was not this good. He looked back and saw David shooting the last zombie. 

Based on the bullet shells on the ground, he shot 7 bullets for 3 zombies. It was good enough for an amateur. But before they could feel relieved, they noticed 2 bloaters coming into the hallway from the lobby.