Watching the dog run around here and there and not stick close to them at all times, some people in the group felt uncomfortable.

In fact, every time she left, they subconsciously shuddered a bit, feeling insecure.

This couldn't be helped. They had started fighting back a bit now, and most people have killed at least one or two zombies with their own hands.

But there was still a long way to go…

The trauma was still very fresh considering that the day hadn't even ended.

Lu Chen looked around at the people near him. They seemed a bit dull and exhausted. He smiled contently because even this was better than their previous blank expressions.

He didn't want to push everyone too far and the sky was beginning to darken, so he stopped moving and raised his hand.

"We will take shelter here for the night and we can continue moving once again in the morning." 

Everyone was too tired and no one raised any objections. Conveniently, there was also a hotel nearby and it was an ideal location to rest for the night.

"Let me first go inside and scout the building." Guan Ye muttered and Lu Chen nodded his head. He then quickly dashed inside and checked out all the ins and outs of the 3-star hotel.

He didn't really have to check under the bed or check in the closets because if there were any zombies present at all, they would have immediately come after him instead of hiding in the shadows and waiting to pounce.

At least the normal mana zombies did not possess that much intellect. It was as if when the human beings turned into these zombies, their brains got completely fried because of too much energy.

It was only a small hotel so it took about 10 minutes for Guan Ye to check the whole building. He simply opened the doors and checked the rooms.

Just as he was finishing up, Qin Hua as well returned and she too joined him in checking. Her nose was more sensitive than his and other awakened human beings for that matter, so she did a more thorough check.

She took another 10 minutes and by the time, everyone settled inside, half an hour had passed. However, no one complained that it was taking too long even though they were extremely tired.

Safety was more important so they quietly walked in and settled themselves in the lobby area first. Lu Chen took another look around and sighed. "Shall we start the dinner preparations first?"

Luo Zu, Xu Meiling, and Alex stood up, as usual, to work on the food but a couple of other women also joined them.

"Xiao Ming, you don't have to worry about this today. Why don't you take some rest and help us tomorrow?" Xu Meiling held her hand and warmly patted her.

But the woman shook her head. "No, it's alright. I would like to do my part." She resolutely rejected her generosity.

Xiao Ming was a college senior who was initially studying in Beijing. She had only come back to this distant city because of an internship opportunity in her father's place of employment.

She had always been headstrong and independent, so she didn't want to let the earlier events of the day affect her. She wanted to keep herself busy and move on.

"Ah…" Xu Meilin was speechless, but she nodded in agreement. "Whatever you want to do." She smiled.

Besides Xiao Ming, there was also another woman. However, she didn't seem to be in the mood for talking and did not say anything. So Xu Meiling as well didn't ask her anything.

She hesitated a bit and then looked at the group and timidly muttered. "Ah… Anyone who wants to help us can join us." Her voice sounded like a frightened little rabbit, making Alex shake her head.

In the end, about ten people ended up helping in the dinner preparations. The hotel's kitchen area was still functional and it was equipped to cook for bigger quantities so that became very convenient.

The dinner wasn't too extravagant. The plan was to just cook some rice and pair it with the roasted mutated beast meat.

Lu Chen took out one of the storage pouches from the bag and then opened it by loosening the pouch strings. He gulped and put his hand inside, once again feeling the strange sensation as if he was putting his hand inside a huge void.

He could never get used to this feeling! Logically, bigger magic bags should be less startling than the overgrown mutated beasts but to each his own.

He reached in and somehow he could sense everything that was there inside. All he had to do was will the item and it would be sent out.

Lu Chen took out 1 rice bag and 10 kgs of the giant boa meat. He also took out some of the small cooking utensils because this hotel's kitchen had already been raided by someone else.

Only the bigger and more cumbersome things were left behind. Everything else including food and condiments had been completely taken away and cleaned out.

But this was not an issue as they had plenty of these things at least for now. A few minutes later, food was ready and everyone's faces brightened up a little.

The warm food and the warm water combined with the fact that they had somehow survived an ordeal like that comforted everyone.

The few people who were having suicidal thoughts also began to feel slightly better. Though the world right now did not look like it was worth living in, how long could this last? They had come so far and they didn't want to give up now.

The silence slowly dispersed and a few people even began talking to each other. Instead of dwelling on the painful part of the day, they talked about trivial things and talked about how they had managed to overpower the zombies with ease.

Bing Che and Mo Ling who were both still handicapped looked at each other in regret. 

"Brother, do you think that things could have turned better if we had also forced everyone to fight?" Bing Che sighed.

"Everything is already in the past. Let's not think about that anymore." Mo Ling shook his head. He didn't want to hurt his friend by agreeing to something so obvious.

It would have indeed been better if everyone had been pushed to fight and face the reality. It would have indeed been better if they had all gotten stronger together but now it was too late to think about all those things.

They got another chance to correct their mistakes and this time they needed to do better in order to live on.

While these two chatter with each other, Alex, Xu Meilin, Lu Chen, and Guan Ye sat together and had their meal. Even though they had just done this a few hours ago, it still felt like a lifetime away.

"Here. Take some more." Alex took a piece of roasted meat and placed it on Guan Ye's plate since she noticed that he hadn't eaten much.

Guan Ye nodded in silence as a thank you. He didn't speak too much usually so Alex didn't mind it. She was then about to say something to Xu Meilin when the latter's stomach loudly rumbled.

Xu Meilin's face immediately turned unsightly. She didn't know if this was going to be another episode like before, and black things were about to randomly leak out of her.

She had almost died out of embarrassment last time and she was too nervous about the same thing happening again. But luckily for her, no such event occurred and it turned out that her stomach was simply still hungry.

Alex did not hold back and chuckled and Lu Chen as well joined her and laughed at the girl's plight. Xu Meilin's face became bright red. 

"I am just hungry." She bit her lips which only made the other two laugh more. Even Guan Ye joined in this and smiled a little.

They chatted for a bit more and surprisingly, food ran out sooner than expected. 

"Mei Mei, you were not joking when you said you were hungry. Even I am feeling hungry now." Lu Chen muttered and he was not joking.

"Is everyone still feeling hungry?" Alex leaned back and shouted, asking the rest of the people sitting together in smaller groups. "Please speak up and don't keep it inside." She added.

"Umm… Yes. I am feeling a bit hungry." Xiao Ming muttered.

"Me too."

"I could also eat more." Some more people answered honestly. They didn't want to sound greedy but they also wanted to function efficiently and fight to the best of their abilities.

Alex nodded and looked at Xu Meilin and then at Lu Chen. "Do you guys think that our metabolism has increased?"

"Mmm." Lu Chen hummed in agreement. "It does look like that. We are expending a lot more energy than usual."