Chapter 131: Welcome To Shifton Palace Cafe

Fredrinn and Rose walked at the front of the group, trailing just a few steps behind Charlie and Selene.

Behind them came Jenny, Max, and Ash, their heads darting left and right, checking every dark corner and hallway with sharp vigilance.

Stepping past the shattered revolving doors, the hotel lobby actually looked surprisingly decent. If you ignored the dried bloodstains near the luggage carts and the faint stench of rot hanging in the cool air, the interior was still quite classy. The warm yellow pot lights embedded in the high ceiling were still humming with power, casting a soft glow over polished marble floors and velvet armchairs.

"Doesn’t seem like anyone’s down here," Ash remarked casually, strolling along with his hands tucked behind his back.

Having seen Fredrinn’s terrifying sound blast and his own glowing blade take out walkers, the teenager didn’t look worried in the slightest.

Max gave a dry shake of his head, his heavy boots clicking rhythmically against the stone. "Most of the zombies in the lobby probably stumbled outside when we pulled up. As for human survivors, only a complete idiot would hole up in an open glass lobby. If anyone is still breathing in this place, they’d be locked away in the kitchens, the storage rooms, or the higher suites."

"C, go check behind the dining table. S, you go clear behind the reception desk," Rose ordered, letting out a soft, delicate yawn.

She leaned lazily against Fredrinn’s shoulder, her crimson eyes half-lidded and bored as she used single-letter shorthand for her two undead puppets.

Charlie and Selene moved without hesitation. They shuffled forward like clockwork soldiers, rounding the long mahogany counter and peering behind the heavy partition screens. A few moments later, both returned, staring blankly ahead and shaking their heads in unison.

"Keep checking the perimeter," Rose added with a limp wave of her manicured hand, not even bothering to lift her chin from Fredrinn’s arm.

Seeing her treat the scouting mission like a chore, neither Max nor Jenny uttered a single complaint.

How could they? Even while acting completely uninterested, Rose was getting far better results than any of them could manage. While the human Awakeners had to stay on high alert to avoid being ambushed or bitten, her two thralls were fearless. They were bulletproof meat shields that couldn’t feel pain, making them the ultimate point scouts.

"Over there, the elevators," Jenny pointed toward a recessed hallway lined with brass-framed lift doors. A digital floor indicator was softly glowing above the frame. "We should definitely take the stairs, though. In a mess like this, the grid could drop at any second. Getting trapped inside an elevator shaft between floors would be a death sentence."

"Agreed," Fredrinn said.

The rest of the squad nodded along, bypassing the shiny elevator bank and locating the emergency stairwell door instead. They pushed through the heavy fire doors and climbed the concrete steps toward the first floor.

According to a framed floor plan mounted near the landing, the first level housed an indoor swimming pool along with the hotel’s private lounge and dining cafeteria.

Why the architects had decided to build a massive swimming pool on the first floor instead of the ground level was anyone’s guess, but the layout gave them an open, wide area to inspect before tackling the guest rooms above.

Reaching the double doors leading into the dining hall, Rose nudged her chin forward. "Go check it out."

Selene and Charlie stepped past the threshold into the dark cafeteria. The heavy fire doors swung shut behind them.

Two quiet minutes passed while the group waited in the hallway, weapons drawn and ready.

Finally, the door pushed open again. Selene and Charlie walked back out, halting before Rose with empty, vacant stares.

Selene slowly lifted her right arm, holding up a single, pale index finger.

Max and Ash immediately shifted their footing, their eyes narrowing at the signal.

"A zombie?" Rose asked, her tone smooth and indifferent.

Selene shook her blue-haired head.

Charlie opened his grey lips, his throat producing a low, guttural scrape that sounded like two grinding stones. "Human."

The undead brute was still technically capable of speech, though the mental subjugation meant he spoke only when absolutely necessary.

Right now, however, nobody cared about the marvel of a talking corpse. Their focus was completely snagged on his words.

"A human? There’s someone in there? All alone?" Jenny’s brow furrowed, finding the idea bizarre.

In this new nightmare, strength in numbers was the golden rule of survival.

Why would a human sit alone on the first floor of an overrun hotel instead of banding together or barricading themselves in a vault alongside the crowd?

"No point standing out here guessing," Ash said with a shrug. "Let’s just go in and see."

Fredrinn gave a quiet nod, keeping his posture relaxed as he pushed the swinging doors wide, Rose trailing at his hip.

Stepping inside, the entire group froze in mild disbelief.

The cafeteria was immaculate.

There were no overturned chairs, no smeared streaks of dark blood on the pristine beige tiles, and no discarded trash littering the floor. Soft, warm overhead pendant lamps cast a cozy glow across neat rows of small dining tables.

And standing directly behind the long, polished marble service counter was a young man.

Seeing the heavily armed survivors walk in, flanked by an undead brute and a grey-skinned woman with curved demonic horns jutting from her temples, the man didn’t flinch.

He didn’t gasp, he didn’t reach for a weapon, and he didn’t scream about monsters.

For a normal human, seeing Rose alone should have sent him running for the hills, yet his posture remained entirely unbothered.

He was dressed in a clean, professional staff uniform consisting of a dark green sweatshirt and matching loose sweatpants, both covered by a crisp black apron.

Embroidered across the chest of the apron was the hotel’s distinctive logo: a stylized castle resembling the Shifton Palace crest.

A matching green baseball cap was pulled low over his forehead, though several neat strands of straight black hair peeked out around his temples. His skin was pale and completely unmarked by the grit and grime of the past few days.

As Fredrinn, Jenny, and the others stepped closer to the cash register, their boots squeaking against the clean floor, the young man set down a white cleaning cloth.

He clasped his hands together in front of his waist, offering them a pleasant, practiced hospitality smile.

"Good evening. Welcome to the Shifton Palace Cafe," the man greeted smoothly, his voice polite and steady. "How may I help you tonight?"

Fredrinn stared at the smiling clerk, his brows slowly rising.

’...The actual fuck?’