The hotel loomed out of the darkness, but Jace didn't have time to admire the architecture, swinging with all his might he hit the unsuspecting zombie with a fencing dropper. The force sent the creature off balance, stumbling forward and Jace used the opportunity for a follow up swing across its spine. Feeling a sense of satisfaction as the hard steel displaced flesh and audibly cracked bones. He swung again splitting the skull and let dark blood pool in the indent.

Peering into the darkness he could just make out Carl's dark form as he took down his own target and another noise to his left signaled Beth had dropped hers also. As silent as they had been, the noise still roused nearby undead, their own silence adding a chilling effect as their enemy crunched over gravel towards them.

They had known going in, that the zombies they were targeting, were part of a larger unseen group. Still six hours of walking in the cold and dark, getting tangled in barbed wire fences and stumbling every time their feet found a dip, had made them desperate. Who knew how much distance was between them and the demon creature. Right now it didn't matter, all that mattered was they find somewhere to hold up and get some rest.

They had walked half the holes before they even realized it was a golf course they were trekking over. The luscious green, overgrown, the sand traps full of weeds and even then, they didn't expect the hotel. It rose up out if the night, looking as dead as the people milling around it, no light, but the reflection of the moon in the many windows. At first glance it seemed untouched, as though forgotten, overlooked by all amid all the confusion. And so it was a short conversation about taking up residence, at least for the time being. Only one thing was for sure, they wouldn't be short of linen.

Jace finished crippling his third zombie, with a decent swing, he snapped its leg bone and sent it tumbling forwards, where he shattered the back of its skull with a sickening thud. The numbers were down now and as always, zombies were not much chop in a fight. In an over optimistic burst of energy, having seen the end in sight, Jace attempted to run one through. The star dropper, not designed to puncture human anatomy, gave too much resistance and pushed the hapless dead woman over, but not before winding Jace as he tried to force it through. Like someone hitting a table when stubbing a toe, he lashed out in anger and smashed the woman's head repeatedly, until it was unrecognizable and her body convulsed in protest.

"Are you done?" Beth's voice came from behind him.

"I guess I am now." Jace replied, wiping something wet from his face in the dark. "Shall we go in then?"

But Carl was one step ahead, pushing his way through the stiff rotating door and into the reception.

The hotel was as cold as it looked and seemingly deserted. The massive windows along the front let in both light and unwanted stares, making Jace feel vulnerable. Surely nothing short of a vehicle would be able to crash through such glass but it didn't help his unease that the turn style was set to free spin. Carl had wasted no time wondering about such things and was already over the counter and rummaging in the dark trying to find something. The quiet confidence that the man carried as if he was an unmovable mountain intimidated Jace, although he would never admit it.

"What are you looking for?" Beth piped up after a minute, she too was eyeing the glass and Jase was glad to see he wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable.

"Room keys." Carl replied while still searching.

"They won't work without power." Jace added. "The doors are probably all on fail safe... at a guess."

"What." Both Beth and Carl asked simultaneously.

"It means when the building loses power and the backups don't kick in or the batteries die then all the rooms unlock."

"So we don't need a key then?" Carl asked happy to stop searching.

"Probably not." Jace tried to sound reassuring.

"Do you think there is anyone in the rooms?" Beth chimed in thinking ahead.

"We only need one." Jase pointed out. "We should be able to lock it from the inside with luck and i don't see anyone coming in a second story window."

"I think they would have all cleared out when the sickness hit." Carl pointed out in an effort to be reassuring. "The country went into lock down and there would have been no staff."

"That makes sense." Beth kept looking around as she agreed, obviously still expecting some kind of surprise.

It did seem a little out of place that such a huge and spectacular building had been left untouched, but then again that was still only an assumption. The office directly behind the check in counter had a first aid kit, which Carl took in one hand while he searched for a sign pointing to rooms. For now at least this was going to have to do. They could get some rest and check things more thoroughly in the daylight. There was so much to do and the dark human who had assaulted them through the window had added a whole new dimension to things.