The day Zhan and Yibo finally returned to the hotel, they were excited and looking forward to seeing their parents again. Even though it was only a few weeks that they were separated from them, they missed them very much. And finally there were so many things to tell, especially that Yibo proposed to Zhan and Zhan said yes.

As the hotel slowly came into view for the two of them, they were both nervous. Their hearts suddenly beat much faster and they could hardly wait to finally be back behind the protective walls of their home, District 1.

But the closer they got to the hotel, the clearer a picture emerged that they had not expected. Not only did the presence of the soldiers increase the closer they got to the wall. No, there were also many battle traces to see. But that was somehow also what they expected. What they didn't expect, however, was this enormous mountain of corpses burning not even 50 meters from the walls of the hotel.

About 20 meters from the entrance gate, there were two soldiers who had barricaded the road. They asked Zhan and Yibo to turn off the engine of their car, get out of the car and hand over their weapons. Zhan immediately tried to make it clear who he was and who Yibo was and that he was the one who practically owned this hotel and that his father ran it for him.

But then the soldiers had some news for the two of them that they couldn't believe at all at first. One of the two soldiers stepped closer to Zhan and said, "I'm sorry Doctor Xiao. Of course we know who you are. But after your father confidently left the leadership of District 1 in the hands of a newly elected board, your father and mother left to help build District 3. And Mr. Wang's parents moved to District 2 a week ago. The new board wants everyone who comes here to be disarmed and quarantined for at least two weeks. No exceptions!"

Yibo laughed and said that surely Zhan, as the owner of the hotel, had a say in this matter and had never agreed to the election of a board of directors. But the two soldiers didn't care. They were just doing their jobs. Zhan and Yibo could understand that, but it still made them angry. So Zhan and Yibo demanded that the board meet with them and they could talk.

Much to the displeasure of the two survivors, who were actually just happy to get back home, this request was denied. The other soldier carried the request by taking his radio for it and explaining who had just arrived and immediately was told that the board was not willing to talk until the set time limit of 2 weeks in quarantine was reached.

And then, as if all that wasn't enough, Zhan and Yibo heard a man from the board say over the radio, "If they don't like it, they can find another safe place to stay."

What Zhan heard made him so angry that he grabbed the radio and yelled into it. "What do you think you're doing? That hotel is my property! My father could never have elected a board of directors without my consent!"

But the man was not fazed and simply replied, "Well, maybe that was true back when those laws were in place. Today we make the laws and whether you like it or not, we don't care. Either you obey our laws or you get out of here. Why don't you go to District 2 or help build District 3? I don't care."

Before Zhan could say anything back, Yibo shoved him back into the car and warned him not to cause more stress. Zhan didn't quite understand until Yibo pointed to a couple of red dots on their chests. The dots were from lasers that were mounted on weapons to help them aim more accurately.

Yibo briefly turned to the two soldiers again and asked, "And you're okay with us being treated like this after we gave you this safe home?"

The soldiers replied in the negative, explaining that they too were against how people were now being treated. Then they told about a bus with soldiers and a whole bunch of survivors. He said that not even those had been allowed to enter the grounds because supposedly the quarantine station did not have enough capacity for them.

Of course, Zhan and Yibo immediately knew who the group of soldiers and survivors with the bus were. And they were shocked when they heard that they had been sent away again. They just couldn't believe that this was really happening. 

They were horrified by how much changed in their absence. Changed for the worse! And that in such a short time. It was only a few weeks. But all these changes also made Zhan and Yibo seem as if they had been away for at least a year. And one of the soldiers only confirmed that they were all now living in a different time. In a time where humanity is written small when it comes to protecting one's own life.

Knowing discussions would not help them now and that they still had guns pointed at them, Yibo started the engine and went backwards until he reached a point where he could turn the car around.

They decided that they would first drive to District 2, what was once a federal prison, to see Yibo's parents and hear from them what was going on at the hotel. They needed to hear firsthand what was happening there. And that it had to be bad was clear to them. Because Yibo's parents would not have moved voluntarily, if the situation in the hotel was not really terrible.

In addition, they hoped to find the other group with the survivors. Somewhere these had to be. After all, they could not drive around forever in this cold and with completely exhausted and frightened, perhaps even sick people.

While Yibo carefully drove on the muddy and therefore slippery dirt road back to the main road, Zhan searched on the map for the best and fastest way to the prison. But there was no quick way, and the way there was, took them through a city. And actually they wanted to avoid cities, because they didn't know if there might not be vampires there.

But since they had no other choice if they wanted to get to District 2, they headed there. And as they drove, Yibo asked, "Do you think it had all been vampires that they killed and are now burning?"

Zhan shrugged his shoulders. He was actually still far too horrified and far too angry to think about anything. But then he said, "I hope it was just vampires."

"Mmm, me too. But I kind of got the feeling that it wasn't just vampires. The soldiers seemed nervous and intimidated to me. And one of them kept looking at me and then at the pile of burning bodies."

"Maybe he was trying to point something out to you there? Maybe that was supposed to be a warning, too. But Yibo, right now we'd better not think about it. We need to figure out what's going on and how to get the hotel back under our control."

"So you want to fight?"

"Somehow we have to fight. I'm not just saying that because that's my hotel, my heritage. But also because everything we need is there. The rooms, the infirmary, just everything we need to survive. And of course the science lab. I still have the blood samples. But if we can't get to the hotel and so also to the scientists, how am I going to give them the samples for analysis? If they quarantine us, the blood samples will be destroyed. Because it could be contagious. The scientists would never get to see them, I'm absolutely sure of that."

Yibo could say nothing more about it. He simply nodded. Because he knew Zhan was absolutely right.

After they drove about 10 miles, Yibo stopped the car to look at the route on the map Zhan had picked out. He felt quite sick when he saw how far it was and that they had to go through a city. So not only would they have to spend another night without protective walls, but they would also have to drive into a city without knowing what the possible population of vampires there was.

They had learned on their trip that some vampires did not leave the cities, but continued to live in the apartments that had not been destroyed, pretending to still be human. Then yes there were those who moved from place to place looking for humans, or rather their blood. And then there were those like the two old ones who did not transform completely. And especially with the latter it is unclear how many of them there are and whether they might also carry this virus or whatever it was and could infect others.

The two continued until they had only one hour of daylight left. They were now already close to the city and now had to find a place where they could spend the night. But far and wide there seemed to be nothing. The two therefore already feared that they would have to park their car somewhere and then spend the night in it.

But when Yibo saw something flashing through some trees, something that sparkled and even blinded him twice, he simply swung the car in that direction and hoped it was exactly as he suspected. And so it was.

As they got closer, they spotted the other group's bus and on the roof was this one smart young soldier holding a small mirror, which he used to blind Yibo to get his attention.

Zhan and Yibo could not believe that they had finally found the others and they were reunited with them. And while Zhan was looking at the survivors and their health, the soldiers told them a very similar story to the one Zhan and Yibo had experienced at the hotel.

They were all stunned and just couldn't understand how everything could change so dramatically in such a short time. One of the soldiers said, "They didn't even send a doctor out to us to do an initial examination. Nothing. Just the soldiers, our comrades, who rejected us after the board said there was no room for everyone in the quarantine station."

The commander confirmed it and told, "I clearly said who I was and they didn't care. A grade doesn't matter anymore they said. Allegedly, grades had been abolished. Most of the soldiers are said to have been withdrawn and sent to District 3. The rest have been turned into some kind of military police. And then there are the snipers. These are civilians who have been given dangerous weapons to defend the hotel. And I think they're not just killing vampires with these weapons. This huge burning pile of bodies that's there. I saw two men throw a body into the pile and it didn't look like it had been out for blood for months. The corpse was clean, had clean clothes on, and looked well-fed."

And with that, Zhan and Yibo had confirmation of their suspicions. They really were killing people. And these were not new survivors who arrived there seeking shelter. But residents of the hotel!

The soldiers found a former small school during their search for a place to spend the night and then brought Zhan, Yibo and the survivors there. They all pitched in together and set up a safe night camp. Zhan treated a few more survivors' wounds, handed them all a broad-spectrum antibiotic and vitamin pills, and then they sat around a small fire and talked a bit more about the hotel and how things might be in District 2. Would they be welcome there?