The food raid was… a bust.

  The restaurant, it seemed, didn’t carry any frozen foods, and most of what was in the fridge, whether prepped, pre-cooked or even just meats, were spoiled or… questionable looking, and if he was being honest, cooking in that kitchen would spoil any unspoiled foods.

  There was food, or at least ingredients. Flour and butter had a long shelf life if stored correctly, each with hundreds of uses and recipes. There were also rows of canned goods in the pantry—tomatoes, beans, chickpeas, pineapples, and even corned beef. Lack of food wasn’t the issue, it was coming face to face with the reality that he’d have to cook anything he wanted from scratch.

  The kitchen looked bad, smelled worse, and was probably a biohazard at this point, and to add to it, Matt was just too tired and too hungry for any of this. He was sure the specialty restaurants would have cleaner kitchens since they rarely served lunch, but that was a problem for tomorrow’s Matt. Today’s Matt just wanted to fill his belly and pass out.

  He sighed as he grabbed some apples and oranges that still looked good, and a couple of egg cartons. He then made his way to the pantry where he grabbed two cans of kidney beans. The suit he had used to set up the ambush on the wolves had an in-room microwave, so it was safe to assume the others would as well, and cooking eggs and beans in the microwave was foolproof enough. It was a depressing meal, but there was a time to be picky and a time to ‘just get it over with’ and this was the latter.

  He made his way out of the kitchen and into the hallway–a metal tray in hand filled with what food he had picked out–munching on an apple as he did, and it didn’t take him long to find himself in the large reception lobby once more.

  When he had first arrived, it was just after his fight with the three wolves on the outside and into another with four more on the inside. He had been hyper-focused and in serious fight-or-flight mode, making it difficult to truly appreciate the place he had found himself in.

  Granted, in his current exhausted and starved state he wasn’t that much better, but it was still better. Safety did wonders for the mind, leaving it in a calm enough state to at least pause for a minute and appreciate the place for what it truly was.

  A luxury resort.

  Beautiful dark grey marble tiles with strokes of white littered the floor, while white marble tiles with strokes of grey covered the walls. It was a minimalistic design with modern colors that had a single focus: calm elegance.

  The reception desk, which was also entirely made of white and grey marble, which wasn’t any less beautiful. A giant spiraling crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the reception room, bathing it in its white light. Light that wasn’t directed downwards, but upwards so as to not cause reflection with the polished marble flooring.

  Around the room, four sets of furniture completed the soothing modern look, each comprising a light grey double cushioned sofa and two armchairs that looked comfortable enough to make him consider sleeping here instead of in a room. The proximity played a major role, but that didn’t change the fact.

  A black metal table with a glass base sat in the centre of the furniture set of which a couple had a variety of cups and glasses, from long glasses, which he assumed were for sodas or juices for the younger guests, to champagne, and even espresso and coffee cups. The resort’s hospitality was on full display. It also showed that people had been waiting right here when the integration started, which must’ve been a weird feeling, going from starting a vacation to the actual apocalypse.

  The extravagance was quite obvious though. He had worked with internal designers at his firm before to design hotel lobbies, and he knew how lavish and expensive it could get. It was an excessive display of wealth and opulence with room prices to match. The maintenance alone must cost a fortune.

  He could claim it was too rich for his taste, but truth was, he came from money, and while his family didn’t go out of their way to flaunt their wealth, the comfort that luxury provided was undeniable, and they did enjoy the comfort, so being in places like this wasn’t new to him, a bitter reminder.

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  It wasn’t for him, and he never cared for it, but there was no denying that it was a part of who he was, whether he liked it or not. Even people in the office must have noticed since many had sought his help or input when designing projects that were of more… opulent nature. That was probably on him since when he was first asked for help, he threw a few words around that got him some weird looks. Guess he still had the ‘rich boy’ attitude deep down somewhere. Acclimation was a process, and he had enjoyed every last bit of it.

  He took another look at the reception, but this time not in appreciation, but realization.

  Signs of his battle marred the lavish lobby. The bodies of the wolves by the glass panels, the broken metal scanner, revolving door, the cracked marble covering the support beams, and the traces of blood on the otherwise impeccable-looking tiles.

  He didn’t know what would become of places like this when the tutorial was over, if it’d go back to being a resort or just end up being a person or a group’s stronghold, but one thing was for sure, he needed to keep the destruction to a minimum. Things breaking was inevitable, especially during a life and death struggle, and going out of his way to make sure nothing was damaged during a fight was like giving himself a handicap.

  No, he’d do what he’d need to during a fight, but otherwise he’d try his best to not cause more damage.

  It didn’t take Matt long to find himself in another suite, and true to his word, he did not break the door, choosing instead to find the room service all access keycard he had seen in movies many a time while snacking on some more apples. He did find it in the service room after a few minutes of looking around, but to his disappointment, it didn’t work.

  The door locks must’ve reset.

  It did, however, give him an excuse to go and pick up his scepter, so it all worked out.

  In the end, yes, he did break the lock, but not the door—a very important distinction. The door itself was still intact.

  He already felt much better after the few apples he had devoured, yet also hungrier somehow. Still, he decided one more detour was needed before he got to eating: a shower.

  The large marble bathroom was welcoming and stocked full of towels and amenities. It must’ve been an unoccupied suite at the time, which was a rare but welcome sight nonetheless.

  For a famished, parched man fighting for his life, nothing felt as good as a nice shower after weeks of being stuck in the dirt and heat. The warm water washed away more than the soot and grime covering his body after the long trek through the desert. He felt his worries wash away. The tension he was feeling. Being alert and on edge for who knows how long had left him in a state of almost constant paranoia, and yet this one shower returned Matt to a sense of normalcy he hadn’t known he was missing. Something he was incredibly grateful for.

  It took a while of rubbing and scrubbing for Matt to feel clean once more. He knew it was unlikely he’d always find a shower on the road and that he shouldn’t take this feeling for granted, yet still, for the first time in a very long time he understood the true meaning of ‘enjoy the little things’ which was exactly what he planned on doing.

  After showering and putting on the robe, he went about the task of feeding himself. It took a dozen eggs, two cans of beans, six apples, four oranges, three large bottles of water, and a few candy bars for Matt to finally feel full.

  He had no clue how he could fit this much food into his stomach, but apparently after being starved for far too long, his body let him shove as much as possible, just in case.

  Surprisingly, he felt refreshed and energetic after the shower and food, like an entirely different man. He even wanted to check his notifications, dive back into things, but he had to ground himself. His brain needed a break from the constant fight-or-flight. He owed himself and his body that much after what he had put them through. So that was what he did. The large king-size bed was calling to him, and he was ready to heed the call.

  Matt dropped onto the bed like a log, remembering one more thing he needed to do: turn off his glove’s boosting ability.

  Tara had mentioned that there would be ramifications, especially after having it on for three consecutive days.

  Add to it being his first time using it, which meant a more severe backlash, and you could understand Matt’s reluctance. There were opportunities where he could’ve turned the boost off, yet not knowing the aftermath was what had stopped him from doing so. He had never felt safe enough to do it, which just kept on adding on, reaching the point he was in right now where it just felt like a disaster waiting to happen.

  Now though, there was no more delaying. No more running. It was time to face the music.

  With a thought, Matt turned off the ability, bracing himself for the backlash, but what he felt was… nothing, as emptiness filled him, followed by an absolute darkness.

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