It is early morning. The sun is yet to shine in the sky. Huang Qiuyan wakes up as a vampire. She is not excited about it. She looks around. She seems to be in XX district of Q city. Last night, they couldn't run far from the train station. Vampires or humans are nowhere to be seen. She couldn't see even a mouse. She couldn't see anyone peeping from the window or the balconies. The vehicles are abandoned. The area is completely deserted.
'I can't be the last one living on this planet.'
The arrow is another unsettling part. She clicks her tongue in annoyance.
'Who shot an arrow through my heart? If you wanted to kill me, do the job thoroughly.'
She takes a deep breath. She has to pull the arrow out. She curls her fingers around the arrow's tail.
'I can't possibly walk around with an arrow in my heart.'
She is scared. But she braces herself for the pain and pulls the arrow out.
Much to her surprise, she doesn't feel any pain. She is relieved to see that she didn't bleed. It is confirmed that she wasn't human anymore.
'What kind of person walks around with a wooden bow and an arrow these days?'
She keeps the arrow as a memento. She would find the person who shot at her that arrow when she was unconscious. She would give that person the taste of their own medicines.
Her vision is sharper. Her skin is pale like the other vampire. Her sense of smell is improved by ten times. She could smell a repulsive smell coming from the buildings. She smelled the gunpowder and blood, but it is quickly fading away.
Huang Qiuyan is sniffing around like a dog when she smells a pleasant scent of ripe peaches. Her stomach rumbles loudly. She is starving. She acts on her instincts and starts running following the scent of ripe peaches. The sun starts to shine. Huang Qiuyan's starts to itch when the sunlight poured over her skin. She stops abruptly and scratches herself until her skin is red and full of rashes.
She climbs into one of the abandoned cars to hide from the sun. Her skin isn't itchy anymore. The rashes start to fade away. She blinks in surprise. She realizes that she could never walk into the sunlight.
'I can't be allergic to sunlight.'
She read one or two vampire novels in the past. She has also watched a few vampire movies. Vampires needed human blood to survive. They become dust under the sunlight. The first information seems to be right. But the second information is wrong. She is allergic to the sunlight, but she doesn't turn into powder if the sunlight touch her skin.
The delicious scent of peaches is still lingering in the air. Luckily, the car has keys. The owner must have run away in a hurry. She doesn't think twice before stealing the car. She follows the lingering scent. While driving, she notices that there are two distinct scents in the air. One repulsed her badly while the other attracts her like a magnet. She couldn't see any other living being while she is driving.
After thirty minutes, she reaches a mall. She drives her straight into the mall to avoid the sunlight. The mall is in the worst state. There are blood marks on the floor. She sees some torn arms and legs. Her foot presses on something squishy.
Huang Qiuyan almost throws up when she sees the eyeball beneath her foot. She flashes away from the spot. Her running speed and stamina are incomparable to humans. She instinctively follows the ripe scent and reached the top floor of the mall.
The top floor of the mall is the children section. The ripe scent of peaches is stronger there. She is salivating. She sucks the air, filling her mouth with the scent. She could barely keep calm. She starts running toward the source of the scent.
She is confused when she finds a playhouse for children.
'Did someone leave a peach basket here?'
Huang Qiuyan sighs when she notices the size of the playhouse's entrance. She decides to crawl into the playhouse. She expects to find a lot of fruit pastries. Instead, she finds a chubby little bun snuggled in the corner.
Huang Qiuyan: "...."
Chubby little bun: "...."
The chubby little bun is pretty as a doll. She stares at Huang Qiuyan with her round brown eyes. Her black curly hair is tied into two fluffy buns. Her skin is milky and delicate. Her thick eyes lashes flutter like butterfly wings when she blinks at her. She must be around five or six. Huang Qiuyan is dazed. She has a weakness for cute children. She even wanted to have cute children after getting married.
They stare at each other for a long time. It is Huang Qiuyan who breaks the silence first.
"Hello."
The little doll rolls her eyes. She spreads her small pinkish palm in front of her. She says in a chirpy voice, "You don't have to play nice, Ugly Aunty. If you want my blood, just say so."
Ugly Aunty...
Huang Qiuyan feels that her dead heart has been blown to pieces by this cute little doll. She knows that her face is plain. But she has never been called ugly.
If an adult called you ugly, you could tell yourself that it was a lie. But if a kid called you ugly, there's no room for negotiation.
"I don't want your blood," Huang Qiuyan replies calmly despite the storms raging in her heart. The chubby little bun smells like food to her. She could hear the heartbeats and sense the warm flowing blood of the little bun. Each cell of her body is asking her to bite.
She sucks her own saliva. She understands that her vampire side is urging her to drink blood. She isn't crazy enough to drink human blood. Even if she is a vampire, she would never drink human blood.
"Then, what are you here for?" The little doll couldn't hide the relief in her eyes. "You are a vampire, aren't you?"
'I was attracted to your scent and drove like a madman to eat you.' Huang Qiuyan doesn't say that.
"If you are not going to bite me, you should feed me." The little doll sits up and crosses her small arms arrogantly. She is wearing a white long coat with red buttons and a white woolen skirt. Her shoulders are shaking, but she is eyeing her like a tiger cub.
"We are in a mall. There should be food here." She sighs and crawls back out of the playhouse. The little doll doesn't come out immediately. Huang Qiuyan waits for a minute minutes before she sees the little doll's head popping out of the playhouse.
"In case you want to use me as your food stock, I want to inform you." The little doll stands up straight and looks up. "Vampires turn into a pile of ashes when they drink my blood ."
Huang Qiuyan is amused. This little doll has a vivid imagination.
"You should not tell me this, kid. What if I kill you because I can't drink your blood?" Huang Qiuyan decides to play along.
"You have not done it yet." The little doll shrugs her small shoulders. "I might seem young, but I am way smarter for my age. Don't underestimate me."
Huang Qiuyan laughs at the little proud doll who talks like an adult. The little doll's cheeks are rosy and round like buns. She wants to squeeze them so much, but the little doll is clearly afraid of her.
The little doll walks ahead of her. Her each step is proud and graceful. Huang Qiuyan guesses that the little doll must be from a good family. She wonders about the little doll's parents. Were they killed or turned into a vampire like her?
The little doll is little grumpy, but she is also too proud to complain to Huang Qiuyan. They reach the cafeteria. The little doll takes a chair and looks at Huang Qiuyan expectantly.
"My honour, what do you want for breakfast?" Huang Qiuyan understands what she wants her to do.
"Burger, chocolate milk, pizza and..." She licks her lips as she looks around. "Potato chips."
"Alright, wait here."
She dashes through the cafeteria and returns with a tray of chips packets, some fruits, and packaged chocolate milk.
"I want a burger and a pizza." She shows displeasure when she sees the fruits.
"They were left out in open. They are not good to eat."
The little doll is sensible. She nods solemnly and quietly eats the fruits without any more complaint. Huang Qiuyan is hungry too. She forgets for a moment that she is a vampire. She picks up a strawberry and eats it.
She spits it right out on the floor. It tastes like plastic.
The little doll is annoyed when she sees Huang Qiuyan suddenly picking up the strawberry from her tray. She forgets her displeasure instantly and laughs when she sees her spitting out the strawberry.
"Aunty, you are a vampire. Don't try human food. You will get food poisoning." Little doll pauses for a moment and takes out candies from her pockets. "Eat this. My father gave them to me to distract stupid vampires."
Stupid...
Huang Qiuyan wants to cry. She is already depressed. She realizes that she could never eat her favorite food. She was on a diet to maintain her figure. After getting married, her plan was to let go and eat as much as she wanted. Now, she couldn't even eat fruits. Being a vampire isn't great.
The little doll is looking at her expectantly with a candy in her chubby palm. Huang Qiuyan didn't have the heart to say no. She takes the candy from the little doll's palm and puts it in her mouth. She is ready to swallow the candy even if it tasted like plastic. Unexpectedly, the candy melts in her mouth and tasted like warm sweetened buttermilk. She feels warm energy flowing through her body and satiating her hunger.
[Ding!]
[Apocalypse Assistance System has been activated.]
Huang Qiuyan sees green neon letters floating in front of her eyes.
[Analyzing Host: 1%...2%...3%...10%...]
'System???'