(Lirean Province- Capitol City)
(Northern District)
"Fuck… calm down… calm down…" Qin Lan muttered quietly to herself as she continued to take in deep breaths and slowly exhaled.
Eve slowly walked over and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
The zombie empress glanced at the middle-aged man groaning in pain on the ground and her eyes briefly flashed black.
Eve used her fingernail to pierce the underside of her palm and flicked a droplet of blood that landed on the man's shirt.
Qin Lan didn't notice her small movements as she raised up her head and gestured for the group of teenagers to walk over.
"Liu Yifei I'm going to need you to clear out the supplies in my van so that there is enough space for everyone to sit down," Qin Lan explained in a steady tone.
"You all may have to suffer a bit of discomfort but unless one of you can hotwire cars… there is no other choice."
"I'll do it!" Liu Yifei replied firmly as she clenched the old pendant around her neck.
Qin Lan nodded in approval and reached for the keys in her pocket to unlock the van door. She opened the door and gestured for Liu Yifei to activate her storage space.
The pretty girl walked inside confidently and began to touch the supplies in Qin Lan's van.
Guns, ammo, dry food, medical supplies and bottles of water instantly vanished into thin air.
"What… what sort of devilry…." the middle-aged man got up from the ground and moved back in fear as he saw the strange sight.
He coughed violently and thin flecks of blood stained his hand. Qin Lan glanced at him coldly and the man felt his body freeze up.
The look in her eyes… it reminded him of the loan sharks who used to harass him for money.
It was not the gaze of a human being but rather…
It was the gaze of a predator.
The man ran as fast as he could away from the dangerous woman even though his ribs felt as though they were broken.
He did not know that a strange smile flashed across Eve's face as she watched him get further and further away.
A drop of her blood… would be quite appetising… at least to her less intelligent brethren…
The other teenagers were standing awkwardly around the van, so Qin Lan walked over to them and handed out some bottles of water.
"Is everyone doing, okay?" Qin Lan asked gently.
"Yeah… yeah… but are you sure that we can leave the city?" Gong Li nervously asked as she kept glancing around for any nearby zombies.
"It would be a bit difficult by myself but with Eve's help we can easily deal with any zombies so don't worry," Qin Lan reassured her in a soft tone.
She reached out and rubbed the top of Gong Li's hair with gentle motions.
It was only natural for the highschoolers to feel terrified by a situation straight out of an apocalypse novel.
And things would only get worse from here…
Qin Lan tried to take their minds off the current situation by talking about the future.
She revealed her plans to reach the Wuern Province which was a rural part of the country and then establish a base.
Mutated animals and plants could still be eaten so there shouldn't be a lack of food once her body continued to develop.
"How do we know if we have a gift?" Liu Tao asked curiously as she stared at Eve who casually picked up a fallen car and moved it to the side of the road.
"Touch your chest and if you can feel a warm fuzzy feeling inside your body then that means that you should posses an ability," Qin Lan explained as she recalled what she felt.
Liu Tao closed her eyes for several seconds but when she opened them there was a disappointed expression on her face.
"I… I can't feel anything…" Liu Tao spoke with sadness evident in her voice.
Qin Lan searched the original host's memories and discovered there were a few examples of people who developed abilities months after the beginning of the apocalypse.
The method they used to gain a gift was predictably hidden behind a fuzzy white wall that blurred the memories.
Why was the original Qin Lan so determined to have her experience the apocalypse with as little knowledge as possible?
Qin Lan furrowed her brows as she remembered the madness that danced in the original Qin Lan's eyes as she requested that she kill as many people as possible.
"Don't worry… there is always a chance that an ability could develop in the future," Qin Lan finally spoke.
"Really?!" Liu Tao exclaimed with excitement.
The other teenagers with the exception of Qin Wei seemed ecstatic at the news and the class monitor closed his eyes to try to discover if he had an ability.
"What is your ability?" Qin Wei suddenly spoke.
His tone was normal and yet there was an emotion hidden in his eyes that Qin Lan thought was a bit unpleasant.
"It's a secret… just know that I will only use it as a last resort," Qin Lan teased him softly and placed a finger over her lips.
She didn't want to lie to her little brother, but she honestly didn't know what her gift did, so it was better to pretend that it was a secret.
Qin Wei didn't seem happy with her answer, but Qin Lan's attention was draw to Liu Yifei who finished cleaning up the interior of the van.
"All done!" Liu Yifei whispered weakly as she swayed from side to side.
Beads of sweat were running down her brow, so Qin Lan quickly walked over and grabbed her shoulder to stop her body from falling over.
"Did you push yourself too hard? I'm sorry… I shouldn't have made you activate your ability after hours of walking…" Qin Lan spoke in a self-blaming tone.
"It's okay… I just need some sleep," Liu Yifei yawned sleepily and closed her eyes as she felt her vision fade away to darkness.
Qin Lan lifted her up and placed her in the back row of the van where the young girl promptly fell asleep.
The van had three rows of seats so Qin Lan directed the two boys to sit in the middle row while the girls would sit at the back.
She would drive and Eve would take the co-pilot seat. Qin Lan plugged the key into the ignition port and the van shuddered to life.
Eve stared out of the window with a distracted expression on her face. She seemed to be looking in a certain direction but there was nothing of interest there.
Just endless rubble where tall buildings used to be.
Qin Lan checked the map that she tucked away in the bottom of her seat and began driving in an eastern direction.
The capitol city was quite big, and it was already evening.
Instead of driving through the night it would be safer to stop in the suburban district and then resume their journey tomorrow.
Qin Lan hummed softly and looked in the mirror to see that the teenagers who were awake were eating some snacks or drinking water.
Gong Li was leaning against Liu Yifei's shoulders and the pair of girls were drifting away into a sweet dreamland.
Qin Lan smiled as she saw the actions of the pair.
For some reason a similar scene flashed across her mind with a girl who possessed dark skin and crimson eyes.
She shook her head as that sudden memory disappeared just as quickly as it resurfaced. Qin Lan tried to recall what she had just remembered but nothing came to mind.
"Careful…" Eve's soft voice broke Qin Lan out of her musings and she stopped the van just before it collided with another car that was racing along the road.
It was impossible to see who was inside the other vehicle because it had tinted windows, but Qin Lan got the impression that someone inside was staring at them.
.
.
.
.
"Brother Jing do you want to let those survivors know about our base since its only a few kilometers away?" a short haired man in a military uniform asked.
His companion in the driver's seat was an incredibly handsome man in his late twenties with a muscular body that was covered in light scars.
Those scars added to his rugged masculine charm.
His face had sharp angular features and his cold eyes created an aura of intimidation that was impossible to ignore.
The man brought a cigarette to his lips and lit the end of the stick with a lighter. He puffed out a small cloud of smoke and turned his attention back on the road.
"No… remember our mission is to secure supplies from the local supermarkets… we can rescue civilians, but that is not our priority," Wu Jing explained hoarsely.
"Adna Supermarket is our first target… secure that location and then I will send out a radio message to the commander..."
The other men in the car nodded in approval at the leader's decision.
Each wore military styled clothing and held assault rifles in their arms.
Wu Jing opened up the window and tossed out the cigarette with a casual motion.
Tiny sparks of electricity danced around his fingertips but none of the men inside the car seemed surprised to see his supernatural ability.