The closest center to her home had been completely looted. There was nothing left. Not even a can of food. The display window was entirely shattered, pieces of glass scattered everywhere. The shelves were overturned, even the cash register had been emptied.
Yumiel didn't waste any more time and checked every store in the area. Almost all the shops had been pillaged. Yumiel noticed a dump in a street near her home.
Given the state of it, no one had passed through there. Yumiel decided to go inside—she needed basic tools. She spent some time rummaging through the dump. Of course, she opened her senses from time to time to make sure no one was approaching.
Once her bag was filled with materials and tools of all kinds, including a pickaxe she carried in her hands, she went back home to drop off everything she had gathered. The walk back home went without issue.
Her neighborhood was eerily quiet; you could hear numerous gunshots coming from downtown, sometimes explosions. Yumiel had considered returning toward the center. But it was too risky to run into the man with the blades again.
Entering her home, Yumiel unlocked the door only to find Marie pointing a gun at her. She barely paid attention to it and kept emptying her bag so she could leave again before sunrise.
Marie didn't take her eyes off her, trembling slightly. Yumiel wondered where she got the weapon from. Then remembered she had left the rack open. Marie was holding the Colt .45 that Yumiel used to carry.
« Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot, you know it won't do much to me. »
Marie trembled more and more, while Yumiel was preparing to leave again, just dropping everything she had found in the entrance hall.
As she left and closed the door, Yumiel sighed—she was really terrible with children. Casting a glance behind her, she reopened the door. Seeing Marie frozen in place, weapon in hand, Yumiel tried to reassure her.
« This gun, I'm giving it to you, so defend the house well while I'm gone. »
As soon as she said that, Yumiel left. Back outside, she made sure to lock the door, then smiled.
Yumiel searched more widely, street by street. She eventually climbed onto the rooftops. From roof to roof, she reached a building and opened her senses to the maximum. Far away, very far from the city center, she detected strong vibrations like gunfire. She couldn't estimate the distance. She decided to go check, but first wanted to test something small.
« Ok Yumiel, you're a vampire, so you can turn into a bat, right? »
Perched atop the building, trying to convince herself she was a bat, she threw herself into the void. As she fell, Yumiel closed her eyes, feeling the air rush over her.
« Bat bat bat. »
She repeated it over and over as she fell, before opening her eyes a few meters above the ground. Fortunately, her body was no longer truly human; she curled into a ball midair to reduce the impact. But she still crashed magnificently.
The impact left a crater in the ground; she felt her bones breaking or dislocating. « Ow, fuck. »
She stood up slowly, feeling her bones shift back into place, giving her an exquisite pain. « Ah, what a fucking stupid idea. »
Yumiel headed in the approximate direction of the noises she heard. The streets were less and less lit, probably because she was leaving the city. On her way, she compared the state of the buildings—they seemed less damaged than those in the center.
While running, she spotted lights. Lots of lights—some sort of shopping center. Getting closer, she sensed several people. Entering through the parking lot area, Yumiel headed toward the main entrance doors. When she stepped inside, she witnessed one of the most cliché apocalypse scenes.
About a dozen men and women armed with SA-80s. They guarded the food in the center of the store, shelves stacked one over another as barricades. On the other side of the store, a group of tied-up women, visibly abused by their captors.
The reason they hadn't noticed Yumiel was because she was unbelievably discreet. Sneaking through the store's dark zones. For her, it was a feast—a delicious feast.
She quickly imagined a plan of action to avoid wasting time. 1. Cut the power. 2. Kill them all. Simple, fast, and effective. All that remained was to find the utility room. For that, always use the most efficient method. Opening her senses and filtering the information, finding the mechanical noise she needed.
The more Yumiel used her senses, the faster she processed information. She estimated she was able to keep her senses fully open for 2 to 2.30 minutes. Sneaking up to the room, the door required an access code. Yumiel stood there in front of it for a moment before speaking to herself. « Alright, plan B. »
Yumiel tore the door off with one hand, throwing it backward, alerting absolutely everyone. She rushed inside, found the breaker, and pulled the lever down.
Yumiel turned around to see that the lights were still on, then looked down to see the breaker in her hand. She had actually ripped it off. Yumiel wanted to swear, but had no time for it.
The armed men were closing in; she grabbed her magnum and fired a few bullets into the electrical system. The lights went out. This was her moment. Leaving the room like a predator on the hunt.
Barely out, two men were close to her. They needed time for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Grabbing the first one and slamming him to the ground with strength easily surpassing three UFC heavyweight champions, he for sure would never stand again in his life. The second one couldn't quite see what was happening but shouted: « CONTACT! CONTACT! »
Shooting in front of him, Yumiel was already behind him, subduing him, taking his weapon, and putting a bullet in his head. Yumiel shot as many people as she could see, killing three more. The others were huddled together at the back of the store.
Running toward them to finish them off. A burst of bullets brushed past her, forcing her into cover. Yumiel endured suppressive fire from her opponents. She slid along the shelf she was hiding behind and fired a burst at the closest one, putting him on the ground. But then a major problem occurred. The electricity came back—likely thanks to a manually connected backup generator. In that case, it had to be turned on by hand. Yumiel was still under suppressive fire as they surrounded her.
« Guys, surrender and I'll let you live. Maybe. »
Some of them laughed.
« Come out, maybe we'll let you live. Ahah »
Yumiel smiled—she had tried. She closed her eyes, opening her senses to the maximum. One to the left at 5 meters, another to the right at 7 meters, and three in the back firing in turns at 18 meters. Yumiel ran backward, reached the wall, jumped onto it, and ran along it. She eliminated the two on the sides with precision before throwing the weapon she had taken, then propelled herself from the wall straight ahead, arriving right in front of them.
The three had a surprised, then terrified expression. Yumiel grabbed the first one, killing him by piercing his stomach with her hand, making him scream in an indescribable language. Shocked by the scene, he fired several bursts.
Yumiel jumped in place to dodge them, pulled out her magnum, and put a bullet between the eyes of the one furthest away and another into the last one's arm. Upon landing, she found herself face-to-face with a Glock 17 or 19, hard to tell. Dodging now was tricky. Yumiel chose to rush him, tanking the bullets, then grabbing him by the throat.
The man struggled to breathe but could still speak.
« Fucking monster. »
« That's all you've got to say to me? »
« I'd… rather die than… »
Yumiel granted his wish, piercing his chest and pulling out his heart. Letting his lifeless body fall, she drank the divine nectar that was his heart. Yumiel repeated the process for every single corpse she had just killed.
The women tied at the back, having seen everything, began to cry, thinking they were next. Yumiel finished calmly, then approached the tied women who shut their eyes as she neared them.
She had no intention of killing them—she simply untied them. Removing the tape from their mouths and their restraints. The four girls looked at each other before one of them spoke.
« Thank you so much, but… you're not going to hurt us, right? »
It was normal for them to be skeptical—Yumiel had just killed 11 armed people by herself. But the most shocking part came afterward, ripping out their hearts and squeezing them like oranges.
Yumiel really didn't know what to say; she didn't kill just for pleasure but to survive and discover the truth by becoming stronger.
« Uh, no, I don't really care. I got what I wanted. I'm going to fill as many bags as possible and go home. Do whatever you want as long as you don't bother me. »
The girls were surprised, then burst into joy. They cried, but they were tears of relief. Yumiel didn't pay much attention. Filling the bags with as much food as possible, she wanted to take the assault rifles, but it wasn't a priority. The sun wouldn't be long. On her way out of the store, a girl came to speak to her.
« I still have to thank you from the bottom of my heart—no pun intended, ahah—don't go ripping mine out. These girls you saved won't forget it. Neither will I. These last 24 hours have been traumatic for some of us. So really, thank you. »
Yumiel stared at the girl in front of her, then at the others. They all looked like university students.
« I'll give you a piece of advice: if so little is enough to traumatize you, then I wish you good luck. It's the jungle now, we're not playing house anymore. »
Yumiel was never very good at finding the right words—she hurried home with several full bags. The trip back home went smoothly.
But as soon as she reached her street, she heard gunshots coming from her house. The sound was similar to that of a Colt .45.