I heard a commotion in the production hall. The emojis were attacking something fiercely. Strange – nobody was stupid enough to scavenge this close to the first lab, where there were hundreds of emojis. I decided to check this out, as I heard a young man's voice screaming in terror.

Ah, so there are some stupid enough to venture here after all. I ran to catch up with the horde – it would be a pity if they ate the boy. As I was reaching the last line of monsters I unfastened my axe from the back holster. They really didn't see what was coming.

I like my axe – it has great reach and with one swing I can take out several monsters at once. Normal human would struggle just to lift my weapon, but with considerable enhancements I received to be the perfect killing machine I didn't mind its weight. Gore splashed all around, staining my fresh sweatshirt – again. I hate this part. Oh well, I'll have to find something new. If I remember correctly, the showers in this factory still work. Beats me how that's even possible, but I don't care.

Most of the emojis turned to face me, although some still were trying to beat down the door to a little office in the corner of the production hall. If I had to guess, that was where the boy hid. That's good – I won't have to worry about him for now. I swinged my axe again, sending another couple of monsters to the netherworld. It's a pity those pesky scientists weren't able to find the cure for the damned parasite. Maybe if they concentrated more on actually destroying it than modifying to create a perfect soldier, they would be more successful.

The still living creeps were hissing at me, but not attacking. Instead they tried to surround me, but the length of my axe effectively prevented them from it. Instead I was pushing the whole group into the corner with the doors. Their caution was their doom. If they attacked me all at once they would have overwhelmed me finally. As it was, I was able to make short work of them, killing a few at a time with every step I took.

At last, a pile of massacred corpses was all that was left of the emojis. I stepped over it and knocked lightly on the door. The boy must have been scared out of his wits. I didn't want to stress him further.

"Open the door. It's safe now," I said in as friendly a tone as I could muster. I'm not exactly what you would call a nice girl. I stood there and waited for him to collect his thoughts. Finally he got to opening the door. He was squinting his beautiful blue eyes behind simple, wire-framed glasses. His short, almost black hair was disheveled but still looked cute as hell. I think he might be in early twenties, but his svelte figure made him look boyish.

The young man seemed totally stunned. Seeing me he backed off, fear flashing on his face. Shit, I must have looked quite menacing with all this blood on me. Not to forget the axe...

"It's safe now," I cooed, hoping to soothe his nerves enough to prevent him from running away in panic. "I won't hurt you, unless you're one of those beasts after all," I added seeing him relax a little.

I had to take him away from this place, not only to calm him down. More emojis would come, attracted by the scent of fresh kill, disgusting cannibals as they were. But this was good in a way - it would give us time to use the showers – a rare luxury in this fucking post-apocalyptic world. I missed the comfort of the old life.

As the boy was still in shock I took him by the hand and walked him to the locker room. He didn't turn around when I was undressing, but I doubt that in his stupor he was noticing anything. The water in the shower was cold, but still it was running water and I really need to get rid of all the gore I had on me. Lucky I don't have any hair – a side effect of the mutated parasite in me – no need to disentangle meat and brain from the locks.

My weapon needed the cleaning too – I scrubbed and oiled it, feeling the wide eyed gaze on me the whole time. I think the axe frightened the young man – frankly I would be petrified if I were him.

"We need to get out of here before it gets dark, or it will be much harder to get to my place," I said when I was done with the cleaning. He was surprised, but didn't put much resistance, so we got going towards my closest hideout.

We already were quite far from the factory when I heard wolves howling. Or maybe werewolves. I wandered if they were fully emojis now. The parasite worked slower on them, but it was devastating. The untamed wolf spirit without the control of the conscious human mind turned them into something truly frightening. Even I had trouble facing them without getting hurt. I just hoped they haven't cought our scent, or they would be much more of a problem than the vamps the boy was so worried about.

The sun was almost gone when we arrived at the big oak. I pulled a well hidden string and a simple rope ladder fell right beside me. My companion jumped, scared by the sudden movement. I laughed and asked him to go first. He climbed clumsily, visibly not accustomed to exercising. I steadied the ladder for him, casually admiring his nice ass and wondering how he managed to survive the two years in the plague smitten world.

When we were both up on the platform I smiled seeing surprise in his eyes. This was a small tree house, but it had all you'd need to survive for a few days. Apart from sleeping bags, a stash of supplies (you know, the basics, like water, dried meat and fruit, some cans and even some pasta) and a gas burner, most importantly it had real door. This made it a house, which vampires couldn't enter without invitation. The small platform around the building was surrounded by multiple garlic garlands. I hate garlic, but vamps hate it even more, so I'll manage.

I seated the boy on one of the sleeping bags, covered him in a blanket and lighted the burner. Two cups of hot tea and three sandwiches later he was finally thawing enough to speak, the shock slowly wearing of. Not that he could muster much more than "I'm Tomek, and you?"

Well, the problem with this question was I'm not telling my name to anyone. Names give too much power and I'm not taking any risks. "Does it matter? I'm the one that saved you, ok?" I said, but he was pressing on.

"So how should I address you?"

I sighed, "Whatever you like, I don't care. Not that it's going to be a problem. I'll get you to your village tomorrow morning and that's it. No need for names," I cut him off, not acknowledging the disappointment on his handsome face.

He stayed quiet. I think he was embarrassed but didn't want to let it show. He was exhausted and soon dozed off, still kind of sitting. I helped him lie down and tugged him with the blanket. He was sweet but I was feeling strange. Or rather I wasn't feeling what I felt in a presence of any young male – the permanent lust was missing, as if the parasite didn't fancy this one. That was a nice change, not having to fight the irrational desire all the time.

I needed to get some rest too, so I slid into my sleeping bag and closed my eyes. I was already half in a dream when a noise made me get back to reality. I lay still and listened. Some twigs and branches cracked, as something or someone broke them. It wasn't an emoji – they were asleep after sundown. Vampire wouldn't make any sound at all – sneaky bloodsuckers could step lightly as if they were not there. I wasn't expecting any bigger animal either – they all got eaten by the ever hungry monsters. Which meant it was most probably human.

I slowly rolled onto my belly and carefully looked down from the platform. It was a bright night, with fool moon and cloudless sky despite it already being almost end of October. I squinted my eyes and saw a hunched figure studying my hideout. I moved back fast, hoping he didn't notice me yet. I knew he was a man and not infected – my parasite told me that even at this distance. How? – I immediately felt burning lust, the one that should be immediately satisfied or else. Shit.

I stayed quiet, hoping the man would not find the way to my base. He was not some poor victim. His moves were sure and deliberate and I could discern a rifle at his back. So probably one of the scavenging bandits, that were roaming this territory in search of anything they could eat, drink or sell. Swell.

The intruder circled the oak, feeling its trunk on the way. Unfortunately he found the string and managed to let the ladder down. Not perfect, but I'll manage. I unsheathed my long hunter knife (yes, I do have more weapons besides the oversized axe) and crouched near the place he would be entering from the ladder. I needed him to get on the platform first though, so that he couldn't escape me and start shooting from below.

I steadied my breath as I listened to his climb. As he laboriously pulled himself on his hands to the platform I put the knife to his throat. He almost jumped when the cold metal touched his skin.

"Steady boy. You don't have to die if you listen to me," I said quietly, not wanting to wake up Tomek. He didn't need to know... With one hand I took the rifle from his back, the other still keeping him in check with the knife. I threw the firearm away and forced the man to stand up. Finally I saw his face and it made me smile.

"Francesco, wasn't expecting you here mate," I half laughed as he shuddered.

"I think so bitch. You left us for the emojis to eat!" he barked, trying to sound cocky and failing miserably. It sounded more like a whine to me. This wasn't actually true, not fully at least. I accidentally led a group of monsters their way. Even I can't take on this many at once. I didn't expect the bandits to be this weak though, there should have been at least a dozen of armed man in their camp.

"Not so brave anymore, when you don't have your gang to fight for you cowboy?" I teased, not deeming it necessary to clear the misunderstanding. If he thinks I'm a heartless bitch he's more likely to behave himself. He snorted.

"So what now? You're gonna finish what you started or not want to get your hands dirty?" he barked.

"Well, I don't have to get my hands dirty", I said pointing to a pale faced woman hovering near the platform and watching us hungrily. Lily have been coming here every night for the last couple of months for no good reason. I think she was always hoping for an invitation she would obviously never get. I suspect she wasn't completely right in the head, poor bloodsucker.

Francesco blanched, his deep, brown eyes getting wide as he spotted the vampire. I smiled with contentment.

"You can't give me to those leeches," he almost whispered, breath caught in his throat. "Not even you..." his voice trailed off as he looked at my face.

"Maybe we could make some arrangements to let you stay alive," I said, trying to sound menacing. "Don't move or I'll throw you right into the arms of that nice lady", I threatened and took the knife from his throat.

I did my best to exude the aura of calm cruelty, not to give him any ideas of trying to attack me. It was hard. Even still at the lab, before the parasite, he made me feel warm inside. Now all I wanted was to get my hands on his muscular body. Not the best mindset to sound intimidating I guess.