On days like this, Sunny could almost pretend that she was human.

The floor-to-ceiling windows allowed the light of the rising sun to fill every corner of the main room of the derelict library. Having long ago overgrown the building, the trees peeked through the gaping holes, adding a color other than dusty gray to the decor.

Sunny sat on the couch next to the windows and basked in the light. The world outside was the same as always. Collapsed skeleton buildings and rusted cars, remnants of a world Sunny had never seen. Or maybe she did and she couldn't remember. The years of the apocalypse were lost to her.

Sunny looked towards the doorless entrance that discouraged anyone except her from taking shelter in the library and wondered if the Market would be coming. She needed to top up on her sewing supplies.

She had accidentally cut her arm open without noticing while adjusting the meat hooks. She didn't feel the pain, but leaving it alone could make it worsen. She didn't want to have to adjust to having only one arm.

She scratched another day off her calendar. It was Thursday and the Market wouldn't come until Saturday.

It was hard to keep track of the days. They were monotonous and she could drift off mentally for days on end if she wasn't careful. She didn't need food or sleep. She had read all of the books around her a while ago. The only mental stimulation she received was when the Market set up shop in the parking lot across the street.

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Occasionally the monotony was broken by the odd survivor or zombie. Neither concerned Sunny. Survivors disliked how exposed the library was and the zombies were repulsed by her scent.

Her only connection to humans was the books around her. But she preferred it that way. There was less temptation.

When the sun was above the horizon, she stood to get ready for the day. It gave her a sense of routine to rest with the night and rise with the sun. She replaced the books where she had taken them from, having finished them throughout the night. With her vision, she didn't need light to see. On the contrary, she preferred to avoid it.

She started "waking up" the library. She did a patrol to make sure nothing happened overnight. The storm was pretty bad and she wouldn't be surprised if there were leaks.

It took her ten minutes to check that no one had broken the remaining windows, no one was trying to scavenge, and the local wildlife was staying outside. Scrutinizing the floor, she found no puddles indicating a leak.

Finally, she approached the room with the generator. She checked the generator and made sure it was still powering the refrigerated room. That was its only purpose after all.

She frowned at its poor condition. She would need to check the Market again to see if they had one. This generator was old when she found it and could shut down any day now.

She looped back around to finish her patrol. The scent of iron and the aroma of fresh, weak prey met her first. She stopped and recoiled in surprise.

After riding out the hunger, she pulled her scarf higher to cover her nose. It didn't help. But if she could smell it then the zombies in the area also could. She pressed forward to the entrance.

She first saw his blond hair. Then she saw his pointed ears. The blond elf lay dying on her doorstep, his blood a siren call to any predator in the area.