"Finding living people in such a vast land is quite challenging, and it's been ages since any new zombies appeared," Dora Lin remarked, giving Alex White a sideways glance.
"Some people band together, some go solo, and some have even formed survivor settlements."
"You're the solo type."
"Sort of," Dora Lin replied.
Alex White had finished cutting the bamboo but was at a loss on how to weave it into a basket, so he handed it back to Dora Lin.
"Why aren't you wearing sunglasses anymore?" she asked curiously. Alex White had been thrilled when he first got the sunglasses, treating them like a treasure, but now he had taken them off, revealing his bright red zombie eyes.
"Wearing them all the time causes wear and tear, and there's no need to wear them here," Alex White said.
Such industrial products are hard to replace if they break. Besides, who was he wearing them for? He had already drooled over Dora Lin many times, so wearing them or not didn't make much difference.
So, he carefully put them away. If he ever needed to go out or leave, the sunglasses would be essential for someone like him with zombie traits.
"Can you check if my eyes are more flexible now?" Alex White stared at Dora Lin, hoping the eye exercises had made a difference.
Dora Lin glanced at him and then turned her head away in disgust. "I don't know, it's pretty scary."
"I think it's fine. Help me find a mirror so I can check," Alex White said.
Dora Lin agreed and then said, "Actually, it's not a bad thing. If you can maintain it, being a lone zombie might mean you don't have to worry about getting bitten by other zombies."
"Hmm... zombies don't bite zombies," Alex White thought it over and found it reasonable.
Wouldn't that make him the zombie king?
Alex White's heart surged with excitement.
"Has anyone ever predicted that a zombie king would eventually appear on this land?"
"Hmm... I don't know," Dora Lin glanced at him, replying nonchalantly. She didn't tell him that even if there were a zombie king, his subjects would be so old that they would crumble at the slightest fall.
The thought of Alex White talking about being a zombie king, while recalling how frightened he was by an old zombie outside the wall that afternoon, made Dora Lin laugh. There was something oddly amusing about it.
"What are you laughing at?" Alex White was puzzled.
"Well... good luck!" Dora Lin said.
Alex White finally felt a sense of destiny, retaining his sanity and gradually recovering. Isn't this the rise of the zombie king? The zombies roaming this land would eventually welcome their king, and then...
Then what? Alex White had no idea.
"Embrace glorious evolution?" Alex White rubbed his eyes.
"What do you mean?" Dora Lin asked.
"Is it possible that what infected us isn't a virus, but a higher form of life?" Alex White mused.
Dora Lin stared at him without speaking.
"Is it hard to imagine?" Alex White asked.
"You can evolve on your own," Dora Lin said. "If you want me to evolve too, I'll punch you."
"It must be true!" Alex White stood up, full of energy, and started doing calisthenics.
"Aren't you hot?" She saw Alex White standing at the edge of the shelter, in the sunlight, instead of hiding in the shade.
"I don't want to rot in a corner. Sunlight energizes me," Alex White said. "A zombie king should be different from the rest."
Dora Lin, skillful with her hands, sat on the threshold with a large bundle of bamboo strips, weaving a basket. The zombie king was exercising in the shelter. Occasionally, she looked up at the sky, where a vast expanse of clouds was dyed red by the sun. She gazed for a moment and inexplicably felt that the sunlight was wonderful today.
People living in the apocalypse rarely encountered someone like Alex.
It was an indescribable feeling.
The chains clanked, and by nightfall, Dora Lin put down the basket she had started and stretched, feeling like she had forgotten something. She went inside to find a mirror for Alex White but still felt she had neglected something.
It wasn't until Alex White reminded her that she remembered zombies needed to bathe too. Alex White liked to jump around, and in this weather, he would start to smell.
But zombies smelling bad was normal. Dora Lin thought about this as she filled a basin with water from the well.
Then she went back inside to rest. Lying on the bed, she noticed it got quiet outside after a while.
It seemed the zombie king had gone to sleep.
"Do you need to sleep too?" Dora Lin asked, pushing open the window.
The stars weren't bright tonight; only faint outlines could be seen under the shelter. In the darkness, the infected always had an aura of danger.
"I used to be able to go all night without sleeping, but now... when I close my eyes, it feels like I can rest," Alex White White said uncertainly. "I'm not sure if I'm actually sleeping. If you move, I can hear you, but if you stay still, it feels like I'm asleep."
Dora Lin noticed that when he spoke, the dangerous aura disappeared. Communicative beings were always safer than mindless beasts.
"Maybe my eyes are red because I stayed up too many nights," Alex White always managed to find a reasonable explanation for his zombification, as if this would make Dora less wary of him.
"It's an illusion. If you look at more zombies, you'll see that your eyes are just like theirs," Dora mercilessly shattered his fantasy.
Alex White didn't respond. Just as Dora was about to close the window, he suddenly said, "You brought me back here to study me, didn't you?"
Dora looked at the shadow in the darkness, "No."
"Really?"
"I just wanted to observe," Dora paused and then asked, "You remember your name is Small White, and you remember a lot from before you were infected, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Just curious, that's good," Dora said. After a moment, she asked, "In your opinion, what preserved your memory and sanity after infection?"
Alex White thought for a while and then seriously said, "I'm not sure. Maybe, like you said, the mutation direction of the virus is unpredictable. The virulence of the mutant strain weakened, allowing for coexistence... something like that."
"I see," Dora said softly.
"You don't seem like a doctor," Alex White said.
"No, I'm not."
"Then... what do you want to observe?"
"My father was a doctor," Dora said.
"Your father?..."
"He turned into a zombie."
Alex White didn't say anything. Dora heard the chains clank.
"Has it been a long time?" Alex White asked.
"Yes, a long time," Dora said.
"Sorry."
"It's nothing," Dora shook her head. "Retaining your sanity during infection makes you like this, right?"
"Probably," Alex White White said. After a moment's thought, he added, "But not necessarily. I certainly don't know as much about the virus as you do. It's just... I somehow retained my memory."
As he spoke, Alex White couldn't help but remember the hardest days when he was burning with fever. "Thank you," he said.
"Mm," Dora Lin replied.
She stood by the window for a while longer, then closed it.