So, she wasn't a mad scientist after all.
The disaster that began twenty years ago had always puzzled Alex White. In such an environment, even if her mother was a teacher, Dora Lin likely wouldn't have received the education needed to become a scientist. Yet, Dora did always seem to be observing him.
Now, Alex White felt a sense of relief. At least he knew why Dora had brought him back for observation. It had nothing to do with saving humanity or eliminating the disaster. It was simply because her father had also been turned into a zombie.
Encountering a zombie that could remain conscious represented many possibilities. It symbolized both opportunity and hope.
Alex White looked up at the stars. The vague sense of confusion and caution he had felt before now had an answer. Dora's habit of taking notes in her little notebook, which had seemed so serious yet clumsy, made sense now.
He turned over and let out a barely audible sigh.
At dawn, Dora seemed a bit tired, as if she hadn't rested well. Still, she got up early, a habit that was hard to break.
"Morning, Zombie King," she greeted. "How are you feeling today?"
"Feeling good, no obvious deterioration," Alex White responded cooperatively. He had always been cooperative. Looking at the meat Dora had hung out to dry, he continued, "I still get agitated around meat, but my self-control is improving."
"Should I cover it up?" Dora asked after a moment of thought.
"No need. It's a good way to train my willpower," Alex White said. Though he didn't mention it, there was another reason. With the meat hanging in the yard, his attention was diverted from Dora, a living human. Compared to the meat, it was less awkward than feeling impulses towards her.
"Why do you go out with a gun every day?" Alex White asked.
"There's a lot to do. I check for tracks of large animals or signs of strangers. If danger is coming, I need to know. Plus, I keep an eye on the wild food sources. It's important to stay aware of our surroundings," Dora explained as she finished her observation notes for the day. She then tightened her pant legs and sleeves, picked up her gun, and headed out the door.
Alex White noticed that she carried a piece of wild root. Initially, he thought she kept it to eat outside for sustenance, but now he guessed she might visit her father, who had turned into a zombie, somewhere out there.
A guess was just a guess.
When Dora Lin returned, she was calm—neither happy nor sad. She put down her makeshift gun, cooked a meal, and after eating, sat on the doorstep, looking at the zombie under the shed.
She often looked at Alex White this way, but this time Alex didn't have so many random thoughts.
"Did you go to see him?" Alex White thought for a moment and then asked.
Dora nodded, then shook her head.
"What if I let you go?" Dora thought for a while and then said.
Alex White was a bit surprised. "Why are you saying this?"
"I need to go to the city," Dora didn't answer but changed the topic, "the place where I found you."
"It wasn't finding; it was saving," Alex White corrected her. "What do you need to do there?"
"Aunt Jones asked me to go to her house in the city to pick up some things while scavenging, but I got delayed after finding you."
"You mean saving me delayed you. Do you need help?"
"What can you help with?"
"Help you pedal the tricycle? Look at my long legs, I'll definitely pedal faster than you."
Hearing Alex White say this, Dora pursed her lips. Her legs weren't short either.
"Is it urgent?"
"Aunt Jones is dying. I'm worried there's not much time," Dora said. "I need to scavenge anyway."
"Huh? How can…" Alex White remembered the name. She was the woman who brought meat to Dora that day.
"It's a feeling... you wouldn't understand," Dora said.
"Oh…"
Alex White thought for a moment, "Are you afraid that if you leave, I'll go mad with hunger and turn back into a mindless zombie?"
"That's part of it."
Dora lowered her eyes. That was just part of the reason.
She couldn't keep Alex White locked up forever. Besides retaining some zombie characteristics, he was otherwise very much like a normal person. Keeping his sanity, always being locked up wasn't a solution.
But letting him move freely was also dangerous.
Dora Lin convinced herself that this was a good opportunity. Further observation would only lead to one of two outcomes: either Alex White would continue to improve and stabilize, or he would deteriorate into a pure beast, just like other zombies. At the very least, it proved that zombies could retain rationality.
"Do you have any family?" Dora considered for a while, hesitated, and then looked up, "I can take you back to the city, to the place where you were captured."
"To the place where I was saved," Alex White corrected. "I have no family."
"Then..."
Dora thought for a while, "Maybe you can find a house. Many villages are empty, and you could live like before."
"Before..."
Alex wanted to say that there was no going back. He looked up at the sky, feeling a sense of confusion.
"Maybe you can observe me for a while longer. If you release me, I can get used to the outside environment," Alex White suggested.
"Release you and then observe you?" Dora asked.
"Yes."
"What if you bite me?" Dora refused.
"I won't," Alex White said.
"But you're drooling," Dora pointed out.
"The dental retainer doesn't fit well. If you had one, you'd drool too," Alex White said, taking off the retainer. "Let's talk about going to the city. Will it take long?"
"It takes a few hours to get to the town. We'll rest there for the night and then go into the city the next day," Dora explained.
Her words reminded Alex White of the long, bumpy ride in the cart.
"It's not just about Aunt Jones. Once we're in the city, I need to scavenge for a few days," Dora continued, patting the tricycle. "If I'm lucky, it might take five or six days."
Alex White glanced at the tricycle. If he hadn't been lying in the cart, she might have waited until it was fully loaded before heading back.
"If you don't want to be locked up, I can take you back, and then... wish you well," Dora said.
"Maybe I can go with you and come back together. That way, you won't have to worry about me losing my sanity from hunger, and I can... well," Alex White hesitated, feeling a bit ashamed. He felt like a freeloader whose only purpose was for Dora to observe.
In the desolate, post-apocalyptic world, everything was alien to him. He wasn't even sure what dangers besides zombies might await outside.
"Two people are always better than one. We can watch each other's backs on the road," Alex White suggested.
Venturing out would help him become familiar with the outside environment. He could worry about the future later.
In terms of physical strength and other abilities, once acclimated to the environment, he'd naturally have an edge over Dora Lin. At the very least, he could find an empty house and live a quiet existence in the apocalypse, much like she did.
If any trouble arose, he could at least offer some help.