"Did you find anything useful?" Alex White asked.
"It's all about luck."
Dora Lin casually opened a cabinet in the living room. While Alex was momentarily distracted by some jewelry, she bent down and pulled out a box from under another large cabinet. She used a knife to open it and then froze, "Wow!"
"What is it?" Alex White glanced over.
"A whole box of liquor!" Dora exclaimed, pulling out a bottle. She opened it, took a sniff, and smiled. "Seems like it's still good."
"Alcohol doesn't go bad, does it?" Alex White initially thought she was just thrilled over the find, but then he recalled that liquor had many uses beyond just drinking...
"It depends. Some liquor can go bad."
Dora had seen spoiled alcohol before—it turned watery and didn't improve with age.
"Keep searching. This must have been a wealthy household," she encouraged.
In the abandoned ruins, it felt like a treasure hunt.
But Alex White wasn't having much luck. Dora easily uncovered useful items, while he sifted through junk.
After moving on to another house, Dora frowned and looked at him cautiously. "Maybe you should stop for now. Let me handle that cabinet."
Alex White never imagined that even as a zombie, someone would think he was jinxed.
"Let's see what you can find," Alex White said, convinced it wasn't his fault.
Dora opened the cabinet, glanced at Alex White , and pulled out a can of coffee.
"This stuff is probably long expired," Alex White noted.
"Is it?"
Dora sniffed it. "Too bad. Want to try it?"
"No way," Alex White refused.
Alex White noticed her method of judging whether something had gone bad primarily relied on smell.
Staring at the can of coffee, Alex White recalled that many expiration dates were just the manufacturer's liability period. It didn't mean the item would spoil right after that date, just that the company wouldn't be responsible if it did.
Some things could actually last a very, very long time.
"If it's not a necessity, it's better not to risk it. What if you start drooling?" Alex White cautioned.
Dora shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe the next thing we find will be a whole can of honey... no, a whole box. You should stop messing with the cabinets. Just move these to the other room, and let's get ready to haul them to the car."
The unlucky non-hunter was driven away, forbidden from touching the cabinets. Alex White felt a bit disgruntled and sneaked around the kitchen, but, unfortunately, found nothing.
"Where did you put that bottle of liquor you opened?" he asked, turning around.
"Are you planning to drink it?"
"Just to use it."
"As long as you're not drinking it. It's over there in the corner," Dora Lin pointed.
Alex White walked over, picked it up, and examined it. The alcohol content was high. He sniffed it and then carefully unwrapped the bandage from his arm wound, hesitating.
In theory, liquor could be used for disinfection, but... if the alcohol content was too low, it might not be effective. Besides, this was aged liquor—it might be better suited for promoting blood circulation than for sterilizing.
Considering the situation was generally improving, he decided to leave things as they were for now.
"Why didn't you use it?" Dora asked, noticing him pick up the liquor only to put it back down.
"I'll try it if the wound worsens someday," Alex White replied.
"Cautious."
Dora nodded in approval.
Alex White put the bottle down and returned to the original room. Dora didn't follow but remained in the adjacent one.
The day was drawing to a close.
More than twenty days had passed since they crossed over, infected and turned into zombies, scavenging alongside the surviving humans.
Alex White sat on the balcony, watching the darkening sky. Below, the plants were lush and thriving, displaying a vigorous vitality amidst the concrete and steel structures left behind by humans.
Dora was quiet in the other room, watching the old zombies wander through the bushes below.
Judging by the current situation, barring any accidents, the monsters on this land would eventually turn into bones in a few years—some cleaned up by scavengers, others naturally dying off. After all, even zombies were still made of flesh and blood, and they had been wandering for too long.
Nothing truly endures forever.
"Suddenly, I feel like everything is meaningless," Alex White said from across the balcony.
"What do you mean?" Dora asked, resting on the balcony on the other side.
"Turning into a zombie, and still scavenging with humans," Alex White said.
"Weren't you the one who was so adamant about being human?" Dora responded.
After a moment of silence, Alex White said, "Let me rephrase that—turning into an infected, and still scavenging with the surviving humans."
"We all have to survive," Dora said. "At least we're still alive, aren't we?"
Alex White sat quietly, holding his helmet, as the night deepened. He gazed at the sparse stars scattered across the distant sky, thinking how wonderful it would be if they could go back. If they had the chance, everyone could play Resident Evil together—what a thrill that would be.
Separated by a balcony, they both remained silent.
"Oh, by the way, I think I forgot to take off your helmet," Dora Lin suddenly said.
Alex White glanced at the helmet in his hands and replied, "I took it off myself... you didn't tie it very securely. I'll teach you how to do it properly tomorrow."
Dora didn't respond.
After a long while, when Alex White thought she had fallen asleep, Dora spoke again, "My grandfather was a professor, my mother was a teacher, and my father was a doctor. They used to say I could have had a good life, but then the disaster struck. They taught me a lot, hoping I could survive."
"Hmm?"
"I can see you're trying hard to survive, and so am I," Dora said.
Alex White leaned against the wall. Throughout their journey, Dora had been teaching him scavenging skills, sometimes deliberately, sometimes incidentally.
He hadn't slept in a bed for a long time. Instead of going to the master bedroom, he chose another room, pulled the dusty sheets off the bed, and lay down on the bare mattress.
Outside, the city was overgrown with greenery.
Dawn always came quickly. Alex White wasn't sure if Dora was awake yet, but he stayed in the room, doing some eye exercises, followed by a round of calisthenics.
He wasn't aiming to become a muscular zombie; he just wanted to keep his body moving, to avoid the stiffness that came with the infection.
Maybe those calisthenics really were effective. They were heavily promoted back then—not only students but also workers had designated times to exercise. It was beneficial for the whole body and helped with balance; a truly comprehensive routine. Alex White felt his stiffness had eased since the infection, and the twitching in his arm was gradually subsiding.
"Dora, Dora, are you up?"
After finishing his exercises, Alex White stood on the balcony and called out to the next room.
"Finished exercising?" Dora appeared on the balcony, yawning, with her hair down, looking like a neighbor who really lived there.
"Yeah... You should tie your hair up, put on a hat, and grab your gun. That way, you'll look like someone brimming with wild energy."
Alex White found that Dora Lin gave off a much stronger sense of reliability in the apocalypse when she appeared ready and alert, unlike her current lazy demeanor... hard to put into words, but it certainly didn't inspire confidence.
Dora scratched her head, "I suddenly remembered something last night."
"What?"
"Do you think you might age quickly, like they do?"