life

Alex Wyatt found it quite useful; his stiff body relaxed a bit, and with having brushed his teeth today, everything seemed different.

"I, Alex Wyatt."

Alex took a deep breath, "Human."

No one wants to be a stinky, irrational zombie.

Looking at the pile of logs next to him, not yet split into firewood, he felt a bit of a twitch in his hands but managed to resist the urge.

There's always work to be done, little by little. If he finished splitting the wood today, what would he do tomorrow?

Even as a zombie, the instinct to slack off was still ingrained in his genes.

To make himself seem useful, whether as a human in his former office worker life or now as a zombie, it was the same. It was better to give Dora Lin the impression of being a diligent worker than to be cast out and cling to his fellow zombies.

Alex wasn't sure if his current state would still attract zombie attacks. The worst situation would be neither a human nor a proper zombie—humans reject him, and zombies still want to bite him. That would be the end of it.

Alone as an infected in this damned apocalypse, getting bitten by zombies was one thing, but humans might come and shoot him too.

Alex suddenly felt depressed.

But thinking too far ahead was useless; recovery was more urgent.

He tried to cheer up; at least things were still bearable—being bitten by zombies but able to do calisthenics, how much worse could it get?

He picked up a book, opened it, and continued being a zombie drifting in knowledge.

The book was very old. Dora Lin had given him books on enlightenment and professional reference materials, a hodgepodge of various types. These books had many written notes in them, some in childish handwriting, others more mature, not even written by the same person, and even some doodles.

Alex wasn't absorbing the knowledge, nor did he need to; he was just regaining his basic logic and understanding of written words.

However, as he looked through the book, he absentmindedly drifted off.

Acacia flowers—it's been ages since I've had them. This morning, when Lin Duoduo mentioned them, the memory of their taste suddenly resurfaced, buried in a corner of his mind. As he calculated when Lin Duoduo might return, he hadn't seen her yet. Stepping outside, he heard the familiar crackle of wood being chopped in the yard. She came back carrying a snake-skin bag, cast a satisfied glance at the hardworking zombie, set the snake-skin bag down, and held a small bag in her right hand.

"I brought you a few pieces of clothing. I've never seen a zombie so clean. You can change clothes now. Though it seems odd to think of a zombie doing laundry, who knows? After all, you've even brushed your teeth."

"It's just a small favor," Lin Duoduo was always thoughtful toward her friend. As she unfolded the old clothes she had found, she muttered to herself. The notion of a zombie doing laundry seemed ludicrous, but she figured that maybe, one day, this zombie might actually do it himself.

"And I've also got some elm seeds." Lin Duoduo opened the snake-skin bag.

Bai Xiao didn't react much to the clothes but was intrigued by the elm seeds she had brought back. Elm seeds are the winged fruits of the elm tree, not the tender shoots. They are round and look like coins, strung together in emerald green strands.

These seeds are a springtime delicacy when resources are plentiful, and a prized treat when they are not. They contain 11 times the iron of spinach and 50 times that of tomatoes.

In his childhood village, during spring, elderly women would team up to gather them from elm trees along the riverbanks. That tree had once saved many lives during tough times. Later, during rural reforms, the villagers insisted on preserving the tree, banning anyone from disturbing it, so it remained untouched.

He hadn't expected to encounter it again in the apocalypse, still considered a delicacy. Watching Lin Duoduo soak and scrub the seeds in a basin, he wondered how she managed to find such things.

Half of the seeds were consumed that day, leaving Bai Xiao quite satisfied, with the human looking equally content. The other half was set outside to dry. Bai Xiao wasn't sure why, but he vaguely remembered that drying the seeds in the sun preserved them, and they could be soaked in water or eaten directly when hungry.

Although it's unclear what diet is truly beneficial for a zombie, increasing iron and fiber is always a safe bet. She worried that eating meat might provoke aggression and worsen the infection.

As the weather grew warmer, Dora Lin finished tidying up just as twilight set in. She filled a large basin with water. After a day spent outside, not only were her clothes dirty, but she was also dripping with sweat. Preferring not to bother with boiling water, she used well water directly. As she stripped off her clothes and picked up a ladle, she was startled by the sudden sound of the zombie's distressing cough.

Dora Lin turned around, "What's the matter?"

"I'm here," Alex White said.

"What are you doing?" Dora Lin asked, frowning as she came to a realization. "You're a zombie."

She scratched her nose, feeling the situation was somewhat awkward. This zombie even brushed his teeth and washed his face, unlike the stinking creatures driven solely by insatiable hunger.

Dora Lin looked around. With an extra zombie now present, she couldn't be as carefree as before. She went inside, retrieved a large bed sheet, and set up two sticks by firmly planting them in the ground. She then stretched and secured the sheet to create a makeshift barrier.

Previously, she had washed right in the yard without a second thought. Apart from the occasional insect chirps and distant zombie growls, she had grown accustomed to the solitude.

Things felt different now.

For some reason, Dora Lin experienced a sudden sense of bustling activity. Even though it was just one more zombie, it had already impacted some of her routines.

The cool well water rinsed away the day's sweat and grime, flowing into a small stream that trickled away.

As she stepped out from behind the barrier, Dora Lin dried her hair and glanced toward the shed. Night had fallen, and Alex White sat in the shadows, his figure barely discernible.

"Alex White, Little White," Dora Lin called.

"Here."

"Do you want to join in?"

"Thank you."

As expected.

Dora Lin knew this educated zombie still tried to mimic human behavior even after becoming one.

Originally, she had planned to let Alex White stand there while she threw two basins of water over him, thinking zombies wouldn't be particular. But seeing the basin Alex White had brought, Dora Lin sighed and filled it with water.

"Should I look away too?" Dora Lin found the situation odd.

Alex White was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Are you really going to watch a zombie take a bath?"

"I'm a person," Alex White replied.

"Alright then." Dora Lin prepared the water, then fetched an old basin to fill another one for him before retreating indoors.

Reclining on her bed, Dora Lin listened to the occasional clinking of chains and the sound of water from the yard.

Since her mother had left, the yard had been eerily quiet for a long time. The only disturbances came in winter, when the wind would whip through and rustle the debris, making faint noises.