When all the ordinary zombies stepped away from the iron gate under the suppression given by her vibe, Lin Qiao saw what was behind it clearly.
She saw a female zombie with disheveled hair standing behind the gate. Its face was undamaged but ghastly pale; the rims of its eyes had turned dark-purple, and its lips had a deep purple color as well. It was baring its sharp teeth, staring at Lin Qiao alertly with its pale gray eyes.
The female zombie looked about twenty-seven. Judging by its undamaged face, it used to be a beautiful woman, but was so skinny that its cheeks were sunken. It wasn't tall, around five feet and six inches; it was wearing a skirt suit which was simple but fashionable styled, and seemed to be not cheap. It might have been worth one or two thousand bucks in the old world.
It stood behind the gate with bare feet. Seeing Lin Qiao approach, it alertly took a step backward, but didn't turn and leave immediately.
Lin Qiao raised her head to sniff at the air, then sensed the human scent from a room on the left side on the second floor. That living human being should be on the second floor. However, the female zombie behind the iron gate didn't rush up to the source of that scent, but seemed to want to come out!
Lin Qiao looked at the female zombie up and down, then found that even though it had turned into a zombie, its clothing wasn't messy. Except for the blood stain on its white shirt in the shoulder area, its clothes continued to be quite neat. It looked a little dusty, but wasn't covered in blood like the other zombies were.
And judging by its expression, it seemed to be intelligent.
Based on its vibe, Lin Qiao figured that it was a level-two intelligent zombie, and was about to reach level-three.
"Roar!" The level-two female zombie uttered deep roars from its throat as it saw that Lin Qiao was getting closer. Its voice was filled with an intense fear toward her, but it was still trying to warn her not to come any closer.
Lin Qiao couldn't help but admire this female zombie. It was so frightened, but refused to leave, and even roared out to warn her.
It seemed that it didn't want Lin Qiao to go upstairs and get near to that living human being. It was afraid that she would eat that human, wasn't it?
She had clearly sensed the female zombie's desire to protect that human being. She was surprised by the fact that a zombie who wanted to protect a human actually existed. She also wondered how that zombie controlled its instinctive desire and prevented itself from eating that human.
While pondering, Lin Qiao ignored the female zombie's roar and walked to the iron gate, then raised her claw to swing at the lock of the gate. Next, the lock broke along with a clang, and then she pushed the gate open to walk in.
"Roar?" The female zombie stared at the gate lock which was suddenly broken by Lin Qiao, its face filled with confusion. It had tried for a long time but failed to break this lock, yet Lin Qiao did it so quickly and easily.
"Roar!" However, it turned extremely anxious when it saw her walking in. Step by step, it began to draw back upstairs.
It wanted to stop Lin Qiao, but didn't dare to make any reckless moves. It was suppressed by Lin Qiao's powerful vibe which had been giving it a great sense of danger. It worried that she might destroy it for good once it attacked.
However, it could never let Lin Qiao go upstairs, because something that it wanted to protect was there.
It stepped back as Lin Qiao approached. Gradually, both of them were closer and closer to the second floor.
A large group of ordinary zombies followed behind them. However, these zombies had difficulty in moving, let alone climbing stairs. They shambled toward upstairs, but fell after making a few steps and pushed down the ones around them. Before they all fell to the ground, they merely managed to climb two or three steps.
"Roar!"
'Stay away!' The female zombie roared at Lin Qiao while drawing back.
Lin Qiao looked at it in surprise, because she had sensed its thoughts clearly. The fact that it was able to deliver clear thoughts proved that it was really quite smart.
Lin Qiao wondered if she could communicate with it.
She stopped, trying to let it know that she had no hostility. Then, she roared at the female zombie.
"Roar?"
'Can you understand me?' She asked.
The female zombie didn't relax its vigilance when Lin Qiao stopped moving, but paused after hearing Lin Qiao's question.
"Roar?"
'Understand what?' It responded.
Lin Qiao stared at it with surprise. She didn't expect her to really understand what she said.
"Roar?"
'Do you remember who you are?' She continued to ask.
This question made the female zombie show a confused look. Then, it began mumbling as its voice came from its throat.
"Hrr… loo…"
'Who am I? Who am I? Who am I…'
While hearing her repeating this question, Lin Qiao also sensed the confusion in her heart. It seemed that this zombie had lost its memories before death, and forgotten who it used to be.
"Roar?" Lin Qiao spent a while gazing at this female zombie which was repeating that question over and over again, then gave it another roar.
"Roar?"
'Do you know what you are now?' She asked.
Hearing her, the female zombie came back to its senses, understanding Lin Qiao's question.
"Roar, roar…"
'I know, I have become a zombie. I'm dead,' she said.
At that moment, Lin Qiao suddenly turned back to roar at those ordinary zombies which attempted to approach. Her voice contained anger and threat.
Those zombies began shambling backward when they heard her roar, but because of the stair steps under their feet, they again fell, even creating a zombie pyramid.
Looking at these silly zombies, Lin Qiao felt a little speechless.
After watching the ordinary zombies fall down, she turned back to roar at the female zombie again.
"Roar?"
'Have you lost your memories?' She asked.
The female zombie stared at Lin Qiao confusedly, then nodded with a complicated expression.
In fact, it was aware that it had become a zombie since it woke up a couple of days ago. It knew that it was the post-apocalyptic era now, and also had general knowledge that normal human beings should possess. However, it had forgotten its own name, and didn't know who it was. No one was there to tell it about that either.
This place as surrounded by a group of ordinary zombies, and it couldn't communicate with them.
This female zombie also knew that a human being was on the second floor. That was a child, a little child. The moment it saw that child, a strong sense of familiarity emerged from its heart. So, it immediately realized that it could be its child, because it wouldn't feel that way if the child wasn't related to it.
Most importantly, that child called it 'Mom'!
The child's scent made it feel starving, but every time it thought about eating the child, it would hear a voice tell her— 'You can't eat him! You can't! You won't eat him, and you will keep him safe! You will protect him from the other zombies.'
However, that child wasn't in good condition. He had no water or food, and had already fainted from hunger. The female zombie was anxious about it. It wanted to go out to find some food for the child, but didn't dare to leave him here alone.
What was more important was that it couldn't open the iron gate downstairs.
Therefore, it had been trying to get out of the iron gate these days, but never succeeded. It had only become a low-level zombie. Even though its mind was still clear, its limbs weren't flexible enough. It was just a little nimbler than those ordinary zombies, but it didn't shamble when it walked at least.