Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 102: Silent Moment

After ensuring that Angelica successfully awakened, and that Olivia had applied her new attribute points, Zane shifted his attention to Elena, who was woefully absent from the conversation. She was, after all, incredibly upset over what Olivia had "stolen" from her the night before.

Because of this, she was crying in her cot, which was located on another side of the shelter. And though Zane did not know the girl was in tears, he suspected she was in need of some cheering up, considering her absence.

With this in mind, Zane set out to replace the girl, where he found her curled up in her cot. Though the moment he approached the young woman sniffled, all while stifling her tears, Zane suddenly had a flashback to his younger years where he often ended up in such situations after the beatings he received from his mother's boyfriends, something the vile woman encouraged.

Zane sighed heavily after snapping back to reality, and sat down next to Elena, unslinging his rifle and setting it down by his side as he did so. He did not speak for some time and instead watched the girl, who was intimately aware of his presence.

Eventually, however, Zane finally broke the awkward silence with a statement that was unusually filled with concern.

"Elena, are you alright?"

Elena sniffled as she heard this. Her voice was hoarse, no doubt from all the crying she had been doing as she demanded Zane leave her alone.

"Why do you care? Why don't you go have fun with Olivia, since that's what you seem to want? I'll be fine…"

Though Elena insisted Zane leave, he did not do so, and instead was quick to try to defend his actions. It was clear to him now that Elena knew what he and Olivia had done the night before, and was hurt because of it. And thus, he tried to rationalize what happened to the girl. Even if that probably wasn't the best move.

"Elena… You understand what state I was in yesterday, right? You could have been the one to approach me, and comfort me when I needed help, but was too stubborn to ask for it…. You didn't, you chose to leave me in the state I was in, and chose to sleep instead.

Olivia recognized how much I was …. Hurting…. And comforted me, I don't regret doing what I did with her… In all honesty, it's nice to know that someone actually cares about me… So if that was what you wanted to do, then why didn't you?"

Though Zane couldn't see it, because Elena was facing the wall, her eyes widened in shock as she heard Zane's words which pierced her already wounded heart as if it they were a frozen steel blade. She immediately lashed out at Zane, not being able to properly control her emotions, telling him once more to leave her to her lonesome.

"I don't want to hear it! You had a choice, and you chose Olivia! Now go be with her since that's what you want. I'll be fine!"

Realizing that he wasn't making any progress, Zane sighed and stood up. He grabbed hold of his rifle and was about to sling it over his shoulder when Elena reached out and grabbed his sleeve. Clearly regretting what she had just said, which was expressed by the painful tone in her voice.

"I'm sorry… Please… Stay with me…"

Though Zane didn't realize it, Elena had begun to rely on him in ways which she never expected. Hell, she didn't even understand it herself just yet, but after losing her family, and all of her friends to this virus, Elena was quite literally dependent on Zane as the only person in the world she could functionally rely on.

That was why the knife cut so deep when she realized Olivia had struck first and taken him from her. When Zane felt Elena pull on his sleeve, he sighed and sat back down. There was an incredibly awkward atmosphere between the two of them as Zane struggled to replace a way to comfort his childhood friend.

He ended up opting for humor, which evidently he wasn't very good at, as he made an awkward and inappropriate joke.

"You know… We wouldn't be having these problems if the two of you just learned to share…"

Elena did not laugh as Zane expected her two. Instead, she rolled over and stared at him with eyes that felt like they were intended to take his life. She then punched the man in the shoulder and turned back around, not revealing her pouting face to Zane as she made a silent remark about what he had just said.

"Zane you dummy…"

Unlike the last time Elena hit him, Zane was not remotely phased by the punch. There was no power in it, and it was instead meant to convey her frustrations with the man and his absurd statement. However, knowing that the harem option was off the table, at least for now. Zane ultimately decided not to make another of such remarks.

Instead, he sat there by Elena's side, feeling entirely useless as he did so. Zane did not know that simply by being by the crimson-haired beauty's side, and not Olivia's, that he was helping the girl calm her enraged and broken heart.

As for Olivia, she stared on from afar, shaking her head at the sight of Elena and her current wretched state. Making a comment beneath her breath as she did so.

"Honestly… When will that girl be honest with herself?"

Angelica was nearby and experimenting with her newly awakened system when she heard Olivia's remarks, questioning what exactly the mature silver haired beauty meant by them. After all, she was incredibly naïve despite being a few years older than Zane and Elena, and thus she didn't exactly understand what was happening.

'What do you mean?"

Olivia realized that Angelica had heard her and broke out into a forced smile as she tried to dismiss the situation entirely. Almost as if she was speaking to a child who had questioned something they were not yet old enough to properly understand.

"It's nothing important. How about I cook you something to eat? After all, Zane fetched some supplies for us, so we don't have to worry too much about rationing for the next few days!"

Angelica's thoughts were immediately shifted to the idea of eating some warm food and thus she completely forgot about what she had questioned just moments before. Allowing Olivia and Angelica to completely ignore Zane and Elena's silent moment.