Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 154: Defense of Gravestone Part II

Zane quickly found himself surrounded by a hill of corpses. The dead bodies had already been rotting for some time, as it had been months since the apocalypse began. Yet Zane did not wince in disgust at the smell, and putrefied blood that lay scattered around him.

He had long since gotten used to violence, and the remains it left behind once he had finished. But what was curious to Zane was not the thousands of corpses that lay by his side, which he and Madison had slain together.

But rather the fact that there was nothing left. By his estimation, Eliza's horde should be reduced to less than half of its initial status. Meaning there were roughly 20,000 undead in this attack. Yet he had already cleared the undead that surrounded the main gate of Gravestone, which was the weakest part of its walls.

Surely that did not mean that the rest of the undead were taken care of by the others as well? It was while Zane thought about this that he contacted Elena and Olivia on his radio, asking for confirmation about whether or not they had also secured their area of responsibility.

"Hey, you two are still alive over there? How many undead you got left?"

Oliva's voice was the first to respond over the radio as she quickly informed Zane that she and Elena were experiencing a similar lack of undead to fight.

"Yeah, we're fine, but it's just a little strange. There aren't any other undead here… It's almost like-"

Before she could finish her train of thought, a voice screamed on the comms. It was from the other strike team. The voice was feminine and the woman behind it was urgently requesting reinforcements.

"What the hell! Where did all these undead suddenly come from? We need help ASAP! We're about to be overrun!"

Zane knew exactly what had happened. Eliza was playing him for a fool. She had diverted all of her remaining forces to a single area, the weakest link in the defensive chain Zane had built around the settlement.

At the same time, Zane also expected that Eliza would be lying in wait, trying to pick off those who were left behind to defend against the other areas that her horde was not focused on at the moment.

With this in mind, Zane decided to counter the young Horde King's plans with his own strategy as he rushed over to Madison, who was still defending the gate, while keeping a watchful vigil on her surroundings.

"Maddie, you go regroup with Elena and Olivia. I need the three of you to go to the eastern wall and help the other strike team with its defense. I'll stay here and keep a lookout for the Horde King in case she decides to show herself!"

Madison utterly refused to follow Zane's orders. She knew just how dangerous Eliza was from their last encounter, and Zane had nearly gotten himself killed at the time. There was no way she was going to leave Zane alone to fight that bitch all by herself, and she was quick to voice this sentiment with an anxious tone in her voice.

"What, and leave you all alone to fight that little cunt? Like hell! Zane you almost died last time. I won't let you-"

But Zane didn't let Madison finish her statement, and instead grabbed hold of her and shook her shoulders while screaming at her.

"We don't have time for this shit! The eastern wall is about to collapse, and if it falls, the entire settlement will be in danger. Do as your fucking told! I'll be fine on my own!"

Madison bit her lip in hesitation. She did not at all want to leave Zane on his own when the two of them could fight Eliza together. But she had to admit the other strike team was at very low levels and would not be able to handle that amount of walkers on their own.

At the same time, Olivia and Elena could only stem the tide, but were lacking in defensive capabilities. Because of this, she ultimately decided to follow Zane's will, kissing him on the lips, before breaking away and running off, but not before leaving a solemn promise.

"I'll be back with the others as soon as I can! Please don't die!"

After Madison had vanished from sight, Zane sighed heavily before speaking his thoughts aloud. He was alone, in the dead of night, outside the safety of Gravestone's walls. Even the sentries had gone off to protect the western and northern walls.

Yet when Zane spoke, it was clearly not to himself, but rather someone else.

"She's gone, you can come out now…."

Eliza emerged with a hideous expression on her mangled face. She licked her lips as if Zane was the tastiest treat she could imagine, but before engaging in violence, she decided to communicate with the man, interested in where he got his newest equipment.

"It looks like you have become more powerful since our last encounter, and you have even gotten your hands on some shiny new gear. I'm curious? Just where did you get your hands on that stuff? Whatever… It doesn't matter… In the end, you are far from ready to deal with the likes of me…. Any last words?"

Zane remained silent as he equipped his short swords. He immediately launched an attack without waiting a single second. After all, every second wasted was a disadvantage to him as his weapons drained his health while equipped.

While Zane's speed had been fast enough to counter the Stalkers, and even successfully escape from a Juggernaut's pursuit, he realized now he was still like a child when dealing with Horde King, even one at the lowest rungs of power.

For every strike Zane tried to land on Eliza, she countered with her own ability, either blocking, dodging, or parrying his strikes without effort. She was significantly faster than Zane, and when she attacked, she did so with her own crystalline blood.

Zane tried his best to counter the attacks. After all, his speed was significantly improved when compared to the last time he faced Eliza. Enough that he could just barely escape from her blows without taking damage, or at the very least, without suffering much.

The problem was without landing a clean shot on the young Horde King, he could not keep up with the HP that he was losing every second. And thus he eventually ceased his assault and stood in the middle of the road across from Eliza. With a defeated expression on his face, Zane cut his own wrists with his blades, before un-equipping them all while speaking to Eliza as if she were a monster.

"I admit, I underestimated you. We've been going at it for so long, and I can't even land a single blow on you… If things keep going the way they are, without a doubt I will die tonight… But let's see if I can't mangle that ugly face of yours a bit more before that happens!"

Zane then began his counterattack, hoping to deal some damage to Eliza, and buy himself enough time for his companions to come to his aid. Whether he succeeded or not in his endeavor would determine if he lived to see another day.