Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 16: Time Reduction

Zane and his group had successfully cleared the second building of the high school's campus. And Zane had gone out of his way to barricade all potential entrances.

Whether it was the exits themselves, or the windows of the first floor. Zane had ensured that something was in place to prevent entry from the monsters that dwelled outside.

He was also not foolish enough as to forsake the rooftop entrance. After all, the Stalker he had encountered multiple times clearly displayed an enhanced level of agility, and because of this, Zane suspected it might actually be able to leap between roof tops. T

hus he ensured that the roof top was barred as well.

This was after, of course, he had dragged all the rotting corpses within the building to the roof and thrown them off. After all, the last thing he needed was for these putrid bodies to spread disease to himself and the girls.

With a temporary shelter established, Zane begun to think of his next steps. After all, he had the means to manufacture weapons, and now had two "Awakened" individuals by his side. But Zane's initial goals of escaping the school campus were thoroughly dashed.

He honestly did not know how the Stalker would respond to him, and his newfound skill. Did [Dead Man Walking] apply to higher level Undead? Or had the Stalker simply fled because it was unsure of the level of threat Zane posed?

If it was not hostile to him, then why did it seem to be following him? Until the Stalker was killed, Zane did not feel comfortable leaving the school grounds, because he had no idea what other forms of monstrosities existed out in the city.

But the Undead were honestly the least of Zane's worries. Humans were an incredibly ugly and twisted lifeform. Normally, these wicked desires were suppressed by the strong arm of the law and societal pressures.

However, during times of chaos and anarchy, humanity always showed its true nature. And it was the survivors of this apocalypse who were the most dangerous monsters of all. Especially if they began awakening abilities like he and the girls had.

Without access to firearms and ammunition, Zane did not feel comfortable wandering off on his own. But he was currently on a high school campus, which was a gun free zone.

The only firearm that existed on this school campus was now in his hands, and he only had three 20 round magazines, plus the one round in the chamber of his sidearm.

This was hardly enough to help him if he came across a band of marauders armed with semi-automatic rifles, or worse, actual military grade weapons scavenged from the corpses of the national guard who were deployed to get these so called "riots" under control.

While Zane was staring silently out the second-story window while thinking about what his current goals were, or what his plans for long-term survival had become, Elena was staring at her own system.

The crimson haired beauty was still pissed at Zane for force feeding her the Blood Crystal that had caused her to endure more pain than she had ever felt in her entire life thus far. But she had to admit, her ability was something else.

---

[User: Elena Pryce]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1]

[XP: 0/100]

[HP: 100/100]

[Strength: 12]

[Dexterity: 10]

[Constitution: 10]

[Intelligence: 10]

[Wisdom: 10]

[Charisma: 10]

[Skills:]

[Time Reduction– Tier 1]

[Skill Points: 0]

This was Elena's character screen, but when she selected the skills screen, she found that her ability was seriously over powered.

[Time Reduction – Tier 1]

[When cast, Time slows down for three seconds, allowing the user to move at normal speed]

[Cooldown: 3 Minutes]

---

Normally Elena would scoff at the mere notion that she could slow down time, but she had previously tested this ability, almost as a joke, and found that it was indeed true.

This, when combined with Olivia's ability to manipulate electricity to some degree, led Elena to believe that this was indeed reality, and not some hallucination.

As for Zane… Elena expected he had some kind of skill of his own, after all he seemed to be aware of the system to some extent, but the man had not volunteered such information, and at the moment Elena was refusing to talk to him.

No matter how curious she might be about what kind of power he received from awakening the system.

Thus, after thirty minutes of pouting, Elena finally sighed and decided to approach the man, where she saw him staring out the window. At something in particular. When she approached, she was quick to talk to the man, despite his attention obviously being elsewhere.

"Zane, we need to talk!"

However, Zane simply raised his finger and point it vertically in Elena's face before shushing her. "Shhhhh… Don't make any sudden movements… We are being watched…."

Elena blushed when she felt Zane's finger graze her lips and immediately became frustrated at her instinctive response.

She bit her lip in displeasure as she was just about to ask what kind of paranoid shit Zane was espousing now when his eyes shifted to her with an almost murderous gaze.

This sent chills down the woman's spine immediately, causing her to shut her trap as she looked out the window and saw exactly what Zane was staring at.

Standing outside the second building was a hooded figure whose putrefied flesh was hidden beneath his hoodie. But what was abundantly clear were the claws on the creature's hands, which were both long and sharp.

The creature appeared to be staring at Zane. But like the dark-haired man, the Stalker was not alone. Instead, standing next to it was an exceptionally large and fat undead. That looked like it was about to explode from its own girth at any moment.

The mysterious Undead also appeared to be staring up at Zane, and when it saw Elena, a wicked smile appeared on its hideous face.

It was only after Elena got a better look at the rotund creature's face did she recognize who it was. With a horrified expression on her pretty face, Elena covered her mouth, which lie agape as she whispered her horror aloud.

"Keith…."