Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 188: Cleaning Up Your Act

The Remnant was not the only one searching for information on Zane. After losing two of her missionaries, the Goddess had quickly dispatched spies of her own to New Reno to search for the men responsible for the deaths of her adherents.

These spies were specifically given the orders, not to mention any association with Elysium, as New Reno appeared to be hostile towards the Goddess and her many followers. Instead, they were tasked to dress and act like normal survivors of the wasteland.

This was not an exceptionally difficult task as the Cult of Elysium was only a few months old at the most, and most people remembered their lives before becoming a member. And because of this, they blended in quite well with the other survivors of the land who constantly battled their way through the ruined streets of Reno in search of resources and power.

To say that trade was common between the residents of New Reno and the outside world was common would be a bit of an overstatement. Sure, Gravestone's caravans regularly made their way to the settlement, and traded what they could spare for blood crystals. There had also been a few ranchers coming from towns further north, like Winnemucca, for the purpose of trade.

But these were the exceptions and not the norm. After all, while the vast emptiness of Nevada and the highways within them were relatively safe to travel, the city of Reno itself was a ruin full of undead monstrosities. One had to have sufficient power just to fight their way into the downtown area where the settlement of New Reno lay.

Because of this, New Reno had very limited contact with those outside their immediate vicinity. This was partially why they were so cautious around the missionaries of Elysium.

Travelling several hours from California into New Reno was a daunting task, and it meant that had to be powerful enough to fight their way into the area, or have a fast and reliable enough vehicle to plow through the waves undead between them.

This was yet another reason why these spies were tasked with coming up with an alias, and that alias was the fact that they were from one of the other settlements within the Reno/Sparks Metropolitan area, such as those built around a small neighborhood in the area known as Spanish Springs.

Names after a local little league baseball field that proudly stood within the residential area, or more specifically the park with this baseball field itself, lie in. The settlement of Gator Swamp was small, and close knit. But they also had very limited contact with New Reno due the distance between them.

It took serious surveillance of the local settlements just for these spies to even come up with such a cover story regarding their origins, but it was a believable one, and it was hard for anyone to claim otherwise, as like previously mentioned there was very little contact between the two settlements.

With this identity, the duo of spies, who pretended to be a couple from Gator Swamp, entered New Reno with a set of trade goods in the back of their truck. Their goal was to masquerade as a caravan seeking to trade what resources they had come across, while in reality, their objective was to learn about the people responsible for their missionaries' deaths.

Garth and his deputies had frisked the couple and searched their vehicle, making sure that they were unarmed before allowing them to enter the settlement. A precaution the spies found to be a pointless endeavor, clearly pointing out that New Reno had not yet discovered the inventory feature of the mysterious system that all awakened survivors had access to.

The spies' eyes were immediately drawn to the dazzling neon lights which were flashing across the casinos and their bright signs. They had obviously seen such lights earlier when they were performing surveillance from afar. But it was indeed surprising to see that this settlement had rediscovered electricity.

To them, the most obvious reason for this was that they too had one of those uncommon, awakened survivors who could manipulate electricity to some degree or another. This was something that they immediately took a mental note of, planning to report it back to the Goddess herself when they finally returned to Elysium.

The streets of New Reno were far more cleanly, and orderly than they had been in the past. Tents had been cleared up, with their inhabitants now residing within the hotels full time. Meanwhile, the stalls that used to litter the streets were much more organized and orderly than they had been during Zane's first visit.

Plumbing functioned properly again, and there appeared to be survivors walking the streets without regard to the harsh reality that existed just outside the safety of their walls. There were plenty of people smiling and enjoying the fresh food being cooked at many of the food stalls on the streets. While talking about their latest hunts.

As for the drug and alcohol abuse problems that had previously plagued the settlement, while there were a few junkies or drunkards that could be found passed out in the gutter, the number was far less than drugs and alcohol themselves started to become a rarity.

After all, the grain produced by Gravestone was prioritized for food, and no beer. Not that anyone really had the equipment necessary to properly brew or distill fresh alcohol. To the spies from Elysium, New Reno was far less than they thought it would be.

It was orderly, clean, and quite functional. Changes that had been very recent, as the Four Families, and the impartial sheriff worked together to clean up the area from the problems that had been plaguing it until a constant and reliable supply of food had been found.

The man among the two spies looked over at his comrade, and quickly spoke his thoughts in a voice so low that only the woman next to him could hear his voice.

"This settlement has the potential to rival Elysium in the near future… If that is truly the case, I fear it may take us some time to replace our target…"

The female spy nodded her head, and the two of them immediately decided that their first act would be to replace some proper lodgings for the night. After all, if this settlement was already this advanced, then clearly it meant that any one of the awakened survivors in the area could be their target.

What they didn't realize was that everything they saw around them, whether it be the functioning power grid, the surplus of food, or the low level weapons and armor manufactured by a grim forge, all of that had come from Gravestone, which was actually where their target lie.

But how could these two spies who had just entered New Reno possibly understand this? In fact, it would take them quite some time to understand that New Reno's success was imported.