Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 215: The Massacre of Tahoe Part I

The journey to Tahoe was not a long one. By now, enough vehicles had been gathered to transport the many awakened individuals who composed Gravestone's guerilla forces. Most of these vehicles were left over from the Nevada National Guard. Meaning that they provided the user some form of protection against more convention means of force.

It was a brief drive from Gravestone to the inhabited regions of Tahoe. Sure, in the mountains surrounding the lake there were individual survivors or small families living in cabins that had remained relatively unaffected by this whole apocalypse.

But the city of Tahoe itself was plagued with undead. Just like most habited areas in the world now were. Because of this, Zane and his small army of about 500 Guerillas stopped just outside the city's borders. It was clear that the local Horde King had spotted them, and because of this, Zane issued his orders to his troops before summoning his undead horde.

"You all know the plan, so stick to it! And if you come across a threat, you can't handle just retreat behind the front lines!"

The population of Gravestone had been steadily increasing over the past six months. Initially, only about 50 people lived there. But with refugees being taken in, or at least those whose intentions and thoughts could be discerned by Angelica's special ability, the population of Gravestone was teetering around 1,000. Half of which were combat capable.

In this battle, Zane and his army would be fighting against roughly 50,000 Undead. Meanwhile, The strength of Zane's army was around 2,500 total. Roughly 500 Awakened survivors ranging from level 5-15, and 2,000 Tier III Undead, ranging from level 10-20.

Those Undead in Zane's horde who were at level 20 were simply unable to evolve to Tier IV because Zane had yet to increase his skill [Commander of the Dead] to the appropriate level. But they still gained power with each level gained. Making them as deadly as if not more so than Tier IV Undead.

The formation of the army was simple. Zane established his front lines in front of the armored vehicles he had brought with him. Due to how narrow the entrance to Tahoe really was, what with the city being built around a lake, the plan was to funnel the enemy into the front lines, where they would be slain a handful at a time by the heavily armored and capable Ghoulish Auxiliaries.

At the same time the Ghoulish Acolytes, and the Ghoulish Crossbowmen, would rain fire upon the rather defenseless horde gathered in the streets of Taho, who would try their best to advance into Zane's wall of Undead clad in Stygian Iron equipment.

During this battle, which was heavily in Zane's favor due to terrain, and the simple fact that the enemy was relatively mindless aside from its commander. The 500 Awakened Guerillas would use their abilities to attack the flanks of the Undead, climbing into the mountains above the city, and raining projectiles and spells upon the undead to the best of their abilities.

And while the Gravestone Awakened used hit-and-run tactics against the unassuming and relatively low level horde of Undead. Zane and the girls would be zipping through the city, searching for the whereabouts of the Horde King of which the six of them would engage head on in an attempt to cut off the head of the snake. Rendering the body lifeless.

Luckily for Zane and the others, they were much closer to Gravestone than the Crusaders of Elysium were, and because of this, they had arrived much quicker than the enemy could. Thus, they were able to wage this battle without interference from an outside party.

---

The battle had begun, and as Zane had expected the lifeless undead within the local Horde King's army had rushed mindlessly towards Zane's shield wall. Thrusting themselves upon the blades of Zane's Ghouls.

As for the Gravestone Guerillas, they aided Zane's horde by targeting what few higher tier Undead existed among the enemy's ranks. After all, this horde was only slightly smaller than the one Eliza commanded. And because of this, a few Abominations and Stalkers laid scattered about the battlefield.

With the advanced equipment of the Gravestone Guerillas, as well as their relatively high levels. Abominations were quickly dispatched to the afterlife, having been specifically identified and targeted due to their large sizes, and surrounded by Zane's forces.

Where they were butchered via a combination of weapons crafted from the Grim Forge and the individual skills of the Guerillas who attacked them.

As for the few Stalkers that the local Horde King had in his ranks. Zane and the girls quickly found them and ambushed them. A mere Tier IV undead was no match for the party which was wholly capable of taking on the lowest levels of Tier I Horde Kings.

Before the Stalkers even realized they had been targeted, their heads were removed from their necks by their hunters. Because of this, Zane and the girls were quickly able to infiltrate the city, past the front lines of the Massive Horde, and take out the higher ranking Undead while in search of the Horde King.

It was only now that Zane understood the advantages of having an entire town of Awakened beneath his command.

Although their numbers were small, their power was significantly greater than the enemy horde. Especially when Zane had his own horde to take the brunt of the damage.

Zane had marched into the equivalent of a six-man level 25 dungeon, with an army of 2,500 level 5-20 warriors beneath his command. And the result of the battle was a complete and total massacre. And though Zane knew, bringing the Gravestone Guerillas into the area was complete and total overkill.

He did so not for the local Horde King, but because he knew that the Elysian Crusaders were marching this way. And if he wanted to deter them from stealing his gains after the battle was over, he would need to display a serious show of force.

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The local Horde King watched as his forces were butchered. He was, after all, a Tier I Horde King, one with power on par with Eliza. His horde was only about mid sized for a Tier I Horde King, and was an equal match to approximately 6 level 25 awakened humans, of which who had an appropriate level of equipment to match their level.

For there to be 2,500 enemies, 2,000 of which were Tier III Undead ranging from level 10-20, and the other 500 being awakened humans ranging from level 5-15 with level 15 uncommon equipment. It was simply overkill.

After all, most of his army were mindless Walkers between level 1-5, and those Walkers could be easily killed by an unawakened human being with a weapon as simple as a baseball bat. Each Guerilla attacking the city could easily take on 100 Walkers on their own.

In the face of such overwhelming power, the Tier I Horde King could only seethe in rage, before coming to a decision. Which he voiced after breaking out into a state of laughter driven by his own shaken sanity.

"So, our mysterious brother has come for me rather than that freak, Gwen! Well, so be it! If this is mother's will, then I will not run or hide. Feast your eyes upon my greatness, brother!"

With that said, the Horde King decided not to wait around until he was the last member of his Horde and instead took the stage to play the role that the Mother of Death had forced upon him.