Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 264: Some Things Never Change

Zane was led through the gates of Hawthorne and into a relatively large building which currently acted as a command post for the local militia. He was escorted by a series of armed guards, yet despite this fact he remained completely calm and collected.

He was not exaggerating when he said he could wipe out the entire town by himself. And no, he was not mentioning the strength of his horde, which was on standby, waiting to be deployed. Zane's physical prowess was at a superhuman level.

A shot of 5.56 directly to the dome would fail to penetrate his flesh, let alone his skull. Nor would the blunt force trauma have any impact on his brain. Zane was invulnerable to most small arms, including the venerable 50 cal now that his constitution had reached 25.

Aside from perhaps large bore artillery which was pointed towards the wasteland, there wasn't really anything in the militia's arsenal that could physically harm Zane's body. And that was assuming they managed to land a shot on his figure.

Zane's speed was beyond superhuman at this point. It was well over thirty with his base stats and the bonuses he gained from his equipment. Hell, it was approaching 40 at this point. To say that he could easily dodge machine gun fire was no understatement.

It would take little effort for Zane to claim the skulls of these baseline humans who had never even heard the term awakened before. But then again, why would he, unless directly pressed to do so? Sure it might be expedient to just kill them all here and leave Hawthorne as a ghost town on his journey south.

But the residents of Hawthorne were more akin to insects to Zane than they were anywhere near being his peers. Perhaps it was the power he had gained, and the battles waged against beings of supreme power. Or simply the fact that he had truly abandoned his humanity behind and become something else entirely.

However, Zane no longer considered living being human to be his equal, or even worthy of his notice. Only those awakened humans, whose hearts could fuel his growth were of any real value to Zane outside of perhaps a source of labor. But that was presuming he was still the Mayor of Gravestone, which he was no longer.

It was because of this that he was so calm. Almost as if he was a god, completely untoucheable by the mortals which surrounded him. And his lack of anxiety was definitely noticed by the Militia's commander as he led Zane through the command post, and into his private office where two guards stood at watch on either side of the entrance.

Zane did not wait to be given permission to speak. No, that was something he would do for a superior, and this mortal man posed no threat to him. Instead, he sat down in his seat, crossing one leg on top of his opposite knee, and resting his chin on his fist. Before, outwardly demanding answers from the man in front of him.

"I already made it clear I intend you no harm. My journey is southward, and you are impeding that. So make this quick. Trust me when I say you wouldn't want me to grow restless."

The air conditioning within the office blew at such power that the officer's grey hair was actually affected slightly by its ripples. This clearly meant that some form of electrical existed within the hands of Hawthorne, one that was powered by more conventional means.

It wasn't exactly surprising to Zane. Nevada's vast deserts were federally owned for the most part prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse, and much of it consisted of solar panels. Considering there was quite literally a former army base not far away, it was only natural that some self-sustaining form of power existed in Hawthorne.

But Zane did not care about such petty little details, instead he was interested in what exactly this militia commander intended to do to him. And the man performed as expected, with Zane's apparent lack of decorum.

"Kid, you walk in here from the outside world, dressed in what I can only presume is some poor attempt at cosplay. And act like you own the place when it is clear to me that you are alone, and unarmed, yet surrounded by my men.

And you have the nerve to play curt with me? Let's not kid ourselves here. I'm in charge of this situation, and unless you want to end up like all the other poor souls who tried to force their way into Hawthorne, then you best show me some respect…"

Zane stared silently and cold at the man. So much so that he felt a chill down his spine. His words were brief, but chilling as he made it clear the only reason he was even standing here was because he was playing nice.

"To put it frankly, if I wanted to walk out of this room and leave this pissant town in the rear-view mirror, there is quite literally nothing you or your men could do to stop me. And the fact that you have the nerve to insist you are in control, just because I don't appear to be armed, shows me just how ignorant you are of the world outside.

The only reason I'm here answering your questions, is because I'm curious how exactly you went this long without knowing that the overwhelming majority of the human race has been annihilated, and that just three hours north of here lies the ruins of Reno which is filled to the brim with undead monsters."

Despite Zane's harrowing words, the Militia commander did not laugh at them, or call them crazy like the men beneath his command had done. Instead, he silently stared at Zane for some time, before asking if Zane was telling him the honest truth.

"You're serious, aren't you? It's actually the end of the world, and not just a civil war? But how? How could this have happened?"

Upon seeing the older man drop all false pretense after Zane had honestly spoken the true reality of the world, Zane sighed heavily before revealing what he knew about the undead virus, and the world at large. Minus a few more unbelievable tales, like that his mother, Death, was responsible for it.

It was a long and dreadful tale about humanity's sudden decline and demise. One that left the man with no option but to smoke a cigarette in order to calm his trembling hands. After he had taken a puff and his nerves settled, he spoke in a horrified voice.

"You know… This is my last pack… I've been trying to ration it for months now… But if what you have just told me is true, I fear I'm going to finish it before the hour is done…"

Zane did not respond to this man's statement. It was an obvious attempt to cope with what he had learned. But he also knew what the man was going to ask next. After all he had revealed the existence of blood crystals, and their potential to turn humans into something capable of combatting the undead.

And because of this, the middle-aged militia commander, after putting out his cigarette in his ashtray was quick to ask what Zane had already anticipated he would.

"So if what you say is true… Then you must have some of these life saving blood crystals which you previously mentioned…. Right?"

Zane sighed heavily before nodding his head. He knew exactly where this line of questioning was headed. Yet remained calmly seated nonetheless, willing to let the scene play out as it was meant to.

"I do… But they are not for sale…"

The Militia commander glanced over at his two sentries who were posted at the door. And the two men quickly approached Zane, flicking off their safeties with a quiet but distinctly audible click.

A loud gunshot ranged throughout the room. A bullet had been fired to the back of Zane's skull. But rather than blow out his brains as it was expected to. Zane remained sitting, as if nothing had happened.

At first, the soldiers thought their guns had malfunctioned, and quickly tried to clear the jam, before trying again. Two more shots went to the back of Zane's head. But again, rather than Zane being the one lying dead on the floor. Something peculiar happened.

It was the briefest of moments. But the two militiamen lost their heads. Which rolled onto the floor as their blood sprayed across the wall of their commander's office. The middle aged man gazed in abject horror at what had happened to his soldiers.

His gaze flickering between Zane and the two headless corpses lying next to him. To say that the Militia commander soiled himself in that moment would be the understatement of the century.

The man stammered over his own words as he struggled to speak his thoughts all the while Zane held his blade to the man's neck.

"M...Mo...Monster!"

Those were the man's last words, as in the next second, his head was also removed from its shoulders. As for Zane, he looked at the mess he had caused and sighed heavily while shaking his head, all while criticizing humanity for its inherent sense of greed.

"Some things never change..."