Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 81: A Tactical Withdrawal

The authorization for the use of blood crystals among the Safe Zone's militia was a matter of necessity, and everyone who consumed such a dangerous item knew the potential consequences of doing so. Even then, a hundred men all took the crystals from the commander's hands and devoured them without hesitation.

Of the one hundred militiamen who consumed these blood crystals, only twenty of them survived the process. The rest were disposed of and officially considered KIA in the battle. After all, despite the authorization of their use, blood crystals were still a secret which the federal government intended to keep tightly sealed.

As for those who survived, they all awakened powerful offensive abilities, and with these newfound powers, they were thrown headfirst into the gauntlet. By now the second line of defense had collapsed, the area was thankfully evacuated of civilian personnel, but the cost of doing so was heavy.

Now the undead horde was approaching the third and final line of defense, where if breach would spell the end of the only large settlement of survivors within the region. But something strange happened at this event. Twenty men led the charge, with superhuman abilities, slaying the Walkers left and right.

And through efficient coordination of their unit, many of them had even slain higher tier undead such as Howlers and Abominations. The tides of war quickly changed in favor of the survivors, as these men armed with modern weapons and super powers cut down the Undead, who had previously been an unstoppable flood as if they were nothing more than wheat to the scythe.

Within an hour, the Undead had miraculously fallen back. But the battle was not over then. Instead, the living charged forward in an attempt to reclaim the second layer of defense which had previously collapsed. And after a hard fought conflict which caused significant casualties on both sides, the Undead army was forced back yet again.

But when the Living counter offensive became bold and attacked the first line of defense, which had already long since fallen into the hands of the Undead, they met stiff resistance. The Undead countered this attack by sending in the majority of their abominations, which numbered in the hundreds. Forcing the Living to withdraw back to the second line of defense, and thus hold their ground.

Though the Undead now had the strength to press forward and regain the ground, they had suddenly lost. They did not do so. Instead, they stood outside the barriers, which they had previously climbed over like a tidal wave. Completely still, as if they had suddenly lost whatever semblance of life they currently had.

Nobody knew it, but there was an intelligent leader of this undead horde. And he had seen how his forces had been slaughtered by the humans. Specifically, those with unknown powers. He had been deceived, until now humanity had never displayed such significant powers before.

But suddenly, in the blink of an eye, things had changed. The Horde King could only bite his togue and stomp in a fit of rage, while the rain poured upon his head. This changed things, not only for himself, but for his peers.

If there were humans hiding among the living with special powers, powers so significant that a mere twenty of them could stem the tide and regain ground. Then this meant that the war was far from over, and that a tactical retreat was required. At least until his stalkers could replace out more information about these special living beings.

With a begrudging tone in his raspy voice, the Horde King issued the order to withdraw, both aloud and telepathically, to the Undead beneath his command.

"Fall back!"

He was clearly agitated, which one could easily observe if they watched the gait in the near human undead's step. But what one could not observe was the thoughts in his head as he telepathically communicated with his peers scattered across the entirety of the world. Something that only a Horde King like himself could hear.

"We have a problem…"

A feminine voice that was filled with mockery was quick to respond to this statement that only she and the other Horde Kings could hear.

"Oh? Did our itty bitty little Barty boy run into some kind of trouble with the living? How devilishly delicious! It doesn't surprise me that one such as yourself, who mother gave command over a small and insignificant city in the middle of nowhere, is having trouble with the likes of the living. What is it Barty? What is causing you so much trouble?"

Almost as if he were a living being who were trying his damndest to control his anger at being mocked by his peers, the Horde King known as Bartholomew, or who the feminine Horde King referred to as "Barty" clenched his teeth and hissed through them as he debated with himself internally whether warning the others about this new development was even worth his breath.

But before Bartholomew could respond properly, another voice interrupted them. If Bartholomew's voice was raspy, and rough, as if he was severely dehydrated. Then this other masculine voice was as smooth as oiled velvet, and with a posh accent nonetheless, almost like one would expect from a Northeastern WASP.

"Lilith, dear, with all due respect, can you cut the shit? I think I know exactly what Bart is trying to warn us about, but I need to be certain that we have run into the same issue…. So if you would politely shut your trap, that would be much appreciated!"

The feminine horde King known as "Lilith" scoffed, clearly rolling her eyes as she did so, before allowing this Bart to continue.

"Go ahead Barty, we are all listening…"

Bart took a deep breath before telling the rest of his peers in great detail what he had seen. Most of them had never encountered such a thing before. And they all laughed at Bart, accusing him of making things up. All except for one. The smooth talker was quick to interrupt the ill-intended banter with a shocking revelation, and when he did so, his words were greeted with far more respect.

"Bart isn't lying… I am also having difficulty with these exceptional living beings. They are holed up at an underground complex within my territory. No matter how many Abominations and Juggernauts I throw at them, I can't seem to get past their defenses. I do believe this is what the living would call a military installation, though.

Nevertheless, my Stalkers report unusual and powerful abilities, just as Bart has.

By themselves, a single Abomination would be able to take care of them, but the living are more intelligent than we give them credit for, and when working together they pose a significant problem even for my Juggernauts.

I believe it would be best if we all took a tactical withdrawal from our current assaults until we can figure out just what is going on, and what the extent of these special living beings' powers are."

Even Lilith did not dare disagree with this specific Horde King. However, her voice was filled with trepidation as she spoke the words nobody wanted to hear.

"If that is the case… Then what shall we tell mother?"

There was utter silence after this, and the silence was enough. Nobody would say anything to the one they called "Mother", for if they could not solve this petty issue themselves, then they were unworthy of her blessings.