Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

With the two stalkers cleared by a combination of superior firepower and expert cunning, Zane had become the first person in the world that he knew about who had slain a Tier IV Undead. Stalkers were extraordinarily dangerous to human beings.

So much so that unless one was an awakened at a higher level, they would not be able to kill one. In fact, they were liable to be dead before they even realized the Stalker had targeted them.

Faster than most people's vision could keep up with, and excellent at hiding in the shadow, a Stalker's sharp claws could cut through even the hull of an unarmored vehicle with ease. Let alone a human being's flesh and bone.

Until now, Stalkers were virtually undefeatable in the mind of humanity, and those who had yet to witness the terrifying size, speed, and power of a juggernaut would consider a stalker to be their worst nightmare.

Horde Kings, of course, were not public knowledge, with Zane and his girls being the only people in the world to survive an encounter with one. Other than Lilith's little pet, who she had spared for more sinister reasons.

If the majority of survivors knew that there were highly intelligent, and supremely powerful undead that were commanding the hordes like armies, they would probably give up on the thought of survival altogether, and disregard any hope of a future for humanity in this cruel new world.

But this was neither here nor there, when Zane returned to Gravestone with large purple blood crystal in his hand, which he tossed in the air and caught repeatedly with his superior reflexes and agility, he was like a living legend to those people who had settled around him.

Zane was, of course, highly respected as the leader of Gravestone. He had repeatedly used his superior intelligence, wisdom, and charisma to woo the hearts of these ordinary humans, and lesser awakened survivors.

This was, of course, despite his cold and capricious personality. But for the man to take out two Stalkers on his own, it was a marvelous feat. One that was worthy of toasting in the mead hall like the ancient warriors of Scandinavia.

Of course when every was eying the purple blood crystal in astonishment, Zane made a shocking proclamation to all of his "servants", that's right, aside from the girls in his party, the people of gravestone were merely peasants beneath his noble rule, or so was Zane's perspective on the matter.

Thus he spoke with a degree of authority, one that someone might find if they went back into the annals of medieval history and visited a baron's territory.

"We know now that the Stalkers can be defeated…. Which means we are one step away from reclaiming this city for humanity. I will be taking my strike team deep into the heart of Carson city to lure the remaining stalkers out of the shadows, where we will eliminate them all in a single battle.

Once the stalkers are gone, all that lies on the chessboard is the King who will be utterly defenseless against our next move. Tonight we celebrate, but come morning, we will take the fight to our enemies in a battle for the ages."

After ending his speech, Zane walked off towards the bunker. It was mostly used to house him and the girls, or to act as an emergency shelter for the population of Gravestone during times of crisis, like during the attack of the Stalkers just now.

Knowing that Zane was taking the rest of the night off, the girls in his party followed after him. With Madison being very friendly as she poked Zane in the back and complimented his speech.

"You were like totally awesome there, you know that? You almost sounded like the leader of a clan of warriors giving a pre-battle speech to his knights!"

Zane rolled his eyes. Madison's lack of knowledge regarding knights, and their preceding barbarian warriors was something that he had come to expect from the young woman. Though her stats had increased significantly to the point where she was now more intelligent than the average non-awakened human. Her personal habits of shying away from books and knowledge in general was ever present.

Still, he took the compliment for its intent, and not the ignorance within its content.

"Thanks Maddie."

The girl smiled as she stayed close by Zane's side. Soon she would be turning eighteen, and she had let this fact slip more than once. For her birthday she wanted a major celebration, or as big as a celebration that could be had during these endo f times.

As for Elena, she quickly got between Madison and Zane. She had noticed over the past few months that the girl was clinging to Zane. The relationship between them had progressed rather well, almost a bit too well.

The fact that Madison wanted to keep her shock collar on, solely because it gave her a unique relationship with Zane, made Elena slightly annoyed with the pink-haired bimbo. But then again, it had been two months, and she had slowly come to accept the idea of Zane being in a relationship with multiple women.

Nevertheless, she had to mark her territory as she ran up and grabbed Zane's hand. After all, tonight was her night on the schedule. And she planned to make the most of it.

"After we eat, how about you and I go back to my room and have some drinks? I'm curious to hear what this battle plan of yours is…."

Zane nodded his head, seemingly ignoring Madison's attempts to get closer to him in favor of Elena. Something that caused the girl to pout and fall back in line with the other two women who watched Elena flirt with Zane in the open without the slightest care in the world.

Madison muttered her true thoughts beneath her breath in a voice so low that only Olivia managed to hear her.

"I don't know how you do it…."