Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Ryan lost interest in the two girls who were his new prisoners the moment they spoke about the blood crystals granting special powers. If Zane had a superpower, then there was no telling what he would do when he found out about what Ryan and the others had done to his camp.

Because of this, Ryan disregarded any potential hazards to his health that might occur if he were to eat the blood crystal like the girls had instructed him to, and popped the item into his mouth. He regretted it instantly, as he felt the urge to vomit. After all, the most disgusting taste he had ever experienced overwhelmed his senses immediately.

But that was just the beginning. The moment he thought he was about to be okay, Ryan began to froth at the mouth as he fell to the floor and began to spasm.

An overwhelming sense of pain spread to every corner of his body. Almost as if his bloodstream had been lit on fire, or perhaps even electrocuted. In that moment, he wanted more than anything to die, and bring those bitches who tricked him with him.

As for the two girls, they were already granted mercy, and Ryan was alone when he consumed the blood crystal. Because he was essentially paralyzed, there was no way he could call his friends for help. Thus, he had to sit there for thirty minutes enduring unimaginable agony, before his fate was decided.

---

It turns out Ryan's luck was at the very least half decent. Because when the thirty minutes were up it did not result in an infection. Instead, the young man saw the blood red UI of the mysterious system appear before his very eyes.

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[System Awakened!]

[Rolling For Skill Now!]

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Ryan watched as a randomizer flashed names of different skills so quickly that he could not even make out what the sanguine colored words were saying. In the end it came to a sudden stop on a peculiar ability.

[Matter Absorption – Tier I]

[Description: You possess the ability to absorb matter to enhance your bodily defense. At Tier I you can absorb wood and stone]

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Upon seeing that he had gained such a useful ability, Ryan could not help but smile wickedly as he thought about how Zane's bullets would not be entirely ineffective against him, especially if he were to have a pebble in his pocket, which would allow him to turn his body into stone.

Zane would need more than a 5.56x45mm NATO rifle if he wished to kill Ryan now! This made Ryan incredibly excited at the prospect of Zane coming for him, which he was quick to voice aloud.

"Soon enough, Zane will deliver Elena and Olivia to me... Everything is going according to plan!"

---

Hours passed before Zane, Olivia, and Elena were able to return to the high school campus. There was, of course, a serious issue, which they immediately noticed. The campus gates had been busted through by sheer force. No doubt by an overwhelming number of Walkers.

In fact, there seemed to be more Walkers than normal, and the cause of this was obvious. The fire alarm from the second building, which Ryan had burnt to the dirt, had attracted unwanted attention to the location, which used to be Zane's safe haven.

It took some effort to avoid detection by the Walkers, but when Zane was able to finally see what had happened to his "home" he couldn't help but stare in silence for several minutes. Especially since by now the rain which had begun to pour several hours ago had completely and totally drowned out the fire, but not until after all that remained was a pile of ashes and rubble.

Olivia was dismayed at the sight of their safe haven being burnt to the ground. And was quick to ask about what could have possibly happened.

"Who could have done this? What about the others? Are they alright?"

Zane, however, simply scoffed and shook his head before pointing to the building, which was roughly thirty meters away from them. He could clearly see at least one charred corpse and was quick to comment on it.

"Unlikely… Unless you have some kind of skill that can resurrect the dead?"

The callous tone in Zane's voice as he commented on the deaths of their fellow survivors was unnerving in this situation. But Elena understood that Zane had already blocked off his heart and mind from unnecessary emotions, especially those that would hinder his chances of survival in this cruel world.

Hell, he had done so long before the apocalypse even began. It was because of this that she did not comment on the cruelty of his words, or his poor attempt at humor. Instead, she asked what both she and Olivia were thinking.

"What are we going to do now?"

Contrary to what Elena expected, when Zane shifted his attention to her, his face, though calm, had dark eyes that were lit aflame with rage. There was a murderous aura exuding from the man's figure, so much so that his voice trembled with it as he spoke of exactly what they were going to do.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to kill them all!"

Kill them all? Who? The walkers? The ones responsible for this misfortune? They did not even know who that even was! Or so Elena thought.

But Olivia was quick to understand what Zane meant and had an anxious tone in her voice as she asked for clarification about what the man meant by his words.

"You mean Ryan and the others, right? Do you even know where they are?"

There was no hesitation about killing Ryan and his group of survivors in Olivia's voice. Perhaps she had begun to adapt to this brave new world, but she understood that Ryan's group had murdered their companions, and had burned their home to the ground. If left alone, they would simply prove to be a threat again in the future.

Thus she had resolved herself to obey Zane's orders, no matter how cruel they may be.

Unfortunately, her last hope that Zane did not even know the whereabouts of Ryan's group came crashing down around her, as Zane pointed in the direction of the gymnasium before responding to Olivia's question.

'There is only one building left on campus still standing, or should I say, one building left that is not overrun by the undead? Ryan and his group are hiding in the gymnasium, and we are going to go exterminate them, like the pests they are!"

With this said, Olivia and Elena stared at the Gymnasium with worried looks on their pretty faces. After all, killing the Undead was one thing, but murdering their former classmates, teachers, and students? That was something that only someone who had lost their humanity would even think about…