Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

While Zane and the girls waited out the storm within the relative safety of Elena's childhood home. The survivors in the Safe Zone were waging a battle for their continued existence. The Undead had broken through the secondary layer of defense, which was established around the living settlement.

This was one of three lines of defense. And with every passing minute, the fight continued as hundreds fell by the wayside. Still, they succeeded in taking out many more undead. And despite the impressive kill to death ratio, it became increasingly obvious that the battle was only going to end one way.

After all, the Undead had far more numbers that they could reasonably lose in comparison to the living. An endless horde of ravenous corpses marching into their deaths was by no means a loss to such an overwhelming force.

It was becoming obvious to the leadership of the Safe Zone's defense that the second layer of defense was about to fall, and because of this, the order to evacuate the civilians located within its boundaries was given.

While at the same time, a group of men varying in age who had been conscripted in the defense were gathered by a former officer of the United States Armed Forces who now served in the Safe Zone's so called "Militia".

Unlike the majority of the so called Militia, these men who had gathered for this briefing were actually outfitted with decent equipment. Semi-automatic rifles, some of which had been converted into full auto following the apocalypse. Plate carriers, and even a few ballistic helmets. One or two men even sported night vision goggles.

Despite this, there was no formal uniform for these men. Some wore camouflage, while others wore plaid and jeans, a few even sported fashionable Hawaiian shirts beneath their body armor.

Of course, these men provided their own equipment which they possessed prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse, and because of this, they were better equipped than those poor conscripts who shared the moniker of "Militia."

Most of these men were veterans of America's previous conflicts prior to its collapse, and because of this, they had stern expressions on their faces as they waited for their commander to step forward and give them their mission.

Though a few among their ranks were civilians, civilians who particularly enjoyed the second amendment, or some who were outright preparing for the apocalypse long before it began.

There were even a few ideological fanatics among their ranks, from various political backgrounds, who had previously been plotting to overthrow the United States government in an attempt to establish their own specific flavor of utopia among its ruins.

Regardless of their background, these men were the best the Militia had to offer. And they all stood at attention, even those who had not actually served in the Armed Forces, waiting for their commander to issue his commands.

A middle-aged man stepped forward. He too was outfitted in a similar way as these men, it was clear that he was a retired commissioned officer of some branch within the military of what most would call the "Former United States of America".

This aging veteran issued an order to these former soldiers, and civilian sheepdogs with a stern an authoritative tone in his voice.

"At ease gentlemen…"

The moment these men heard these words, they relaxed their position into an official gesture known as "At Ease" all while their commander spoke to them.

"The civilian government of the city has deemed it fit to evacuate the area of all civilians. After all… Things are not going well, and it is clear to the General that it is only a matter of time before the second layer of defense falls.

Because of this, the Mayor has authorized the use of a secret weapon. A weapon which those egg heads in the CDC have concocted specifically to fight back against the Undead. I will warn you, only one out of five of you will survive the process. But if you do so, you will quite literally become super human…"

After saying this, the Commander pulled out a small bag which contained a variety of blood crystals. The blood crystals were, of course, not created by the CDC, but were rather a resource extracted from the Undead.

Of course, nobody really knew that at the moment, aside from a handful of lucky survivors like Zane, and the Federal Government of several nations that still had some kind of control over their former territories.

For example, the United States Government discovered the use of blood crystals shortly after Zane did. Zane was, of course, a borderline suicidal teen who had decided to quite literally say "Yolo" and consume what could have easily been a toxic substance. And in doing so, he became the first human to awaken.

As for the Federal Government, it took time for the CDC to gain permission to experiment on human beings with blood crystals after discovering them. But after uncovering the potential they had, the Federal Government or what remained of it kept this a secret from the surviving populace.

Only giving permission to make use of Blood Crystals to those established Safe Zones that were on the verge of being overrun. Albeit with a strict vow of secrecy.

After trying for well over six hours to get ahold of someone above him, the Mayor finally received one last command. Authorizing permission to extract Blood Crystals from the Undead and use them on the Safe Zone's troops.

There was, of course, a warning about how only one fifth would survive the process, and the others would turn. Yet desperate times called for desperate measures. Because of this, the Mayor had secretly ordered his most elite unit to collect blood crystals during the battle to later be used by its more disposable troops.

Thus, the most elite of the "Militia" were chosen for this mission, knowing the survivors of the awakening would have the most combat experience, and thus the best chance of turning the tides of war.

With this in mind, every single one of these soldiers grabbed a blood crystal from their commander's hands, and followed his orders as they consumed the blood crystals without hesitation. After all, if they could push back the Undead Army and save their families which lied within the interior of the Safe Zone's remaining defenses, then their sacrifice would be worth it.