Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night - Chapter 31

Left Behind
Zane returned to the third level of the second building where he made his camp. Sitting inside an otherwise vacant classroom, huddled together, were Elena and Olivia. Both of which seemed out of sorts. No doubt the corruption they experienced every time they consumed a blood crystal took a toll on their mind as much as their bodies.

But what was curious was that Elena and Olivia appeared to be looking at their systems, which Zane could not see. From the crimson-haired beauty’s perspective, she could see her stats displayed in front of her.

—

[User: Elena Pryce]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1]

[XP: 8/100]

[HP: 100/100]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 12]

[Dexterity: 10]

[Constitution: 10]

[Intelligence: 10]

[Wisdom: 10]

[Charisma: 10]

[Skills]

[Time Distortion – Tier 1]

—

Elena’s strength was higher than the norm due to her experience of training in various mixed martial arts. But most adult human beings started with base attributes of 10. Only those who were gifted in certain ways had a higher score, and usually only for one specific attribute, which they specialized in.

Of course, Elena knew none of this. And she had yet to actually test her ability “Time Distortion” in any real capacity. As for Olivia, she was looking at her scores, which were similar in their own way, but with a +2 increase in what one might consider the exact opposite attribute.

—

[User: Olivia Bennett]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 1]

[XP: 8/100]

[HP: 100/100]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 10]

[Dexterity: 10]

[Constitution: 10]

[Intelligence: 12]

[Wisdom: 10]

[Charisma: 10]

[Skills]

[Electric Discharge – Tier 1]

—

Due to the fact that she was a normally a high school biology teacher, who also served as the role of a homeroom teacher during that time of the day. Olivia had a slightly higher level of intelligence than the common man.

Not only that, but Olivia was far more intelligent than she put on. In many ways, she was what one might consider to be overqualified as a high school teacher, and simply did so because she enjoyed it. Thus, her plus 2 increase in intelligence was actually quite the advantage over other survivors who started with a baseline of 10.

The two women exchanged notes on their character screens until they noticed Zane enter the room. As per usual, there was a stoic expression on the young man’s face as he stepped forward with his bat in hand, before placing the blunt instrument down on a nearby desk.

Zane then stared silently at Elena and Olivia for several moments of awkward silence before asking a question that neither of them actually expected.

“How are the two of you feeling?”

It wasn’t so much that Zane actually cared about the wellbeing of these women on an emotional level. But more so that he wanted them in peak physical condition so they could begin helping him with his goal of grinding during the day.

After all, staying locked up in this building all day was doing him no favors. And while he had to look after a few troublesome flies who had made their way into his domain. Zane figured he could ask just one woman to do this for him. No doubt Olivia’s “authority” as a teacher still had some meaning to the students who had yet to adapt to this apocalypse and the new rules that came with it.

But the two women didn’t realize Zane’s intent, and instead seemed quite flustered over the usually cold and unfeeling Zane taking an interest in their wellbeing. Thus, Olivia wore a pretty smile as she nodded her head, stating that she was doing fine despite everything that had happened to her over the past 72 hours.

“I’m doing well… Believe it or not, I think I’m starting to get used to everything that’s happening…”

Elena looked over at her former homeroom teacher and was surprised to hear this. The woman was not doing well at all the previous night, where she quite literally fried a man to death with her special abilities.

But before she could question what had suddenly changed in the woman, Zane’s eyes, that were as black as the abyss, shifted their focus to her figure. Where she froze on the spot until he spoke to her with his usual callous tone.

“And you?”

Elena sighed heavily. She knew better than Olivia what exactly Zane meant by his previous question and thus she stood up, stretching her back as she did so, before answering Zane with a rather usual stern tone in her voice.

“Physically, I’m fine, if that’s what you’re asking. Though those fucking blood crystals are absolute torture, I somehow made it out alive… I know you don’t really give a shit, Zane, but I’m not doing as well mentally as I may appear to be.

I understand you don’t give a damn about your family, and under your circumstances, I don’t blame you. Hell, if your bitch of a mother is still alive, she has probably already abandoned you and has instead run off to find a safe place to hide on her own.

But I actually care about my family, and I have a little brother in middle school who should be going through the same horror that we are. I can’t actually get Jake off my mind. The more of our classmates that die around us, the more I fear for his safety… It’s starting to become unbearable to think about…”

Zane did not react to the mention of his own family problems. He was all too aware of how little his mother cared about him. To her, he was just a means of obtaining child support from his absent father. That much was obvious.

But when he heard about Elena’s concern for her family’s safety, Zane rolled his eyes, almost as if he found the very thought to be tiresome. When people were idle, they had too much time to think. And when people were left alone with their thoughts, they would often think about the worst possible outcomes in life.

Knowing this, Zane walked over and picked up his bat, seemingly ignoring the woman’s concerns, he headed for the door in silence causing Elena to scowl at him. Why wouldn’t she? The girl had just opened up about her emotional vulnerabilities to the man and he simply snubbed her.

But it was when he reached the doorway that Zane stopped abruptly before turning his back and looking at the girl. His tone was filled with mild annoyance, as if he was expecting his actions to be blatantly obvious.

“Well? What are you waiting for? It’s time we go clear your head…”

Elena hesitated for a moment. Knowing Zane, clearing her head most likely meant getting some fresh air, and by fresh air, he meant going out and killing Walkers. After several moments of silence, Elena sighed heavily, and picked up her club, where she followed Zane out of the doorway. Leaving one parting statement to her former homeroom teacher before running off to get some “fresh air.”

“Olivia, make sure to keep an eye on everyone else… We will be back soon!”

Olivia sighed heavily once Elena and Zane were no longer in earshot. She pouted heavily when she realized she had been left behind to look after the other survivors. Before expressing this sentiment aloud.

“Why am I always the one who is left behind?”