Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

While Zane did his best to ignore the voices in the back of his head, he couldn't help but overhear the conversation taking place among the Horde Kings. A conversation which was about him. One initiated by none other than Gwen, who had incessantly tried her best to converse with Zane ever since he first stupidly asked a question to the hive mind.

By now the young Horde King who had once been a high school cheerleader prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse and the spread of the undead virus, changed her tactics from trying to directly communicate with Zane, to badmouthing him openly among his "peers."

I just don't understand why big brother doesn't want to speak to any of us? If he didn't want to do so, he shouldn't have opened his mouth in the first place. You agree, don't you Lilith?"

While Lilith had personally affected Zane's life in ways which he did not yet know, she was ultimately an unknown quantity to the man. But she knew quite a bit about him, and was quick to speak with her usual alluring tone, albeit with snarky undertones, while replying to Gwen's comments.

"I think our mysterious brother has only recently found out how to contact us, and accidentally did so without realizing what was happening. It was not an intentional attempt to reach out to you, Gwen, and you most certainly should not take it as a sign of affection, like I know you have and your misguided little mind has already done!"

Lilith had hit the proverbial nail on the head. Zane had only just recently found out about the hive mind moments before accidentally speaking within it. By now he had figured out how to keep his thoughts exclusive to himself, but for a while there he was too afraid to think of anything consciously or else his enemies would detect them.

However, Gwen sounded like she was pouting as she responded to Lilith's remarks, while also giving Zane a subtle hint about where more of their siblings were for him to slay on his journey towards reuniting with her.

"Big sister Lilith, I won't tolerate you making such remarks about my beloved big brother! He's just playing hard to get is all. I'm sure after he has dealt with our siblings in Truckee and Virginia city, he will come to face me himself!"

Zane never thought that Gwen would be stupid enough to accidentally the locations of her other nearby siblings to him. But what he didn't understand was it was a deliberate attempt on her part. She had formed her own understanding of her mother's plans.

And whether or not this theory was true, she wanted to make it as such. Because of this, she had a very good reason for leaking the location of the other Tier I Horde Kings in the area, in an attempt to get Zane to go after them before her.

Naturally, Zane fell for the bait. He immediately closed out his mind to the conversation that continued between Gwen and Lilith, and instead spoke up to his party members, who he was still sharing breakfast with.

"I know where two more Tier I Horde Kings are. They are nearby…. If we take the two of them out, all of you will have two skills to use in the fight against Gwen. After which, we can focus on improving our strength before taking the fight towards that bitch!"

Maya looked up at Zane. She was naturally aware of the conversation her "children" were having. And she was also aware of the fact that Gwen had surprisingly come to understand her intentions, which she had done a good job of hiding.

If Zane followed Gwen's plan, it would end in both of their favors. Something which Maya simply smirked about, but concealed her smug smile beneath the act of sipping on milk. As for the women by Zane's side, they instantly responded to his sudden outburst, inquiring just where Zane had come to learn of this information.

Elena being the first to speak, standing up, and staring Zane in the eye, while demanding an answer from him.

"You have been silently sulking since yesterday afternoon, and now, all of a sudden, you finally speak with anything other than doom and gloom in your tone. And yet the first thing you say with any excitement is that you have somehow, in ways unbeknownst to us all, learned the location of two more Tier I Horde Kings?

We don't even know how to cure you yet. The last thing we should be focused on is helping you level up more! Do you want to stay this way forever, Zane!?!?

Zane did not know how to respond to this, and simply remained silent. However, unexpectedly, Angelica spoke up on his behalf. Despite being the one who was perhaps the most fearful of what was happening to Zane, she defended him, and his actions to Elena.

"I don't think staying stagnant like this is any better than what Zane is proposing… I mean, we have no idea if what has happened to him is reversible. And in the meantime, our enemies are growing stronger. I mean you have noticed it right? We all have. Something is happening in the ruins of Reno.

The dead are rapidly growing stronger, and it is only a matter of time before New Reno is wiped out entirely. If this is happening here, in a small city like Reno, then what do you think is happening around the world in much larger metropolitan areas?

Do you think the undead in a place like, I don't know, let's say, LA, are remaining stagnant at Tier I? Or do you think they, too, are evolving at a massive rate? What would happen if the Horde in LA began to migrate east? How long could we possibly hope to contend against such a thing if we simply stay at our current levels?

As much as I fear for Zane and what is happening to him. He is right, we need to grow stronger, even if… Even if by doing so we become one step closer to the thing we are trying to fight against…"

Madison remained quiet. Though her intelligence had grown substantially since she first awakened her abilities. She did not enjoy interjecting in such conversations. And instead treated herself as if she was still an idiot with nothing of value to contribute.

As for Lily, she had not been paying attention. After learning about what had happened to Zane, she had been filled with internal turmoil. She was starting to realize that she did actually have feelings for the man. And that she was deeply afraid of falling in love with him, if it were indeed that case that he had become some kind of monster.

Ultimately, Olivia was the one to speak up and settle the dispute between Angelica and Elena.

"Angelica is right. We have no choice but to continue on the path we have chosen. Even if at the end of our path, we all end up like Zane has become…"

With that it was quickly decided by the group that their next target would be the Horde King in charge of Truckee, followed by an assault on the legendary "wild western" town of Virginia City, which was a common field trip location for elementary students in Reno.