Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Zane was resting in his bed, or at least the bed of his temporary residence when he received a notification from the system. It appeared to have undergone a patch while he was in the shower. Introducing several new features. One of them was an instant messaging system to awaken humans he had previously come into contact with.

In his list of contacts was, of course the various women who he had left behind. There was a serious internal conflict within Zane's heart when he saw this. It had been nearly a month since he abandoned them all in the dead of night. Without the slightest word given to where he was going.

And because of this, he feared they may hate him. Yet… He couldn't deny that there were things he wanted to say. But had not been able to properly express because he feared they would try to get him to stay, and in doing so endanger their lives.

After some time of silent contemplation, Zane finally sighed and decided to stop being a pussy. He quickly contacted Elena and the others. Sending a message to them each individually. As he waited for a response.

The first to appear came from none other than Elena. She was questioning whether it was actually him for an obvious reason.

"Zane, is that you?"

Zane took a moment or two to respond, thinking through how best to do so, but in the end he chose a single word.

"Yeah…."

How Elena chose to respond to this was beyond Zane's expectations. She used a laughing emoji, followed by a statement that made fun of him.

"Why is it that when I read your message, I imagined you sighing heavily with that usual brooding look in your eyes?"

This remark offended Zane at first. Brooding? Who was brooding? Oh hell, he couldn't deny that she was right about that. I mean he could very well see in the reflection of the television across from his bed that he was indeed brooding when he sent that message.

Of course, after realizing this he could only respond honestly to his childhood friend and lover with a bitter smile on his face.

"Probably because that's exactly what I was doing… Listen Elena, I'm sorry for walking out on you all without saying a word… It was tough for me to do so."

Elena responded to Zane once more in a way he could not possibly anticipate.

"You don't have to say another word Zane, we were heartbroken at first, but we understood why you did it…. You painted a target on your back, and you didn't want us caught up in your mess. We have been working hard to make sure when you finally return that we won't be a burden to you. So wherever you are, and whatever you are up to, don't die, alright?"

Not knowing how to proceed, Zane decided to call an end to his conversation with Elena, and the others who he was multi-chatting with in between messages. Telling them all that he was alright, and he would come home when he was ready to do so.

After which he ignored the system and went to sleep.

---

Maya was silently snacking on potato chips, and drinking soda while watching the five women who had grown close to her son. She sat in the background and listened to them exchange the details regarding their individual conversations with Zane all the while regretting her decision to open up communication between them.

After all, she had seen how hard the girls were working to catch up to Zane. And in a moment of sentimentality, she decided to patch the system once more, adding an instant messaging feature.

Of course, when she saw the overwhelming excitement among the five women, and the amount of alcohol they were drinking in celebration of re-establishing contact with Zane. May couldn't help but think maybe she was mistaken for doing this.

That is until Lily finally interrupted the conversation between herself and the others. Stating what all of them were thinking aloud.

"Alright, that's enough celebration. This is a good thing, but if we don't want to be burdened to Zane when he returns we have to be much more powerful! I say we get to bed and then wake up bright and early to begin our daily grind all over again!"

The sentiment surrounding Lily's proposal was universal among the four other women who chugged the rest of their drinks before walking off to get some sleep. Completely forgetting that Maya was sitting alone in the Mess Hall even after they turned off the lights.

Once they were out of earshot, Maya expressed her thoughts aloud on the subject.

"Perhaps this wasn't a mistake after all… Only time will tell."

After saying this, Maya vanished into the darkness, where she went. Only she knew the answer to that.

---

The next day, Zane awoke in his bed to a strange sensation. It was almost as if there was a woman wrapped around him. And an unusually curvy one at that. But that didn't make sense? The only woman among his companions who had a body like that was Beatrix, and she wouldn't just climb into his bed like this.

Zane immediately pulled off the covers of his bed to see his mother, dressed in nothing but a t-shirt, and a pair of panties wrapped around him. Causing him to look at the woman as if he was seeing things. This was the physical personification of death, after all.

The woman shamelessly clung to Zane, trying to drag him further into her embrace all the while sleep talking, saying the most embarrassing things as she did so.

"Zane! You've been a bad boy! Mommy has to punish you!"

Zane stared at his own mother as if she were some kind of pervert, before choosing to smother her with his pillow. The act of which instantly caused her to wake up, and try to struggle.

"Zane! What are you doing to your own mother? Let me go!"

Zane however had a cold voice, as he continued to press the pillow onto her face with an increased pressure in his grip.

"This is for your own good mother… Shhh…. Go to sleep!"

Ultimately, the woman slapped Zane across the face, causing him to cease his actions, where she knelt in front of him while pouting.

"Geez, Zane, must you be so rough with your mother so early in the morning?"

Zane was honestly speechless. There were no words that could properly explain this woman's shamelessness. And ultimately he decided to look the other way, as he realized she had somehow managed to climb into one of his t-shirts.

No, that wasn't exactly correct. It's not like Zane carried a wardrobe around with him. He normally wore his equipped items. And beneath that, the same clothes he had been wearing since the Apocalypse began. A black hoodie, a blank black t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and a pair of black running shoes with matching ankle socks.

However, the woman was clearly wearing one of the t-shirts he had worn prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse. The edgy design on its black surface was the logo of a band, which he quite frequently listened to in the past. One whose depressing lyrics commonly soothed his previously angsty teenage soul.

It was almost embarrassing thinking about such a thing, as Zane quickly asked just where the hell the woman found such a relic from a bygone era.

"Mom, what the hell? Is that my shirt? Where the hell did you even find it?"

Death looked at Zane as if he had suddenly lost all of his intelligence. She quickly answered his question as if it were blatantly obvious, so much so that even a drunken monkey could have figured it out.

"Where else? From your childhood home? I mean, I have gone to great lengths to preserve your room. And all of your belongings! Yo should be thanking your mother! After all, have you seen the state of your room!?!

Young man, do you not have any shame leaving your room in such a mess!?!

I thought I had raised you better than that! This old thing was hewn across your floor, along with all your other used clothing. You do realize that you have a hamper, right? Its sole purpose is to contain clothes that need to be washed! Do you have any idea how this reflects on me, your mother?"

Zane stared at Death in disbelief…. She had gone to his old room and scavenged his old belongings. Things he had not even remotely thought about since the apocalypse began. For what purpose did she do this? So she could wear his old clothes?

Something was really wrong with this picture, and Zane did not know how to properly respond to his mother, as she pulled on his ear and scolded him.

"Now hurry up and get ready! While you shower and get dressed Mommy is going to be downstairs making you some breakfast!"

After saying this, Death climbed out of Zane's bed and walked off, still dressed in nothing but his old t-shirt and a pair of panties. She would then shock all the Horde Kings beneath Zane's command who were on guard downstairs, when she entered the kitchen and began to cook breakfast not just for Zane, but for them all as well.

Any doubts that any of them may have had about Death's existence, or Zane being her true-born son would immediately vanish upon seeing the woman in the flesh making breakfast for them.