Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

The Abomination somehow gained a second wind and quickly cleared the distance that Zane and the others had made between themselves and it. Getting so close to Elena that it was able to reach out to her, its massive hand was capable of carrying a full grown woman with a single grasp inching ever closer to her narrow waistline.

Elena could not wait any longer, and quickly cast her ability, despite still having five seconds left until Olivia was capable of casting her own skill. She reached out and activated [Time Distortion] in a desperate attempt to direct its focus towards the abomination.

And suddenly time stopped… Or that is to say that it suddenly became so slow that Elena quick quickly move out of the way of the giant monster's attack. An excited smile appeared on the young woman's face as she quickly made some distance between herself and the abomination.

Once she was clear of the danger that was only moments ago present to her very existence, Elena called out to Olivia, unaware whether or not she too had been affected.

"Now!"

Despite Elena's ignorance about how her skill worked, she had rolled the dice in her favor, a life-threatening gamble, but a successful one nonetheless. Zane and Olivia were both unaffected by [Time Distortion] both of which were dumbfounded by the overpowered ability.

So much so that it took Olivia a second to realize what had happened. And just when the ability was beginning to wear off, she cast her own skill. A large bolt of blue lightning fell from the sky as Olivia slipped and fell while casting [Electric Discharge] which just so happened to fall directly on the cranium of the Abomination.

The Abomination groaned in agony as its body spasmed, seemingly petrified by the overwhelming volume of electricity that was currently surging through its body. Though the creature was still "alive" it was paralyzed momentarily, and because of this, Zane called out to the other survivors, demanding they immediately rally their broken ranks and attack the temporarily disabled monstrosity.

"Now is our chance. Attack its head now!"

Zane immediately reached towards the ground and picked up a nearby club where he approached the creature and began smashing its head in to the best of his ability. The moment Zane struck the Abomination, he saw a health bar appear, which appeared half full.

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[Abomination – Tier III Undead]

[Level: 🕱]

[Status: Paralyzed]

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[HP: 150/???]

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Despite the damage inflicted on the monster by Zane's bullets, and Olivia's skill, it still had more remaining health points than any of them had individually. But upon seeing Zane so boldly strike the creature in its disabled skull, causing a minus 5 HP to its health bar. The other survivors quickly rallied behind their fearless leader and did the same.

With each passing second, the Abomination took minus 2 to its health points from each time it was struck by a survivor with a club. Meaning it was taking 50 damage a second. Luckily for them, the Abomination's paralysis lasted for a total of 5 seconds, giving them enough time to kill the obese monster.

And with the last second having been finished, Zane landed the finishing blow, smashing the Abomination's incredibly durable skull apart with his final strike. Immediately, the group of survivors broke out into cheers, not even paying attention to Zane as he dug into the creature's shattered skull to find something spectacular.

In Zane's hand was a blood crystal, but it was no normal blood crystal. In fact, it was significantly larger than the ones he had previously consumed, almost half the size of a golf ball. And it wasn't the color of coagulated blood, rather it was a deep blue, like the deepest depths of the ocean.

Zane did not know the effects this blood crystal would have, but he knew it was his, and he would kill anyone for its possession without hesitation. Luckily for him, nobody saw him pocket it, not even Elena or Olivia, who were hugging each other while crying tears of joy and relief.

However, the celebrations were cut short, as Zane quickly pointed back to the second building, which was only a few dozen yards away. Stating the need to head back.

"Alright… We can celebrate after we return to safety. Elena, Olivia, you will inspect the other survivors and check for any sign of infection… Once I can confirm that none of you have been bitten… Then I will distribute the rewards of our bounty…"

Nobody aside from Elena and Olivia knew exactly what Zane was referring to. But those two women quickly became silent, knowing that Zane was going to thin the herd, though they wanted to protest, they also knew that their supplies were rapidly dwindling, and that their best chance of survival was to cause more people to awaken within their party…

Thus, they bit their tongue and allowed Zane to drag them off to the sanctuary they had made for themselves.

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Once inside the safety of the second building, Zane did something that nobody other than the two women by his side expected. He unslung his rifle and pointed it in the direction of the other survivors, who had so cowardly fled from the Abomination during their attempts to slay it. There was a cold look on his face as he gave them all an option to redeem themselves.

"I believe I told you all at the beginning… Not one step back or I shall shoot you myself… The price for desertion is death! Now line against the wall, all of you who so cowardly fled from that Abomination!"

Elena and Olivia were shocked that Zane was going to outright execute the other survivors. They thought for sure he was going to thin the herd by distributing blood crystals. And were quick to plea with him to do so.

"Wait, Zane you can't! We need them!"

Elena said as she tried to grab hold of Zane's arm, however this merely resulted in the man giving her a stern gaze. A gaze which Elena was deeply intimate with. As it was the one he had given Gregory before bashing his head in.

But Zane took a deep breath and calmed himself. Surprisingly, not using force to convince Elena to behave herself, and instead using his words, in a way that Elena found strangely endearing.

"You almost died because of their cowardice! If they had stood their ground like we planned, you wouldn't have been pushed into such a desperate position. I can't allow them to do something like that again!"

Elena blushed when she heard Zane's response. Since the beginning of this apocalypse, he had shown no concern for anyone but himself. Zane had proven time and again that he would do anything so long as it benefited himself, no matter how cruel.

Yet... It was not his own safety that he was concerned about, which angered him so, but it was hers. The young crimson haired beauty could not even look the man in his eyes as she so boldly stated something she found to be so embarrassing.

Whether Zane actually meant his words, and was warming up to Elena and Olivia, only he really knew. But what mattered to Elena in that moment was that Zane had displayed that he was now thinking about her safety as well as his own.

Thus she swallowed her sense of morals, that in all honesty should have died with the old world, and let go of Zane's arm, allowing him to enact justice, even if she found the idea repulsive.

"Alright Zane... I trust your judgement..."

Zane turned his attention to the crowd of deserters who were gathered before him, and now on their knees, begging for their lives. He did not show a hint of remorse as he aimed down his sights at them.

But in the next moment, just when everyone thought he was going to pull the trigger, Zane turned the safety of his weapon on, and lowered his rifle. Before speaking in a stern tone to those crying survivors who had so cowardly left him and the women by his side to die earlier in the day.

"Elena is right... We can't survive for long if it's just the three of us… Very well, I will give you all a chance to redeem yourselves…"

After saying this, Zane reached into his pockets and pulled out the regular blood crystals which he had scavenged from the undead horde which they had slain prior to fighting the abomination. His next words were like a lifeline to those who had just a moment's prior thought they were about to be executed.

"Everyone take one, and consume it… Do this, and all will be forgiven…. That includes the two of you…"

In the past, Elena and Olivia would have grimaced in fright at the idea of consuming blood crystals. After all, the pain was unbearable, but... Deep down inside, Zane's sudden care for their wellbeing had done something to their subconscious opinions of him. Now they were willing to endure that pain, so long as they could prove useful to the man.

Thus, with a determined expression on their two beautiful faces, the duo of women reached into Zane's palm and each grabbed a blood crystal, being the first among the group to consume them.