Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Chapter 264: Some Things Never Change

Zane was led through the gates of Hawthorne and into a relatively large building which currently acted as a command post for the local militia. He was escorted by a series of armed guards, yet despite this fact he remained completely calm and collected.

He was not exaggerating when he said he could wipe out the entire town by himself. And no, he was not mentioning the strength of his horde, which was on standby, waiting to be deployed. Zane's physical prowess was at a superhuman level.

A shot of 5.56 directly to the dome would fail to penetrate his flesh, let alone his skull. Nor would the blunt force trauma have any impact on his brain. Zane was invulnerable to most small arms, including the venerable 50 cal now that his constitution had reached 25.

Aside from perhaps large bore artillery which was pointed towards the wasteland, there wasn't really anything in the militia's arsenal that could physically harm Zane's body. And that was assuming they managed to land a shot on his figure.

Zane's speed was beyond superhuman at this point. It was well over thirty with his base stats and the bonuses he gained from his equipment. Hell, it was approaching 40 at this point. To say that he could easily dodge machine gun fire was no understatement.

It would take little effort for Zane to claim the skulls of these baseline humans who had never even heard the term awakened before. But then again, why would he, unless directly pressed to do so? Sure it might be expedient to just kill them all here and leave Hawthorne as a ghost town on his journey south.

But the residents of Hawthorne were more akin to insects to Zane than they were anywhere near being his peers. Perhaps it was the power he had gained, and the battles waged against beings of supreme power. Or simply the fact that he had truly abandoned his humanity behind and become something else entirely.

However, Zane no longer considered living being human to be his equal, or even worthy of his notice. Only those awakened humans, whose hearts could fuel his growth were of any real value to Zane outside of perhaps a source of labor. But that was presuming he was still the Mayor of Gravestone, which he was no longer.

It was because of this that he was so calm. Almost as if he was a god, completely untoucheable by the mortals which surrounded him. And his lack of anxiety was definitely noticed by the Militia's commander as he led Zane through the command post, and into his private office where two guards stood at watch on either side of the entrance.

Zane did not wait to be given permission to speak. No, that was something he would do for a superior, and this mortal man posed no threat to him. Instead, he sat down in his seat, crossing one leg on top of his opposite knee, and resting his chin on his fist. Before, outwardly demanding answers from the man in front of him.

"I already made it clear I intend you no harm. My journey is southward, and you are impeding that. So make this quick. Trust me when I say you wouldn't want me to grow restless."

The air conditioning within the office blew at such power that the officer's grey hair was actually affected slightly by its ripples. This clearly meant that some form of electrical existed within the hands of Hawthorne, one that was powered by more conventional means.

And because of this, the middle-aged militia commander, after putting out his cigarette in his ashtray was quick to ask what Zane had already anticipated he would.

"So if what you say is true... Then you must have some of these life saving blood crystals which you previously mentioned.... Right?"

Zane sighed heavily before nodding his head. He knew exactly where this line of questioning was headed. Yet remained calmly seated nonetheless, willing to let the scene play out as it was meant to.

"I do... But they are not for sale..."

The Militia commander glanced over at his two sentries who were posted at the door. And the two men quickly approached Zane, flicking off their safeties with a quiet but distinctly audible click.

A loud gunshot ranged throughout the room. A bullet had been fired to the back of Zane's skull. But rather than blow out his brains as it was expected to. Zane remained sitting, as if nothing had happened.

At first, the soldiers thought their guns had malfunctioned, and quickly tried to clear the jam, before trying again. Two more shots went to the back of Zane's head. But again, rather than Zane being the one lying dead on the floor. Something peculiar happened.

It was the briefest of moments. But the two militiamen lost their heads. Which rolled onto the floor as their blood sprayed across the wall of their commander's office. The middle aged man gazed in abject horror at what had happened to his soldiers.

His gaze flickering between Zane and the two headless corpses lying next to him. To say that the Militia commander soiled himself in that moment would be the understatement of the century.

The man stammered over his own words as he struggled to speak his thoughts all the while Zane held his blade to the man's neck.

"M...Mo...Monster!"

Those were the man's last words, as in the next second, his head was also removed from its shoulders. As for Zane, he looked at the mess he had caused and sighed heavily while shaking his head, all while criticizing humanity for its inherent sense of greed.

"Some things never change..."