Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Zane sat in his seat and stared into the palm of his hand with a blank expression on his face. There was a peculiar object that he held onto. It was a spherical crystal whose color was that of coagulated blood. Yet despite this dark hue, the crystal was lustrous, almost to the point of having a natural shine to it.

Despite his best efforts, Zane could not think of what exactly this crystal was, what purpose it served, and why it was embedded in the brain of the police officer he had killed. Still, he continued to stare deep into the bloody hue in a desperate attempt to figure out just what the hell he was holding onto.

Eventually, Zane gave up and shifted his attention towards the outside world. The city was quite literally on fire. Yet despite this being the end of the world, Zane did not care in the slightest. To be honest, he cared about very little these days, if anything at all.

In fact, he pondered why he even bothered to struggle for his life against the rabid police officer who had tried to eat him alive just a few minutes ago.

In all honesty it came down to instinct, and thus Zane could only sigh and watch the world burn in the background all the while the undead who stalked the school's halls desperately pounded at the door in an attempt to break their way inside the barricaded classroom and devour those living beings who had yet to be consumed or turned into one of them.

The students had begun to panic, while Zane sat back and lamented his lot in life. Though the teacher attempted to keep the class calm, her efforts were in vain. The only three rational members of the class were Zane, Elena, and the silver-haired teacher, whose blue eyes were always soft whenever she looked upon her most delinquent student.

Speaking of Elena, she was currently watching the news on her phone and texting with other survivors in the school via group chats. It turns out that her class was not the only one that had barricaded itself inside for safety.

And though practically the entire first floor of the school was overrun with the dead, the second story had enough time to prepare, and get the national notice from the White House to lock themselves inside whatever shelter they could find.

The screams of the helpless had subsided, leaving Zane and Elena to believe that those who had been left to the ravenous horde had already been slaughtered like livestock by the walking dead. And while Elena chatted with other survivors, in an attempt to organize some kind of plan for their survival. Mrs. Bennett was still doing her best to keep the class calm.

"Alright class, I know things seem bleak right now, but we need to stay strong, and pull together… Right now we don't know how long it will be before help arrives. So please, I need you all to gather your belongings and pool any food and water you might have together so that we can ration our supplies!"

Though this statement from a figure of authority calmed most of the class, it did not last for long as Zane scoffed in disdain at the mature beauty's naivety before speaking his mind on their current situation.

"There is no help that is coming for us… Don't you realize that? It's the end of the world, and we are trapped in this classroom surrounded by an army of the dead who want nothing more than to bite into our neck and feast on our organs. It's only a matter of time before they bust down the door, and devour us all…"

This sudden statement of reality caused at least one of the girls to have a mental breakdown as she screamed at the top of her lungs, and tried to rush for the door in an attempt to escape from this dire situation. But before she could move the desk aside, she was tackled by some of the other girls who tried to restrain her.

Meanwhile, Miss Bennett looked over at Zane and clicked her tongue in disappointment before scolding Zane on his pessimistic outlook on life.

"Zane, you really watch too many movies, don't you? An army of the dead? These are just riots. It isn't anything crazy like what you're imagining!"

The rest of the males in class looked towards Zane with an expression of hatred and disgust on their faces. Leave it to the quiet kid to cause a panic during a moment of crisis. One of the more popular students, who was wearing a varsity jacket, stood up from his seat and slammed his fist on Zane's desk while screaming at him.

"You fucking asshole! Your stupid comments are not needed right now!"

Zane of course ignored the boy and shifted his focus out the window, this enraged the football player who was about to grab ahold of Zane's black hoodie when the young man reached into his duty belt and pulled out a much larger knife than he had previously wielded, all the while holding the edge of the blade to the boy's neck.

There was a cold look in Zane's black eyes as he threatened the boy into submission.

"Do you really want to die right now?"

In the heat of the moment, the boy had completely forgotten that Zane was equipped with not only two knives, but a pistol as well. He instantly fell on his ass and pissed his pants in fear over the murderous glint in Zane's dark and twisted eyes when the usually silent and brooding loner finally decided to bare his fangs.

But nobody laughed at this pathetic display of cowardice. They simply gazed in horror, realizing that those rabid rioters outside the class were not the only ones capable of giving them a swift journey to their maker.

Zane's hands were stained with blood, and he had already threatened both the teacher and another student. Oddly enough, nobody doubted that Zane was remotely capable of pulling the trigger, especially when they stared at his sanguine coated hands.

Elena, however, was perhaps the only one with the nerve to chastise Zane for his antisocial behavior, and she did so with a certain snappy tone in her voice.

"Knock it off Zane! We need to work together if we wish to survive. Don't vent your frustrations on the rest of us!"

Zane, however, did not even dignify the girl who had once been a close friend of his with a glance. Instead, he looked back out the window and spoke his mind freely once more.

"I assure you, I am quite free of frustration. We are already dead, and I have accepted that fact. I'm just waiting for the inevitable…"

Both Elena and Miss Bennett frowned as they heard Zane's pessimistic statement, which only further brought down the morale in the classroom. But Zane did not even seem to notice their expressions. Miss Bennett was just about to say something to Zane when the glass on the classroom door broke open.

The excessive growling and howling of the monsters outside the door caused most of the girls in the classroom to shriek in fear. Meanwhile, the boys rushed to the door in an attempt to keep it shut, all the while the weight of the dead outside the door continued to fight against them.

Upon realizing that their one line of defense was about to be broken through, Zane sighed and shook his head before rising from his seat. He then slung his backpack over his shoulder with a single strap while holding his blade in a manner that was most suited for combat.

With a completely lifeless expression in his dark and forbearing eyes, Zane stepped forward towards the barricade. Which was the only thing preventing those zombies just outside the door from entering the classroom and killing everyone inside of it who still drew breath.

Zane was quick to order the three young men who still tried desperately to push back the living dead on the other side of the door, and when he did so, they stared at him in shock.

"Get out of my way…"

The three young men looked at one another, and saw Zane staring at them with his cold dark eyes, while his blood-stained hand wielded the grip of his combat knife. Normally, they would laugh at Zane if he dared to command them, or perhaps even give him a nice beating.

But Zane was armed, and had clearly killed someone already. That fact alone practically made these three high school seniors soil themselves. They were just about to do as Zane said when someone interfered on their behalf.

Elena realized Zane's intentions immediately upon watching him step towards the door. And while the teacher tried to keep the class calm in the face of a potential bloody end, the crimson haired beauty jumped in front of Zane, preventing him from fleeing the scene.

"You're not seriously going to abandon us here, are you?"

Zane's eyes were cold as he looked at the young woman he once considered to be his only friend. There was an equally lifeless tone in his voice, almost as if he were a member of the walking dead while he spoke to the girl as if they were strangers.

"Why do you care what I do?"

There was a clear look of confliction in Elena's eyes. After all, there was a reason why these two, who had once been the closest of companions, stopped speaking with one another. But neither of them wanted to rehash the past.

Despite this, Elena deeply feared the idea of Zane abandoning her and the rest of the class. Especially since he had clearly demonstrated the ability to kill these monsters without mercy. Something that could not be said for the rest of the class.

This was the rationality she used to beg Zane to stay, while avoiding her own conflicted feelings towards the young man.

"Zane! You're the only one here who is armed! And like it or not, you are also the only one here cold-blooded enough to murder his former classmates without remorse… We need you, Zane..."

Yet Zane's uncaring expression had not shifted in the slightest. There was no movement on his youthful face, almost as if he was incapable of even expressing emotion to begin with. Despite this, his words felt like daggers as they pierced Elena's heart and froze it on the spot.

"So? That's not my problem…"

Upon realizing that this was not a compelling enough reason to stay, Elena blush beet red, as she averted her gaze. She knew the only thing that even had a chance of making this young man stay and help the others survive was to confess her honest feelings towards him. And thus she blurted them aloud while trying not to make eye contact with her old childhood friend.

"Zane…. I need you! Please! I'm begging you to stay and help. If not for everyone else, then for me!"

Several seconds of silence passed before Elena finally dared to look at Zane's expression. A flash of hope appeared on her face, naively believing that the young man still cared enough about her to stay behind with the others. But that hope vanished the instant she saw the cold and lifeless look in the man's eyes.

Despite asking him to stay on her behalf, Zane's expression did not change in the slightest. Every ounce of Elena's strength faded from her body when she realized the cheerful and kind boy she had once grown up alongside with was truly dead and gone.

So much so that she did not even bother resisting when the black-haired man finally spoke in that same callous tone he had used to speak to her throughout this entire exchange.

"I'm only going to say this once… Get out of my way…."

Elena moved aside ever so slightly, allowing Zane to pass her by, bumping into her shoulder and pushing her onto the floor as he did so. Zane did not even look back as he reached for the desk that was still blocking the door, and those walking dead who remained on the other side of it.

The barricade was just about to fall when someone else interrupted Zane's attempt to leave this encircled position that he and the others found themselves in. This time it was not Elena, nor was it the Teacher who tried to get the young man to stay. Instead, it was another student.

He was the captain of the varsity football team, and had been suffering from an enormous crush on Elena since they were freshman.

Upon seeing Zane so callously push the girl aside, the man decided to use this moment of crisis to get in the crimson-haired beauty's good graces, and he did that not by helping her to her feet, but by lashing out at the man responsible for her fall.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you fucking prick? Apologize to Elena right now?"

Zane's cold black eyes scanned the young man in front of him. He was slightly taller than Zane himself, and definitely more athletic. But beneath this cold and uncaring abyss that was Zane's black eyes, was a murderous glint. Zane was just about to reach for his other knife with his free hand when another voice interrupted the tense scene.

This time, it was Elena's best friend, a girl by the name of Lexi. Lexi had short brown hair and matching eyes. Her figure was also substantially more modest than Elena's.

The only reason she was popular at all in the school's social hierarchy was because she was Elena's friend. Even her face was inferior to the crimson haired beauty who was considered by nearly every boy in the school to be the hottest girl on campus.

Lexi's voice was shrill, as she screamed at Zane at the top of her lungs.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see that Elena is just trying to save you from yourself!?!"

Now that two of the students had ganged up on Alex, the entire class started shouting at him, almost forgetting that he was armed with at least two deadly weapons, and had blood-stained hands. It was not until one of the students in the background shouted something dangerous that Zane's eyes flickered towards the crowd, giving them any semblance of attention.

"You're a fucking nutcase! Why hasn't anyone taken that gun away from this potential school shooter yet? He's clearly a danger to all of our lives right now!"

Recognizing that Zane was entirely likely to react with violence towards any attempt to disarm him of his weapons, the teacher was finally forced to intervene in the ongoing situation that was developing before her very eyes.

"Enough, all of you! Sit down in your seats and be quiet! You're only making this situation worse!"

The students begrudgingly did as the teacher commanded, perhaps out of a naïve sense that law and order still remained in this world. Miss Bennet then turned her attention towards Zane, where she wore a warm smile before speaking to him on a more personal level.

"Zane, I can see that you are concerned about your safety. We all are! I also understand that you don't want to appear vulnerable, but as your teacher, it is my responsibility to ensure your safety and that of the other students. Won't you please stow away your weapons and sit down quietly like a good boy?"

Despite saying this with some degree of authority and confidence, Miss Bennet was shaking on the inside. She had always put up a tough exterior towards her students and any misbehavior they might engage in, but the reality was she was far from cut out to be a leader in such a crisis. Still, for the sake of her students, she had to maintain some semblance of dignity.

Zane naturally saw through this act and scoffed before speaking his thoughts about the whole situation. He held back no punches as he addressed the reality they all now found themselves in.

"Vulnerability? You dumb bitch! Have you taken a look outside lately? The world is burning in the background, while we sit here like a couple of rats caught in a trap! Are you honestly stupid enough to believe that help is coming for us?

It's the end of the world, Olivia! There is no rule of law, no government, no authority but that of your own clenched fist… As our society tears itself apart, the true nature of mankind will reveal itself… A nature that is cruel, disgusting, greedy, and unforgiving!

Spare me your naïve drivel, but I refuse to sit around and wait for that to happen. You're all going to die here! And if you do miraculously survive this apocalypse, then may god have mercy on your souls, because none of you are prepared for the anarchy that we now find ourselves in!"

After saying this, Zane removed the barricade and opened the door. Where in front of a stunned audience, he ruthlessly dug his blade into the skulls of the walking dead, who still remained outside the door. Before the class even realized it, Zane had abandoned them to their fate…

Having been taken aback by Zane's words, and the fact that Zane had called her by her first name instead of showing her the respect she should rightfully have as his teacher. Olivia Bennett quickly snapped back to reality and commanded the class to seal themselves inside their room once more.

"Everyone! Barricade the door! We will hold out until help arrives!"

While the students shut the door and barricaded it with both the teacher's desk and some of their own. Olivia gazed out the window into the burning city. A deep sense of worry had overtaken her after Zane's monologue regarding the darker aspects of human nature.

But whether out of naivety, or just plain ignorance, she decided to cast these worries aside, assuring herself that her students were not the monsters that Zane made them out to be.

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