Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Zane had spent several hours explaining the situation of the outside world to the officers in charge of his interrogation. He was of course curious how North Korea had survived so long. After all, the Undead Plague was not something easily overcome with conventional weaponry.

If the United States Armed Forces had failed to stem the tide, then how exactly did the North Korean military succeed? Though the North Korean officers weren't willing to divulge any information to Zane. They didn't necessarily treat him as a hostile agent.

After all, they had managed to survive in their isolated realm, whereas all other human civilizations had failed. Granted, Zane had no doubt that millions must have starved as a result of North Korea losing economic and agricultural support from their few allies in the world.

But in the end, North Korea might be the only place left on the Earth which housed millions of human beings. Eventually Zane was released from captivity, albeit under heavy watch from the North Korean authorities.

They assured him that considering the situation of the world he was not considered a hostile agent, like they would have considered him prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse. And they needed him alive because of the valuable knowledge he possessed of the outside world.

Could Zane easily escape from North Korea if he wanted to? Most certainly. North Korea wasn't exactly a nation known for its advanced technology. Thermal imaging wasn't their strong suit, which was one of the few things that might be able to pick up Zane's signature assuming he entered stealth mode.

Even then, his stealth rating helped conceal him under such conditions as well. Because of this, Zane could just walk out of the dystopian hellhole if he really wanted to. But… He was curious. Curious about how the North Koreans lived, if anything significant had changed about their lives now that the apocalypse had begun?

After all, he was in Asia now. Asia was the home to the likes of Balthazar and Ophelia. If they were aware that he was in their backyard, there would be no escaping with his life intact. It just so happened however, that North Korea was a blind spot for the Horde Kings, especially the Fanatic Faction.

There were no undead in this country, and because of that they had no eyes or ears that could track Zane. Thus, Zane willfully followed the North Korean soldiers to the lodgings he was granted to stay in. Shockingly, Pyongyang seemed to be functioning in its pre-war state as Zane walked among its streets.

Or at least from what he knew about it. There was very little information about the Hermit Kingdom that made it to the outside world. But what Zane did know is prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse, North Korea had very little modern infrastructure.

The only real electrical signature that could be detected from the isolated nation at night via satellite imagery was either in military bases or in their capital city. And through the streets of Pyongyang people were walking by, living their ordinary lives as if the entire world had not entered a state of mass lawlessness.

Under normal circumstances, North Korea would be treated by the rest of the world as brutal, totalitarian, backwards communist regime. However, after the apocalypse, as brutal and savage as it might be, North Koreas was really the only civilization left in the wasteland.

Even places like Gravestone, Elysium, New Reno, and Phoenix all had things about them that made them less than civilized. Elysium was a farm masquerading as a utopia. Designed to process human beings into meat and blood for Lilith's consumption.

New Reno had no formal government and was run by a variety of local gangs. The law and order within it was questionable, as those who ran afoul of the gangs found themselves buried outside the settlement's walls in a mass graveyard.

Phoenix was on the surface an enclave where humans could thrive in significant numbers. But the reality is they were beneath the rule of a Horde King, one who exacted a toll of blood from them. They were not exactly free to govern themselves, nor had any sense of bodily autonomy.

As for Gravestone, well, it was a self-sustaining settlement. But there was a severe lack of anything one might consider civilized. It was a society built upon survival. There was no room or time for things that civilizations required. Such as complex social structures, arts, and architecture. Etc.

North Korea alone had survived the apocalypse, and by the looks of it would continue to do so. Even as the rest of the world was in a state of complete and total anarchy. Because of this, Zane entered his room, no longer under the watch of his handlers. And sat down on the sofa, sighing heavily, as he spawned his companions.

Gwen took a look outside the hotel room's window and gazed upon the haunting city with a complicated expression on her face. She couldn't help but voice her thoughts aloud, while Eliza and the others stood watch.

"So this is it? The last human city in the world? I never expected Pyongyang of all places to be thriving while humanity itself is on the brink of extinction."

Zane turned on the tv in his room, and saw that here in North Korea even its local news networks, or should he say propaganda networks were functioning as intended. It was after some silent contemplation that he finally voiced his thoughts on Gwen's statement.

"It's not all that surprising when you think about it. The world outside of North Korea has reached a state of globalization. This brought many commercial benefits to human civilization across the globe, but the cost was its vulnerability towards plagues and pandemics.

North Korea is the only nation that's truly isolated from this global trade network. Because they are so isolated they have lagged behind much of the world in terms of economic and military strength. But at the same time, it protected them from the undead plague. And the subsequent collapse of human civilization.

Isolationism and autarky have their own benefits. Even if it means becoming a repressed, dystopian hellhole.

At the end of the day, the people of Pyongyang are continuing with their daily lives, terrible as they might be, some might actually consider it a blessing to live here when you realize the rest of the world is in a state of global lawlessness, all while having to contend with undead monsters, and mutated beasts.

I never thought I'd say this in my life, but it would appear that as things currently stand, North Korea has the highest quality of living in the world. Well, unless you want to include those farms that our siblings have created.

It begs the question, If I were human would I rather live comfortably where at any moment I can be butchered by my undead masters? Or would I rather live in a totalitarian and psychotic communist regime where I'm seen as nothing more than human resources to be used by the state?

All in all, I'd say that if North Korea is humanity's greatest hope for survival, they might as well just go extinct…"

Gwen didn't immediately respond to this, she had other things on her mind. And after properly thinking them through she was quick to voice them.

"So what now? I mean, are we just going to hide here in this dystopian hellhole for the rest of eternity? Or are we going to take a risk, and leave this place? Knowing fully well that we will be well within Ophelia and Balthazar's reach should they learn of our current whereabouts?"

Zane silently reflected on this for some time. Quite frankly, he hadn't the slightest idea on how to proceed. He was out of gold after wasting it all on the teleportation stone which brought him here. And currently, he was under the watchful eye of the North Korean government. Which while he could escape easily, presented any number of challenges to survival.

Because of this, he had no idea what to do. Or how he would possibly get home, I mean, what was he going to do, steal a boat, and hope that the marine wildlife of this world hadn't been affected by whatever changes were happening to the Earth and all living things on it?

I mean the last thing he needed was to go to sea, and then provoke some giant monstrosity that existed entirely in fiction like the Bloop or El Gran Maja you know prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse. If that happened, Zane would honestly rather just get dissected by Ophelia or Lilith.

With all of this in mind, Zane could only sigh and shake his head. Before expressing his honest thoughts on the matter.

"Honestly, I think we should take a rest, and think how the hell we are going to get back to North America. Because staying in Asia with the bounty on my head is about the worst thing I can possibly do."

Gwen could only silently nod her head in agreement. She, too, was at a loss for how to proceed.

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