Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Chapter 179: Coming to Terms With Reality

The room instantly went quiet as Zane revealed the secret which he had been hiding from the various women in his life since the beginning of the apocalypse. For some, like Angelica, it was as if her worst fears were realized. Zane was indeed losing his humanity one level at a time.

For others like Elena, they were stunned by this news. She had suspected something was wrong with Zane. After all, he had unique abilities and didn't seem to need to do the things that all other human beings were required to live.

Others, like Olivia, simply accepted this information for what it was. Maybe it was because she was a high school teacher, and had seen all kinds of shit in her tenure fulfilling such a position. Or perhaps she was more open-minded than the others, but she seemed to be widely accepting of this revelation while the others were in shock.

As for Madison, even with the increase in her intelligence attribute, she didn't seem to fully comprehend what Zane was saying. Either way, Zane spent quite some time thoroughly explaining what his abilities were, ending finally on the revelation that he could gain experience from eating human hearts.

This information was something that even someone as open-minded as Olivia could not handle. Instead, looking at Zane in disgust when he said this. But it was ultimately Elena who spoke first, and she was hysterical when she did so.

The woman went as far as to grab hold of Zane's shoulders and shake him, while she screamed at him, demanding an answer as she did so.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Don't tell me you have actually eaten a human heart before!?! Zane, you wouldn't do that, right?"

Zane did not look guilty. In fact, the previous night he had come to terms with what he was, and instead remained calm as he tried to explain what he had done to his companions as well as why he did that.

"It has happened to me twice now. It's not that I wanted to, nor that I really have a hunger for them. But… I hear this voice in the back of my head, and then I go blank. When I wake up, it is… already over…"

To say that the women looked at Zane as if he were some kind of monster would be an understatement. They all had an intense urge to flee from their lover, who they now could not even look at without fearing an intense sense of fear.

That is, until the most unlikely of suspects stepped forward and did something that shocked the women. Maya had climbed into Zane's lap, and hugged him tightly with a look on her face that said she understood what he had said, and accepted him regardless.

For such an innocent and naïve young girl to cling to Zane, despite his admission of being a monster, well, it was perspective changing. Ultimately, being the most open-minded of Zane's lovers, Olivia was the first to accept what Zane had said.

"Whatever is happening to you, it is alright Zane. After everything you have done for me, there is nothing you can possibly say that will scare me away. I will love you no matter what you become!"

The fact that Olivia had said this to Zane after what he had just admitted to made all the other women in the man's life feel intensely guilty. After all, they were all scared of him, or had been just moments ago. Scared enough that some of them were thinking of distancing themselves from him.

But Olivia's confession changed that. Instead, Elean and the others were wracked with guilt over the thoughts they had regarding Zane's admission. Spurring Angelica to quickly speak up, conveying her own thoughts on the matter.

"Zane… I don't know what's happening to you, and I'll admit I'm a little bit frightened by what you just said. But it's not enough to make me flee… I'll be right here with you! If there is a cure for whatever is happening to you, I promise to find it!"

It was a comforting idea that Angelica would go so far for his sake. But ultimately, Zane knew that there was no changing him. He was what he was. And while he was thinking about this, Elena punched his shoulder, clearly in a foul mood, as she lectured him.

"Don't scare me like that, you asshole! Do you have any idea how worried I was when you said that you were half-dead!?! What would I do without you?"

Leave it to Elena to make his confession about herself. Still, it was not like Zane didn't appreciate such a gesture. Rather, he found it endearing as he hugged the girl, despite her attempts to struggle out of it.

Following this, Madison was the only one left who had not reconciled with Zane after admitting to what he had done. Instead, she grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped off its bottle cap, where she proceeded to chug the entire thing in the span of only a few seconds. Once she had done this, she finally reconciled with Zane in a way that warmed his heart.

"I already forgave you for killing my family, so it's not like I didn't already know that you were a monster when I chose to be with you…"

In the end, the girls had decided to stick by him, even after the terrifying thing he had just admitted to. This caused Zane to become overwhelmed by emotion, so much so that his lips curled into a bitter smile as he hugged them all tightly and patted their heads, thanking them for not abandoning him.

"I understand that you all must be feeling conflicted right now, hell if one of you came to me and admitted to what I had just told you all, I would be afraid as well. So I understand if you girls want to keep your distance, but regardless, I just wanted to thank you all for staying by my side even though I'm not even human anymore..."

With Zane acting like his normal self, any anxiety that the girls had regarding his confession dissipated the moment he thanked them. It was after all purely instinct in the face of danger, and nothing more than that which had compelled them to feel such intense dread just moments ago.

In doing so, the grim and somber mood which had haunted the room was lifted, instead creating an environment of joy and jest, especially when Olivia cracked a joke at Zane's expense. One which caused all the others to laugh.

"You know Zane, despite the fact that your body is becoming increasingly more like that of a Horde King, I have to admit, you are more human now than ever! I mean, half a year ago you were in my class, never showing the slightest bit of emotion. I'd wager you might very well be the first documented case of the walking dead in this world, wouldn't you say so?"

Elena immediately broke out into laughter. Though it was a joke, she was surprised that she had never thought about this until now. Olivia was absolutely right, though there might be some terrifying changes that were happening with Zane's body. His mind, nay, his soul, was more human than it had ever been.

It was almost like she was hanging out with the Zane she had known during their childhood, before all that nasty business had occurred with his family. And because of this, she too decided to crack a joke at the man's expense.

"Who are you and what have you done with the Zane I know?"

Though Angelica and Madison had met Zane after the apocalypse began, they, too, understood that Zane was becoming more and more human, even if his body was doing the opposite. After all, when Angelica first met the man, he had never smiled once, yet now he was laughing with the rest of them. It was truly an amazing change in the man's mentality.

The only member of their party left who had not outright accepted Zane, nor had she partaken in the festivities that followed, was Lily, who was flabbergasted by what she had heard. Zane was an undead? No, that wasn't exactly right. Rather, he was half undead….

To her that was a deeply worrying fact, one that she felt could have potentially huge ramifications for their future partnership. But since everyone else seemed to be fine with it, she decided to ultimately accept this reality. Even though she would be far more cautious around Zane from now on.

Lily did not speak about this, she just sat there silently nodding to Zane, a gesture which said while she would continue to work with him, she would be keeping a close eye on him from here on out. And with this confession out of the way, Zane and the girls would now head to New Reno to establish ties with the nearest community of survivors in this post-apocalyptic wasteland.