Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Chapter 201: Unleashing the Banshees

A Marine equipped with the Remnant's new Prometheus Power Armor stood among the ashes of what was once been a thriving US town. Since the outbreak of the apocalypse nearly half a year ago, this town, like most populated areas in the world, had become ravaged by the Undead.

Though who weren't eaten outright , were turned into monsters that would hunt down the living without a second thought.

Today all the remained of this village was rubble and shell casings. After all, the Remnant had decided to reclaim the towns within the immediate vicinity of its bunkers, creating a relatively safe zone to begin expanding their power base.

For a small town like this, it was an easy affair for this company of 80 marines to effortlessly wipe out the undead who inhabited it. After all, they did not come across any undead stronger than a howler.

And for the 30mm chain guns which they carried into battle, such an enemy was hardly worthy of the shells spent to eliminate them. After thoroughly wiping out the undead within the town, a cleaning crew came in, where they "purified" the land with flame throwers.

Now little more than ash remained, ash and some concrete foundations for the buildings that had once been. The Marine stood in disbelief at what he saw. Was this the fate of the United States of America that he once knew and loved?

After all, he had chosen to join the Marine Corps specifically to combat the enemies of his home nation. And yet, would it really all be turned to ash? As if knowing exactly what the young marine was thinking of, his NCO placed a palm on his shoulder, which was coated in the same OD Green Power Armor that the rest of his company wore.

With an almost somber tone in his voice, the otherwise gruff and uncaring sergeant gave the Private First Class some proper hope for a better tomorrow.

"I know what you're thinking, but this, this is just the beginning. We shall retake this country for the American people, and we will rebuild from the ashes. You and I are the instruments of America's vengeance. Never forget that!"

This thought was just comforting enough that the Private First Class smirked as he thought about reclaiming the former United States, and perhaps its hat to the great white north from the decaying hands of the undead.

However, while the two soldiers shared a moment together, something peculiar happened. A blood-curdling scream resounded in the distance.

It was truly ear piercing, and even though they were insulated within their advanced suits of power armor, something which could reduce even the most deafening combat ambience to hearing safe levels, they still managed to fall to their knees and cover their ears as they tried their best to maintain their sanity.

Eventually, the screaming stopped, and somehow the two soldiers had survived. Perhaps because their Power Armor had lessened the blow. But their eardrums had most definitely burst, as there was a light trail of blood flowing out of their ear canals.

Having their hearing severely diminished from their popped ear drums, it took a few moments to hear the gunfire in the background, followed by the horrific wails of their comrades. Not knowing what was happening, the Sergeant quickly got on his comms to check with the rest of his unit which was nearby.

"What's happening out there? What the fuck was that fucking shriek? Hello, is there anyone out there!?!"

As the sound of gunfire and the resounding explosions of the thirty millimeter shells rocked the background, a single voice could be heard over the comms. It appeared completely and totally panicked, almost as if the man who it belonged to was trying to shoo away a wicked spirit.

"No! Don't you come any closer, you fucking bitch! Please, somebody save me!"

The comms cut off after these words were said ,but not before the dying screams of the soldier were heard across the channel. Clearly they were under attack, and by something significantly more powerful than anything they had come across so far.

Because of this, the Sergeant checked on the young marine next to him, making sure he was fit for combat before rushing off towards the rest of their company, and their last known position.

"Are you good? Can you fight?"

The private was disoriented to be sure, I mean, who wouldn't be under the circumstances, but he managed to pull himself together as he nodded his head before following after the Sergeant. When they finally arrived at their company's coordinates, they found that besides themselves, all 80 men had been torn to pieces.

The mighty composite armor of their power armor had utterly failed to protect them from whatever monster had so viciously attacked them. Even the Sergeant, who was a veteran of the Global War on Terror, and had fought plenty of Undead himself during the early days of the apocalypse, was utterly dumbfounded by what he saw.

He was quick to activate his comms in an attempt to alert the bunker about what had happened, but the moment he did so a Banshee's spectral form appeared right behind him. It clutched his head to her bosom in an almost intimate manner. Something he could not feel because her form was not corporeal. But the young Marine who was with him immediately pointed at the Banshee and freaked out.

"Get away from him, you bitch!"

The young marine raised his chain gun, but it was too late. The moment the Sergeant looked up to see the haunting blood-red eyes of the evil spirit clutching his head, he was decapitated. The last thing he saw was the most chilling and monstrous smile that any woman was capable of making.

The moment the Sergeant lost his head, his body fell to its knees before tumbling over onto the ground entirely. Its blood pouring out of the gaping neck. After which the Banshee tossed the head aside, before slowly approaching the private.

The young Marine reacted by unleashing a spray of shells towards the Banshee, but even the mighty weapons which were capable of taking down a juggernaut had utterly failed to harm the banshee, as they simply passed through her ghostly form.

However, the mere act of trying to shoot her caused the otherwise beautiful spirit to frown, where she then unleashed a blood-curdling shriek, one that caused the Marine's blood vessels to explode, killing him on the spot.

At such short range, even the insulation that his power armor provided him was utterly useless to defend against the Banshee's signature attack. The Banshee looked around at the aftermath of her assault and sighed heavily.

When she did so, the figure of a young woman, no older than twenty years of age, stepped out from behind a nearby tree. Evidently, she had been watching the massacre take place. This woman had silver hair and matching eyes.

Of course, the unnatural sheen of her silver eyes were shielded by the round glasses she wore. Glasses which she adjusted the position of with her index finger before speaking to the Banshee as if they were on close terms.

"You will have to give your master my thanks when you return to him. Without you and your sisters, I would not have been able to get rid of these pesky living soldiers so easily. Strange though, isn't it? I thought for sure we took care of humanity's militarized population long ago.

I mean, who exactly is paying these soldiers now that the world has collapsed, and why all of a sudden has their armament improved? These things will need to be reported to my siblings... Still, as impressive as their equipment may be, it appears that it is utterly incapable of dealing with your spectral types. So I suppose we have nothing to worry about..."

The Banshee looked over at Elenor and titled her head. Though she did not say anything out loud, Elenor's reaction proved that there was some other means of communication between the two of them.

"You would do that for me? But why?"

The Banshee silently nodding her head, proving that she would indeed do whatever it was that she had offered. As for why she would do so, only Elenor, who could converse with the spirit, knew what she had said. But whatever it was, it caused the young Horde King quite the difficulty, as she debated silently with herself for some time before finally answering with a heavy sigh.

"Far be it from me to reject such a rare opportunity for growth. It's just that... What you're asking me... The sacrifice I will have to make.... I will need to think about the pros and cons of your offer thoroughly before giving you and your sisters a proper answer, so please, wait until then..."

A slight smile formed upon the Banshee's gorgeous face. It was not the bone chilling and monstrous smile she had given the sergeant before removing his head, but rather a graceful and dignified one, like that of a noble lady in waiting.

After doing this she disappeared, leaving the young Tier I Horde king alone with her thoughts, specifically about the offer which the Banshee had made to her, the details of which only she knew.