Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Chapter 243: Important Discussions

Gwen's death and resurrection was a strange occurrence to the Horde Kings. It was one thing if she died. After all, they had lost several siblings already to Zane and his group. But for her to come back moments later. That could only mean one thing: mother had made a move to save the brat.

Naturally, this caused all the Horde Kings to break out into a commotion. Trying to communicate with their revived sister, only to find utter silence in her place. Nobody knew what this meant, was Gwen ignoring them? Or was she simply no longer capable of communicating with her siblings?

After a particularly chaotic shouting match, Balthazar made his move. Screaming across the hive mind with his decree for everyone to cease their bickering.

"Silence!"

One word was enough to convey the anger and rage the most senior of their siblings were currently feeling. Causing the chatter which Zane was having a hard time coping with, to come to a complete and sudden stop.

After several moments of agonizing silence, Balthazar began to speak again. His words contained a hint of envy as he hissed through his teeth.

"Mother has clearly made a move to save our sister… Why? I do not know… But it has become clear to me now that this little pest we call our brother is a threat to the security of the entire region he is in. If he can take out Gwen, then he can do the same to any other Tier I Horde King on this planet.

Hell, it won't belong before he is capable of threatening the Tier IIs among us. I don't know exactly what mother's plan is, or how she is connected to him. But we can't simply stay on the defensive… If we do, we will only be fighting a losing battle…"

Balthazar sounded like he wanted to send a force to wipe Zane and his settlement out altogether. But the very idea was taboo, as it would go against their mother's wishes. It was only then that Lilith spoke, challenging her most powerful brother, as she expressed an idea that was both terrifying, and outright heretical to the horde of kings who worshipped death.

"Pardon my interruption, brother, but there is a possibility here that none of you seem to have realized. What if it wasn't our mother who raised Gwen from her second death?"

Nobody seemed to follow Gwen's train of logic, and even Balthazar found the idea that somebody else could raise the dead to be offensive. Causing him to bluntly demand the woman to speak.

"You better be real concise with your words Lilith, because it sounds to me like you are expressing heretical sentiments right now…"

Lilith sighed heavily. Though she was intimidated by Balthasar, she also knew there was not much he could do to her considering there was an entire ocean separating them. Because of this, she was quick to say what she really meant.

"I'm saying that it's odd for Gwen to die and then be resurrected just a moment later. If mother is in hiding, why would she be nearby to do such a thing? Perhaps this brother of ours has been granted more gifts from our mother than we realize. Perhaps… Mother has given him the ability to raise the dead…"

Nobody spoke for a very long time. What Lilith had said was truly unthinkable. Hell, it was downright blasphemy. Nobody ever expected the undead beauty queen to make such a statement. And yet she had done just that.

Balthazar wasn't alone in his outrage. Damian also shouted at the woman for her words. Angered by the fact that he shared the same continent with such a heretic.

"I can't believe what I am hearing right now! Only Mother has the ability to raise the dead! Why would she grant such esteemed power to our mysterious brother and not one of us who is better suited?"

Despite Damian's harsh words, another voice interrupted them. It was a young, and almost doll-like voice. And when she spoke, everyone went silent. Ophelia had been listening to the squabbles for some time now. And in a plot twist which shocked all of her siblings, she actually backed Lilith's hypothesis, despite the fact that the two of them were bitter rivals.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Big Sister on this one… We simply can not confirm that Mother was the one responsible for bringing Gwen back to this world. I mean… Why her, and not any of the others who have fallen prey to this mysterious brother of ours?

It would make sense that Gwen would be raised by her killer, especially since we can't seem to establish a connection with her. May I remind you that this mysterious brother of ours is listening to our conversation as we speak? Or at the very least, he should be capable of doing so.

If he can raise Gwen to be his servant…. Then the implications of this strange phenomenon are much more dire than any of you have been willing to believe until now. And regardless of if Lilith's theory is true, it needs to be treated like the threat it is…"

As much as they all wanted to argue against Ophelia and Lilith's position, none of the other Horde Kings could do so. Because if this heretical idea turned out to be true, then they needed to rethink their strategy against Zane and the living as a whole.

Lilith was quite angry that Ophelia had spoken up on her behalf, and even though the undead monster which took the form of a young girl had spoken well enough to calm the wrath of their siblings. It did nothing but aggravate Lilith, who was quick to defy Balthazar's previous orders.

"I think it would be unwise at this time to muster a force to take on our mysterious brother when there are too many unknown factors surrounding the death of Gwen and her resurrection. Instead, I will send scouts to watch the man closely, considering Barty has completely and utterly failed to do so himself…."

As much as Bartholomew wanted to defend himself from these accusations of failure, he knew better than to argue with Lilith when she was pissed off. Unfortunately for him he served as the woman's punching bag. Even though she wasn't angry at him, she still managed to find a way to vent her fury at him.

He could only apologize for this perceived failure on his part, and he did so with the most humble and servile tone possible.

'I… I apologize dearest sister…"

Lilith simply snorted when she heard this remark. It was well within her expectations of Bartholomew to bow his head and surrender whenever posed with the slightest difficulty from those better them him. And he did not disappoint these expectations.

Seeing how the majority of his siblings were in agreement with Lilith's statement, Balthazar could only relent, and in doing so, bought Zane some more time to develop his abilities. Which the man in question sighed in relief after hearing Balthazar's verdict, as he was indeed listening to the entire conversation.

"It would appear that the majority are in favor of Sister Lilith's proposal of watching and waiting. Very well, I will not insist on taking immediate action for the time being. But should this mysterious brother of ours bare his fangs against us again, I will be forced to do something about it. With that said, this meeting is adjourned…"

---

While the Horde Kings were convening to discuss the recent death and resurrection of Gwen. There was another important meeting taking place in the wasteland.

Deep within the Remnant's Oregon, Bunker, the director, as well as several other high-ranking officials of the American government gathered together in a conference room where a projector displayed a video call with another bunker located across the country.

Sitting in the middle of the screen was a middle-aged man dressed in a finely tailored blue suit, with a red tie, and a white dress shirt. Prior to the outbreak of the apocalypse, this man was the Secretary of Defense.

However, due to collapse of the American Government, and the ensuing death of many of its officials, this man was now the President of the United States, at least according to the Remnant who believed themselves to be the legitimate government of the United States, despite no longer having control over the country except for a few bunkers hidden across its former borders.

The President sat coldly as he gazed upon the director, asking a very simple question. One which the director had previously been avoiding answer.

"So… Have you found a way to deal with these… Specters? Surely by now, with all the resources we have given you, your Marines should be able to eliminate them, right?"

Unexpectedly, the Director of the Bunker had a wide smile on his face as he confirmed that he indeed had found a way to deal with the spectral undead, even if it wasn't exactly the way the President wanted.

"While we have not necessarily found a way to kill the undead without suffering from the corrupting influence of blood crystals. We have indeed recently tested a prototype weapon which effective repels the spectral undead. Acting a sort of invisible wall which they can not penetrate through.

Because of this, our Marines have been making headway in reclaiming the areas surrounding the bunker. And we have even begun to settle some of our less critical citizens back on the surface. I had already planned to transfer the necessary files to all the other facilities when you called me."

The president wore a friendly grin, as he expressed approval in the results which the Oregon Bunker had achieved, despite the unrealistic timeframe they were given to do so.

"Very good! We will no longer have to cower in these bunkers like rats. Although I do eventually want a device which can kill these ghosts permanently, this is good enough for now. Transfer the files to the rest of our facilities and we will begin employing these weapons as quickly as possible. You have done well, Governor. And I look forward to your future!"

After saying this, the President hung up abruptly, leaving the so-called Governor and his advisors to all sigh in relief. With this matter taken care of, they could now begin dealing with the outlaw forces, which seemed to be expanding their influence across the country. And they would do so starting with Elysium.