Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Chapter 87: The People's Revolutionary Government

While Zane and the girls were setting off on a new journey to find a new location to set up camp at. The Safe Zone was currently undergoing many changes. Over the past four days, since the foundation of the Order of Human Preservation, Martin had been continuously pressed by the Mayor to identify the "Corrupted" within their walls and hold a public execution for them.

Obviously, the moment the idea that the enemy was lurking within the walls became public, the masses began seeing these so called "corrupted" everywhere. Martin and his order, which was mostly composed of the rebels that were being sought after, began receiving so many anonymous accusations that it immediately became evident this had quickly turned into a Witch Hunt.

But this was a good thing for Martin, as he could "investigate" these claims that were laid against those who were actually loyal to the Mayor, and his administration, and find them guilty with little if any evidence.

After all, despite the Mayor's bold claims, there was quite literally no way to detect who was the so called "corrupted" and who was a normal living human being.

Naturally, the rebels knew their own, and thus they wielded the power that the Mayor had accidentally given them to arrest, detain, and interrogate those within the Mayor's administration after coercing some innocent person to accuse said loyalist of being "corrupted."

The Mayor immediately became concerned, as an increasing number of his supporters, including the police commissioner, were charged with being "Corrupted" and executed by the OHP. The public executions elicited cheers from the crowd of survivors, who saw the victims of the rebels as enemies of humanity being given righteous justice instead of being railroaded by kangaroo courts.

And as another week slowly passed into the Apocalypse, the local city government of the old world slowly but surely began being replaced by a revolutionary organization, whose members were dedicated to building a new society, one more suited towards the Undead infested wasteland humanity now found itself in the throes of.

By now, the Mayor was biting his nails, locking himself up in his office at City Hall. He was convinced by Martin, the only person he still trusted, that he was surrounded by rebellious forces, who were, in reality, loyal to him.

This paranoia was creeping in, especially since the Undead Army which sought to break through and destroy the safe zone and its thousands, if not tens of thousands of survivors, had not been seen since the battle of the storm.

Believing that the undead were up to something sinister, and falling for his own lies as if they were actually truths. The Mayor wasted away in his office while his administration was replaced by those rebels who sought to bring him down.

And then a knock came on his door. Followed by a voice that was unfamiliar to the Mayor.

"Sir… Do you mind opening up? We need to speak with you about a matter regarding the corrupted… It is important!"

The Mayor reached into his desk and withdrew a handgun, fearing for his own safety as he pointed it towards the door. He screamed at the voice on the other end as if he had suddenly gone absolutely mad.

"Stay away, you fiends! I know what you are planning and you won't take me alive! I'll kill you all if you dare try to feast on my brains!"

As Martin had masterfully planned, the Mayor had finally snapped, and was no longer in a mentally stable state. As a result, the men on the other side of the door kicked it down and pointed their rifles at the Mayor. These men wore the armbands of the OPH and demanded that the Mayor lower his weapon.

"Sir, lower the weapon! Right now!"

Believing that the OPH were his only allies left, the Mayor sighed in relief, before realizing that his fingers were trembling, so much so that he dropped his handgun onto the floor. Yet he was not concerned about this, and instead expressed his relief aloud.

"Thank god, it's just you guys. I thought you were the corrupted, here to gut me and feast on my flesh! Hey wait! What are you doing!?!"

Surprisingly, after dropping his firearm, the OPH actually grabbed hold of the Mayor, and pinned him to the ground as they locked him in cuffs. All while addressing the charges laid to bear against him.

"Mayor Joseph Bradford, you are hereby under arrest by the people's revolutionary government under charges of treason, corruption, embezzlement, and woeful endangerment of the people during a time of war! Do not resist us!"

There were no Miranda rights in this new world, meaning no right to remain silent, or the right to have an attorney present.

Instead, these members of the OPH escorted the Mayor out of his office and towards the steps of city hall, where the survivors were gathered to bear witness to the execution of the next corrupted individual, all the while, the Mayor screamed at the men dragging him to his death.

"What are you doing? Unhand me this instant! Do you have any idea who I am!?! How can you not!?! What the hell is going on here!??! I demand answers, god dammit!"

Yet the members of the OPH did not say a word, and it was only when the Mayor saw Martin standing on the steps, addressing the crowd with a speech filled with revolutionary propaganda, did he realize the major mistake he had made?

"My fellow citizens of the former United States of America. We stand at the precipice of a new and dangerous world. A world where we must band together to fight for our very survival against an enemy who is forged from the flesh we once loved.

And during this time, where the distribution of resources was critical to our survival, this man, a man whose power was a remnant of the old world, hoarded much needed supplies for himself and his lofty elite.

Over the past week, we have done everything in our power to remove the corrupted officials who lied to you about us. We are the People's Revolutionary Government, the so called "corrupt" which this man has labeled us.

But we are not servants of the dead, rather living beings who have discovered extraordinary powers. Powers which were used by the ten men executed here a week ago to drive out the undead from the second layer of offense, and defend us all from the unspeakable horrors they planned to commit.

These ten heroes of the battle of the storm were made scapegoats by this man here and executed despite their bravery and heroism, which are the very reasons we still stand here breathing today. For that most heinous crime of all, we in the People's Revolutionary Government hereby execute this tyrant, and in the process restoring peace, order, and security to the Safe Zone."

After saying this, the Mayor was released by the armed guards who kicked him to the floor. His eyepiece falling to the ground and shattering as he did so. There Martin stood with a loaded pistol in his hand, which he pointed at the Mayor's head, who soiled himself in terror.

The last words the Mayor heard was the man he trusted moth espousing his vengeance in a silent whisper that only he and Martin could hear.

"This is for my family, you fat fuck!"

*bang*