Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Zane decided to use this time to think. And because of this, his pace was rather slow as he passed through an endless desert wasteland. Memories flooded the man\'s mind of childhood ventures from Reno to Phoenix.

And as Zane reflected on the endless brown wastes in front of him, he couldn\'t help but think to himself that there could not possibly be a more dreary and dreadful drive throughout the continental united states.

After all, Nevada was one giant desert. Well, actually it was two, the Great Basin Desert was what the majority of the state composed of, but in the south where Vegas lie the Mojave existed. The temperature between the two varied, with the Great Basin being cooler than its southern cousin, but for the most part they looked the same.

So much so that Gwen quickly became bored and began whistling to her herself. It was not exactly something that Zane was fond of, but it was when she began laying the game "I spy with my little eye" that Zane suddenly became perturbed beyond measure.

"I spy with my little eyes something brown…."

Zane groaned, as he had too many memories of this from his childhood. Not because his family frequently drove south. But because everything that existed from Reno to Phoenix was fucking brown. And it was called dirt!

Because of this, Zane facepalmed, dragging his hand down his face almost like a claw, where his fingers lightly snagged on his eyelids, peeling them down ever so slightly before snapping back to their normal position after Zane\'s fingers slipped from them.

Once he had been through this, which did not remotely alleviate the dread in his mind, Zane snapped at Gwen, concluding the game with the most obvious answer.

"Let me guess… It\'s fucking dirt isn\'t it? It\'s always fucking dirt!"

Gwen did not take offense at Zane\'s sudden outburst. In fact, she feigned excitement and praised Zane in an exaggerated manner almost as if she was deliberately trying to provoke a response from the man.

"Wow! Big brother, you\'re so smart! Let\'s play again. It\'s your turn now!"

Zane groaned once more. He did not want to go through this bullshit for a second time in his life, and had snapped his head back to the girl in an attempt to scream at the girl when he saw something shimmering in the distance. At first he thought it was the desert sun, and its heat getting to him.

But Zane could swear he saw a woman in the distance. She was wearing a white dress, and was almost see through… No, she was indeed transparent, and because of this Zane stopped in his tracks before speaking what he saw.

"I spy with my little eye… Something transparent?"

Gwen\'s attention was entirely facing towards Zane who was directly in front of her. Because of this She was quick to scold him, but was interrupted halfway through when her peripheral vision caught exactly what Zane was looking at.

"Bullshit! There\'s nothing out here but endless---- big brother, back away now!"

Zane was confused by the girl suddenly shouting at him, that is until Gwen pushed him backwards where he fell on his ass. He was just about to curse her out, when he realized that where he had stood just a moment before was a ghost like woman who had just then tried to kill him.

However, Gwen have moved him out of the way, and intercepted the blow with the bloody blades she manifested out of her knuckles. After doing this, she struck with her spare fist towards the Ghost\'s neck, seemingly cutting it open on the spot.

Blood appeared to be spraying everywhere, but it was not corporeal, and thus did not affect the landscape, or anyone it touched. And then the Ghost\'s form vanished entirely. Where Gwen sighed before helping Zane up with a hand.

"That was a close one… No doubt one of our siblings sends their regards…"

Zane had never actually seen a spectral undead before. Sure, he had heard from Gwen that he could upgrade the undead within his Horde into ghostly entities. But he honestly thought she was fucking with him at the time.

But there was no mistaking it now. What had just attacked him was most definitely a spirit of some kind. Commanded by one of his siblings to take his life. Perhaps if Zane\'s body was still human, he would not have even detected the ghost before it was too late.

Fortunately for him, he was now a Horde King through and through. And because of that, he could see the Ghost a mile away. Still, to think that such entities existed and were at the command of the Horde Kings. Zane suddenly felt a chill go down his spine as he realized that he was no longer safe anywhere in this world.

This was something that Gwen commented on as she looked back the way they came.

"No doubt that cunt was sent by Bartholomew. She had probably been tracking us since we first left Gravestone. We should be more cautious from now on… Of both the living and the dead."

As much as Zane desired it to be otherwise. Gwen had a made an excellent point. They never knew when the dead were lurking nearby, ready to pounce. And he had painted a massive target on his back. Wherever he went, the Horde Kings of this world would send their minions to follow.

But unfortunately, Zane would not be able to find respite among the living either. Because, as he knew all along, humans were selfish, greedy, and wicked creatures. So much so that they would even sell out their entire species for mere personal comfort.

He was well and truly on his own. The only people he could trust moving forward were the undead beneath his command.