While Zane was able to return safely to his encampment, with both his new set of equipment, as well as several bags full of much needed supplies. Ryan was waiting anxiously in the school's gymnasium. It had been hours since he sent out yet another team to go gather supplies.
By now, they were completely out of rations, and people were beginning to panic. After all, the previous search party was killed by marauders. What if the same fate had befallen those who so bravely volunteered for this critical mission a second time?
And as the sun began to rise, Ryan knew that this was the case. Thus, with a heavy sigh, he awoke his lieutenants in an attempt to come up with a new plan. The young men were groggy, having gotten very little sleep these last few days.
After all, they were suburban American boys, growing up in a luxurious and comfy lifestyle that few men in history could afford, but was so common in the modern era. They knew not what sleeping on the ground meant, or what pains one would endure to do so.
Thus, after some groaning and some complaints, Ryan was quick to get his former teammates in line.
"Quit your bitching. This is serious. The scouts didn't come back last night—"
The moment Ryan said this, the group of high school seniors were quick to straighten themselves up and treat this matter with the severity it deserved. Because of this, one of the boys, a young man by the name of Jorge, was quick to comment on this.
"You're shitting me? What the hell are we going to do now? We have no food left, and the water fountains can only sustain us for another week or two before everything shuts down! Ryan… There are seventy-two of us! That is a lot of mouths to feed!"
However, Ryan was quick to correct his friend, who, like the others, was starting to panic.
"Actually… If we subtract the five who didn't come back last night, that leaves us with exactly sixty-seven mouths to feed…. I don't think we have a choice anymore. We have to find out where Zane and his group are hiding, and take their supplies by force!
If we don't get some food soon, then it won't be long before people start going off on their own in an attempt to find some supplies. And that could destroy our entire community!"
The other boys were hesitant when they heard this. After all, Zane was armed, and far better than any of them realized. After all, their intel on the man was days old. They did not know that he had scavenged body armor, rifles, and machine guns over the past few days.
"Are you kidding me, Ryan? Zane has a gun, and we all know he is a fucking killer…. I mean, after what happened all those years ago, do you seriously think he won't pull the trigger on us if we give him a reason to?"
A chilling expression formed on all the boys' faces when they remembered what Zane had all those years ago, back when they were all still in elementary school. It was something that everyone in the high school knew about, except for perhaps a few transfer students and some of the newer teachers.
Yet despite this harrowing incident being common knowledge, few had the nerve to speak about it. After all, it was not exactly something that one wanted to think about. Because of this, Ryan got angry, preventing the boys from speaking about Zane's background any further.
"Enough! I don't want to hear any more about… That…. Listen, all he has is a hand gun right? At most it has, like, what, twenty bullets in a clip? Like I said, there are sixty-seven of us! If we can over run him, he might not even be able to get a proper shot off!
And besides, it's not like any of us will be on the front lines, so there is nothing to worry about, right?"
The fact that Ryan had used the term "clip", rather than "mag" or "magazine" showed just how little he knew about firearms. But then again, the boys next to him knew just as little as he did. And thus, the confidence that Ryan exuded when he spoke these words was enough to convince them.
With this in mind, they all eventually came around to the idea of finding out where Zane was hiding, and to steal his supplies.
"Alright Ryan…. We're with you, to hell and back!"
The other boys nodded their head once Jorge said this and repeated his last words back to him.
"To hell and back!"
Upon seeing that the others had agreed with his plan, Ryan smiled while reaching into his pocket, rubbing the blood crystal he had managed to get his hands on earlier in the week. He did not know why, but this little gemstone gave him a sense of comfort whenever he touched it.
Of course, Ryan had no idea that the blood crystal in his pocket was a gamble that would either give him superhuman powers, or would turn him into one of the many undead who now stalked the Earth. But that was neither here nor there. Instead, he began to issue orders to his lieutenants like a proper "leader" should during a time of crisis.
"Alright, I want you guys to split up our group into smaller parties of four and send them across the campus. We need to know where Zane and Elena are hiding. If they find his whereabouts, tell them to immediately report back to me, and remember, under no circumstances should Elena be harmed when the time for the assault comes. Got it?"
The boys nodded their heads with awkward expressions on their faces. Even now, nearly an entire week into the apocalypse, Ryan was still obsessed about getting his hands on Elena. If they had not known that the man had been crushing hard on the crimson beauty for years, they might have told Ryan to go fuck off. But instead, the boys all nodded their heads, and agreed with the man once more.
"Alright Ryan, we understand. No harm shall come to Elena during the assault. Is there anything else?"
Ryan's eyes turned wicked as he thought about this question, before nodding his head and speaking with a malicious grin on his face.
"If Miss Bennett is still alive and with the two of them, bring her to me as well. Now that society is done for, it wouldn't hurt to have another beauty by my side…."