BXBX NOVEL Chapter 132: The Great Basin Saintess
Nobody knew who killed Zane\'s mother and her boyfriend, hell nobody really cared for anyone but themselves. If not for the fact that the bodies would have rotted and spread disease, nobody would have even bothered disposing of them.
Gangs of marauders were free to flood the safe zone with illicit drugs, slaves, automatic weapons, explosives, and bootleg alcohol as they saw fit. And in doing so, creating addicts out of at least 1/4th of the survivors who hid safely behind the safe zone\'s walls.
The amount of overdoses alone had been responsible for more deaths in the safe zone, then awakened strike teams who had perished to the undead outside for its safety. Before the apocalypse, this metropolitan area initially had close to half a million people living in it, now the largest settlement within its boundaries had less than 3,000 survivors.
There were pockets of survivors elsewhere within the Reno/Sparks area, but they were small communities roughly the size of Gravestone, which Zane had formed an hour away in the ruins of the State\'s small capital.
Within two months, however, things had begun to change. As survivor by the name of Garth Mason had begun to establish some semblance of law and order. He had no way of knowing that Zane, who he had let into the safe Zone was the one responsible for the double homicide, but he did come across the bodies shortly after Zane and the girls fled the scene.
The idea that the murderers could escape the area caused him and his group of awakened survivors to begin some frontier style justice within the safe zone. Starting with the drug dealers, and bootleggers, Garth began cleaning up the Safe zone via brute force.
And eventually people started to follow his example. He was now the official Sherriff of the Safe Zone, or New Reno was it was now called. Although they began to form elections, and some semblance of law and order, from time to time, Garth would act as the judge, jury, and executioner of those he believed had committed some kind of serious wrongdoing.
Today, however, Garth nearly met his end. In a poker game, had been dealt the "dead man\'s hand", a hand of cards that was nigh impossible to achieve, so much so that most considered anyone who had it to be a cheater. In the ensuing scuffle, a man drew his gun and shot Garth in the gut.
After subduing the shooter, Garth\'s deputies immediately attend to him. Luckily for him, one of them knew just enough about first aid to stabilize Garth. But even still, if he did not receive some kind of proper medical attention, he would eventually bleed out and die.
It was because of this the man was now sitting in the back of a pickup truck, holding a bandage to his bloody gut. All the while his deputies hit the pedal to the medal, assuring Garth he would be alright.
"You\'re going to be alright, Garth! I hear there\'s a healer in Gravestone. For the right price, she can heal any wound! You\'re going to be fine. Just hang in there!"
Garth chuckled when he heard this. He had since grown out a beard, and had even found a cowboy hat which he wore as a nod to old western lawmen, which was essentially what he had become in this brave new world. The man wore less than ideal.
"Just give me some fucking whiskey and let me die in peace…."
Despite his words, the deputies who had previously been a part of his strike team did not grant Garth his wish. Instead, they continued on the highway towards Gravestone, which despite its relatively small community, had earned a reputation as an area that was safe, clean, and still had functional amenities.
---
Zane was lying standing on watch at one of the guard towers which had been made from a repurposed deer stand. He had a semiautomatic fifty caliber anti material rifle leaning against the railing while he smoked a cigarette.
Visitors to Gravestones were frequent, usually those who had been wounded or infected by the Undead seeking a cure, and the only one who could possibly do either of those things was Angelica. Because of this, and Angelica\'s kindhearted personality, she had gained the nickname of "The Great Basin Saintess" or the "Saintess" for short.
Sure she charged people for her services, but it wasn\'t anything steep. The services she provided were a constant source of revenue for Gravestone, as people were always getting injured in their fights against the undead. Which allowed Zane to purchase better gear for him, his girls, his strike teams, and his sentries.
Currently, Zane was on watch, and the girls were back in the small neighborhood they had walled off, either resting or performing domestic chores. Meanwhile, the other strike team composed of six awakened survivors who were residents of Gravestone were off fighting Eliza\'s hordes, scavenging for supplies, and gathering blood crystals.
While Zane was smoking his cigarette, he saw a pickup truck of unknown origin, rolling up in towards the secluded town. He quickly aimed down his sights to get a better look, and saw that the truck was waving the banner of New Reno, meaning that it was most likely a friendly target, one that knew the rules of how not to get lit up by Gravestone\'s sentries.
Regardless, Zane got on the radio and contacted his other sentries, alerting them of the situation.
"We got a pickup approaching the front gate, looks like it\'s waving the colors of New Reno. Most likely another injured or infected survivor. Be on alert…."
Zane then aimed down his scope, intending to take out the truck\'s engine if it didn\'t slow down, but it eventually did, as the driver got out and explained to the Gravestone sentries on the walls above that Zane had been right in his estimation.
After verifying the wounded survivor in the back, the doors to Gravestone opened automatically after Zane hit an electronic switch while Garth and his deputies were waved through.
Zane would order someone else to take over his post while he personally went to guard Angelica as she performed the healing spell on the wounded sheriff, one who he did not care to remember the name of.