After sharing a meal together and enjoying themselves, Madison decided that she wanted to have some fun, and activated the bunker complex's stereo, playing a song across the entire facility that Zane found to be mildly aggravating.
To say that Madison's taste in music was incompatible with Zane's own perspective was an understatement. In fact, Zane had a bit of an antiquated style when compared to those his age, insofar as he preferred the rock and metal scene of the early to mid-2000s.
But Madison was a stereotypical teenage girl, preferring music that was popular, rather than of a certain degree of quality.
It was most certainly the kind of music that relied heavily on computer generated instrumentals, mass manufactured lyrics that meant absolutely nothing, and vocals that could only be performed by the singer with auto-tune as those who played this type of music generally lacked any form of talent.
Obviously, as a man of more refined taste, this was the type of music that could easily get on Zane's nerves if he was forced to listen to it. Still, it was Madison's birthday, and so Zane endured, if not simply for the girl's sake. He was content to sit idly by and drink himself into a state of being content. But unfortunately for him, this was not his fate on this night.
While Madison was dancing around and enjoying herself, she noticed that Zane appeared to be in a particularly foul mood. Naturally, as an airhead, she could not fathom why Zane was being such a sourpuss, and decided to make a bold move.
The young woman grabbed hold of Zane's hand and forced him out of his seat in an attempt to get the man to dance with her. Perhaps if Zane was a normal teenage boy, he would enjoy this concept. But he had a particularly unique outlook on life.
For starters, from Zane's perspective, dancing was an effeminate and fruitless activity, one of little worth. Only women and homosexuals would waste their time with such nonsense. In his eyes, the only acceptable time for a man to dance was by performing the waltz on his wedding night with his bride.
Head banging while throwing up the metal horns during a particularly powerful riff was obviously not considered dancing by Zane's standards. And thus, he tried to deny Madison's request, making it clear to the girl that he felt uncomfortable being pressured in such a way.
"I'm good...."
Elena knew little of Zane's preferences. After all, she had spent little time with the man during their adolescent years, and could not fathom what was going through his head as he denied to dance with such a beautiful young woman.
The two other women also were confused by Zane's actions as he tried to sit back down and drink more alcohol. He had been in such a good mood throughout the day. Why now was he acting so disturbed?
---
While Zane and Madison were enjoying some alone time within the young woman's quarters. Eliza gazed upon the small town of Gravestone built around a wealth area within the ruins of the old capital of Nevada. Its defenses were meagre, and the sentries on duty numbered no more than a single fireteam. Nor were they awakened.
Perhaps if she still had her stalkers and abominations, the young Horde King could eliminate the sentries silently, and break through the defenses with ease. But now she could only rely on overwhelming numbers, and the moment her horde attacked, the residents of the small town would be alerted.
She had two options: reveal herself and take care of the sentries herself before they could sound the alarm. Or launch a full scale attack with what remained of her horde. The first option was high risk, high reward.
From what Bartholomew told her, Zane was now capable of taking out five stalkers on his own and surviving a direct encounter with a juggernaut. This meant he was fast enough to intercept her if he was lurking nearby, and compel her to flee the settlement of Gravestone.
If that were to happen, the town would be alerted to her plans, and they would begin crafting fortifications immediately. Besides, there were two new buildings in Gravestone that were... Unsettling to Eliza.
Those, of course, were the Grim Forge and the Stygian Iron Works, both of which exuded the scent of death in a way that the living should not be able to tolerate. She did not know the exact purpose of these two buildings, but they filled the young Horde King with dread.
In fact, they made her wary of even approaching Gravestone altogether. What she needed was intelligence, specifically regarding what these two buildings were, and what benefit they provided to the living.
This was not something she had the means of getting. Her stalkers were dead, and Bartholomew refused to give her more, knowing that they would just be hunted by Zane and the girls. As for infiltrating the town of Gravestone, only a Horde King could possibly perform such a feat. But... Zane and the girls already knew what she looked like.
Perhaps if she had not already revealed her presence to the survivors, then she would have been able to do just this. But it was too late. If she entered Gravestone, she would quickly be detected by those living inside its walls and that would force her to flee before she could get the information she needed.
No... She needed help... Particularly from one of her brothers or sisters. But the problem was, she did not have the power to compel them to do so. And there was no way Bartholomew would help with this task. The man had already decided he was staying perfectly clear of Gravestone until Zane's relationship with their mother could be clarified.
But the nearest Horde King was in California, and at this point, the Horde Kings that resided there had all sworn their loyalty to Lilith. If she even mentioned Zane, or his unique buildings, to any of them, then they would report it directly to Lilith. And knowing Lilith, she would come straight to Eliza.
This was the worst outcome possible, and thus, after some heavy thought, Eliza knew that her only path forward was to assault the town of Gravestone with the remainder of her strength. Thus, with this in mind, Eliza ordered the attack, all while Zane and his girls were intoxicated by their festivities.