After several days on the road, the convoy finally returned to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
When the barbed-wire perimeter of Rock Fortress, now beginning to take shape, gradually came into view, almost everyone instinctively relaxed.
Without realizing it, Rock Fortress had become their anchor in the apocalypse.
As the vehicles drew closer, Calista quickly noticed something off.
The outer defenses, which should have been steadily expanding, seemed to have stalled.
According to the plan, the barbed-wire defense line was supposed to form a fully closed perimeter stretching three miles. But in the final few hundred meters, there was a clear gap.
Construction materials and tools were scattered in the mud beside it, as if Ancheta and the others had only stepped away temporarily.
The sound of the convoy's engines caught the attention of the guards on the watchtower.
After confirming through binoculars, one of the patrolling mercenaries excitedly shouted to the others below,
"They're back!"
"Calista! Leah! You're finally back!" Rickson quickly came out after hearing the commotion.
Following Calista's gaze toward the gap, he looked a little awkward.
"There's been… a small hiccup."
"I can see that." Calista pushed open the car door and stepped onto the firm ground.
She pointed at the break in the defensive line.
"What happened? A large walker assault? Or did something else go wrong?"
Her first assumption was that they had suffered an external attack.
"Nothing like that." Rickson hurriedly waved his hands, his expression betraying the embarrassment of a bad calculation.
"It's the materials. Ancheta's budget ran completely dry. The final reinforcement section used far more barbed wire and support posts than expected. We wiped out the entire stockpile. We were just one last push away from finishing!"
Calista let out a breath. That wasn't a serious problem.
"The day after we realized the supplies weren't enough, I sent a team to the old industrial district east of Knoxville.
There used to be several large hardware storage centers and building-materials wholesalers there. There should still be inventory left. If everything goes according to plan, they should be back fully loaded by tomorrow or the day after at the latest."
Calista nodded.
"Holy crap…" Miguel muttered instinctively, pressing against the car window, his eyes darting everywhere.
"This place… this place is practically a castle! And a military outpost!"
During the past few days, the newcomers had already started forming guesses about Calista and her group.
The group had appeared in Atlanta almost out of nowhere, completely unfamiliar with the area.
Aside from their leader Calista, everyone was highly skilled, heavily armed, and well supplied. They clearly weren't ordinary survivors.
The camp they had imagined might have been a fortified farmhouse or maybe an abandoned building in the city.
But it was nothing like what they were seeing now.
The estate's main structure, built along the mountain slope, had been reinforced further and surrounded by barbed wire.
On the watchtower, rifle-carrying sentries stood clearly visible, their sharp eyes scanning the surrounding forested hills.
Across the open grounds, people moved with orderly purpose.
Some mercenaries were doing physical training.
Ordinary survivors were working in nearby vegetable fields.
And there were even children tending livestock.
Grapes and other plants grew inside greenhouse tunnels.
There were even several tall, glossy-coated horses in the stables.
Although the roughness and improvisation of the apocalypse could still be seen everywhere, the vibrant order and powerful sense of survival here were completely different from the survivor camps they had known before.
It almost felt like Calista and her people were living through a completely different apocalypse.
Guillermo and Felipe exchanged glances and swallowed.
Guillermo's voice trembled with excitement.
"Felipe… pinch me. I'm not dreaming, right?"
Felipe's face was flushed red with excitement.
"I thought it'd just be some camp. I never imagined a base this big!"
Duane excitedly tugged Morgan's arm and pointed at little Jimmy feeding chickens nearby.
"Dad! There's a kid over there! He looks about my age!"
Even Merle, who was usually sharp-tongued and sarcastic, didn't say anything nasty when he saw this.
The corner of his mouth twitched as he let out a grunt tinged with a strange kind of approval.
"Huh. Not bad."
As for Dr. Jenner, there was no need to say anything.
There was electricity here. And basic security.
That meant he could set up a temporary laboratory and continue his crucial research.
Studying Calista's blood samples was more attractive to him than any luxury facility.
Rickson had several mercenaries help unload their supplies.
Calista gave him a brief explanation.
"Rickson, these are new companions. They've been through quite a bit.
Dr. Jenner will stay next to Evans. The others can stay in Martha's building. While you're at it, explain the basic rules of Rock Fortress to them."
Rickson nodded.
Then he turned to the newcomers. His tone was official, but not unfriendly.
"Come with me. Let's get you settled first. Around here, as long as you follow the rules and pull your weight, you'll have food to eat."
The three nursing home survivors and Morgan and his son almost hurried after Rickson, their steps noticeably lighter.
Dr. Jenner stuck close behind the people carrying his equipment, repeatedly reminding them,
"Careful. Easy with that! I need a room with power access if possible!"
As for Merle, surprisingly, he didn't argue this time.
For someone like Dixon, who lived by the law of the jungle, the raw strength displayed by this base gave him a strange sense of belonging.
Only a place strong enough deserved someone like Merle Dixon.
Though he would never say it out loud, adapting to using his left hand as soon as possible and carving out his place here had already become a goal in the back of his mind.
And maybe he could drag that idiot brother of his here too.
Who knew where the hell he was now?
Calista took in all the newcomers' reactions.
In the apocalypse, strength itself was the greatest force for unity and stability.
Whether out of gratitude, survival instinct, or personal ambition, these newcomers had already been overwhelmed by the scale and organization of Rock Fortress.
And almost instinctively, they now wanted to become part of it.
Calista stretched lazily and told Leah and the others to go get some rest while she took a walk around the base.
She stopped near several newly opened vegetable plots.
Joey and Tom, who were working there, greeted her.
"Where's everyone else?"
Joey wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Mr. Howard is in the greenhouse experimenting with new crops. Martha and Mira have been helping Mrs. Howard with cooking and laundry."
Hm. It felt like there were more people around.
Calista glanced around casually and noticed several unfamiliar faces.
A woman wearing black-rimmed glasses was directing two sturdy American boys and a taller blond boy with distinctly Slavic features.
They were clearing gravel and weeds from one side of the base, apparently preparing to open new vegetable beds.
Not far away, a petite Asian girl struggled to carry a bucket of water, staggering toward the temporary kitchen area.
Ever since Rock Fortress decided to start accepting new people, Rickson and the others had set up a new dining area in an open space within the estate grounds.
The dining room inside the main building was already almost too crowded.
"Who are they?" Calista asked, glancing toward Joey.
Joey followed her gaze and explained,
"About three days after you left, the regular patrol found them at the foot of the mountain to the southwest. A college professor and her four students."
...
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