Calista pushed open the bedroom door in the main house and stretched comfortably.
She had thrown on a loose old shirt and tied her hair casually behind her head, planning to take a leisurely walk around her territory.
At the base, aside from the watchtower patrols rotating day and night, the kitchen was always the first place to come alive in the morning.
Before she even reached it, she heard Mrs. Howard's strong voice ringing out.
"Mira! Dear, pass me that basket of eggs! Yes, that one! Martha, the onions! Where are the chopped onions?"
Calista leaned against the kitchen doorway and smiled at the busy scene inside.
Mrs. Howard wore a flour-dusted apron, her hair neatly tied in a bun. She stood in front of a large iron pot, stirring a barrel of oatmeal big enough to feed a platoon.
Before retirement she had been an elementary school teacher. After her husband retired, the two of them came to Twilight Manor together. Now she had naturally become Rock Fortress's logistics manager and head cook.
Mira moved quickly as she cracked eggs, while Martha chopped a large bowl of vegetables with rapid, steady movements, preparing ingredients for the lunchtime stew.
Several pots steamed on the large stove, and the oven released the warm, tempting smell of freshly baked bread.
"Good morning, ladies," Calista greeted with a smile.
"Good morning, Miss Norton!" Martha looked up with a bright grin.
"Miss Norton, breakfast will be ready soon," Mira said with a nod.
Mrs. Howard wiped sweat from her forehead and laughed.
"Calista, come try this porridge. I had Peter bring some freshly gathered wild honey. Smells wonderful."
Calista grabbed a warm slice of bread from a nearby basket, dipped it in honey, and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Mmm. Fantastic."
Mrs. Howard beamed.
"I'm glad you like it. Peter keeps saying the kitchen menu is too simple, so now he's experimenting with new fruits all day."
"Really? Then I should go take a look."
Calista walked toward the open land behind the estate while eating her bread.
The area had once been a lawn, but now it had been converted into neat vegetable plots and several simple greenhouses made with clear plastic sheets.
Mr. Howard, wearing a wide-brim straw hat, crouched beside a row of tomato seedlings, carefully examining their leaves.
"Mr. Howard, how are your babies doing?" Calista crouched beside him.
Mr. Howard looked up. His glasses slid down to the tip of his nose, and his face lit up with childlike excitement.
"Very well! Look at this one. Jenson keeps talking about wanting tomatoes, so I tried planting some. They've adapted beautifully. And the grapevines in the greenhouse are growing wonderfully too. Who knows, maybe next year we'll have all the fruit we want."
Not far away, Tom and Joey were working shirtless, swinging hoes to level the soil.
In addition to the grapes that had already been growing here, Rock Fortress had planted corn as well.
The newcomers—Guillermo, Miguel, and Morgan—were mixed in with them, clearly drafted into farm labor.
Guillermo tried copying Tom's movements with the hoe, but his form was clumsy and he was already breathing heavily.
Morgan, on the other hand, worked carefully, thinning seedlings one by one.
Miguel was the youngest but had plenty of strength. He pushed a wheelbarrow full of fertilizer, grunting with effort.
"Hey! Miss Norton!" Tom spotted Calista and stopped working to greet her. "The new guys are doing great! With them here, Joey and I can finally relax a little. Felipe is helping Dr. Evans too."
Guillermo smiled. Morgan scratched his head awkwardly. Miguel looked a little shy and avoided Calista's gaze.
"Keep it up," Calista encouraged them.
"Whether we get fresh tomatoes and corn this fall depends on Mr. Howard—and all of you."
"Leave it to us!" Tom said confidently, thumping his chest. "And we'll get to drink fresh milk from Jimmy every day too!"
"Moo—"
Calista looked up.
Near the vegetable fields was a fenced area where several black-and-white dairy cows chewed hay lazily. Chickens ran around clucking inside the enclosure, and more than a dozen sheep grazed on the nearby slope.
Little Jimmy held a milk bucket nearly as big as he was and tried to milk a rather uncooperative cow.
"Good girl… don't move…" he muttered in an exaggerated adult tone. "Hey! Duane, look. Like this!"
Duane stood beside him, carefully copying Jimmy's movements while awkwardly petting another cow.
Children of the same age quickly became friends.
The base only had two kids, and they had gotten close on the first day. By the second day, Duane had already started helping with the animals.
Watching his awkward but earnest efforts made Calista laugh.
Little Jimmy saw her and immediately blushed, nearly kicking over the milk bucket.
"Need help, cowboys?" Calista asked as she walked over.
"No! Miss Calista! I can do it!" Jimmy puffed out his chest proudly. "Dad says I can take care of them."
Duane lowered his head shyly.
"I'm not very good yet, but I promise I'll learn seriously."
"You're both doing great," Calista said, pulling two small pieces of honey bread from her pocket—Mrs. Howard had given them to her earlier.
The boys cheered and devoured the bread.
Jimmy even added proudly, "Mrs. Howard cooks way better than my mom!"
After praising them again, the "little cowboys" returned enthusiastically to their struggle with the stubborn cow.
...
On the watchtower at the entrance of Rock Fortress, Ethan scanned the surrounding mountains through binoculars.
Danny leaned lazily against the railing and teased him.
"What's the matter? Calista just got back and you already transferred from forest patrol to watch duty? And dragged me along with you? My legs are going numb from standing here."
Ethan lowered the binoculars and punched him lightly.
"Then switch with Saed. He's been wanting this watch shift for a while."
Inside the gate, two mercenaries inspected vehicles and equipment while two others saddled a pair of tall horses.
Patrols here relied on more than just vehicles.
Edmund held a walkie-talkie.
"Mikey, have you reached Black Bear Creek yet?"
"Yeah. We're here. Zhou is helping Professor Ross with measurements. Murphy and I took a patrol route on the way."
"Copy. Team Two preparing to move out. Cover the south slope route of Blackberry Ranch."
Edmund lowered the radio.
"Saed, who's that guy wandering around over there?" he asked as he swung onto his horse, spotting a man with a dangling empty sleeve nearby.
Saed glanced over before mounting his own horse.
"That's a survivor Calista brought back this time."
"Oh."
Merle noticed their attention and walked closer.
"Hey, guys. This job exciting? How many patrol runs a day?" he asked, leaning toward Gavin, who was loading a machine-gun belt onto the roof mount of a Humvee.
Gavin glanced at him without stopping his work.
"Just follow the rules and do your job."
"Rules? Hell, I know rules better than anyone," Merle grinned. "Once my arm's healed, I'll come ride along with you guys. Bet I can find more fun than you."
Rory snorted while cleaning his rifle.
"Relax, one-armed bandit. Learn to shoot properly with your left hand first. There's plenty of 'fun' out there. Wouldn't want you enjoying yourself to death."
Merle didn't get angry. He simply chuckled.
"Just wait and see. One-handed or not, old Merle can still show you boys how it's done."
The others glanced at him and shook their heads, though they couldn't help finding him a little amusing.
The guy's recovery spirit was impressive.
Gavin and Rory climbed into the Humvee and started the engine.
Edmund whistled sharply, pulled the reins, and his horse surged forward alongside the vehicle.
"Bullet! Duke! Move out!"
Two mastiff guard dogs dashed from the pack near the gate and sprinted after the patrol team.
From the watchtower, Ethan watched them leave.
Then something occurred to him.
"Man," he said to Danny, slightly puzzled, "how many days has the search team been out? Maya and the others should've returned by now, right?"
Danny paused and scratched his chin.
"Yeah… hope they didn't run into trouble."