"We're almost there," Carver said from the driver's seat, his voice relaxed.
Hearing that, Calista looked out the window, her heart stirring slightly as the familiar scenery drew closer.
They had only been gone for a few weeks, yet it felt as if far more time had passed.
When the convoy rounded the final bend and the full view of Blackberry Ranch opened up before them, even Calista, who had been prepared for it, silently nodded in approval at the sight.
As for the new members seeing it for the first time, they were completely stunned.
The first thing that struck them was the tall, sturdy defensive fence stretching along the ranch's perimeter.
It was not a single layer of wire, but several interlaced layers inside and out, with sharp razor wire coiled along the top, glinting coldly in the sunlight.
This was far beyond the crude barriers they had imagined a survivor camp might have. It looked more like the defenses of a military outpost.
But what truly sent chills down the newcomers' spines and made their pupils shrink was what had been tied to the fence, and to the wooden stakes driven deep into the ground in front of it.
Walkers.
But they were not clawing, roaring, or baring their teeth.
Their jaws had been hacked off at the base, exposing hollow mouths and broken bone. Their arms had been removed at the shoulder joints, leaving only bare torsos and heads that still turned slightly, letting out voiceless snarls.
The walkers were bound with chains or sturdy ropes, able only to twist clumsily within a limited range, like a collection of horrifying sculptures nailed to posts, struggling without end.
"Holy shit," a National Guard soldier muttered, his face pale.
"What the hell is that?" another soldier asked hoarsely, tightening his grip on his rifle.
Shane's brows were locked tight, his eyes filled with disbelief and horror.
He had seen all kinds of methods for dealing with walkers, but using them as part of a defensive system after modifying them like this was unheard of. It carried a cold, ruthless kind of practicality.
Daryl watched in silence, obvious surprise on his face as well.
But Michonne's reaction was the strongest.
The moment she saw those jawless, armless walkers, her pupils contracted sharply. For the first time, clear shock and bewilderment appeared on her usually calm face.
This method, disarming walkers and using their lingering scent to repel their own kind…
It was almost exactly like the method she herself had figured out while surviving alone on the road.
A strange feeling rose in Michonne's chest, as if she had suddenly found someone who understood the same path.
She suddenly turned her head and looked at Calista standing beside the vehicle, her gaze extremely complicated, as if asking, How did you think of this too?
Calista happened to catch the undisguised shock and questioning in Michonne's eyes.
Her heart gave a guilty jolt, and she was instantly flooded with the awkward embarrassment of being caught plagiarizing.
This idea had indeed been "borrowed" from Michonne's original storyline. Calista had simply used it ahead of schedule.
Unable to explain, Calista could only force herself to remain calm on the surface. Under Michonne's burning gaze, she unnaturally turned her head slightly away, pretending to be drawn to other sights inside the ranch.
Michonne watched her avoid eye contact and paused slightly. Then a subtle misunderstanding formed in her mind.
She thought Calista was refusing to respond out of a leader's restraint, or perhaps because she did not want to take credit.
Instead, this made Michonne's opinion of Calista rise even higher. Not only was she powerful, but she also had unique ideas that happened to align with her own.
Just then, the heavy wire gate slowly opened inward under the control of the people inside, accompanied by the rattle of chains.
The scene beyond the gate struck the new members all over again.
How was this just a simple ranch?
What appeared before them was an orderly settlement that could almost be called a small town.
With Blackberry Ranch's main building, originally a resort hotel, at its center, rows of sturdy wooden and brick houses spread outward. They were arranged neatly, even forming clear streets.
The roads were not paved with asphalt, but they had clearly been leveled, with simple drainage ditches dug along both sides.
Farther out were large, neatly planned fields. Although winter was approaching, some of the fields still showed patches of green from cold-resistant crops, along with black, fertile soil that had recently been turned and was waiting for next year's planting.
Bossie and Jenson, who had arrived first, had already informed Rickson. The pigs, sheep, cattle, chickens, and other livestock they had just brought back had already been guided by Rickson's people into the designated pens, causing a brief stir among the original livestock before everything soon settled down again.
Calista looked carefully and saw that all of Rock Fortress's livestock had been moved to Blackberry Ranch.
This place had been a ranch to begin with. The land was fertile and the vegetation lush, making it very suitable for grazing animals.
Rock Fortress headquarters now only had horses and Bullet's pack of guard dogs.
Little Jimmy and Duane now rode out to Blackberry Ranch every morning to help care for the livestock.
Because there were more animals now, Mrs. Howard had added two new animal-care positions. At present, two adults, along with Little Jimmy and Duane, were responsible for looking after the livestock together.
Busy people could be seen everywhere.
Joey and Morgan were leading a group of people working in the fields.
Some were repairing houses, some were hanging laundry out to dry, and several mechanics were hammering away at something in the workshop.
Like everyone else in the apocalypse, they were dressed plainly and looked a little dusty, but their faces did not have the numbness and sickly pallor so common in the end times. Instead, they carried the fulfillment of busy work and hope for the future.
Little Jimmy and Duane were feeding sheep in the pen, their laughter bright and clear. The sight nearly brought tears to the eyes of some of the newly arrived soldiers.
It had been far too long since they had heard children laugh so freely.
Lieutenant Welles's mouth fell open, and for a long while, he could not close it.
The Rock Fortress outpost he had imagined might have been an easy-to-defend building, but never a community of this scale, order, and vitality.
It completely overturned what he thought he knew.
It was as if everyone else was still stuck in the starting zone, while Calista was already on her way to the boss fight.
The soldiers behind Lieutenant Welles were just as dumbstruck. Looking at the neat rows of houses and the vast farmland, they were hit by an overwhelming sense of unreality and joy.
So even in the apocalypse, people really could live like this.
Merle slapped Daryl on the shoulder with a broad grin. "Well? Didn't lie to you this time, did I?"
Daryl looked around at everything, his emotions surging.
This place was good. Better than anywhere he had ever stayed.
"This is Rock Fortress?" Lieutenant Welles finally found his voice after the shock, asking in disbelief.
Leah glanced at him, the corner of her mouth lifting with a hint of pride, but she shook her head. "No, Lieutenant. This is Blackberry Ranch, our agricultural zone and main settlement."
She raised her hand and pointed toward the mist-shrouded depths of the Great Smoky Mountains in the distance. "Rock Fortress, our main base, is over there."
Those words struck like thunder, exploding once again in the hearts of the new members, who were already shaken beyond words.
This was only a secondary base?
Then what would the main base in the mountains look like?