One morning a week later, Block B was awakened by a low, steady hum, like an enormous hummingbird beating its wings.
The sound came from a high-ceilinged factory building deep inside Block B, which had been cleared out and temporarily converted into a hangar and workshop.
Two sentries stood guard at the entrance, and the factory floor was brightly lit.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the gray-black aircraft fully assembled in the center of the building.
The "Night Hawk" tactical reconnaissance UAV, Prototype No. 3.
It was slightly larger than expected. Its streamlined fuselage had a futuristic look, its foldable wings were fully extended, and the multispectral camera module and laser rangefinder underneath looked as cold and sharp as a hawk's eye.
On the workbench beside it sat the open ground control station. Several screens were lit, complex parameters flickering across them.
Ancheta was half-kneeling beside the UAV.
Billy, the ground crew kid who had distinguished himself during the walker night raid at Blackberry Ranch, was there too, serving as Ancheta's assistant and helping with the final pre-flight cable checks.
Allen Miller stood in front of the ground control station, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he adjusted the final flight control parameters. From time to time, he exchanged a few quiet words with Bossie beside him.
Bossie stood with his arms crossed, brow slightly furrowed, eyes locked on the screen.
As the head of the UAV operations team, and a drone enthusiast with a reconnaissance background, this first flight meant a great deal to him.
Calista, Leah, and Rickson stood in the observation area a little farther away.
Calista watched the UAV without blinking, both tense and expectant.
"All subsystems passed self-check." Allen's voice echoed through the empty factory. "Battery packs three and seven show slight degradation, but it won't affect this test flight. Main control, navigation, communications, and payload modules are all green."
Ancheta stood, dusted off his hands, walked to the control console, and nodded to Calista. "Airframe assembly and reinforcement are complete. Every inspection required by the manual is done, along with our modifications. Ready whenever you are."
Their so-called "improvised modifications" included reinforcing aging joints with whatever high-strength fiber adhesive they could find, re-soldering parts of the wiring harness, and even adding crude shockproof and moisture-resistant casings to key circuit boards.
"Proceed as planned," Calista said, arms folded. "The first flight target is to climb to three hundred meters, conduct a basic patrol over the industrial park and the surrounding two-kilometer radius, and test the control link, video feed stability, and basic reconnaissance functions. If anything goes wrong, return immediately."
"Understood." Allen took a deep breath and exchanged a look with Bossie.
Bossie gripped the backup controller.
"Start the motors."
Allen pressed the button.
A higher-pitched hum rose as the propellers at the rear of the UAV began to spin. Their speed climbed rapidly until they blurred into gray shadows, kicking up a faint layer of dust from the ground.
Everyone in the factory seemed to hold their breath along with the spinning propellers.
"Motors normal. Thrust stable. Prepare for takeoff run."
The UAV was removed from its stand, and Ancheta and Billy carried it to the makeshift "runway" cleared near the factory entrance, roughly twenty meters long.
It had originally been an internal road in the factory area, now carefully swept clean of gravel.
"Launch!" Allen pushed the throttle forward.
The UAV rolled forward lightly, picking up speed. After barely more than ten meters, its nose lifted, and it shot into the sky like an arrow loosed from a bow, climbing rapidly.
The hum gradually receded, growing fainter.
The factory fell silent. Everyone stared at the main screen on the control console.
The display was split into several feeds: an overhead view from the nose-mounted camera, an altimeter, speed indicator, battery voltage, signal strength… Data flickered rapidly across the screen, but everything stayed within the green safety range.
"Altitude fifty meters… one hundred… one hundred fifty… stable. Video feed is clear!" Allen's voice grew more excited.
On the main screen, the outline of the industrial park grew smaller, yet more complete.
For the first time, Calista and the others looked down on their territory from such a clear, sweeping perspective.
The newly reinforced Block B looked like an irregular gray polygon.
Blocks A and C were not far away, with scattered black dots still wandering through them, walkers.
As for Block D, there was no need to say much. It was packed with dense clusters of black dots, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
Farther out, the shattered ruins of downtown Knoxville and the rugged outline of the Great Smoky Mountains beyond appeared before them with unprecedented clarity.
"Eyes in the sky… that's what this is," Rickson said, so stunned he could barely speak.
He understood better than anyone what this kind of overwhelming visual advantage meant in the apocalypse.
And compared with an aircraft, it was far easier to maintain, with no need for aviation fuel.
Calista walked up behind the control console and stared at the screen.
She saw patrol teams outside the walls reduced to slow-moving dots. She also saw smoke rising from the valley in the direction of Blackberry Ranch.
A feeling of having the whole situation in hand rose in Calista's chest.
She had to admit, it felt damn good.
"Test turning, circling, and zoom functions," Calista ordered.
Under her command, the UAV carved a smooth, elegant arc through the sky.
When the camera zoomed in, they could clearly see the alert face of a sentry on a rooftop. When it pulled back, several main roads came into view at once.
The image was stable, with almost no delay.
"Control link is stable, and effective control range is far beyond expectations!" Bossie reported excitedly.
He tested several tactical maneuvers, and the UAV responded perfectly every time.
"This thing is more responsive than some of the active-duty models we used back in the military!"
The first flight lasted around twenty-five minutes. Before the battery dropped near the safety threshold, Bossie guided the UAV back.
Night Hawk One descended precisely along its return path, glided lightly across the runway for a short distance, and came to a steady stop.
Ancheta and Billy immediately went forward to perform the post-landing inspection.
"First flight successful!" Allen let out a long breath and turned to Calista. "All test items met the standard, and some metrics even exceeded the manual's data. Calista, we have eyes in the sky!"
And not just one. Three.
Cheers and applause broke out across the factory.
Excitement shone on every face.
This was not merely the launch of a military UAV. It marked a new step forward for Rock Fortress's technological capability and strategic reach.
Calista nodded, her gaze sweeping over the sweat-soaked Ancheta, Billy, and Allen, then over Bossie, who was grinning like an idiot from sheer excitement. "Well done. Ancheta, Allen, Billy, Bossie, you'll receive one group merit.
Bossie, start drafting standard procedures for routine UAV patrols and rapid-response reconnaissance immediately. Within a week, I want this to become a regular combat capability. From now on, they're our eyes."
"Yes!" they answered in unison.