TWD - Chapter 511: Are You Kidding Me? (Patreon)

The following evening, the setting sun painted Alexandria’s white walls blood red.

Spencer stood on the second-floor balcony of his home, his gaze sweeping over the community’s neatly trimmed lawns and warm yellow lights. He narrowed his eyes in satisfaction.

Now this was living.

Alexandria’s wall kept the walkers outside. Within it were order, civilization, and dignity.

What did those outsiders know?

Downstairs in the living room, Aiden was checking his appearance.

Before the apocalypse, he had been a reserve officer, and Alexandria’s armed force had always been under his management. He would also be standing behind Deanna during the coming talks, taking part in the negotiations.

Deanna paced back and forth through the reception room. She was deeply anxious, but none of it showed on her face.

Reg, infected by the tension hanging over his wife and son, could not sit still either. He started fussing with the plants in the reception room.

Aaron stood by the window, staring silently toward the gate with a deep frown.

“Mom, relax,” Aiden said. “It’s just a negotiation. Both sides want something from the other.”

Spencer strolled down from upstairs. “I heard she’s some female politician in her forties or fifties? The slow, deliberate type? Tsk. People like that are usually easy to handle.”

“Spencer!” Deanna frowned. “Show some respect when she gets here.”

“I do respect her!” Spencer shrugged. “But respect doesn’t mean bowing and scraping. Alexandria has survived this long because of your leadership and the walls Dad built, not because anyone handed us charity.”

He glanced meaningfully at Aaron by the window. “And definitely not because we panic after hearing a few scary stories and hand over everything we have.”

Aaron turned as though he wanted to say something. In the end, he only shook his head and looked back outside.

He truly could not understand how Deanna and Reg had ended up with two sons like this.

Just then, a low rumble rolled in from the distance. It grew louder by the second, heavy and forceful, carrying a vibration that seemed to tear through the air.

All five people in the room froze.

The roar swelled until the windowpanes buzzed. Shouts and the pounding of running feet erupted throughout the community.

A sentry on the distant wall stood frozen, then shouted in disbelief, “Helicopter! A black military helicopter is coming straight toward us!”

The entire community immediately burst into commotion.

Residents mowing lawns stopped where they were. Adults hurried children indoors. One startled, uncertain face after another appeared behind windows.

Deanna heard the noise outside and the growing roar overhead. She exchanged a glance with Reg, and each saw the other’s shock beneath a thin layer of forced composure.

“They’re here!” Deanna took a deep breath, straightened her collar, and headed outside.

A jet-black UH-60 Black Hawk emerged from the twilight like a steel beast. Its lines were sharp and aggressive, the side door stood open, and silhouettes of fully armed people could be seen inside.

It did not fly directly over the community. Instead, it hovered above an open area inside the wall, the violent wind from its rotors flattening the grass into rolling waves.

The landing gear touched down. The rotors began to slow, and the cabin door slid fully open.

Six armed personnel jumped out first.

Three in front, three behind. A standard tactical formation.

They wore matching combat uniforms and carried high-quality gear without a single unnecessary piece. The instant they hit the ground, they took positions covering every direction, muzzles naturally lowered while their fingers rested along the trigger guards. Their professionalism left Deanna and the others staring.

Then a tall woman stepped out.

She wore black tactical pants, a dark gray stand-collar shirt, and a lightweight ballistic carrier. A handgun and a knife hung at her waist. Her pale golden hair whipped in the rotor wash until she casually brushed it behind one ear.

She jumped down with crisp, practiced ease. The moment she landed, she lifted her head and looked toward Deanna and the others. Even in the sunset, her gray-blue eyes were strikingly bright.

Then she turned and reached a hand back into the cabin.

A tactical-gloved hand took hers, and a second woman jumped down.

She was older, taller, and more powerfully built, with a stern face. As soon as she landed, she positioned herself half a step behind and to the side of the younger woman.

Finally, three more team members disembarked, two carrying long gun cases over their shoulders.

The rotors eventually stopped and the roar faded away. The pilot climbed out as well, bringing the total to twelve people.

Inside Alexandria, residents crowded near doorways and watched in complete silence.

Deanna’s lips parted slightly. Reg braced one hand against the doorframe.

Aaron held his breath, staring without blinking at the young woman surrounded by the others.

Was this Calista Norton?

Spencer, meanwhile, could not take his eyes off the young woman who had just stepped down from the helicopter.

His fingers trembled slightly. Not from fear, but from sheer disbelief.

This was so damn unexpected.

Who the hell was this woman? This girl?

The leader of Rock Fortress?

Commander Calista?

Are you kidding me?

What gave her the right?

That face? Or that damn helicopter?

Calista was nothing like the woman in her forties or fifties they had imagined. She did not even look like a leader.

She looked... twenty, maybe? Possibly younger.

Her skin was cool and pale, her features refined, her eyes beautiful but detached.

She stood there in tactical gear much like the soldiers around her, yet somehow it only sharpened the cold beauty of her appearance. She was striking and poised, but every line of her carried danger and authority.

Calista was too young. Absurdly young.

And too beautiful. Too beautiful to belong in this rotting apocalypse.

Yet the battle-hardened soldiers behind her treated her with effortless respect. The way she stood there, simply sweeping her gaze across the area, carried an unmistakable sense of command.

Every bit of it crushed Spencer’s assumptions from moments earlier.

He had just been mocking her as an easy-to-fool middle-aged politician. Now he was staring at a young woman who radiated the authority of someone nobody here would dare underestimate.

His younger brother was not doing much better.

Aiden’s face suddenly flushed red in a highly suspicious way, the color spreading from his neck all the way to the tips of his ears.

Only moments ago, he had been mentally rehearsing how he would negotiate with a “middle-aged female official,” how he would take a firmer line whenever his mother softened, show Alexandria’s backbone, and keep them from being forcibly absorbed.

Now his mind was blank. He had no idea what to do with himself.

Then he saw Calista tilt her chin slightly in their direction.

The stern female adjutant beside her started forward. The residents gathered on both sides instinctively backed away, clearing a path.

Leah stopped at the gate. Her voice was clear and steady. She never raised it, yet everyone heard every word.

“Commander of Rock Fortress, Ms. Calista Norton, has arrived as agreed.”

She paused and swept her gaze over the stunned crowd, lingering briefly on Spencer’s dazed expression and Aiden’s red ears.

“Is Ms. Deanna Monroe here? We can give her ten minutes to prepare.”

“Or,” Leah added when everyone continued standing there in a daze, a hint of displeasure entering her voice, “we can go inside now.”

Aaron was the first to recover. He drew a deep breath, turned to the still-stunned Deanna, and lowered his voice.

“Deanna... I think we should go welcome her now.”

Deanna snapped back to herself. A warm yet dignified smile quickly settled over her face as she led her family toward the entrance.

“Welcome! Welcome to Alexandria! I’m Deanna Monroe, the person in charge here. You must be Ms. Calista Norton. That was... quite an entrance. Thank you for making such a long trip!”

Her words came smoothly and carried the practiced warmth of a politician as she tried to establish the rhythm of their first meeting.

Calista walked forward a few steps and stopped at just the right distance. She inclined her head slightly, a faint smile touching her lips.

“Ms. Deanna, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you to you and Alexandria for the invitation. I hope we haven’t disturbed the peace here too much.”

Her voice was clear and gentle, her tone polite. In an instant, much of the tension Deanna had felt after seeing the helicopter eased.

“How could it be a disturbance? We’ve been looking forward to this meeting!” Deanna’s smile became more natural as she began introducing her family.

Calista shook Reg’s hand with clear respect. When it came to Spencer and Aiden, she only gave them a calm nod, her gaze not lingering for even a moment.

Aaron glanced at Spencer and Aiden’s rigid postures. The frustration that had been bottled up in his chest for so long finally drained away.

That felt good.

Spencer, meanwhile, watched the painfully young woman come closer and felt his face burn as though he had been slapped dozens of times.

All the arrogance, swagger, and contempt he had shown earlier had been ground into dust by that Black Hawk and by Calista herself.

The slap in the face could not have landed any harder, and he did not have the slightest room to hit back.

Damn!