TWD - Chapter 530: Because of Calista (Patreon)

It was late at night, and the road was pitch-black. Whenever an abandoned vehicle blocked the middle of the road, Carver either slowed down and went around it or simply floored the gas pedal and rammed it out of the way.

Alexandria’s pickup truck had been temporarily reinforced, and its bumper was sturdy enough to plow through those rusty old cars with ease.

Benson sat in the back seat of the third car, with Leah and Josephine beside him. Theodore was behind the wheel, Elijah sat in the passenger seat, and endless darkness stretched beyond the windows.

Occasionally, they could make out scattered lights in the distance, perhaps another survivor settlement, or perhaps just another place overrun by walkers or raiders.

But no one stopped, and no one asked, “Is there anyone there who needs help?” This was the apocalypse, not a charity trip.

Benson leaned back in his seat, gazing at the night outside the window, and suddenly asked, “Leah, what’s Rock Fortress really like?”

Leah turned to look at him. “You’ve already asked that.”

“You only said it was a good place. That was too vague. I didn’t really get it,” Benson said. “We’ve got plenty of time now, so take your time explaining.”

Leah was already a woman of few words, and somehow she became even quieter. “...”

Then she spoke. “Over two thousand people, maybe three thousand now? We have electricity, water, agricultural zones, livestock areas, an industrial park, and a school.”

Benson raised an eyebrow. “Schools, too?”

“There are quite a few kids there,” Leah said. “Teachers teach them to read and write, as well as basic survival skills.”

Benson couldn’t imagine such a scene. While they had been struggling to survive, treating even moldy food like treasure, there was actually a place where a school was still operating.

“Oh, and there’s a point system,” Leah continued. “At Rock Fortress, you earn points by working, then use them for food, shelter, and medicine. The more you work, the more you get. You can’t just laze around unless you have family willing to support you with their points. You can survive that way, but only survive.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Benson said.

“And there are drones.” Leah glanced out the car window. “Our drones patrol every day and can spot walkers and strangers around the base early on.”

Benson was silent for a few more seconds. “What about weapons?”

“We have enough. If we need more, we can make them. Our industrial park has ammunition reloading and production lines.”

Benson took a deep breath, recalling his life after the apocalypse.

He had lived at the outpost, listened to The Pope and the priest preach every day, and taken part in weekly “Purification Operations,” which meant going out to kill those deemed “unclean.”

Supplies were looted, ammunition was rationed, and injuries were simply endured. The burn on the back of his hand still hurt a little when he bent it, because there were no medicines, no doctors, and no time to recover.

Benson suddenly felt like laughing. What was he laughing at?

He didn’t know.

Maybe he was laughing at how he’d lived like a dog since the apocalypse, or maybe he was laughing that fate had finally, for once, given him a damn break.

“How did you guys survive back then?” he asked.

Leah looked at him and said solemnly, “Because of Calista.”

Benson waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. “That’s it?”

“That’s it!”

Benson laughed again. “Well, that’s simple enough.”

The convoy stopped at 2:00 a.m. to rest.

It was an abandoned gas station with no walkers and no raiders. Everyone got out to stretch their legs and take care of nature’s call.

Josephine stood beside a car, watching the Rock Fortress team members.

She saw Carver get out of the car and walk over to Turner. The two whispered a few words to each other, then went their separate ways to check the surroundings and confirm it was safe.

Mike stood at the very back of the convoy, motionless. His position allowed him to keep an eye on everyone and all potential threats at the same time.

Ethan crouched beside a vehicle, pulled something out of the first-aid kit, and handed it to Nigma, who had been wounded in the calf during the battle with the Wolves. Then he moved on to check the others.

Jenson climbed down from the helicopter and walked over to Calista. He quietly gave her a report. Calista nodded and patted him on the shoulder.

Their coordination required no extra words, no commands, and no orders. Everyone knew exactly what they had to do.

Josephine suddenly remembered her situation. After the apocalypse, she and Benson’s group had been sent by The Pope to carry out the most dangerous missions.

Before every mission, The Pope would deliver a sermon, calling them “those kissed by fire,” saying they were “atoning for their sins,” and that they were “not yet perfect.”

They were simply thrown in there ruthlessly, and then it was a matter of seeing who could make it out alive.

She looked at her former colleagues standing before her. They were different. They were not being used up. They were... being protected.

Josephine suddenly felt her eyes sting. She turned away and pretended to check her backpack.

Elijah walked over to his sister. “Josephine, what are you looking at?”

Josephine shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just a little envious.”

Elijah looked at her. “Me too.”

Elijah had no burns on his face, only a patch of uneven scarring on his shoulder, but he, too, felt envious at that moment.

If only we’d run into them instead.

“Don’t think about it, brother,” Josephine said.

Elijah nodded. “I won’t.”

After the rest stop, the convoy continued on its way. Benson was still in the back seat, with Leah beside him.

Elijah had taken over the driving, while Theodore was already asleep in the passenger seat.

Benson looked out the window at the horizon gradually turning white. “Will we make it before dawn?”

“No,” Leah said. “It’ll take at least two more days. Virginia isn’t that close to Tennessee, especially in the apocalypse.”

“All right.” Benson nodded regretfully, then suddenly said, “Leah, there’s something I want to ask you. Did The Pope ever try to recall you back then?”

Leah was silent for a few seconds before revealing a secret known only to her: “The month the global walker outbreak began, the internet was still up, and The Pope contacted me.

“He asked where Rickson’s squad and I were and told us to come back, saying that since our group was so strong, if we joined forces, we’d certainly have nothing to fear from the walkers out there.

“We wouldn’t need to go to a military safe zone to live better than most people.”

What was Rock Fortress doing back then?

Oh, Rock Fortress did not exist yet. Their base was still called Twilight Manor.

Calista had only recently taken charge and was leading her group in feverishly building the estate’s defenses.

The Pope said they had three squads there, plus Leah’s and Rickson’s two squads, and with the weapons from the company, their firepower would be enough to sweep through the apocalypse.

At Twilight Manor, Calista had almost no one to rely on. The Howards were elderly, and Dr. Evans had trouble walking. All the heavy labor, patrols, defensive work, and clearing of scattered walkers around the area fell to Leah’s squad and Rickson’s squad.

Benson said in surprise, “You turned down The Pope?”

Leah nodded. She had neither revealed her location nor agreed to return to The Pope.

Given the situation at the time, could she have gone back?

If she had gone back, what would have happened to Calista and the other three, old, weak, and injured as they were? Could they have held Twilight Manor?

The Pope had not been quite so extreme back then, but he was not running a charity either. He never would have taken in those four people he would have seen as dead weight.

Leah shook her head, putting the past behind her, and continued, “The Pope asked me, ‘Have you made up your mind?’ I said I had. He said, ‘Then so be it. I hope you don’t regret this later.’”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Benson frowned. “He didn’t stop you?”

“No.”

Benson fell silent. Leah looked at him. “What do you want to say?”

Benson shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just strange.”

“What’s so strange?”

“It’s strange that he let you go,” Benson said, his gaze fixed on the car window. “We want to leave, but we can’t.”

Leah said nothing. She knew why. Back then, The Pope was still Pope, and he had complete confidence in the fighting strength of his core people. He believed Leah and the others would never survive after leaving the “big family.”

Benson did not press the matter. He just gave a bitter smile. “You know, Leah, sometimes I wonder... if we’d done what you did back then and never gone back...”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but Leah finished it for him: “You might have died.”

Benson looked at her, then back out the window. “Maybe so, but at least I wouldn’t have to live like this.”