TWD - Chapter 558: The Knoxville Blueprint (Patreon)

Calista stared at the blueprints, studying them carefully for a moment. Her fingers tapped lightly on the table as her gaze shifted from one drawing to another. Finally, she looked up. “Do we have enough materials?”

Reg nodded confidently. “Yes. We have enough rebar, cement, and lumber in the warehouse to keep construction going for five years.”

“What about the timeline? How long will it take, roughly?”

Reg answered without hesitation, “If we’re building bunkers, we can complete three in a month. To finish the entire project, it’ll take about three months.”

Calista pondered for a moment, her gaze sweeping over the locations of the bunkers on the blueprints. “Start with two, one to the east and one to the west. We can build the rest in stages.”

Reg quickly made a prominent mark on the blueprint and nodded in agreement. “Got it. I’ll go make the arrangements right away.”

Calista looked up and turned her gaze toward Leah. “Leah, how are the preparations coming along over in Knoxville?”

Upon hearing this, Leah flipped open the notebook in her hand. “The reconnaissance team has been out for three days now. Bossie is leading the team, and they’ve brought a drone.

“They reported back last night. There are far fewer walkers in the eastern sector than we expected. We suspect Maya and her team may have cleared out a group of them while cleaning up around the outpost earlier.”

She paused, her finger tracing the pages of her notebook. “There are still about a hundred walkers on the UTK campus. There are more in the commercial and residential areas, but they’re fairly scattered.”

Leah looked up, an odd expression on her face. “There’s something else. They found signs that survivors may be living on the UTK campus.”

Calista’s eyebrows twitched slightly. “Survivors?”

Leah nodded. “Right. When Professor Martin and his team evacuated, Hank’s squad did a rough sweep of the campus. There were far fewer walkers there than in the surrounding commercial and residential areas.

“It seems some survivors found their way there in dribs and drabs over time, gradually forming a small camp.

“Bossie said that, based on the drone footage, there are probably twenty or thirty people there, and they don’t seem to be faring very well.”

Calista was silent for a few seconds before asking warily, “Are they armed?”

Leah shook her head. “Can’t tell, but anyone who’s survived in a place like that isn’t exactly a pushover.”

Calista nodded. “Keep scouting. Find out who they are. If we can bring them into the fold, do it. If not...”

She didn’t finish, but everyone understood what she meant.

Calista didn’t dwell on it. She moved to the next subject, tapping a point on the map in northwestern Georgia, near the Tennessee border.

“While we were in Virginia, Joe scouted several small survivor camps nearby. The larger ones had thirty or forty people, the smaller ones a little more than a dozen. All of them are small groups barely scraping by as they wander from place to place.

“One raider camp attacked a search party that had gone out, but Joe and his men wiped it out. Another group approached him on their own and asked whether they could join us.

“Joe said those people seemed honest and unlikely to cause trouble, so he’s letting them stay on the outskirts of the outpost for now.

“I told him to register them first, and we’ll deal with it once things here in Knoxville settle down.”

Rickson thought of another outpost and asked, “What about Rick’s place? How’s the prison outpost doing lately?”

Leah replied, “Rick sent word a couple of days ago. More than thirty survivors have arrived there recently, all after seeing the billboard we put up along the highway.”

She turned to another page in her notebook. “Most are ordinary families with children. They aren’t much use in a fight, but a few have valuable skills. There’s a veterinarian, two who can fix cars, and one who used to be a teacher.”

Calista’s eyes lit up briefly. “Good. Tell Rick to settle them in properly. Register those with skills so we can assign them jobs later.”

Leah nodded. “I’ve already given those instructions. Also, counting those at the various outposts, the Defense Force has now grown to a thousand people. Five hundred are regular soldiers and the rest are in the reserves.”

Deanna interjected at that moment, “Calista, speaking of population, I happen to have some figures to report.”

She opened a document in front of her. “As of this morning, the total registered population at Rock Fortress is 3,372. Adding in the Riverbank Guerrillas and the two outlying outposts in Georgia, that brings the total to roughly 3,500.”

Deanna looked up at Calista. “Three thousand five hundred! At this rate, Blackberry Ranch and the industrial park will soon run out of room!”

Calista pursed her lips, then stood up and walked over to the massive map of the United States on the wall, next to which hung maps of Tennessee and Knoxville.

Currently, Rock Fortress’s forces are concentrated around Knoxville, with two outposts in Georgia and one planned outpost in Virginia.

Her finger landed on the location of the Knoxville Industrial Park, then slowly moved eastward. “East of Knoxville.”

Calista turned around and looked at the people in the room. “This area directly borders our industrial park. If we take this area, our territory will double in size.

“The UTK campus is over there. It has ready-made classroom buildings, dormitories, laboratories, and a library, with full utilities. The perimeter wall’s foundations are still intact. With a little repair work, the campus could house people again.”

Benson interjected, “Are there a lot of walkers in the East District?”

Leah replied, “Fewer than we expected.

“The East District used to be a college town, with the industrial park just on the outskirts, so the population density was never very high to begin with.

“Right after the virus broke out, most people either fled or were taken in by the military safe zone to the west.

“Plus, Maya and her team cleared out the outposts in the surrounding area earlier, so there are far fewer walkers than in the West District or downtown.”

Calista nodded. “That’s exactly what I was going to say.”

She pointed to several areas on the map. “Look, Knoxville’s urban area is divided into five districts in total.

“The East District, our target, has good infrastructure and relatively few walkers.

“The West District is mainly a commercial area, with many office buildings, shopping malls, and hotels. Plus, the military security zone used to be in the West District, and when they evacuated, they left behind a large number of civilians. The walkers are definitely concentrated there, and the terrain is complex, making it difficult to clear.

“Downtown consists mainly of government buildings, financial institutions, and high-rises. It had the highest population density and now has the most walkers. Who knows how many are hiding in the ruins?

“The South District, near the Tennessee River and the Great Smoky Mountains, has some warehouses and a dock. If we can secure it, it could serve as a waterway outpost.

“The North District is an upscale residential area with mansions. It has a low population density, but its remote location makes it a hassle to clear.”

Calista’s gaze lingered on “the North District” for a moment.

Her original host’s home was there. She’d been there once with Leah and the others when the virus first broke out, but she hadn’t returned since the apocalypse began.

Rock Fortress lay south of Knoxville. Back then, they’d taken a detour from the suburbs to the North District to gather supplies, then passed through the West District, looting Macy’s on the way back.

Back then, Emily was in Lonsdale in the East District, and the properties where she had told Emily she had hidden supplies were in the East and North Districts.

She had no idea whether Emily had ever retrieved those supplies, or even whether she was still alive.

The apocalypse had changed everything beyond recognition...

Calista snapped back to the present. “So, the East District is our top choice!

“Once we secure the East District, we can use the UTK campus near downtown as a boundary and transform the East District into a second base to house new arrivals, which will relieve some of the pressure on the Knoxville Industrial Park.”

“After securing the East District, once the population grows a bit more, we’ll gradually push into the South and North Districts.

“The West District and downtown are the toughest nuts to crack, but once we take them, we’ll have complete control of Knoxville. We’ll leave them for last.”

There was one more thing she hadn’t said.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the last Black Fire Project pilot site in the United States, lay northwest of Knoxville.

She had no idea what was happening inside or whether it might threaten Knoxville. Taking it on could mean another hard fight.

Calista turned around and looked at everyone in the room. “Everyone, it’s already July. I want the East District secured by October!”

Her gaze suddenly turned cold. “Leah, Benson, you’ll each lead a team. Take as many people as you need, along with Walker Disruptors and heavy weapons.

“Maya and Wells will advance eastward from downtown simultaneously. We’ll push in from both ends and take the East District!

“When we encounter survivors in the East District, recruit anyone willing to join us. Give those who refuse a day’s rations and send them on their way. Any raiders are to be dealt with on the spot.”

Benson couldn’t help but ask, “Where do we dispose of the walker and raider corpses?”

Calista turned her head and gave him a calm look. “Drag them all to the industrial park to be burned for power generation. I’m not having them pollute my East District.”

The meeting drew to a close in a relaxed atmosphere.

Calista walked back to her seat, sat down, and looked around. “Any other questions?”

No one spoke.

She nodded and said to Deanna and Rickson, “That’s all!

“Deanna, Rickson, start by setting up a few internal affairs departments this week and select the staff.

“Leah, you and Maya should plan the operations for the East District.”

The crowd slowly dispersed. Benson walked to the door and glanced back at Calista.

She was standing by the window, watching the bustling scene outside.

Benson was beginning to see her as a lighthouse. Not something distant and untouchable, but a light showing people the way through the darkness, making them want to follow.

He smiled, pushed open the door, and stepped outside, where the sunlight was just right.

A new day had just begun.