The gates of Twilight Manor slowly swung open. Four vehicles rushed inside, finally making it back to the estate as dusk settled in.

  Ethan smmed the accelerator as he drove through the entrance, the tires shrieking against the gravel.

  Before the car had even fully stopped, the door of the Humvee ahead was already flung open, and Leah jumped out quickly.

  She hurried over, pulled open the Porsche door, and anxiously checked Calista’s injury.

  “How did you get hurt?”

  Calista gave her a reassuring smile.

  “It’s nothing. Just let Evans bandage it up.”

  The wind lifted her pale golden hair as Calista tilted her head to watch the sky gradually darkening. Then she said softly,

  “Everyone clean up and call the others. Let’s hold a meeting.”

  Her voice was still a little hoarse, but there was an unquestionable authority in her tone that made Leah pause for a moment.

  But soon after, she gave her sister a long look, called the others over, and took the lead in carrying out the instructions.

  Calista stopped Carver when he tried to keep holding her.

  “Carver, go help them clean up. I’m fine on my own.”

  While they were in the car, Calista kept repying the few minutes of danger she had experienced at the sink earlier that day.

  Reality had spshed over her like a bucket of icy water, completely jolting her awake.

  As the fear and discomfort slowly faded, a stronger emotion began to grow inside her—

  anger at her own helplessness, and an unprecedented hunger for power.

  She couldn’t keep being the little sister clinging to someone else’s protection.

  Spoiled? Sheltered?

  Those things were already in the past.

  The apocalypse didn’t care whether she was a beautiful rich girl. It only cared whether she had the ability to survive—and the ability to protect herself.

  As for her physical condition, even if she trained for weeks, or even underwent the same level of intense training as the Reapers, she would never be stronger than them.

  Today she had only been separated from Carver and Mike for a short while, and she had already run into danger.

  If her appearance hadn’t lowered the thugs’ guard, she would have been captured from the start.

  In the end, before crossing over into this world, Calista had only been an ordinary girl.

  Even though she knew this was the world of The Walking Dead, the virus outbreak had only just begun. In a crowded pce like Macy’s, she had instinctively rexed her guard.

  She thought that simply leaving her companions briefly to use the restroom wouldn’t put her in danger.

  Her vigince had been focused entirely on the walkers, and she hadn’t realized the threat humans could pose.

  The apocalypse had only just begun, and people’s mindsets hadn’t fully changed yet. That was why the gold-toothed man and his group had retreated immediately after seeing Calista kill someone.

  But what about a few months ter?

  What if Carver and the others had arrived a little ter?

  What if they encountered stronger enemies who chose self-preservation—or simply decided her safety wasn’t worth the risk?

  This was a real world where people could die anywhere, at any moment. It wasn’t a television show.

  In the apocalypse, any malicious man could easily put her life in danger.

  Leah was a qualified sister and a capable leader of the Reapers, but she couldn’t stay by Calista’s side every second.

  As for Carver, he only had a slight fondness for her right now. But how much would a mercenary who lives by the gun really risk for such a small feeling?

  She didn’t know.

  And she didn’t dare gamble on it.

  Calista came from a peaceful era. The fiercest “firepower” she had ever used in life was arguing with people in online games.

  She had always believed—just like many strategy guides cimed—that money and a bit of cleverness could buy everything.

  Including loyalty.

  Including safety.

  But Calista had overlooked one thing: before coming to this world, she had only been an ordinary person herself. She had no extraordinary experience and no real skill in maniputing people.

  Like a foolish princess, she had hidden inside a gilded cage, thinking that a little sweetness could make these men who lived with bdes at their throats submit to her.

  Yet today, when death and humiliation had come within arm’s reach, she suddenly woke up.

  The “support” she relied on was nothing more than a castle built on sand.

  Her personal strength, in the face of real chaos, was as fragile as a sheet of paper.

  What Calista wanted now was no longer to rely on others.

  She wanted to rely on herself—and command others.

  If she became the leader of the team…

  If she determined the direction they would move forward…

  If she could provide everyone with the resources needed to survive…

  Then surely no one would abandon her lightly.

  As for the Reaper Squad?

  They shouldn’t be her bodyguards.

  They should be the sword in her hand.

  In the apocalypse, force was the decisive factor.

  In the original storyline, the Reapers’ development path in the apocalypse had been completely wrong. A mercenary team ending up in such a miserable state was truly a waste.

  She would use her own methods to hold them firmly in her grasp.

  The current retionship was only the foundation—but far from enough.

  She needed them to understand who could provide the things they needed most in this apocalypse.

  Not just supplies.

  But direction.

  And a sanctuary that could truly be called a faction.

  After the wound on her head was bandaged, Calista asked Evans to invite the Howards and the others to join the meeting ter. Then she went to the bathroom and spshed cold water on her face.

  The woman in the mirror still looked shaken, but something harder had appeared deep within her eyes.

  She straightened her clothes, took a deep breath, and pushed open the bathroom door.

  ...

  The fmes in the firepce of the main hall flickered against everyone’s faces, stretching their shadows long and twisted across the room.

  Calista sat curled in the corner of the sofa. Her head was wrapped in gauze, and after cleaning up she had changed into comfortable loungewear. She listened to the discussion while her fingernails tapped lightly against the armrest.

  “Social media has completely exploded. Someone filmed National Guard armored vehicles driving onto the highway…”

  “You have no idea what Knoxville looks like now! That’s definitely not rabies!”

  “They’re walkers! Calista was right. Those things are resurrected corpses—they’re not living people at all!”

  ...

  “Ding!”

  Calista gnced down at her phone. With only one percent battery left, it barely managed to dispy a red headline marked with an excmation point before the screen went bck.

  She immediately interrupted everyone.

  “Turn on the TV. The government channel should be broadcasting an emergency announcement!”

  The mercenary standing closest to the television switched on the massive LCD screen. Every channel was broadcasting the same message.

  “At 20:17 Eastern Time, the Governor of California decred a statewide state of emergency. Texas, New York, and other states followed shortly after…”

  “A total of eleven states have now decred martial w. The National Guard will take control of all primary highways within twenty-four hours! Repeat: California, Texas…”

  The living room suddenly fell silent.

  Evans, who was usually calm, now had his brows tightly knitted.

  “Is this some kind of joke?”

  Calista spoke up.

  “Everyone, this is exactly what I wanted to talk about. Those who went to Knoxville today should already know what the city looks like now. Other pces won’t be any better.”

  Her gaze swept across Leah and the others, who nodded solemnly.

  Jenson scratched his head and said hesitantly,

  “I honestly feel like the government might not be able to control this situation…”

  Calista nodded.

  He was absolutely right.

  Not only would the government fail to control it—even human civilization itself wouldn’t be able to stop the colpse. The world would fall apart within two months.

  She turned to the mercenaries who had stayed behind at the manor.

  “Did you discover anything during your patrols today?”

  The guards exchanged gnces. Ancheta spoke up.

  “After you left, we patrolled the surrounding woods and the nearby roads.

  Nothing unusual in the forest, and there were no vehicles on the local roads. But when we followed the side road out to the highway near the Smoky Mountains, there was a lot of traffic.”

  “Everyone was fleeing Knoxville.”

  “Did anyone try to drive into the mountains?” Leah asked.

  “Not yet. Considering the terrain and how hidden this pce is…”

  “They will eventually, right?” Calista interrupted Ancheta.

  “Once people realize the cities outside have fallen, they’ll only be able to run toward rural areas or pces with fewer people.”

  Evans nodded.

  “That’s right. And besides, we’re not the only ones who know about this pce.

  Mr. Norton’s driver, his bodyguards, the delivery drivers who come regurly, and the workers who used to work at the winery—they might all think about escaping here.”

  “And the walkers,” Calista added emphatically.

  “They won’t just follow the roads. The manor is surrounded by forest.”

  “We need to come up with a solution.”