In the latter half of the night, it was Calista, Leah, and Bossie's turn to keep watch.
Bossie stayed by the attic window, where his listening equipment and thermal imaging device were set up.
Leah sat against the wall by the front door on the first floor, while Calista paced quietly from one window to another.
From time to time, she would stop and tap the window frame lightly with her fingertips. It was her first time standing watch, and she found it hard to settle her mind.
Time drifted by slowly in the silence.
Suddenly, a faint but distinct tapping sound came from the attic. It was Bossie's warning signal.
Leah rose to her feet without a sound, her hand already on her gun. Calista immediately stopped pacing and turned toward the stairs.
Bossie appeared at the stairwell.
"Calista, Leah," he whispered, his expression unusually serious in the dark, "you should come up and listen."
The two followed him quickly, keeping their steps light so they would not wake the others.
The attic was cramped and cluttered, with Bossie's equipment screen as the only source of light.
He gestured for silence, then handed Calista a hearing amplifier headset and gave another to Leah. He himself kept his eyes fixed on the waveform display.
At first, Calista only heard the amplified wind and her own heartbeat.
Then, a deep, continuous hum slipped into her ears.
It was not like thunder with bursts and pauses. It was steady, constant, and deeply unsettling.
Almost at the same time, she felt a faint but continuous vibration under her feet, like distant drumbeats traveling through the ground.
Leah heard and felt it too.
She looked at Bossie and mouthed silently, "What is it?"
Bossie signaled for them to take off the headsets and lowered his voice to a breath.
"Did you hear it?"
Calista nodded, a chill rising in her chest. "What is that? Some kind of industrial machinery? There is no way anything like that is still running out here."
Even Lorenzo's production line was already extraordinary in this world. This place was the middle of nowhere. There was no way something this massive could exist here.
"No." Bossie shook his head and tapped the screen, which showed an extremely regular vibration frequency and a continuous waveform.
"No machine produces something this consistent. And focus on that vibration."
The three concentrated again.
The vibration was extremely faint, barely noticeable without full focus, but it was real, and it did not stop.
Under the pale glow of the screen, Bossie's face looked slightly drained. He took a breath and spoke the conclusion.
"Footsteps. A massive number of chaotic footsteps. Only one thing can make a sound like this."
A cold chill ran down Calista's spine.
She understood.
"A horde…" Leah said, her voice dry. "A massive one."
Bossie nodded heavily. "The scale is likely far beyond the traces we saw earlier. Based on the sound and vibration, it is still some distance away, but it is definitely moving. As for direction…"
He adjusted the equipment, trying to analyze it.
"There is too much interference to be precise. It seems to be coming from the northwest, but I cannot tell if it is heading toward us, moving parallel, or going away."
He looked at Calista, his expression more serious than ever.
"Calista, with a horde this size, if it is coming toward us, or if we cross its path tomorrow, this farmhouse, even our convoy, will be crushed like straw. We absolutely cannot fight it head-on."
What Bossie did not say was just as clear.
They were in the middle of nowhere. There was no chance of using the Whisperers' method to escape, and abandoning their vehicles and supplies was not an option.
Calista and Leah both understood that.
On foot, they would never reach their destination, and they would never make it back to Rock Fortress.
The attic fell into a dead silence.
Calista's throat tightened. She instinctively wrapped her arms around herself. The weight of that realization pressed down on her, almost overwhelming.
Leah noticed immediately and stepped closer. "Calista."
She said only her name.
Calista took a deep breath and dug her nails into her palm. The sharp pain pulled her out of that brief panic.
She lowered her arms, straightened her back, and her eyes regained their focus.
"Bossie, keep monitoring. Record everything and refine the direction and speed estimates as much as possible."
Her voice was slightly tight, but her orders were clear.
"Leah, quietly wake Carver and Mike. Meet in the storage room. We need a contingency plan now, but do not alarm the others."
"Got it." Bossie immediately turned back to his equipment.
Leah nodded and headed downstairs. At the top of the stairs, she paused and looked back at Calista, her eyes saying one simple thing. I am here.
Calista gave a small nod.
Leah moved down quietly without disturbing anyone.
She woke Carver and Mike one by one.
In the dim beam of a flashlight inside the storage room, Calista relayed Bossie's findings as concisely as possible.
"Bossie believes it is a massive horde. Still some distance away, but direction unknown," she concluded in a low voice.
Carver frowned, rubbing his chin. "Shit. That is bad. Can we avoid it?"
Leah shook her head. "We do not know its direction. Bossie cannot confirm if it is coming toward us. Changing course blindly is even riskier. We might run straight into it or lose our way."
Mike crossed his arms, his face serious. "Abandoning the vehicles and supplies is not an option. That is suicide. No telling how many walkers are out there."
This was the reality of the apocalypse.
They knew there might be danger ahead that they could not fight, yet there was no safe ground to hold and no way to retreat. All they could do was move forward and hope.
"In that case," Calista said at last, making the call, "raise alert to maximum for the rest of the night. Everyone keeps their gear on. Vehicles stay ready to move at any moment."
She paused briefly.
"If the worst happens and the horde is coming for us, we head south at full speed and break through before it can surround us."
"I remember there is a prison in Griffin, Georgia. It should be on the map. We regroup there. There is no better option."
Carver and Mike nodded heavily.
It was the only plan, and a desperate one.
Against a horde of that scale, individual skill and tactics meant very little. It did not matter how experienced they were.
"We will take over the watch," Carver said, standing up. His gaze remained steady and reliable. "You two get some rest. Dawn is close. Whatever happens, moving in daylight is better than at night."
Calista and Leah nodded.
They returned to the main house and sat down against a wall in a corner.
The others were still asleep. Merle's snoring had grown even louder, and Danny muttered in his sleep.
Fatigue quickly took hold of Leah. Holding her gun, her head tilted forward as her breathing evened out.
But Calista felt no trace of sleep.
...
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