Watching from the sidelines, Jason lowered his voice and said to Merle beside him, "Boss, the Chief's skills are improving fast."
Merle let out a cackling laugh and gestured with one hand. "She's getting interesting, but she's still a long way from Leah! Now she's the real damn beast. Her fists are hard as hell too!"
He smacked his lips. His words were crude, but his tone carried pure recognition of strength.
Clearly, Merle had remembered their first unpleasant meeting.
Back then, fresh from losing his hand, he had talked trash to Calista and taken an iron punch from Leah for it.
A grown man, knocked out by one punch.
A disgrace to the Dixons.
Daryl heard Merle's words and frowned slightly.
He did not like Merle talking about Leah in that tone, even though he knew his idiot brother meant no harm.
In a sense, Daryl, Merle, and Jason had all clawed their way up from the bottom.
If not for the walker apocalypse, they would still have been redneck thugs and gangsters, and they never would have known a rich girl like Calista or professional mercenaries like Leah and her people.
Even now, Merle still ran his mouth without thinking.
But Daryl wanted to change. He wanted to stop being so covered in thorns like he used to be, while keeping whatever he still believed in.
Things like kindness, his bond with Merle, and this quiet attention he could not quite explain.
Finally, after another fierce exchange, Calista and Leah both exerted their strength at the same time and leapt back from each other, ending the exhilarating spar.
Sweat had soaked their hair and training clothes, and both sisters' chests rose and fell slightly.
Calista felt that restless energy inside her had calmed somewhat. In its place came a clear, open exhaustion, along with a sharper understanding of her own strength.
"How do you feel?" Leah walked up to her and handed her a towel.
Calista took it, wiped off her sweat, and looked at Leah with excitement in her eyes, along with a hint of confusion. "I think... I can feel it a little now. But it really doesn't listen!"
"Taming a beast takes time and patience, Calista." Leah patted her shoulder. "You're already doing well."
Calista lowered her head and looked at her long, slightly slender hands.
She was not a warrior. Not before she crossed over, and not after.
But in this world, strength was the only hard currency.
And Wildfire was currently her greatest chance to change her delicate physique.
It all depended on whether she could seize it properly.
Just then, Leah's gaze unintentionally swept toward Daryl.
Daryl's heart skipped a beat. He instinctively wanted to lower his head and avoid her eyes, but in the end, he forced himself to meet her gaze for an instant.
Leah's eyes were calm, with no special meaning in them. It was as if she had simply glanced over anyone else on the training ground. Soon, her attention returned to Calista.
Daryl felt a little disappointed, yet also relieved.
He watched Leah hand Calista the towel and saw the softened lines of her face because of her sister's progress.
Daryl knew that Leah's mind was entirely on her sister and Rock Fortress right now.
Feelings? For Leah, that was probably something too distant.
He silently lowered his head and went back to wiping his crossbow, only his movements were slower than before.
Daryl did not know what he was supposed to do. Maybe... just watching like this, and being able to help when needed, was enough.
After all, he and Leah came from different worlds, even now, when they were in the same base and the same apocalypse.
He was just a thug who knew how to use a crossbow and hunt, while Leah was a dazzling warrior and the leader of the Defense Force.
Above the training ground, the sunlight was just right.
Some faint emotions quietly took root in a corner no one was watching, then sank back into silence just as quietly.
...
The stubborn winter had finally collapsed under the constant warmth of the sun.
The thick snow that had piled up in the valley all winter had now turned into countless thin streams, rushing cheerfully down the ridges and soaking the thirsty earth.
The mountain roads had become a muddy mess. Vehicle tracks rolled through them, leaving deep ruts behind.
The harsh winter blockade was over.
The gates of Rock Fortress opened more frequently than before.
Scout teams stepped through the mud one after another, disappearing into the trees in different directions.
The squad led by Hank was one of them.
Bossie crouched on a high point, holding binoculars as he carefully observed a winding road in the distance.
After the snow melted, many traces that had been buried under ice and snow were exposed.
Messy tire tracks, footprints that did not belong to Rock Fortress standard-issue boots, and filthy drag marks left by moving walkers.
"The road's open, and trouble won't be far behind," Bossie said quietly to the teammate beside him. "Write it down. Southeast, about ten kilometers out. Signs that vehicles stopped there. Time unknown."
Another scout team, led by David and Leo and made up entirely of new recruits, was responsible for clearing scattered walkers within five kilometers of Rock Fortress and Blackberry Ranch.
Using the techniques they had learned from Mike and the other veterans, they silently eliminated the wandering threats while drawing a more accurate map of the surrounding terrain.
After taking down a walker stuck in a mud pit with his machete, Leo wiped off his sweat and looked at the distant hills, now touched with green. "Now that we can move around more, it feels like I can breathe easier."
The new members were growing quickly through real combat experience, and Rock Fortress's line of sight, carried by these extended feelers, began reaching toward more distant territory.
Near Black Bear Creek at Blackberry Ranch, everything was in full swing.
This had become Elena's team's "main battlefield."
The runoff from the melting snow was several times stronger than usual, crashing against the diversion channel with a thunderous roar.
Elena had her pant legs rolled up to her knees and stood in the icy, ankle-deep creek water, directing the rest of her team and the residents who had signed up for physical labor.
"Aleksei, reinforce that support on the left! Yes, brace it with that rock!"
"Ben! Take people and clear the debris in front of the filter screen. Move fast! Don't let the silt clog the inlet!"
Knox and Anna, former Dam staff, were also using their professional experience to lead others in helping.
With everyone working together, the diversion channel steadily guided the creek water into the modified irrigation system. Part of it went toward daily use and agriculture, while the other part was directed toward a massive waterwheel.
The waterwheel gave off a reassuring hum as it drove the generator.
Although the current power output was unstable and the voltage still fluctuated from time to time, it was enough to supply the daily needs of Blackberry Ranch's residents.
Once it was improved and expanded later, the results would surely be even better.
Elena looked at the stabilized water flow and the crude power generation equipment with its blinking indicator lights, and a genuine smile appeared on her face.
She took the towel Ming handed her and wiped her hands, then said to Calista, who had come to check on the progress, "It's basically stable now.
As long as the water source doesn't dry up, we'll have a continuous supply of relatively clean water and basic electricity.
That gives us the most basic possibility for the next step... the beginning of industry."
She did not say much, but her eyes were full of hope for the future.
Calista looked at the spinning waterwheel and the busy crowd, then nodded.