After the helicopter flew north for an hour, the terrain began to change.
Flat farmland and low hills gradually gave way to rolling mountains, and the majestic Great Smoky Mountains rose along the horizon.
Franklin began lowering the helicopter's altitude, guiding it along a broad valley.
Lori kept both hands folded protectively over her swollen belly. Her face was a little pale, and the strain of the long flight and her pregnancy left faint bluish shadows beneath her eyes, but her gaze remained fixed ahead.
"It's just up ahead. Once we pass that ridge, you'll see our agricultural area," Lee said to Glenn.
Glenn and Maggie exchanged a smile. Both of them were excited.
Maggie glanced at Lori. "Lori, how are you feeling?"
Lori curled her fingers around the blanket over her legs. Her voice was weak, but steady. "I'm okay. I just want to get there already."
Leaving the relatively familiar prison while heavily pregnant, leaving Carl and Rick behind, and going to a powerful community she had only heard Calista describe, a place completely unknown to her, took enormous courage.
And all of Lori's courage came from the little life inside her, the child who needed a safer place to be born.
Once they crossed the ridge, they saw it.
At the entrance to the valley stood a solid mountain pass.
Thick logs, stacked stone, several watchtowers like the ones at the prison, and barbed wire formed a layered defensive line.
At the very outer edge, there were countless dense, writhing black dots. Were those walkers?
And the pass was only the beginning.
The helicopter continued deeper into the valley, and the sight below made all three of them hold their breath at the same time.
Blackberry Ranch itself was a wide, gently sloping pasture, carefully divided into different areas.
To the east were neat fields. They did not know what was planted there, but the crops were growing vigorously, spread out in shades of deep and pale green.
Beside them stood newly built greenhouses, their plastic roofs gleaming white in the sunlight.
To the west was the livestock area. There was a large chicken coop, with broad fenced enclosures beyond it. Inside the fences, cattle, sheep, and pigs wandered leisurely, while rabbits hopped around.
There were also several beagles racing through the animals. And playing with the beagles was... a monkey?
At the center of the ranch was a cluster of residential and functional buildings.
The houses were sturdy wood-and-stone structures. Some had clearly been built recently. Most of the roofs were fitted with solar panels, and there were quite a few rainwater collection systems as well.
Several crisscrossing dirt-and-stone roads connected the different areas, and there were even simple traffic signs along the roads.
A swift stream cut strongly through the ranch. Several waterwheels turned slowly, and irrigation channels divided and connected the fields in an orderly way.
Farther away, more buildings and defensive works could be seen faintly on the mountainside. That was probably the area around Rock Fortress.
What shocked Glenn most was Blackberry Ranch's sense of order.
From up here, they could see quite a few people working.
In the fields, people bent over to tend the crops. In the livestock area, others fed the animals. In the workshop area, people carried timber.
Everyone moved with purpose. There was no idleness, no panic.
"This..." Maggie's startled voice caught in her throat.
The helicopter began preparing to land, heading toward a flat landing strip on the north side of the ranch.
At the end of the runway stood a hangar with its doors open. They could faintly see other aircraft inside.
Good God. How many aircraft did Calista have?
The helicopter landed steadily. The rotors slowly stopped turning, and the world suddenly went quiet.
The cabin door opened. Lee jumped down first, followed closely by Maggie and Glenn. Then Maggie reached out to help Lori down, while Franklin continued maneuvering the helicopter into the hangar.
When Lori's feet touched the firm, level concrete, her legs went weak and she nearly lost her balance. Maggie quickly held her steady.
But Lori recovered quickly.
The mountain air was incredibly fresh, carrying the distinct scent of grass and trees from the hills. Just breathing it in felt soothing.
Lee soon started up a ranch tour vehicle parked beside the hangar and drove it over to them. "Come on. I'll take you to where you'll be staying."
The three of them got in.
Glenn looked at the orderly scene around him. Everything before his eyes went beyond anything he had imagined a "post-apocalyptic survivor community" could be.
Was this... civilization coming back? Humanity rebuilding?
Glenn could not find the right words. He only felt something pounding hard in his chest. Beyond the shock, there was admiration, and a faint, complicated bitterness.
Everyone back at the prison was lively enough, but they were still worrying over patching walls and saving bullets.
Here, people were discussing livestock handovers and factory production. They had helicopter pilots and medical teams, solar panels and an airstrip.
These were two different worlds.
And they had just flown from one into the other.
Maggie's reaction was even more direct.
She drew in a sharp breath, her gaze locking onto the pasture as it swept over the familiar fences, feed troughs, quarantine pens, and even a small building in the distance that looked like a milking station.
Everything was so familiar that Maggie's heart suddenly clenched.
Their Greene Farm.
Hershel making his rounds early every morning, Patricia busy in the kitchen, she and Beth milking cows and cleaning the stables...
Those days had once been so ordinary they felt dull. Now they had turned into the sharpest kind of longing, stinging her eyes red in an instant.
The ranch before her was ten times, even dozens of times larger than home, and its management looked more modern and efficient.
If Hershel were here, he would surely run his hand over those sturdy fences with emotion. He would feel genuine joy at seeing such a large-scale herd.
The thought tightened Maggie's throat until she nearly choked.
Compared with this place, their own farm felt like a child's toy.
And the organization and control over resources on display here gave her a whole new understanding of the weight behind the name "Rock Fortress."
On the surface, Lori seemed the calmest of the three, but inside, she was the one hit hardest.
Because she saw children. Many children around Carl's age.
Duane, Little Jimmy, and the other children were herding animals in the livestock area. A few younger ones were playing with the beagles and the crab-eating macaque. There was even one child who had not joined the others, sitting off to the side and reading alone.
Every child looked healthy.
Lori squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.
Before all of this happened, Carl had been like that too. And now, Carl was learning how to use a gun...
The tour vehicle brought them to a detached cottage at the edge of the residential area.
Once it stopped, Glenn and Maggie got out almost at the same time, though both of them moved a little slowly, as if they had not yet fully recovered from the shock of what they had just seen.
With Maggie's support, Lori stepped somewhat clumsily onto the firm ground.
Gwendolyn came forward with Oak and Sarah.
"Welcome to Blackberry Ranch. I'm Gwendolyn. This is Oak, and this is Sarah. We're responsible for reception and coordination."
Gwendolyn's gaze passed politely over the three of them, lingering a moment longer on Lori. "You must be Lori. Please come inside and rest first. Sarah is a nurse. She'll give you a preliminary checkup."