The cottage was clean and warm. The bed had fresh sheets and thick blankets, and it came with everything they needed: a table, chairs, storage cabinets, even a small cast-iron stove with several pieces of firewood neatly stacked beside it.
The windows were wide and bright, and the afternoon sun slanted in, filling the room with warmth.
"This..." Lori was helped to sit on the edge of the bed. Her fingers brushed over the clean sheets as she looked around. "This place is wonderful."
Maggie helped Lori put away her small amount of luggage, while Glenn stood a little awkwardly by the door, still unable to stop looking through the window at Blackberry Ranch outside.
This was not just a safe shelter. It was the beginning of a small society that was already functioning.
Rick had been fighting to keep the prison alive, but the people here seemed to be building toward an actual life.
After Lori was settled, Glenn and Maggie were told that Leah and Calista were on their way and would like to meet them shortly.
While they waited, Maggie could not sit still. She said to Glenn, "I want to walk around and see the ranch."
Glenn understood how she felt and nodded.
Maggie walked alone to the edge of the residential area, near the pasture fence.
She looked at the cattle and sheep of different colors inside the enclosure and noticed that someone was specifically recording the condition of the livestock.
Everything was astonishingly efficient. It felt as if a complete system of knowledge and methods was supporting the whole place.
Glenn came to Maggie's side and followed her gaze.
"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Glenn said quietly, more to himself than to her.
Maggie did not turn around. Her voice was very soft, almost dazed, like she was dreaming. "Glenn, I feel like I'm looking at the farm my dad always dreamed of."
"What do you think?" a familiar voice came from behind them.
Maggie spun around and saw Leah standing by the door. Her long blond hair was tied into a neat low ponytail, and her sleek black combat uniform made her tall, upright figure look even sharper. A pistol rested at her waist.
Leah still looked as cool and distant as ever, but there was a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.
Calista stood half a step behind her, wearing dark work pants and a camel-colored turtleneck sweater. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, with a few loose strands falling across her forehead.
Up close, she was just as bright and beautiful as Maggie remembered, with delicate features and gray-blue eyes that shone like aquamarine in the sunlight. But compared with last year, she now carried the presence of someone used to standing in a position of authority.
Calista smiled sweetly. "Maggie! Glenn! Welcome to Blackberry Ranch."
"Leah! Calista!" Maggie's voice changed instantly. She rushed over and hugged Calista tightly first.
Then she turned to Leah and gently hugged her as well.
Leah seemed to stiffen for a moment, but soon raised a hand and patted Maggie lightly on the back.
Glenn also greeted them happily.
"Thank you. Thank you both." Maggie's eyes reddened. "This place is just like a dream."
"It isn't a dream. It's a reality built through a lot of hard work and sacrifice." Calista pointed proudly toward the pastures and fields.
"Professor Howard, the UTK agricultural team, and experienced people like your father contributed their knowledge.
Many more people contributed their labor.
All we did was provide a relatively safe framework and organize resources, knowledge, and manpower effectively."
"My dad would love it here," Maggie murmured, her eyes still lingering on the ranch.
"He always said land is the most honest thing there is. However you treat it, that's how it repays you. Here, you've made it repay even more."
Leah looked at the complicated emotion in Maggie's eyes and patted her shoulder. "Hershel is a sensible man, and so are you. Don't think too much about it for now."
Calista could see that Maggie and Glenn still wanted to see more, and she happened to have time today, so she suggested lightly, "Since you're here, I can take you to the industrial park later. Agriculture alone won't give you the full picture."
The two agreed without hesitation.
The trip to the industrial park shook them just as much.
When the enormous outline of the industrial park appeared on the horizon, Glenn sucked in a breath.
After they entered the park, the scene before them went even further beyond what they had imagined.
The rhythmic rumble of machinery came from the workshops. People were busy everywhere, moving materials, operating machines, and repairing equipment.
In the open areas, newly produced metal parts, protective work supplies, and even piles of roughly processed clay brick blanks were stacked neatly.
"We're trying to restore some of the most basic production capacity," Calista explained simply as she walked ahead.
"Tools, containers, building materials, simple fabric processing, and things like that. The base needs to be able to support itself instead of relying forever on scavenged supplies."
Glenn watched everything with intense focus.
He passed a workshop producing simple hardware and saw a punch press bending steel plates into tools under a worker's control. In one corner, a small furnace was melting down recycled metal for recasting.
"How many people are working on all this?" Glenn could not help asking.
"Right now, about five hundred people are directly involved in industrial production, including apprentices. There are even more in support and logistics," Calista answered.
"You need a large enough population to support this kind of division of labor. And once this kind of production starts running, it can feed and attract even more people, forming a cycle.
Of course, safety is the foundation of all of it."
Glenn fell silent.
He thought of the prison, where Rick was working hard to maintain order while their population was also growing.
But their overall lack of resources and the pressure to survive outside kept most people exhausted. It was hard for them to spare the energy to plan construction on this scale.
Rock Fortress, meanwhile, was steadily pulling the world after the apocalypse back onto a proper track.
At the same time, in the medical room at Blackberry Ranch, Lori had finished Sarah's initial checkup and was now undergoing a more thorough examination by Dr. Evans.
The examination equipment was clean and complete. It did not look inferior to a hospital from before the apocalypse.
Dr. Evans removed his stethoscope and explained in careful detail. "Mrs. Grimes, based on what you've told me and the examination I just performed, the condition of your pelvis does make natural birth difficult. There is a relatively high chance that you may need a cesarean section.
I need to be honest with you. We have basic surgical conditions here, and the medical team has experience handling trauma and emergencies, but we do lack specialized experience with cesarean sections."
Lori's heart tightened, but Dr. Evans's next words eased it slightly.
"However," Dr. Evans continued, "we do have anesthetics, monitoring equipment, antibiotics, and the conditions needed for postoperative care.
If surgery does become necessary, I will gather the best resources we have here and do everything possible to keep you and the baby safe.
For now, both you and the baby are in decent condition. We have time to prepare, carry out a more detailed assessment, and make a proper plan."
There was no false comfort, no exaggerated promise. That directness, strangely enough, made Lori feel more at ease.
She had known the worst possibility all along.
"I understand, Dr. Evans. Thank you." Lori gently stroked her belly. "I feel much safer here than I did at the prison."
Dr. Evans nodded. "Get plenty of rest. We'll come by for regular checkups. If you feel anything unusual, tell the infirmary right away."
...
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