Everyone's gaze followed Calista's finger to the heavily marked area on the map.
The East Knoxville Industrial Park.
"Here." Calista tapped the industrial park hard with her finger.
"Production lines, raw materials, generators, vehicle repair shops, and possibly fuel and chemical products.
If we take it, we can build a military industry and heavy industry foundation that truly belongs to us, and make the qualitative leap from 'survival' to 'development.'"
She looked around at everyone, her gaze firm. "So, once spring begins and the ground is ready for large-scale operations, our top priority, and our only core objective, is to concentrate all our strength and retake the Knoxville Industrial Park!"
"Hank, your scout team needs to use this final stretch of time to conduct one last, most detailed reconnaissance of the industrial park." Calista looked at Hank, Bossie, and the others.
"I need the exact distribution of walkers inside, the condition of each factory area, and any potential living forces we haven't discovered before. Draw up a detailed clearing route."
She turned to the lead engineers and technicians. "Ancheta, Tom, Oliver, Henry, you'll form the technical assessment team.
Immediately make a detailed list of the equipment, parts, and supplies we urgently need, prioritizing anything that can immediately improve our military industry and production capacity. Those areas will be cleared first when the time comes."
"Leah, Rickson, you'll be responsible for the combat plan and logistical support plan." Calista's gaze fell on them next.
"Rickson, assess how much manpower we need to mobilize to secure the transport line and establish forward supply points.
Leah, draft the specific clearing tactics, personnel assignments, firepower allocation, and contingency plans for every possible emergency.
We need to gain the greatest results at the lowest cost."
"Elena, you and your team will focus on the industrial park's independent power grid, water sources, and water supply system," Calista said to Professor Elena.
"Assess as much as possible whether we can restore their functions or integrate those resources into our existing system. The energy there will be key to our future development."
The tasks were clearly assigned, with responsibility falling to specific people.
The atmosphere in the meeting room instantly filled with drive.
Everyone knew this was no longer a small-scale search or defensive battle. This was a large-scale offensive meant to seize a strategic location and decide the future fate of the base.
"Everyone." Calista stood up, her pace quickening.
"This winter, we proved that we could survive. And this spring, we will decide what kind of life we can build!
Retaking the industrial park is not just for supplies. It is for the future of Rock Fortress!
It is so all of us can truly gain a foothold on this wasteland and build our own order and civilization!"
"Rebuild order..." In the corner, Professor Howard unconsciously repeated the words, his wrinkled hand tightening around his wife's.
Mrs. Howard's chest rose and fell slightly, and a long-lost light reflected in her eyes.
When the virus had first broken out and Calista first tried to seize the initiative, it had also been here, in this building, in this room.
At that time, they had just returned from downtown Knoxville. Calista had even run into danger at Macy's and still had an injury on her head.
Back then, Mrs. Howard had leaned against her husband's arms, still holding out hope that the government would restore order.
As everything collapsed, she had lost all hope for the future.
Now, that once delicate and fragile girl had built a large base and once again stood here with absolute control, saying she would restore order and civilization.
She could do it.
Everyone believed she could.
Calista's voice continued rising, carrying a sharp, stirring force.
"What is order?" she asked, then answered herself. "It is not enslaving others like the Red Scarf Gang. It is not the pleasure of ordering people around!
Order is the ability to define right and wrong in the apocalypse, to draw boundaries, and to light hope! Every bit of effort we put in is part of the foundation of future civilization!"
"BOOM!"
It was as if muffled thunder had exploded inside the chest of everyone at the meeting.
No one disliked power and territory.
Carver, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, had straightened at some point, his face showing an almost burning focus.
Power? Order?
Carver did not care about those grand words. What he cared about was how many obstacles he could tear apart by following a dazzling Calista like this, how much loot he could seize, and how much territory he could carve his name into.
Calista was someone worth following for a lifetime.
Rickson ignored how much heavier his own workload would become after they took more territory. At that moment, only two words filled his mind: order.
Rock Fortress was the home he had helped build with his own hands. In the beginning, when Calista, Leah, and the others were laying the foundation outside, he had been the one worrying over the affairs of the entire base and keeping it running.
As the chief steward, Rickson had poured no less effort into this place than anyone else. It had long since become his home.
And now, Calista was saying she would lay a broader foundation for this home, build higher walls, and raise a brighter beacon.
A rush of burning pride surged through him, making his teeth itch with the urge to move. He wanted to pick up a gun right now and charge to the very front.
Territory?
Of course. Greater territory meant that the thing he, Rickson, protected would be enough to make the whole apocalypse take notice.
As for Leah,
she stood closest to Calista, staring at her sister's profile.
Leah trembled all over, a feeling that rarely came over her.
She knew this was recognition and pride, a resonance ignited deep in her blood.
All she had ever sought in life was to grip a weapon and carve open a path to survival for the people she cared about.
Whether on battlefields in the past or later, during one dirty job after another.
But her sister intended to build a new city with her own hands at the end of that path.
Ambition?
No. This was aspiration, a grand will that rose above mere survival.
It was so dangerous, and so captivating.
Leah smiled.
Her blade had finally found a land worth sharpening itself for.
"The Knoxville Industrial Park is only the beginning."
Calista's final words fell as her fingertip pressed heavily onto the map. "It will be the first cradle of the new order. We have restored agricultural production. Next comes industry. After that..."
She did not finish.
But everyone understood the words left unsaid.
Calista's target, after taking the industrial park, was the entirety of Knoxville, and even beyond that.
A hot, tingling current shot up from the base of everyone's spine to the tops of their heads.
The Howard couple could hear their own hearts pounding, and the younger members held their breath.
Not to merely scrape by, but to rule.
Not to hide from walkers and the darkness of the apocalypse, but to forge the sun with their own hands.
The time to set out had arrived.
After the meeting ended, the entire Rock Fortress began running at full speed for the major spring operation.
Scout teams appeared more and more frequently on the roads leading to Knoxville.
In the machine workshop and weapons repair workshop, the maintenance and modification of the base's equipment and weapons entered the final stage.
Logistics personnel began counting warehouse inventory and packing all kinds of combat supplies that might be needed.
On the training ground, the joint drills between new and veteran soldiers became even harder, and the reserves' progress was visible to the naked eye.
Even Joey, Morgan, and the others stepped up their preparations for spring planting to ensure the later supply of fresh food.
...
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