The next day, Calista found herself thinking about Terminus again.
A map lay spread across her desk, with a vague question-mark-shaped region marked in red north of the old Interstate 85 route.
Just then, Leah strode through the door, sounding more upbeat than usual. She reached out and grabbed Calista by the wrist.
"Cali, put the pen down and come with me. There's something you need to see for yourself. Right now."
Calista looked up at her in surprise. "Right now? Where are we going? What happened?"
Her first thought was that the prison reconnaissance team had sent back urgent news, or that something had happened at the base.
"Something good!" Leah's smile widened, carrying a hint of mystery. "It's a secret for now, but trust me. This is important."
She paused. Seeing Calista still glancing suspiciously at the map, Leah leaned closer and lowered her voice.
"Remember when we talked privately about Rock Fortress's biggest weakness?"
Calista answered almost without thinking.
"We're doing fine in almost every other respect, but the base is deep in the mountains and forests. We lack a reliable, high-capacity route for long-range deployment and evacuation."
Leah snapped her fingers, her eyes gleaming.
"Exactly!
"So what if I told you Rock Fortress is about to have, in your own words, a 'reliable, high-capacity route for long-range deployment and evacuation,' and that it's practically ready to use right now?"
Calista stared at her.
She searched Leah's face for any sign that she was joking, but all she saw was certainty and a faint expectation of praise.
"Leah, what exactly did you do? Where did you find a route? Railroad? Highway? We can't clear anything that far out yet."
Though eventually they would, Calista silently added.
"Not by land." Leah shook her head, looking rather pleased with herself. "By water."
Water.
The Tennessee River.
A possibility immediately began forming in Calista's mind.
"Come on, Cali." Leah stopped explaining and pulled her toward the door. As Rickson happened to enter, she quickly told him, "Calista and I are heading to Knoxville Industrial Park. Important business. Hold things down here and handle anything urgent while we're gone."
Calista also caught Leah giving Rickson a quick wink.
The two exchanged a knowing look.
Rickson smiled immediately and nodded. "Be careful."
They stepped out of the command center into the bright afternoon sunlight.
Instead of heading for her usual vehicle, Leah walked straight toward a motorcycle parked nearby.
Calista's Harley-Davidson.
Calista blinked.
When had Leah learned to ride a motorcycle? And how had she gotten it here?
"Get on. This'll be faster." Leah casually climbed onto the back seat, put on a helmet, and patted the driver's position.
Still somewhat baffled, Calista took the other helmet.
"Wait, we're taking the motorcycle?"
"You drive, Cali. Just the two of us. Come on, move it."
"I thought you brought it over here."
"I didn't. I still haven't learned how to ride. I had someone else bring it."
Something flashed through Calista's mind and vanished before she could catch it.
Her attention was too focused on whatever Leah was so excited about.
Seeing how rarely her sister got this visibly impatient to share something, Calista gave up trying to pry more out of her. She revved the engine, and the motorcycle shot out of Rock Fortress toward Knoxville Industrial Park to the southeast.
The wind roared past them.
Leah wrapped her arms around Calista's waist, and Calista could feel them tightening slightly from excitement.
Her curiosity only grew stronger.
"Leah!" Calista called over the wind. "What exactly is this water route you're talking about? Where did we suddenly get a boat?"
She knew Leah had been organizing search teams for outside exploration while Rickson handled internal resource coordination.
But something this big?
Calista hadn't heard a word about it.
Leah leaned forward slightly, laughter in her voice along with the obvious relief of finally being able to share her secret.
"Remember the Riverbank Guerrillas?"
"Of course." Calista thought back. "The survivor group on the water that's been trading fish with us."
"That's them." Leah sounded distinctly pleased with herself. "Besides the official trades, Rickson and I quietly dug through the base warehouses and pulled together another batch of supplies we weren't using.
"We made several more private trades afterward. But really, those were investments in a long-term project.
"And the Riverbank Guerrillas were the investment."
The Riverbank Guerrillas.
Calista considered the name.
They were a small mobile group that lived on the water. Their numbers weren't large and their movements were unpredictable, but they ranged over a broad stretch of river.
The Tennessee River was a tributary of the Ohio River. Through the larger river network, it could ultimately connect outward toward the ocean while also linking numerous states inland.
Rock Fortress had traded with the Riverbank Guerrillas several times.
They weren't much of a threat, but there had never been much reason to pursue closer contact either. Until now, neither side had enough common interests to justify it.
The sisters shifted to other topics during the ride.
About two hours later, the motorcycle rounded a bend, and the outline of Knoxville Industrial Park finally appeared ahead.
"After those first few trades, I started paying more attention to them," Leah continued, her tone turning serious. "I had Bossie track them with the Night Hawk drone. Little by little, we figured out exactly what kind of group they were.
"Their core group has a little over thirty people. Men, women, kids, the whole range. About twenty of them can actually fight or operate boats.
"Before the outbreak, most were fishermen, cargo-boat crew, or dockworkers. Two were Coast Guard.
"When everything collapsed, a lot of them happened to already be on boats. Others managed to grab boats almost immediately and escape onto the river, so they avoided much of the initial chaos.
"They banded together, and their advantages are obvious.
"They're highly mobile. Walkers are almost no threat on the water. They have a steady source of fish, and they know the river system inside and out.
"But their weaknesses are just as obvious.
"Living on the waterways means they don't have a stable land base. They can't farm or produce anything on a large scale. They're short on medicine, fuel, and metal, and they depend heavily on outsiders for complicated tools and spare parts.
"And most importantly..." Leah's voice dropped slightly. "There aren't many of them, and their weapons are pretty poor. Mostly spearguns, homemade bows, and a few firearms.
"If a large group of land-based raiders ever catches them at one of their landing points, or if one of their boats suffers a serious breakdown, they could be wiped out."
As Calista listened, the picture became increasingly clear.
The way the Riverbank Guerrillas survived made them both independent and vulnerable.
They desperately needed outside support, but at the same time, their entire existence depended on remaining wary of land-based factions.
So when Leah called what she had been doing an "investment," she clearly meant far more than simply trading supplies.
"So you haven't just been trading with them," Calista said, already guessing where this was going.
"Exactly." Leah admitted it without hesitation. "I've been evaluating them, while also showing them what we have to offer.
"I secretly invited Captain Jack to visit Knoxville Industrial Park twice. I showed him the outer defenses, the production lines we have running, and the medical station.
"I wanted them to see what a stable, productive, disciplined community looks like."
"You were baiting them." Calista smiled knowingly, privately impressed by Leah's approach.
"Yes, but that alone wasn't enough."
By then, they were approaching Pier 1 of Knoxville Industrial Park.
Calista slowed the motorcycle and headed toward the pier block.
"They're proud, and they value their freedom on the water. If I openly suggested annexation or becoming our dependents, they'd resent it immediately.
"I needed an opportunity.
"Something that would make them seriously consider coming ashore."
...
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