After passing through the busy downtown area, more fleeing cars and pedestrians appeared on the road. At least now there were signs of life again.
Sequoyah Hills was an upscale neighborhood with a much lower population density than the city center, and most of its residents were wealthy.
As soon as the virus first showed signs of spreading, those rich residents who valued their lives had already fled in large numbers.
Because of that, they barely encountered any walkers along the way.
When they drove into the neighborhood, Calista noticed the wrought-iron gate covered in bloody handprints. Several blood-stained bags lay scattered near the entrance.
Her heart sank. She could only hope her supplies were still safe.
When they finally arrived at her house, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. There were no walkers nearby. The eight-ton truck Emily had arranged was parked crookedly beside the pool, its windshield covered in spiderweb cracks.
"This truck's not drivable. The gas pedal's broken," Ethan said after checking it, shaking his head.
"Load everything onto the Humvee!" Leah kicked open the cargo door.
Next to more than twenty boxes of hygiene supplies were several items that left everyone silent.
One box of multivitamins. Two boxes of luxury shoes, bags, and clothes. A box of jewelry. A large box of documents. Two safes taken from Margaret's room.
There were even two cases of champagne.
Did Emily think she was going on vacation?
Calista glanced over the pile, wincing slightly.
"Load the essentials first. If the rest doesn't fit, leave it."
"No way! If you don't want it, I do!" Mike immediately grabbed a case of champagne and tossed it into the vehicle.
Wells hoisted the jewelry box onto his shoulder.
"Woo! I swear I'll protect these jewels with my life!"
Leah chuckled softly as she looked at Calista.
"Relax, Cali. We're not leaving anything behind. We can always find another car around here."
Calista suddenly realized she was right.
Of course. There should still be cars in the underground garage. They could just drive them away too. They had plenty of people.
With so many hands helping, the truck's contents were quickly transferred to the Humvees.
Just as the last box was loaded and Calista clapped her hands, ready to get into the car, her phone suddenly rang.
Emily.
"Miss Norton! Don't send anyone to drive the truck. Those things are everywhere in the city!"
Calista asked anxiously, "Where are you right now?"
"Lonsdale. I'm safe for the moment," Emily said quietly, covering the receiver. "Listen, Miss Norton… take care of yourself."
Her words were rushed. Someone knocked on Emily's door, and the call abruptly ended.
Leah grabbed the tablet and opened the map.
"She's in Lonsdale, East Knoxville. There's a chain collision there. It'll take about an hour to reach her. Are we going to pick her up?"
Calista glanced at the screen. Interstate 40 on the navigation map had already turned deep red.
If they detoured to find Emily and then went to Macy's to gather supplies, they probably wouldn't make it back to Twilight Manor until nightfall.
And in the apocalypse, night meant danger.
She looked around.
Everyone was waiting for her answer.
Calista opened her mouth, then swallowed her words.
Faced with the decision, she suddenly realized how cold she could be.
Just moments ago Emily had called to warn her. Yet now she was hesitating about whether to save her.
Even though she already knew the outcome.
The defensive measures Emily's neighborhood had organized would be useless. Within two or three months, walkers would be everywhere.
Call her selfish or heartless, but she didn't want to risk her life—or Leah's team—to save Emily.
A bleeding heart would get everyone killed.
"We're not going," Calista said quietly. "From what she said, she's safe for now."
Leah nodded.
After steadying her emotions, Calista called Emily again.
Emily answered with surprise. "What's wrong?"
"Emily, I've already left the estate with all the supplies. Those things are there too. My friends and I are heading to Macy's to gather supplies, and then we're leaving Knoxville to find somewhere safer. Do you want to come with us?"
She kept a little information to herself. She didn't want to reveal their base.
Emily didn't respond immediately. After a moment of hesitation, she asked,
"The estate has fallen too?"
"Yes. There are too many tourists in Great Smoky Mountains National Park this season. A huge group showed up out of nowhere. Why don't you come with us?"
Emily thought it over before finally refusing.
"No. My community has organized a defense. Everyone's moving supplies and barricading the entrances. I think staying here will be safer."
Calista didn't insist. Calmly, she gave her an address.
"This house is on the outskirts. There are supplies stored in the basement—enough for one person to last about a month. If the virus spreads to your area, you can hide there temporarily."
After Emily carefully wrote it down, Calista hung up.
Before choosing Twilight Manor as her base, Calista had secretly prepared backup locations among several properties she owned.
Now she had shared one of them with Emily.
Hopefully it would help her.
Leah suddenly stared at her, her gaze complicated.
Calista's heart skipped a beat.
Had she exposed herself just now?
How could she possibly explain preparing supplies with what looked like foreknowledge?
She lightly pressed her lips together and casually tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.
"Leah?"
"Nothing. Let's go," Leah said, looking away as she gave the order.
Calista's breath caught for a moment. Her eyelashes trembled slightly before she lifted her chin calmly.
"Then let's head to Macy's. We can pick up more food on the way."
Goodbye, my lovely mansion!
Two Humvees led the convoy, followed by a blue Porsche and a yellow Porsche.
Calista chose the two with slightly larger interiors, letting Danny and Ethan drive them.
She quickly threw away the assault jacket stained with walker brains and blood, grabbed a set of sportswear from the villa, locked the front door, and the group left the neighborhood.
Along the way, Calista cautiously watched Leah out of the corner of her eye.
She thought she was being subtle.
What she didn't realize was that everyone else in the car—except her—were mercenaries who had spent years on life-and-death missions. They were extremely sensitive to that kind of attention.
When Mike raised his eyebrows at Leah again, Leah finally turned toward Calista with a helpless expression.
"Cali, why do you keep staring at me?"
"Huh? I'm not," Calista said, pretending to be clueless.
Leah sighed.
Her little sister's "sneaking glances" were so obvious it was impossible to ignore, yet she was still pretending.
"When Margaret appeared in your dream, did she mention anything like this happening?"
"What?"
Calista had been debating whether to ask Leah what she was thinking. The sudden question caught her completely off guard.
"I mean," Leah continued, "the emergency supplies you told Emily about—you prepared those recently, right? Was that because Margaret came to you in a dream?"
"Oh… yeah. Yes," Calista said quickly. "Honestly, I was worried you'd all think I was crazy, so I didn't dare tell anyone."
Turner nodded.
"I don't think you're crazy. Maybe just a little superstitious."
Carver added,
"I thought you were into some weird religion. Rich people have pretty bizarre hobbies."
Leah said nothing, but the look in her eyes clearly agreed.
In their line of work, they had handled plenty of missions caused by brain-dead rich people doing ridiculous things.
Calista: …
What kind of twisted logic was this?
A future apocalyptic cult-like military organization thought she—a perfectly normal rich girl—was part of some strange cult.
Still, she felt a little relieved.
Luckily, the speech she gave at the funeral had laid the groundwork perfectly.
Now she wouldn't have to worry about explaining the origin of all those supplies at the estate.