"We've advanced the line to the western outskirts of Branford," Lucas reported. "Branford's in our hands now." The moment his words landed, the familiar system alert chimed in her head. Ding! Mission Update: Territory Expansion accomplished! Reward unlocked: Super VH100 Anti-Air Defense System! Original defense grid upgradedto deliver total aerial protection at all ranges! System synced with system manager, Tessa. She'll monitor every inch of airspace above the territory! Theresa grinned. Finally. She'd been stuck with a glaring weakness for too long. Her radar only tracked movement; UAVs were limited to ground strafes, and missile batteries handled land-based threats. If someone had sent in an air raid back then, she would've been finished. That blind spot had already cost her once. On the ground, she'd been untouchable before she crossed paths with those three camps. Yet an aerial strike in the apocalypse? That would've been a crushing blow, the kind that flipped the whole board in a single move. Not anymore. That hole in her defenses was gone. Now, if anyone buzzed her skies, she'd light them up. The ground was fortified, the air secured, and her fleet now prowled the waters. Land, sea, and sky—her territory was sealed tight. Her mood shot through the roof. With Branford down and Crestmont next on the list, we're about to carve our mark into the eastern region. Once those two cities fall under our banner, Ansford will be wrapped in steel. Inside that shield, people can finally breathe, work, and rebuild without zombies gnawing at their heels.Tania's words about "evolution" came back to her. She thought, Humanity is never weak—everything we've built matters. She raised her voice, eyes blazing. "Send Sage the supplies he needs. Tell everyone—Crestmont is our next target! "Spread the word: rescue every last survivor! Every living soul is one of us. Our only enemy is the zombies. Let's go clear them out!" ... A week later. With Branford swept clean, the fighters turned south to encircle Crestmont along the border. Sage took the nastiest corners of the battlefield. His Dawnwatch men hunted zombies as if it were a sport, their eyes lit with a hunger only blood could satisfy. They saw zombies as just dead meat that hadn't figured it out yet. So, slash, burn, and smash—problem solved. That same cruelty would've been terrifying against humans. Against zombies? It was perfect. The Crestmont siege stretched into its second week. Theresa ran the rear, balancing logistics and politics with care. She loaded Sage down with food, fruit, meat, grain, antidotes—whatever he needed. Still, she never let him blur into her circle. None of her own people dealt with him directly. If Sage had a problem, she faced him herself. He wasn't an ally—he was a weapon. Handle him wrong, and he'd cut her just as badly. ... That afternoon, her comm lit up just as she finished allocating supplies. Sage's voice came through. "Ms. Hall, there's a bunch of survivors holed up in the canyon behind the castle. They won't surrender. I'm planning to take them out." Theresa froze. The canyon?Her mind snapped back to Lara and Lachlan's story. The inner and outer camps… could it really be them? I've been so tied up with the zombies that I haven't had a second to pull on the Starborn Order thread. If that inner camp's still out there, there's no way it's just a coincidence. "Hold your fire. I'll deal with it," she replied flatly. Theresa didn't waste time. She dragged Lara and Lachlan into the armored car and gunned it toward the canyon. Inside, she glanced at them in the rearview mirror. "So, tell me—who runs your outer camp?" "Mr. Hershberge," Lara answered. Theresa inched closer. "Who's he?" "His name's Herman Hershberge," Lachlan explained. "Mid-fifties, one of the earliest settlers. He talks with the inner camp more than anyone, so he knows that canyon inside out. People trust him, so he ends up leading us." "We all go to him whenever something serious comes up," Lara chimed in. "He's fair, usually makes good decisions, but... he's stubborn. If the rules say no, then no. Sometimes we have to sneak around to get things done." Theresa narrowed her eyes. "Such as?" Both of them tensed up, fingers tugging at their sleeves. Finally, Lara spoke up, "Like when we wanted to leave. Mr. Hershberge shut us down. "Our camp is safe—no zombies, no one starving—and he's determined to keep it that way. Nobody is allowed to leave. He'll lock them down if outsiders wander in, and won't let them leave. He once claimed that's the only way to keep the location a secret."