Louisa's eyes lit up the moment she heard it, excitement flooding her face. None of them had a destination anymore, and they had long been intrigued by Theresa's alliance. This time, they decided to go with her. Only Flora chose to stay behind. Her family was still there, and she couldn't bring herself to leave. No one tried to talk anyone out of their decision. They divided their supplies, said their goodbyes with genuine warmth, and promised to stay in touch. After Louisa stored her vehicle inside her domain, the rest of them climbed aboard Theresa's helicopter. "Come back and visit!" Solan waved as the helicopter lifted off, his people waving beside him. Orren stood next to him, watching the aircraft shrink into the distance. His eyes, dim for the whole trip back, finally began to shine again. "Solan, I'm going with you on every mission from now on. Not missing a single one." "Orren, those missions are dangerous," Arwen said firmly. "Don't always say that, honey," Solan cut in, smiling. "He's a young man—he needs to grow through challenges. You can't keep him locked at home forever. Orren, I'm proud of you." "Solan!" Arwen protested, her tone sharp. But Solan wrapped her in a hug. "Honey, you'll have two men protecting you from now on. Isn't that a good thing?" Arwen froze, her anger melting into thought. Watching Orren already running toward the training grounds, she sighed softly. "I feel like he's grown up a lot from just one trip out." "Boys become men in a single moment," Solan said quietly. "That's how it is." The helicopter carried Theresa and her group away from Solan Camp, heading north. They passed over city after city, all blanketed in decay and corpses, flying toward the East Coast.When they crossed into the border between Branford and Crestmont, Louisa suddenly leaned forward. "Everyone, look! Down there—it looks like an empty city!" Her voice made the others turn, and shock rippled through the cabin. Below them stretched a city with no zombies. None at all. "Completely empty," Dominic muttered, disbelief in his eyes. "Wasn't this Crestmont? It used to be a city of over a million people. How can there not be a single zombie?" Then, Quentin's lazy voice came through. "You've entered our alliance's buffer zones." Dominic and the others froze. Buffer zones? What does that mean? They soon found out. Ahead of them rose a massive steel wall, stretching across the horizon like a fortress dividing Branford, Crestmont, and Ansford. Outside the wall lay desolation. Inside—life. They could see people. Not zombies. Real, living people. Teams of disciplined, solemn soldiers lined the top of the walls, each holding their weapons tightly, their eyes fixed on the approaching helicopter. And across the steel surface were three enormous words: Blazing Sun Alliance. At that moment, they understood what buffer zones meant. Outside the Blazing Sun Alliance lay two entire empty cities—Branford and Crestmont—serving as barriers against the zombie-infested world. No one lived in those buffer cities. Not a single soul. And within the Alliance itself, not one zombie could cross that wall. An overwhelming sense of awe washed over them. They had seen many camps—some big, some well-organized—but never one with such power, such scale, that it could claim two whole cities as its shield. So, this was the Blazing Sun Alliance. Theresa had mentioned once that Ansford was their headquarters and that it had been completely cleared of zombies.But she had never said that Branford and Crestmont had also been purged—and turned into buffer zones for protection. That was beyond anything they could have imagined. Not just the largest in the country—this had to be the strongest alliance in the entire world. As Louisa and the others stared at the glowing letters, they could barely close their mouths. Beyond the wall stretched vast fields, illuminated cities, clean streets, and people working in perfect order. For a moment, it felt like heaven. How could such a place exist in the apocalypse? By the time the helicopter landed, their minds were still spinning. Theresa touched down in the heart of the city and left them there to wait for Elias to register their information. Except for Miles, all of them were dual-ability users. By bringing them in, Theresa had gained a few overlapping abilities—nothing particularly useful. To her, these abilities were like adding one more flower to an enormous garden—nice, but not necessary. What mattered more was the people themselves. Every new member meant another life, another pair of hands. After leaving them to settle in, Theresa flew off again—to pick up Professor K and his dog, and take them to her underground bunker.