Chapter 46 The Fortress Reborn
Lucas’ external injuries had mostly healed, and his breathing had settled into a steady, even rhythm. At first nce, he looked no different from someone peacefully asleep.
“Then, can’t you at least let him stay outside?” someone pleaded. “We’ll take care of him.”
“No way.” Theresa interrupted, sharp and firm, without the slightest pause. Lucas is her hostage.
She had a whole group of outsiders under her roof-none of whom were her people. There was no way she could fully trust them on her turf.
Just like they’d said earlier-what if they took off in the middle of the night and dragged Kyle along with
them? What then?
Their loyalty to Lucas ran deep. She saw it in the way they spoke, the way they moved around him. Theresa had tried to poach Kyle while Lucas was unconscious, but the kid hadn’t budged. And once Lucas woke up? There was a real risk he’d take Kyle and vanish.
She couldn’t afford to take chances.
In her eyes, this wasn’t some noble test of character for Kyle.
B
A trial was something that hit a person in a desperate moment and left them changed. It wasn’t something someone handed out because they were careless or soft.
Human nature didn’t need testing. What made someone smart was knowing how to steer a kid like Kyle away from making some utterly foolish choice in the first ce.
So, no-there was absolutely no way she’d let Lucas out just so they could babysit him.
“Then, how are we supposed to know how he’s doing?” one of them argued.
“If you’re that worried, ask Kyle,” she said coolly, not offering another word before turning on her heel and walking away.
Everyone had long since gotten used to Theresa’s firebrand attitude.
“I’ve never met a woman like her in my entire life,” Graham muttered behind her back.
“How many women have you even met?” someone teased, grinning at him.
“I’m serious! She’s cold-blooded, mean as hell, and not even a little bit soft-not even a hint of a woman’s touch! Just wait till Lucas wakes up. I swear, I’m gonna-”
“Gonna what?” Kyle asked, giving him a side nce.
“I’m gonna run! I’ll take off and never look back! I’m not sticking around to see her face again!”
That set off a chorus ofughter. Loud, unfiltered, and full of life.
“What’re youughing at!” Graham huffed, clearly not ready to back down. His cheeks flushed with boyish frustration. “Tell me I’m wrong! When Lucas wakes up, you’re all running too, right?”
“Run? Hell yeah, we’re outta here!”
“You got that right!”
When theughter finally quieted, everyone turned toward Kyle.
“Kyle, man, you’ve gotta take good care of Lucas for us.”
“Don’t worry. You can trust Theresa. Lucas is really doing better-I saw it with my own eyes. He just needs a few more days to rest.”
“Then keep a close eye on him, alright?”
“Got it.”
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Theresa, seeing she had a good number of strong, capable workers at her disposal, decided it was time to give her bunker a serious overhaul.
She started with Kyle’s new quarters, which were already fully built-a simple, sturdy structure made from corrugated steel and wooden beams.
The location was perfect. From there, Kyle could watch over the chickens, ducks, fishpond, and vegetable beds. Even more importantly, the little house sat right by the entrance to the bunker, giving him a clear view of anyoneing or going.
Next, Theresa focused on the chicken coop and duck pen. She ordered the freeloaders to get moving- sent them up the mountain to chop wood, and had them weave branches and vines into fencing by hand. They tore down the old, makeshift pens and rebuilt them from the ground up.
Turned out, soldiers were surprisingly handy. They knew how to do just about everything and worked with real efficiency.
She also reorganized her farnd. The vegetable plots and fruit patches were expanded, nearly doubling the area under cultivation.
Before, she’d scattered seeds with no rhyme or reason. Thend outside the bunker hadn’t been used properly at all. But this time, she nned everything out. The newyout was cleaner, more efficient, and promised harvests two or three times greater than before.
Even the fishpond and shrimp pond didn’t escape her notice. She had them dug again and expanded. Next to the old ones, they carved out a massive pit, more than sixteen feet deep, and redirected water from the original ponds into it. That way, the aquatic creatures would have more room to thrive, and more space meant higher yield.
Everyone worked hard and fast. Their rhythm was tight, their results immediate. Theresa couldn’t have
been more satisfied.
Each day, she sent Kyle out with three others to scout the surroundingnd and expand their reach. The rest stayed behind and worked on construction. In exchange, she offered them two meals a day.
Two. That was it.
As far as Theresa was concerned, that was more than enough for short-term help that wasn’t going to stick
around.
Three meals a day? Not a chance.
Her long-term hire, though? That was a different story. Right in front of everyone, she served him a rich, hearty breakfast-full of meat, eggs, and fresh greens. Her favoritism was so tant it didn’t even pretend
to hide.
Theresa had always protected her own with a near-feral loyalty. The line between “her people” and “not her people” couldn’t have been clearer.
Graham and the rest hade to ept it.
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Theresa was blunt, wild, bossy, and cold as ice-and the worst part was, she didn’t even try to hide how two-faced she was. She didn’t bother to make excuses for it.
But, truth be told, having someone like her in charge?
It felt a lot like luck.
That evening, Kyle and the scouting crew returned-each behind the wheel of a truck.
Not just any trucks, either. These were massive long-haul delivery freighters, the kind made for ransporting goods cross-country.
Earlier that day, while exploring a new stretch of territory, Kyle had reached a highway up ahead. There, stretched across the road, were several freight trucks-each one tangled in the aftermath of a chain- reaction crash.