Chapter 121 Blood Moon Rising


    Even if it meant giving up a bit more supplies, they needed to buy themselves some insurance. The more camps they brought in, the more they could bnce out the power of Kl Camp.


    Once the forms were handed out, the smaller camps treated them like sacred scrolls, taking them back with quiet reverence.


    They were minnows in a sea of sharks-caution was survival.


    “Charlotte! Charlotte!”


    Den’s voice rang out as he waved the form in the air, calling out to his sister, who was still sitting on the roadside, munching on tidbits.


    Charlotte handed the rest of her snack back to Theresa. ‘Gotta go.”


    “Off you go,” Theresa said, flicking a shell away without looking up.


    She stayed seated, still rxed, until a shadow fell over her. A hand appeared in front of her, holding out another form.


    Theresa looked up-it was Lucas. Their eyes met for a beat before she silently split her tidbits in half and pushed some into his hand.


    Lucas stared at them for a second.


    “You need to fill this out,” he said eventually, holding out the clipboard with the other hand.


    Theresa nced over the form. It was detailed-absurdly so. Name, age, hometown, pre-apocalypse upation. Abilities, camp size, leadership structure. Stuff people normally didn’t like sharing.


    “Who’s asking?” she asked, spitting out another shell.


    “Hope Camp.”


    Theresa raised an eyebrow, then smirked. “Done.” She hadn’t even moved.


    Lucas gave her a look.


    Stretching, she got up and brushed herself off. “So, Hope Camp brings the map, and you guys bring the guns, right?”


    “Right.”


    She beckoned him in closer with a finger. When Lucas leaned in, she dropped her voice. “Wanna pull something big?”


    Lucas sighed and shook his head. “Don’t you start.


    “Then, tell me-how are the supplies being split?”


    “Hope Camp takes 40 percent, I take 40 percent, and the remaining 20 percent is divided among the other camps based on what they contribute.”


    Before she could interrupt, he added quickly, “Theresa, I’m serious. I don’t want you starting anything. Juste with me, help collect the supplies, and that’s it. No drama.”


    Theresa tilted her head back, gazing dramatically up at the sky like a tragic heroine. Lucas was too honest, but then again, without honest guys like him, she’d never get in on sweet deals like this.


    No use pushing her luck.


    “Fine. But you said it—I’m just here to collect, not to fight.”


    “Exactly.”


    Theresa pped the nk form into his hands and sauntered back toward her vehicle, Kyle silently falling in behind.


    As the other squads finished submitting their forms, night began to fall.


    Each camp parked its convoy in tight clusters and started pitching tents for the night.


    Naturally, Hope Camp’s tent was smack in the middle of everything-protected on all sides. While the other camps had to send people to patrol, Hope Camp’s team got to kick back and rest.


    Theresa didn’t bother with a tent. She reclined the backseat of her truck, curling up inside to sleep. Outside, Kyle was setting up a small tent of his own, standing guard like always.


    Just as she was drifting off, her ears caught something strange.


    Shhhk… shhhk…


    Something was moving through the grass.


    Theresa’s ability was mental maniption, but it came with heightened sensory perception. Her hearing was sharper than most.


    She sat upright instantly and peered through the car window into the darkness.


    There wasn’t a single light outside-the sky was thick with cloud cover, no moon in sight. They’d all agreed to keep the lights off to avoid attracting the undead.


    But the sound grew louder-shhhk, shhhk, shhhk-dragging, crawling, slithering.


    Theresa focused, expanding her awareness. The range of her mind power was about 65 feet, but in the middle of this wide-open road, that barely covered anything.


    Then, slowly, the clouds began to peel back. And out came the moon. Except it wasn’t silver. It was red.


    A huge, blood-red moon bathed thendscape in an eerie crimson glow, like someone had ripped open the sky.


    And with that light, she saw them.


    Dozens-no, hundreds-of pale, glowing eyes flickered open across the field beyond the road. nk, milky, inhuman.


    They emerged from the tall grass in swarms, every one of them trained directly on Theresa’s camp.


    Excitement. Hunger. Greed. Need.


    Her mental awareness lit up-like a radar pinging contacts.


    Dozens. Then more. Then hundreds.


    Gray pulses of undead minds rushing in from every direction. Like ants to sugar. Like wolves to blood.


    It was the stuff of nightmares.


    “Kyle! Get up!” Theresa threw open the car door, her voice sharp and urgent as it cut through the night.


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