Reinforcing the Compound

The compound awoke to a restless hum of activity, the air thick with a sense of unspoken urgency. News of Jace and Ellie's advance had spread like wildfire the night before, fueling paranoia and steeling resolve in equal measure. People moved with hurried efficiency, reinforcing barricades, sharpening blades, checking and rechecking their dwindling ammunition. The chill of early spring still lingered, but Leila barely noticed it. The weight of command pressed heavily on her shoulders.

She stood near the collapsed portion of the fence, arms folded tightly against her chest as she surveyed the damage. The chain-link barrier had once felt impenetrable, but time and the elements had worn it down. Now, with enemies at their doorstep, its vulnerability was glaring.

Mark, ever the pragmatist, knelt by the fractured steel, running his gloved fingers over the rusted edges. His expression was grim as he assessed the damage.

"This fence won't hold if they hit us with force," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet. "We need more than just patchwork repairs. A second layer of defense. Something that slows them before they even get close to the inner gates."

Leila exhaled, nodding. "We'll strip the old vehicles from the scrapyard, set them up as a first line of defense. Stack tires and reinforce the barricades with anything we can scavenge. If Darren's scouting party finds anything useful, we'll work that into the plan too."

Mark gave a tight nod, already formulating logistics in his mind. "I'll get a crew started now."

She turned her gaze toward the main gate, where Kai stood overseeing the rotation of sentries. His sharp eyes scanned every angle, assessing weaknesses, ensuring no blind spots remained. Leila didn't need to say a word; she trusted him implicitly.

But trust wouldn't be enough.

Jace and Ellie weren't just ghosts from her past. They were coming, and they were bringing hell with them.

Beyond the walls, Darren and his team moved with silent precision through the overgrown roadways leading east. The landscape was a ruin of abandoned vehicles, skeletal trees, and the occasional lifeless husk of a long-dead infected. The last rainfall had left the ground damp, making their footfalls muffled but also preserving any recent tracks left behind.

And that's what worried Darren most.

Kneeling beside a set of deep boot prints, he pressed his fingertips against the damp earth. Fresh. Maybe a few hours old. More than a dozen different sets.

His stomach tightened.

Jace's band had been through here.

The realization settled in his gut like a lead weight. They weren't just roaming scavengers looking for scraps; they were moving with purpose.

Darren adjusted his grip on his rifle, motioning to his team to stay low. His partner, Gavin, edged closer, eyes sharp with understanding.

"They're circling us," Darren murmured. "They know where we are."

Gavin's jaw clenched. "Think they're setting up ambush points?"

"Wouldn't put it past them."

The thought made Darren uneasy. Ambush tactics required patience, coordination—things a well-organized group could pull off. Jace and Ellie weren't just exiles looking to scrape by. They had built something, a force willing to follow them. And if they had even half the numbers Darren suspected, Leila's compound was in for a fight.

"We need to move," he said, motioning for the others to fall back. "Leila needs to know. Now."

Back at the compound, tension brewed not just outside the gates, but within.

Tamsin, always one of the more vocal dissenters, had gathered a group near the central courtyard, her voice sharp with frustration.

"We can't keep letting people in!" she snapped, her arms crossed as she addressed a small crowd of survivors. "We don't know who's loyal and who's looking to gut us in our sleep! We close the gates. No more outsiders. No more deals. We lock this place down before it's too late!"

Leila approached, keeping her expression carefully neutral, but there was steel in her voice when she spoke.

"If we barricade ourselves from the world, we become an easier target," she said evenly. "Jace is hunting us. You think sitting in silence will make him forget we exist?"

Tamsin scoffed. "So what, you want to let more people in? What happens when one of them turns out to be working for him?"

"We vet them," Leila shot back. "Just like we always have."

"Vet them?" Tamsin laughed bitterly. "Like we vetted the last traitor?"

A murmur of agreement rippled through the gathered survivors. The wound from the last infiltration still festered, and Tamsin was twisting the knife.

Kai, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally stepped in. His voice was calm but carried the weight of authority. "Closing ourselves off isn't the answer. The moment we stop gathering intel, stop making connections, we're blind. And blind targets don't last long."

Tamsin's eyes flicked between Leila and Kai, frustration evident in her stiff posture. She didn't like it, but she had no real counter.

Leila took a step closer, her gaze unwavering. "I know you're scared," she said, voice low enough that only Tamsin and those closest could hear. "We all are. But fear doesn't make decisions here. We do."

For a long moment, the two women held each other's gaze. Then, with a sharp exhale, Tamsin shook her head and turned away.

The crowd dispersed, but the unease remained.

By midday, the sound of hammering filled the compound as the survivors worked in shifts to erect additional watchtowers along the perimeter. The structures were crude but functional—wooden platforms built high enough to provide an unobstructed view of the surrounding terrain.

Leila climbed the ladder of the tallest tower, her boots hitting the wooden planks with a dull thud. From here, she could see the stretch of open road leading toward the east. The sky was clear, the breeze carrying the scent of damp earth and ash.

But she felt no peace.

Kai joined her a moment later, standing beside her in silence. They watched the distant horizon together, neither speaking for a long time.

"They're coming," she finally murmured, her grip tightening on the rifle slung across her shoulder.

Kai exhaled, resting his arms on the wooden railing. "Yeah."

The weight of history pressed between them—Jace's betrayal, Ellie's deception, the scars neither of them had fully addressed.

"You're ready for this?" Kai asked, not with doubt, but with a quiet understanding of what this fight meant for her.

Leila didn't answer right away. She stared eastward, her jaw set.

"I have to be."

As dusk fell, the compound took on an eerie stillness. Fires burned low in their pits, survivors whispering among themselves as sentries took their positions on the newly constructed watchtowers.

Leila stood at the northern wall, gripping the cold metal of the reinforced fencing. Every instinct in her body screamed that the storm was coming.

She had spent years outrunning her past, burying the pain, pretending it hadn't shattered something vital inside her. But now, Jace and Ellie weren't just memories.

They were real. And they were coming.

And this time, she wouldn't run.

This time, she'd be ready.