"Thank god," Calista let out a breath at the sight of the clear river ahead.
Water was life.
Leah, however, frowned.
"The bank here is too open. We'd be exposed." She pointed across the river. "We need to cross, but not here. We should find a narrower spot, or somewhere with cover."
Merle nodded. "Yeah. Follow the river downstream. Usually you'll find a shallow crossing or a fallen tree."
They trekked along the riverbank for over an hour before finally finding a narrower stretch where the current was calmer.
A large fallen tree lay across the river, forming a natural bridge.
"I'll go first," Merle said, stepping carefully onto the slick trunk. His balance was surprisingly steady, and he moved at a decent pace.
But near the far side, maybe getting a bit cocky, he turned back with a grin.
"Watch this…"
Before he could finish, his foot slipped.
"Careful!" Calista and Leah called out at the same time.
Merle wobbled, barely catching himself. After that, he stopped showing off and made it safely across.
Calista just stared, speechless.
"You two, come on over!"
Leah gestured for Calista to go first. "Calista, take it slow. Don't look down. Keep your center low."
Calista took a deep breath and stepped onto the log.
It was slippery, and the rushing water beneath her made her head spin slightly.
She steadied herself and moved forward one careful step at a time, eventually reaching the other side without incident.
Leah followed right after, crossing with ease.
Once across, the terrain began to change.
The trees thinned out, and faint traces of old footpaths appeared, long since abandoned.
"We might be near the edge of the forest," Merle said, scanning the surroundings, his mood visibly lifting.
The sky was already dimming.
They needed to find a place to camp before nightfall.
Just before the sun disappeared, the three of them climbed a small hill.
Merle pushed aside a curtain of vines, then suddenly stopped and let out a low whistle.
"Well, would you look at that. Guess our luck hasn't run out yet."
Calista and Leah stepped forward and looked where he was pointing.
They could hardly believe it.
At the edge of the forest below lay a wide, open field, clearly maintained.
Weeds had started creeping in here and there, but the signs of cultivation were still obvious.
Farther out stood a sturdy wooden fence enclosing a cluster of buildings.
At the center was a white two-story farmhouse with a wide porch, alongside a red barn and several smaller sheds.
And what made their hearts jump was what moved inside the fence.
Not walkers.
Livestock.
Real, living animals grazing peacefully.
Several sheep, a few goats, and even a couple of horses farther out with their heads down in the grass.
"Holy shit…" Merle muttered, his grimy face showing something close to awe for the first time.
He rubbed his eyes, as if afraid it was a hallucination. "I'm not seeing things, right? Sheep. Alive sheep."
Even Leah, usually so composed, stood there slightly open-mouthed, her gaze unfocused.
Calista felt her throat tighten, her eyes stinging.
After more than a day of scrambling through the wild like fugitives, she had almost gotten used to emptiness and despair.
But this scene looked exactly like the world before everything fell apart.
"We… we should go over there," Calista said, unable to hide her excitement. "But carefully. We don't know if anyone's inside."
"Who cares if there's people? It's probably abandoned," Merle said, already rubbing his hands together.
"There are sheep. You see that? Fat sheep. Do you know how long it's been since I had proper lamb? Damn, just thinking about roasted lamb…"
He was practically drooling.
Leah stayed calmer. "The fence looks pretty new. If someone's inside, rushing in like that could get us mistaken for raiders. We observe first."
Calista forced herself to settle down.
Leah was right.
In this world, anyone who could maintain a place like this wouldn't be easy prey.
Of course, it could also be that this place was so well hidden that neither walkers nor raiders had found it.
Rock Fortress had been like that.
Tucked away in the Great Smoky Mountains, remote, with few walkers, it had become a proper safe base under her management.
If no one was here, even better.
They would just need to watch for walkers.
Either way, they had to be careful.
Darkness was falling fast, and moving around at night would be far more dangerous.
Calista took a deep breath and pushed down the urge to rush in.
"We move up to the fence first. Observe. Check if anyone's there."
With that, the plan was set.
Using the last light of day, the three of them moved forward carefully, using scattered trees and uneven ground as cover as they approached the farm.
The closer they got, the more surprised they became.
Whoever ran this place knew what they were doing. Everything inside was neat and orderly, with almost no signs of walker damage.
More importantly, for such a large farm, there wasn't a single guard or lookout in sight.
Maybe it really was abandoned.
The three crouched behind a dense patch of bushes outside the fence, watching carefully.
"Too quiet," Merle whispered. "Probably empty. Shit… that sheep's really close."
His eyes locked onto a plump sheep grazing lazily near the fence, barely a dozen meters away from their hiding spot.
A bold idea took root in his mind and quickly took over.
An abandoned farm like this. He could grab something real out of it first.
"Calista," Merle said, turning to her, his eyes gleaming in the fading light with a gambler's edge.
"Look at that sheep. That thing's fat. We've been starving for over a day. Rabbit meat isn't cutting it. I'm quick. I hop the fence, grab it, and we're gone before anyone notices."
"Are you out of your mind, Merle?" Leah shot back immediately. "If there's anyone inside, that'll expose us right away. And if they're friendly, you'll ruin everything."
Calista hesitated, clicking her tongue softly.
But it really does look empty.
If someone could maintain a place like this in the apocalypse and not post any guards, that would be unbelievably stupid.
At that point, they practically deserved to lose a sheep.
And that sheep really did look tempting.