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The point past the east gate is usually the most dangerous. The hub is located on the side of a mountain, it's difficult to arrive to it, but there are more opportunities to set traps; the community took advantage of nature to protect themselves, and it has worked really well, but the east gate is their weak point: it's a clear path to the river, fewer trees that go into a meadow, which means no obstacles, and nowhere to hide. They avoid going out of it unless it's really necessary, and this time, it's really necessary.
Grace has the gun out already, he doesn't want to make noise, but it's the easiest way to kill them. He's trying to observe, looking out for any strange movement; it's already dark outside, and if it's dangerous to go through this path in daylight, during nighttime it's crazy, but it's the only way. They can't stay any longer, they have to leave now.
Eva makes a gesture with her hand, she's telling him to keep going. She also doesn't sense danger, so it's better to move quickly. He takes her hand, and as fast as they can, they cross the meadow, going down the mountain, trying to follow the river path that will lead them to one of the old cabins. It's not that far away, around one hour if they go very fast.
The mountains used to be a vacation resort during winter, with a ton of family and couple cabins. Their mission is to arrive there to spend the rest of the night before departing again once the sun is out. The cabins are as far out as they will risk going tonight, and only because they don't have any other option. The camp made pretty clear their decision, so Ryland and Eva made theirs and ran away. There's no reconciliation point anymore.
It's a hard path, but they make it to the cabins. Ryland had secured one of them beforehand; it was just in case of emergency, back when he thought that the camp would be rational and see their point. Turns out, he was wrong, so he's just really glad he had taken precautions; this way, they didn't have to wait, and if he's honest, he doesn't think they had an extra day.
Grace unlocks the door to the cabin, is one of the most protected by trees, on a little slope. He makes sure there's nothing inside or outside before letting Eva enter and closing the door again. As carefully as he can, he moves old chairs to block the door. Once they're sure that everything is closed, they finally take a deep breath. There are some old cushions that Eva arranges so they both can lie down, and Grace extracts a blanket from one of their backpacks. They need to sleep, rest as much as they can because they will have to move in four hours.
On instinct, Grace opens his arms, and Eva cuddles with him, letting her head rest on his shoulder. He can feel the relief flowing through her, their day finally catching up. Almost on instinct, one of his hands goes to her belly, rubbing the small bump, the proof that their kid is there, growing. Eva laces her fingers with his so both their hands can feel it.
They knew that a pregnancy was risky. There are no hospitals, barely any doctors around, not even counting that medicine and food are scarce; all the resources that would imply a healthy and good pregnancy were gone the moment the zombie pandemic started. He's not even sure where it started, there were some rumors about Brazil, Russia, Pakistan… the only thing that matters is that it started. Eva had contacted him weeks before for another project, the exploration of extraterrestrial life that the Petrova Taskforce had found close to Venus, something that had traveled through space; he had been working with her in a lab when the first wave hit.
It spread quickly, too quickly to keep up. They had spent time locked down in the lab first, just them, Carl, and around five other people who were cleaning up the lab. Slowly, their connection grew, the fear of zombies, actual real zombies, and being enclosed with no resources made them lower their walls for the first time in their lives. It was like a flower blooming during the darkest day of the year.
When they didn't have more food and with little contact with the exterior, they moved around California until they were able to enter the hub in Rocky Ridge. The community had food, guns, and could control their people; it seemed good to have a place where they could settle down while things outside also developed. This is where their relationship went from friends who are trying to survive to lovers, making the best of what they could. Eva taught him how to shoot a gun, he helped her with gardening; they helped everywhere in the hub but always together, and with nothing to protect more than themselves, their love turned and made life.
The rules at Rocky Ridge weren't difficult to understand: Help wherever you're needed and protect the community against all dangers. This meant that, if someone or something, even if not a zombie, was putting them at risk, they had the right to intervene and/or cast them out. So when Ryland found out that Eva was pregnant, while he was worried about food, diseases, and medicine, others were worried about the noise, the danger that a human baby could bring.
They had an official assessment. The leaders of the community talked, but in the end, they decided that a pregnancy and a baby were too risky for the community, and so it was determined that the best option was a termination of the pregnancy. Just like that, the leaders didn't even ask for their opinion; there was no other option, they decided for them. As soon as the ruling was given, Eva and Ryland started planning their escape. They were not going to lose their child; the zombies, the end of the world as they knew it, the risks, all of it was worth it if it was for their kid.
But they both knew that it was not as easy as just leaving. Rocky Ridge had a lot of rules, and keeping the hub safe was the most important one. A crying baby was a danger, people who knew their location and their amount of resources, people who could lead zombies to their hideout, all of them were better eliminated, and Eva and Grace had become just all of that. They were threatening the peace. Once they find out that they are gone, they will try to follow them, at least for a little while, until they reach the base of the mountain, where, if they didn't kill them, zombies surely would.
Eva planned to take refuge in the cabins until morning and then cross the mountains to Lake Chabot. It was risky, crossing and walking all of that with few resources and weapons, not to mention that Eva is pregnant. But it was their best shot to get away, and the lake should be a safer zone, as zombies usually stayed away from water, especially when the altitude was also high. They wanted to stay there, in one of the old houses of rich people who ran away to bunkers as soon as the pandemic started. With some luck, they could try to contact people from the UN. Eva had the contacts back then, but communications failed and they couldn't be rescued. They could try again now, as unlikely as it seemed, they still had hope.
"Do you think it's truly a good thing?" Eva asks suddenly, softly. "To bring this baby into the world when it's like this?"
Ryland sighs. "I can't lie to you and tell you that I haven't thought about this, because I have also wondered about it. I don't know if this is truly the end of the world, but I think that giving up now, giving up on our kid, would be equal to giving up the fight." He hugs Eva closer. "I want to think that there's hope, still a chance for all of us. And," he adds, "we know that people were already looking for a cure."
Eva nods. "Last I heard, Yao, Ilyukhina and DuBois were sent to different countries looking for a solution."
"So, maybe they were successful, maybe there's already a cure, but communications failed and we don't know. Why give up now? I know that you never give up, I know that you don't think of this as a lost battle, so let's not give up on little peanut yet."
"Little peanut?" She asks with a laugh. "Since when are they a little peanut?"
"Well, I'm just going by the months right now. We can't have an ultrasound, so I'm just imagining a little peanut."
"You're so…"
"What?"
She kisses him instead of answering. "Silly, you're so silly."
"Is that a bad thing or a good thing?"
"Right now, it's a good thing."
They both get a little more comfortable, a little closer too, ready to try and sleep the few hours they can. There's still so much to do, and the future doesn't seem promising right now, but believing in the world, in humanity's resilience, is the only alternative they have. Having a kid might seem dumb, but to them, it is the only right answer.
Ryland touches the bump once more. We'll survive, little peanut, we'll do it for you.