TWD: The Burden We Bear

Three Months Later

Eddie trudged through the dense woods, searching for the elk he had lost sight of moments earlier.

Eddie, Lee, Kenny, and Mark had left the motel, their temporary home, to hunt for food. For a group that had once thrived on survival instincts, their approach to procurement had been rather lackadaisical over the past few months, relying heavily on luck rather than skill.

Not long after they settled into the motel, Eddie, Lee, Carley—who Lee saved at the pharmacy—and Lilly ventured to the nearby air force base where Lilly had been stationed before the outbreak. Their goal was simple: to gather supplies and sustenance.

Thanks to the bounty they found at the base, they had grown complacent and relied on their stockpile rather than actively hunting. However, three months of living off truckloads of supplies left them dwindling. Now, the group found themselves needing to hunt again, but their efforts yielded scant results. They had mostly caught small game like rabbits, and although Mark had once successfully brought down an elk, it had hardly sufficed for a group of ten.

On this particular day, they had split up to cover more ground in their hunt. While Eddie ventured alone, Kenny was off somewhere nearby, and Lee had partnered with Mark.

Eddie sighed in frustration, realizing he had lost sight of the elk. "Fuckin' shit…" he muttered under his breath, dropping to one knee. He narrowed his focus, scanning the forest floor for signs of the animal's passage.

Suddenly, a scratching sound caught his attention—a few feet away, something was rubbing against the bark of a tree. Eddie instinctively licked his finger to check the wind direction, ensuring that his scent wasn't being carried toward the elk. He needed to remain hidden; the last thing he wanted was for the animal to bolt.

Once he was certain, he started to stalk closer, heart racing, and spotted the elk scratching its antlers against the rough bark of a tree. Stealthily, he unslung his hunting rifle, resting the butt against his shoulder as he aimed. Eddie hesitated, wondering if he should aim for the heart—although he was only a novice shooter, having only practiced at a range with a Glock before the outbreak. He had barely used a rifle in the wild.

Instead, he took a deep breath and steadied his shot, focusing on the elk's head. As the animal paused, he held his breath, aligning his shot with painstaking precision, and squeezed the trigger just as he released his breath.

The rifle cracked through the stillness, the bullet hurtling through the air with a swift determination. To his immense surprise and delight, it struck true, hitting the elk squarely in the head. "Fuckin' A!" he exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face as he rushed over to the fallen animal.

He quickly looked around, wary of any approaching walkers drawn by the noise of the shot. Securing his rifle over his shoulder, he knelt down, exerting all his strength to hoist the hefty elk onto his left shoulder. Reaching for his machete in its holster, he realized the need for a secondary weapon if he were to shoot again.

With a determined stride, he turned and began his trek back toward the motel, hoping his friends had also been fortunate. He longed for a more substantial meal than the meager rations he had grown too accustomed to over the past three months. He was getting sick of it.

However, fatigue began to set in as thirty minutes passed, and he realized he had ventured far from the motel. The absence of distant gunfire either meant his companions were unsuccessful or too far away to reach him.

After another ten minutes, he finally recognized trees he was familiar with and saw a multitude of footprints ahead. He was nearing the motel. But just then, a cacophony of screams shattered the air, accompanied by the sound of multiple gunshots.

His heart raced as thoughts of his father and friends flooded his mind. He sprinted toward the chaos, the weight of the elk on his shoulder slowing him down considerably. Luckily, his years of playing soccer as a left winger had conditioned him for endurance, and he pressed forward without much difficulty.

When he arrived at the scene, he was met with a shocking sight: three unfamiliar figures, one of whom was trapped in a bear trap, while Lee frantically worked to sever his leg. "Dad!" Eddie shouted, rushing toward Kenny, who was firing at any approaching walkers alongside Mark.

"Eddie!" Kenny glanced over, momentarily distracted. "You got an elk? Good," he noted, before turning back to the carnage. "Lee, wrap it up! We don't have time for this!"

Lee, responding to Kenny's urgency, delivered one final, decisive strike, freeing the teacher from the trap.

"Finally! Pick him up, and let's go!" Kenny cried, dismissing the urgency as he began to run with Eddie.

Mark scooped the unconscious professor up, following closely after the father-son duo. Eddie didn't dare look back; he could faintly hear two more pairs of feet close behind him. But his focus remained locked on the path ahead.

———

"Get the gates open! We've got wounded!" Lee shouted towards Lilly, perched atop the RV as she kept vigil over the motel.

They had made it back. Lee shoved open the dumpster as Eddie rushed inside, elk still hoisted on his shoulder. Mark followed closely with the teacher, and Kenny and Lee brought up the rear. Mark carefully laid the unconscious man down on a truck's flatbed while Eddie dragged the elk to the area designated for food preparation, dropping it unceremoniously to the ground with a heavy exhale. Exhausted, he sheathed his machete and discarded his rifle.

Eddie retreated to his room, and leaned his rifle against an armchair. Outside, the sounds of chaos and shouting reached his ears, but his weariness rendered him indifferent. He peeled off his bloodied vest and jacket—the latter smeared with elk blood—and tossed it unceremoniously to the floor. Replacing it with a cleaner jacket from the hanger, he shrugged on his vest again. The weather remained chilly, and the extra layer would help ward off the cold.

As he stepped outside, he spotted his father seated on a nearby couch, tinkering with something next to the RV. Kenny had mentioned wanting to start the vehicle up and get moving away from the motel, a plan Eddie wholeheartedly supported. The motel's wide-open nature left them vulnerable to attacks from any direction.

In these three months, Eddie had come to terms with the thought that no resolution would likely come for the virus—no glimpse of military intervention, no sign of hope.

He made his way over to Kenny and dropped down beside him. From his vantage point, he noticed Carley skinning the elk he had just killed. "What's Mom doing? She's usually the one cooking. What's with the shift?"

"She's trying to save that guy Lee cut out of the bear trap…" Kenny sighed, shrugging.

"Oh right, him." Eddie shook his head. "We're not sharing the elk with those two, right? I worked hard to bring it down."

"Of course not. Once the guy is patched up, we'll kick them out. That's one thing I agree with Lilly on—we're not a charity. Don't tell her though," Kenny replied with a conspiratorial tone.

Eddie leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, when he felt something solid press against his chest. "Oh right…!"

"What?" Kenny raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

Eddie reached into his pocket and proudly pulled out a shiny, whole apple. "I managed to find one! I remember Clem likes apples, so when I spotted it while hunting, I pocketed it." He grinned. "I wanted to find one for Duck, but, you know…" Eddie trailed off.

Kenny chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, Duck isn't big on apples—or any fruit for that matter. Yet for some reason, he'll eat every vegetable in sight."

"Clementine!" Eddie called, waving her over. She jogged across the ground, leaving her drawing unattended. "Yes?"

"Here ya go." He extended the apple toward her. Her eyes widened, and a delighted smile spread across her face as she took it from him.

"I love apples! Thank you! Are there more?" she asked, her face full of hope.

"No, sorry…" Eddie replied with a wry smile. "But I'll keep an eye out for more."

"Oh, um…" He glanced away, feeling a flicker of hesitation.

As if he had read her mind, he encouraged, "Eat it. It's all yours."

"Thank you!" Clementine exclaimed, biting into the apple as she darted back to her drawing, the smile on her face indicating the fruit wasn't sour but rather sweet.

Kenny observed the interaction with an enigmatic smile, one that Eddie couldn't quite decipher but suspected it was filled with pride.

"What are you smiling at?" Eddie asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"It's just that you're gonna be a good dad someday," Kenny replied, smirking.

"Who? Me?" Eddie was taken aback, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah, you," Kenny insisted, still grinning.

"That's way too soon, you know?" Eddie replied, leveling an incredulous look at his father. "Especially now. We don't even know if any of this shit will ever go away." He gestured around, emphasizing.

"Sure, sure. But I hope to one day hold my grandchild," Kenny mused, nearly lost in reverie.

"You're not old enough to be a grandad," Eddie chuckled, shaking his head in amusement.

"Oh, but I aim to be. I'm 46—" Kenny paused, sitting up straighter as the realization of his age hit him. "Fuckin' hell, I'm 46!"

Eddie erupted into laughter.