For a long time, Eden Perkins believed she wouldn't find another human being she would willingly die for - she didn't want to. The past few months of her life, ever since the day the dead had started coming back to life - and maybe even before that...
THE THUNDER ROARED IN THE DISTANCE, high above the treetops that stretched towards the twilight sky. Eden Perkins sat on a fallen tree trunk – she could already feel the wetness of the wood sucking into the fabric of her jeans – and stared into the darkness of the forest as raindrops fell down on her.
Next to the young woman sat Clementine, her amber eyes now trailing from the seemingly endless trees to Christa who sat a bit farther away from them, staring down at their miserable attempt of a campfire.
Her dark eyes were empty.
With a heavy sigh Clementine broke the silence, unable to bear it a second longer. "Christa," she turned to the older woman. "Talk to me."
Clementine's attempt to make eye contact with her failed when the older woman let her head hang with a sigh and then rose from her seat to walk over to the fire, holding a stick in her hand.
At the girl's disappointed look, Eden shot Clementine a sad smile and sighed internally about Christa's lack of reaction. As much as she wanted to, Eden couldn't blame the older woman for her dismissive attitude – not after what she had been put through over the past few months. It was clear that Christa was no longer the same Christa she was back then. Pain changed people — Eden had seen it with others but also herself.
"This'll never work," Christa sighed, her words referring to the fire they had been trying to light for hours. She kneeled in front of the fireplace, bending forwards slightly so that she could poke around in the embers with her stick. "Look at this... it's pathetic. The wood's too wet to burn. There's more smoke than flame... At this rate, we'll be eating this for breakfast."
At the mention of the animal they had hung over the fireplace to fry it over the flames (that weren't really there), Eden raised her gaze. The sight of the skinned animal caused her to distort her face. No matter how often she did it, it never got easier.
"What else can we do?" Clementine asked, trying to be helpful. She was hungry too, none of them had eaten a single bite of food for days now.
Christa answered without looking up, "Find something that'll burn, maybe. I dunno. It won't be easy in the dark and in the rain." She shook her head, her next words obviously addressed to Clementine, "you should be doing this, not me. Tending a fire so you can cook and stay warm."
For the first time, Christa turned to them; her eyes locking with Clementine's. "It's something you have to be able to do, Clementine. Otherwise... "
