Two Months Later

"One, two, three, lift!" Jacob called out and him, John, and three other men lifted a tall log with a chiseled spike on the end. They stood it up along a row of other logs and wiggled it into a hole already drilled into the dirt.

The men stood back as John and Jacob supported the log to prevent it from falling as another man tied a rope around it and connected it to the others.

"Done!" The man called out and John and Jacob stepped back, wiping their sweat from their brows. John admired the work they had done so far, Jacob wasn't satisfied.

They were building a wall around their new settlement, Joseph named it New Eden after the Garden of Eden they tried so hard to make before. This was it, this was what they had been working towards. It was finally happening.

Turns out, when the bombs fell, several of their followers went to the bunkers they had made to try and stick out the storm. Faith, or Rachel's bunker, was long gone by the time they went there in search of survivors. It seemed like the hillside collapsed, maybe as collateral damage from the bombs falling. There were no survivors.

Jacob's bunker was deep in the mountains, when they went there it was covered under an entire hill of dirt and rocks. They tried to dig in to check for survivors, but there were none.

John's bunker was the only one that survived, and they barely made it. Based on stories from the survivors, hunger, disease, and flooding slowly picked people off one by one. Without a proper leader they grew tired and agitated. Only the strongest survived.

They collected the followers from John's bunker and made their way north of the old compound and church. The old compound wouldn't be a good place to stay, water levels were rising and it was clear by the markings on the structures that it had flooded before then. They needed higher ground that was easier to protect.

Jacob spotted the perfect place. It wasn't too far from the old compound, just to the north towards what was once the Whitetail Mountains region. It was at the base of where the old river had been pouring into the lake. Jacob picked a place with changes in elevation, close to water for supplies but still not a flood risk.

They had began building. Jacob pushed for the walls to be completed first. John pushed for houses to be done first, but to Jacob the safety of the settlement was most important. They finally agreed that safety was most important, but John convinced some of the survivors to build temporary shelters to protect from wind and rain.

Now they had several temporary shelters made from old materials from his bunker and pelts they had been working on tanning.

So far, it was mostly harmonious. Many of the survivors were grateful to be free from the bunker. Even more were relieved to see that the Seeds made it through the collapse. Those who lost friends and family in the bunkers were able to properly mourn them as Joseph prepared a mass funeral ceremony for the deceased.

"That's enough for today. Let's go prepare dinner." John spoke to the other survivors who happily followed him into the heart of the settlement.

Jacob watched them walk. He scanned the environment around him, wary of any dangers that lurked nearby, and followed them.

Dinner that night was deer their hunters caught and wild vegetables that were collected by some of the women of the settlement. They ate well and happily. The earth was providing for them.

While Joseph spoke with his followers and John ate with the rest of the crew working on the wall, Jacob ate off by himself in silence.

Jacob was glad to be doing something. The air was pure, the soil was healthy, the people were happy. But he couldn't shake this feeling. There was a constant pit in his stomach, he always looked around as if searching for something. He couldn't sleep soundly, or eat heartily.

He missed Eden. He knew why she left, after spending years trapped in a bunker she was finally free. Why would she stay? Why would she stay with him?

That question lingered in Jacob's mind more often the longer she was gone. It's not like he expected her to come back, but he'd be lying if he said that he didn't wish to see her. It's something he would never admit. He didn't want anyone to know he had a weak spot, especially not for Eden.

He just kept his head down and stayed busy working. The walls needed to be finished soon, they were far too exposed. It agitated Jacob to see so many people being so carefree, they didn't understand how quickly it could all go wrong. But that was just how Jacob's mind worked. He thought of every possible problem ahead of time and planned for it. That's how he kept them safe. It was his responsibility.

He spoke very little with Joseph lately. He left him to his tasks of running the settlement and leading their people, Jacob stuck to making plans for how to develop the settlement. Ever since that day that Joseph snapped at Jacob and stopped him from chasing after Eden, Jacob was giving Joseph a wide berth.

John noticed everything, of course he did. It seemed like every time Jacob looked up he saw John watching him. Those blue eyes pierced right through him, he had no shame. John was always observant, sometimes too much so. He never spoke about Eden to Jacob, but he couldn't help but feel like John knew everything Jacob was thinking about.

Jacob finished his food and made his way up to the top of the hill of the settlement. It was the perfect place to look over the whole area around them. He sat in a chair he had placed there as a lookout spot.

The sun was just dipping behind the mountain peak now. As the sky turned orange and pink, the survivors down in front of the first laughed and spoke amongst each other. They were happy.

Jacob looked out over the quiet landscape. Somewhere out there, Eden was watching the same sky. Maybe she was eating, maybe she was hunting, maybe she was building a fire or stringing a bow. Wherever she was...Jacob knew she was probably happier.

     Eden sat on the dilapidated front porch of an abandoned cabin, watching the sun set while she ate some deer she had hunted earlier that day. She found the cabin after a few days of searching around the mountains a couple months prior. While the forest had regenerated and most of the world was fresh and new, there were still signs of the old world.

     Roads were broken and grown in, but still visible enough to follow. Eden had found a couple of old prepper stashes that seemed untouched, it didn't seem like many people were out of their bunkers yet. She found supplies like compasses, bows and arrows, fishing rods, even some materials. One had money in it, but what use would old money have in this new world? She left it untouched.

     In the stashes Eden had also found preserved food that seemed good still. She only took a couple jars and left the rest for others to find.

     If anyone was still left, she figured they deserved a fighting chance for survival just as much as she did, so she never took everything from the stashes she found. She always left enough to help someone else.

     The changing landscape made it hard for Eden to find certain things. The Wolf's Den in particular was hard to find. She had been searching, part of her wondered if it had been buried. She didn't like false hope, but part of her wondered if anyone could've made it in there. They had the supplies, but maybe not the patience.

     Through her searching, she discovered an old cabin. The door and windows had been broken a long time ago, but its foundation was solid and the walls were strong. When she first stumbled upon it, she felt a whisper of familiarity, but she didn't know why. Maybe because it represented a world that wasn't there anymore.

     As Eden sat on the front porch and watched the sun set behind the mountains, she felt a chill in the air. It was still the middle of summer, but because of the placement of the cabin in the mountains shadow it cooled off quick.

The rest of the valley was embraced by a glorious golden hue. It was fleeting. Slowly but surely, nightfall engulfed every last tree. Crickets began to sing and wolves off in the distance let everyone know it was time to hide for another long night.

Eden walked back into the cabin and laid down on the old bed by the fire place. She didn't want to put on a fire, partly because of the effort but mostly because of the smoke. Even though it had been so long, she wasn't ready for company.

Her body ached, but it let her know she was still kicking. She wasn't nearly as fast or as sharp as she was in her prime, but she was managing more than well enough on her own. She had a roof over her head, clothes on her back, and food in her stomach.

She sat up and looked down at her clothes, maybe they were starting to get a bit worn out. The fraying along pretty much every hem and the small holes dotting the material of her shirt were indicating a near repair. She just needed to find something to repair it with.

But that was a worry for tomorrow. Tonight she just wanted to focus on getting some sleep, if her body would let her.

At night when the world was quiet, Eden's mind got louder. Her doubtful thoughts crept in against her best efforts to keep them at bay.

     She thought about Jacob. He was the type of person where he always needed to be doing something, so she was sure he was keeping busy somehow. Maybe he was hunting? Or maybe he was cleaning his gun? He had a strange affinity for cleaning his gun, even if it didn't seem dusty or used.

     Eden couldn't tell if she missed him or just felt guilty. Leaving without saying a word chewed away at her, but deep down she knew it was the best way to end things. If she tried to talk to him he'd either convince her to stay or leave with her and neither of those felt good.

    Not that leaving him behind felt good, but at least she wasn't bothering anyone anymore. She didn't have to listen to John chastise her anymore, nor Joseph preach. She just lived a peaceful life in the mountains, only the trees and ground to listen to her.

     It was peaceful. Peaceful. Peace.

     That's what she had always been fighting for...right?

     The sun crept in through the boarded up window, leaking through the tiny gaps and finding their way to Eden's face.

     Sunrise already.

     Eden groaned and rolled over. She didn't have to wake up at dawn anymore. Her day started whenever she decided to get up, and today she just didn't feel like getting up.

     She nestled closer to her blanket and tried her best to ignore the brilliant sunlight pouring in. But it was no use. The sky was awake so she was awake.

     Although a bit unhappy at the time, Eden sat up in her bed. She looked around the old cabin and found everything where it should be. Nice.

     She got up and walked over to the cabinet she was using as a pantry. She checked and counted the cans of food left on the shelf. She had four cans left. But she knew she needed more food.

     Eden decided it was time to start living off of the land. She remembered the stream nearby and decided today would be the day she started fishing.

     Eden made her way down to the stream, it was actually a bit deeper than she had remembered it being. Even better for fishing.

     She pulled her makeshift fishing rod off her back; a long stick with line attached to it, and on the end a sharpened fork piece. She had never been much of a fisher, but she knew she needed some kind of bait, so she dug a hole in the dirt nearby and found a worm.

     Very carefully, as if she were handling a bomb, Eden put the worm on the end of her 'hook'. She gently placed the hook in the water and bobbed it to get some fish interested.

     She thought she felt a nibble and yanked the rod back, but it had just been the current. The hook came flying out of the water and hit her smack in the face.

     "Goddamnit!" Eden cursed and dropped her pole. Thankfully the hook hadn't embedded in her face, but the sting of a piece of metal flying into her lip hurt.

     "Alright alright, I'll be gentle." Eden muttered to herself and adjusted her worm. "I'll catch a fish in no time."

     Despite not having a working watch, Eden had felt the minutes ticking by for the last five hours. Not a single nibble or bite. Once she caught a stick that got her excited, but all that did was rip off her worm.

     Eden pulled in her line from her rod and tossed it to the side. "Damn thing." She mumbled and laid back in the cool grass behind her.

     She looked up at the tree tops and took a breath. Her stomach was speaking to her, asking for a little bit of food to quell its hunger.

     She had started out determined, but now she was wondering if she could've eaten the worm she so nonchalantly stuck on her fake hook.

     "Oh well. Guess I'm SOL this time." Eden said and looked up to the sun. According to her calculations it was just passed noon. Still plenty of the day left to find some other kind of food.

She remembered she had some plastic string in her bag. Maybe it would be strong enough for her to make a snare?

Eden dug through her bag and found the string. She did a pull test and it seemed to work. Although she worked best with a rifle, she didn't want to draw attention to herself like that. With how quiet the world was now, a gunshot would reverberate across this valley like, well, a gunshot.

She carefully measured out what would be long enough of a piece of string to make a snare for something like a rabbit. Cautiously she cut it with her knife.

Eden tried to think back to when Jess was showing her how to make a snare. What knot did she tie?

After a few tries of kinking her nice pretty string, Eden figured out how to make the loop of a snare. Nice, now she just needed a bunch more.

After another hour, Eden had several successful snares built. All she needed to do was find places to put the snares.

She packed up her stuff and carried her snares to find proper spots.

As she made her way back to her cabin, she found quite a few nice spots near lots of small animal activity. Some rabbit scat encouraged her that she was making the right decision.

By the time she could see her cabin, Eden had placed all of her snares. Now she just had to settle in for the night and wait until daybreak to check her snares.

For her dinner, Eden ate some of her can of corn she scavenged from a pepper stash. It wasn't a lot, but it stopped her stomach from rumbling. She went to sleep thinking about a delicious rabbit she could cook.

The next morning Eden was excited to go check her snares. She walked down to her first snare, which was hanging empty and untouched.

No worries, the next one would probably have something.

Again, nothing.

Maybe the next one?

Nada.

Surely the next one will have something?

Nope.

Eden checked six of her snares and not one had caught a damn thing. She was having a hard time holding out hope for her seventh, but she tried.

When she came over the small hill and saw her seventh snare her heart skipped a beat. It looked like it had been drug away and Eden couldn't see the snare itself.

Barely fighting back the urge to do a happy dance, Eden hurried over to check her snare.

Once she saw it her heart sank. The snare had been drug, and whatever was caught had chewed through the flimsy plastic string.

Eden grabbed the snare and looked at the string. She rolled it in her fingers and sighed. She cut the string off of the tree and stuffed it in her pocket. She was going to need a hell of a lot stronger string if she was hoping to actually snare something.

Eden walked back to the cabin on an empty stomach. Once her walk back, she decided that she would give the snares another two days. If they didn't catch anything by the end of the second day, she would start walking to try and find better supplies.