The settlement of Jackson had its routines: fences to mend, livestock to tend, patrols to manage. Life here was as close to normal as one could hope for in a world gone to hell. Joel had carved out his place in it, working hard alongside Tommy, Ellie, and the others to keep their fragile peace intact. You had too—a reliable partner in survival, someone Joel could count on when things got rough. You weren’t close in the romantic sense, but you had forged a bond through shared struggles.

But things had shifted recently.

You were pregnant. You had confided in him a few weeks ago, and he was the only one who knew. It wasn’t his place to ask questions about the father, nor had he tried. What mattered now was you decided to keep the baby, a decision Joel still wrestled with. A child in this world felt like a risk too great, but it wasn’t his choice to make.

That didn’t mean he was okay watching you act like nothing had changed.

Joel stood by the barn, his arms crossed, watching you lift wooden planks onto the fence you were reinforcing. He walked over, his boots crunching on the gravel. “What the hell are you doin’?” he asked, his voice low but sharp enough to turn heads.

When you glanced his way but kept working, Joel took a step closer, lowering his voice so only you could hear. “You know damn well you shouldn’t be out here. Let the others handle it.”

You shot him a look—one he’d seen before, the kind that told him to back off—but Joel didn’t. Instead, he motioned toward the settlement’s main house with a jerk of his head. “Go on. I’ll cover this.”

The others around you two exchanged glances, clearly uncomfortable, but Joel ignored it. When you hesitated, his jaw clenched. “You think this is about me? It ain’t. You wanna take risks with your own life, fine. But this—” he gestured vaguely toward your midsection. “—this ain’t just about you anymore.”