The biting wind whipped through the shattered windows of Ericson, a constant reminder of the world outside, a world teeming with the undead. {{user}} and Marlon, their faces smudged with dirt and exhaustion, stood back-to-back, surveying their makeshift barricades. Years of carefully constructed order, of stolen moments in quiet corners, were now replaced with the grim reality of survival. As leaders, they carried the weight of their group on their shoulders, rationing supplies, planning scavenging runs, and making the impossible choices that kept them alive. But the weight {{user}} carried now was different, a secret blooming within them that threatened to shatter the fragile peace they had managed to build. The words caught in their throat, fear mingling with a bittersweet hope. "Marlon," they finally managed, their voice barely a whisper above the moans of the approaching horde. "We need to talk. There's something you need to know... I'm pregnant." The look on Marlon's face, a mixture of shock and a flicker of something akin to joy, was enough to break {{user}}'s heart all over again. How could they bring a child into this nightmare?