Neil is still running the day to day operations at the power plant. Eight or nine of the construction workers have decided to help Rob full time with his new compound. Most of the others have relocated from the Power Plant to Haven. A rotating skeleton crew stays at the Power Plant in order to keep it operational.
The first week Neil was in charge of the power plant, Marvin was caught trying to hide a hand gun. Neil had him put outside the plant gates. Neil said there were cheers when the Zombies staggered after his fleeing form running down the street.
The location Rob and I have finally selected for his new settlement is about 12 miles north of Haven. Rob has been hauling equipment and salvaged material there for a couple of months. Several residents from haven have asked to accompany him and have been volunteering construction help. Rob says he'll call it, "Jennyville." He toyed with the name New Haven but decided he was through with Haven and didn't want any reminders of it. Rob and Jenny are living out of his APC, but expect to be living in their new compound in a couple of months. Mike returned to Haven from the power plant and has become an excellent forager. He has been leading salvage trips for Rob as well. This frees Rob up to work on his compound and not have to go material salvaging constantly.
Just over a year after the attempted coup and the resulting exiles, Betty, Bobby, and I continue to live in Haven. Between Luther, Mike Wally, Bobby, and myself we have managed to keep Rob's crew and Haven supplied, with the orchards and farm crops supplementing our food requirements foraging isn't required for all of our food. Bobby and Wally, who is just a year older than soon to be 16 year old Bobby, have become fast friends. Wally introduced Bobby to his sister, Kelly. Bobby, (who prefers Bob these days) has quite a crush on her. Only Jenny and I call him Bobby anymore, even Betty and Rob call him Bob.
Life in Haven continued as uneventful as things can get when there are Zombies walking around trying to bite any living person that they come across. Rob continues to work on his new site. The living compound has been completed and Rob and several construction crew members from the power plant have started living there full time. Rob has taken the precaution of digging a 12 foot deep trench surrounding the perimeter walls which Rob had increased to a height of just over 20 feet. There is just one road leading into the living area from the outside and it has thick metal gates that can be closed. The gates can protect the living area from attack by marauders as well as Zombies. Rob has even hauled the tank and four M119 105mm canons into the compound to defend the living quarters against any hostile attack, be it living or Zombie.
In Haven I pull my guard shifts and occasional foraging trips. And I help Rob whenever I am free to do so. Betty had asked me to stay in Haven for the time being rather than move over to Jennyville. Bobby, who just turned 16, is still living in Haven too. He said that Haven still needs his help, but I think it has more to do with Wally's sister, Kelly. She has captured his heart and mind. Kelly says this or Kelly said that was the start of almost every sentence Bobby says. I fully understand this because I pretty much feel the same way about Betty. Although she had originally been a housekeeper for me and teacher for Bobby, she is much...much more than that to me now.
One comfortable October evening, as the two of us sat outside enjoying the cool breeze, I asked if she would consider living with me as husband and wife. Betty looked across the table at me and said that if I would agree to limit my foraging trips she would.
Betty said that when the Zombie trouble initially began, she had been out shopping with her husband Ben. Betty said that Ben and she were just exiting a store when they encountered their first Zombie. She said the TV news had been reporting and showing video about the problems in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. But the problems were attributed to gangs and rioting. There hadn't been any problems yet in the Sacramento area, and no one was very concerned there. Betty said that as they walked out the door, an injured man had grabbed Ben by the shoulder and started trying to bite him. Ben had twisted away from the creature and ran down the street. Without any concern for her safety, he had left her behind with the Zombie. Fortunately, as Ben had been grabbed, the door had swung shut with her still inside the store. The Zombie had slapped on the door several times then took off in pursuit of Ben, who by now was several buildings down the block and still running. Betty said that as she watched Ben and the Zombie disappear around the corner she felt abandoned and betrayed. She said she never wanted to feel deserted like that again. Betty said if Sid, Luther, and the others hadn't taken her in she's not sure what would have happened to her.
But, as I said, I care more for her than I had for anyone in a long, long time. Having first had Jenny and Bobby around the house and now Betty, I saw just how lonely I had become. I told Betty that I would never abandon her. Betty said that she had felt safer with me than she had with anyone in a long time. She said she still remembered that on the trip to Haven, how I had made sure everyone was safe before I dealt with the Zombies we had encountered down by Zamora. She said that she also remembered how I had taken her in when we first arrived here at Haven. And that I had never asked or expected anything in return.
Although I agreed to cut back on trips outside, I had feelings of guilt flood over me if I thought about it too much. I knew that my cutting back would mean a bigger burden would fall on Mike, Wally and a few others including young Bobby. Others would have to be the ones to trek into the outside world to retrieve the necessities we needed. Betty said that if I would gather our friends tomorrow we could tell everyone our plan. And then we could decide if we were staying in Haven or moving to Rob's new compound. The next day I woke up and went to the gate to start my six hour shift gate guard.
Several hours after I had left to start my guard duty, Betty and Bobby had decided to walk up to the orchard and pick some apples so that she could make some pies for our engagement party. Bobby had gladly agreed to go, since at sixteen nothing except for Kelly piqued his interest more than eating, and apple pie was one of his favorite things to eat.
From the evidence we found later that day, it appeared that Bobby and Betty had been picking apples when a group of 19 Zombies had fallen upon them in the orchard. We found Bobby's empty MP5 and the bodies of eight Zombies. As well as three others that had been damaged so badly that they were still crawling around in the general area of the attack. The house closest to the orchard belonged to Fred Thompson. He had sounded the alarm. Jack and several others had responded and destroyed the remaining Zombies as they were busy devouring Betty and Bobby's corpses. Both victims had been so dismembered by the large group of Zombies that there wasn't a reanimation to be dealt with.
When I arrived home after my shift I was met at the gate by a crying Jenny who had been in Haven to visit Jack and Mindie when the attack had occurred. Jenny broke the news to me while sobbing uncontrollably. Although I was aware that a Zombie incursion had occurred I didn't know the victims were Betty and Bobby until now. I hugged Jenny and told her about the decision that Betty and I were planning to announce this evening. I felt anger as well as grief at the loss of two people I had allowed myself to care for.
When Jenny had somewhat controlled her tears, I hugged her then turned and went inside to pack. I loaded my truck without talking to anyone. When I was finished loading, Rob walked over and asked me where I was planning to go. "I think I'll try checking south." I told him. "Are you planning to ever return?" Rob asked. "Yeah, I'll be back but I just want to drive south and kill some of those Zombie bastards. After I kill a few hundred maybe I'll feel better. I know it won't bring back Bobby or Betty but I'll prevent as many Zombies as I can from ever doing anything like this to me or anyone else. Take care of Jenny and take care of yourself. Tell Wally my APC is his now. Bobby would have wanted him to have it." I said. I left that night on a mission to rid myself of the pain and despair at having allowed myself to love anyone in this world that was so cruel and dangerous.