Four or five hours later just before sunset, Rob and Luther drove up to the gate leading into Haven. Tom stuck his head out of the guard shack and yelled "Where the hell you been, sightseeing? Jenny comes up here every half hour and then Ralph shows up to take her home again. She's driving me nuts. Ralph finally told her he would go look for you if you didn’t show up by 6:00. If Bobby started coming up here every 10 minutes, I swear I was going to go look for you myself." Rob just laughed and tossed Tom a six pack of beer. "Sorry for the trouble. We were delayed by a couple Zombies." he said. Tom raised the gate and waved the six pack at Rob, "Thanks" he shouted as Rob roll past him.
Rob pulled into Ralph's driveway and killed the engine Jenny rushed out of the house and jumped on him as he swung out the driver’s door. "Where have you been? Uncle Ralph and I were coming to look for you, if you didn't show up soon." "I had to stop and pick up a present for you." he said. He opened the back door of the APC and started handing her bags of clothes. Jenny started pulling clothes from the bags and holding them up. "Wait there's a lot more bags" Rob said. Jenny put the bag she was holding down and ran over and hugged Rob.
Veronica came out and walked over to Luther and told him that she had gotten a house for the two of them. Ralph looked over toward them and said, "You guys can take the bicycles and go on over to your place or you can stay and eat with us. Rob can drop you off at your new place as he and Jenny go home." Really, Uncle Ralph? We can move in together now?" Jenny asked. "Sure, if that’s what you want" I told her.
"We’ll take the bikes if it’s ok and pass on dinner." said Luther. He draped his arm around Veronicas shoulder and they walked over to the shop and grabbed the two old bikes and they started to their new place smiling and talking.
Jenny said, "Come on Betty, let's look through these clothes. We get first pick and everything we don't want can be given to the community center. Then we’ll finish making supper and eat before Rob and I leave."
Rob said "Ralph, lets go get the rest of the clothes out of the APC. We found some ammo and weapons too. You come too Bobby, I'm sure we found something for you on this trip." Once they were outside, Rob told Ralph about the trouble in the mall. "Man, I thought we were goners. But Luther stayed steady and didn’t panic." said Rob. "We used a lot of diesel on this trip. The APC fuel consumption is pretty high but between the armor and fire power worth the extra fuel for trips to areas of heavy Zombie infestation. If we hauled the trailer behind it we could make trips into Sacramento for some pretty large scale looting." Rob said.
Rob tossed a Kevlar vest back to bobby "Hey Bobby, we found this at the road block and Ralph said you needed one." "I sure do!" Bobby said. Grabbing the Kevlar vest and trying it on. "Now I can go with you right, Uncle Ralph?" asked Bobby. "Yeah, I guess so. Maybe we can take the trailer and gather some supplies for the community center." I said. "Cool" said Bobby. "Did everyone get settled in?" asked Rob. "Yes", I said, "Sid, Elizabeth, and Jamie took the house third house down the street from here and Luther and Veronica are staying a couple of houses from you. Betty is going to stay in Jenny’s old room until she decides where she wants to stay". Rob looked over at me smiled and said "Just one happy little family unit, huh".
Life marched on at its normal pace in our neighborhood enclave. Every third or fourth day I worked a guard shift at the gate or as roving perimeter patrol. We had a fairly secure compound but had to be vigilant against wandering Zombie incursions. Bobby (who I had come to think of as a son) was anxious to work a guard shift, I only agreed to allow him to work day gate guard shifts with Rob, or myself for now. On the nights I worked a guard shift Bobby stayed home and kept Betty company. Jenny was staying full time with Rob now. Bobby usually stayed with his sister Jenny on the nights Rob worked a shift.