Here is the first chapter of Haven - Epilogue.
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“I can’t believe you stored stuff up here,” David complained as he looked around the musty, dusty interior of the hospital’s attic. “This place is awful.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Katya replied as she shoved the last of the gear into her backpack. “Stop bitching and hurry up. Sooner we’re done, sooner we’re outta here.”
“Yeah and why don’t you shut up or I’ll put my-” David stopped himself, feeling his cheeks beginning to heat up.
He glanced over his shoulder at Katya, who was looking at him.
“Forgot I wasn’t one of your submissive girls, huh?” she asked, looking amused.
He laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, sorry.”
“No harm, no foul,” she replied with a shrug, and went back to work. As he did so as well, transferring the excess medical supplies to his pack, she spoke up again. “You must be something else to those chicks who are into being dominated.”
“That’s what they tell me,” he replied. “It doesn’t come up too often.”
“Interesting.”
They went back to working in silence. The place smelled mustier than usual because it had rained recently and the roof leaked.
It had been two weeks since they had successfully overthrown the Marauders and killed (hopefully) every last one of them. Although he imagined at least some must have managed to get away. And ever since then, he’d been working.
Working, working, working.
With little downtime. Although a few days ago Lara and Cait had madehim relax and take a long break at a hot spring Lara had found. That had been...very gratifying. He knew he was due for another break of that capacity soon, because after that he’d just gone right back to it. It seemed like there wasn’t an end to the list of things that needed to be done in the wake of the attack. Not just in picking up the pieces of the Marauders’ assault and Lima Company’s betrayal, and not just the fact that their building of Sanctuary hadn’t been completed, nor even all the stuff they regularly had to do just to stay alive in this undead-ruled nightmare world.
No, in the wake of the attack, the Marauders had shown them just how vulnerable they truly were to an army like that.
It meant that they all had to band together, buckle down, and prepare for the worst.
Right now, they were still in the process of picking up the pieces. At present, David was wrapping up something he’d been negotiating and finally implementing for a little while now: the doctors were finally going to officially join Sanctuary and Haven. There’d been a bit of negotiation when it came to who was going to do what and go where, but they’d finally got it all sorted out. Although the group was getting broken up, David had the impression that they were all kind of happier where they were now.
“Okay,” he said, zipping his backpack up as he shoved the last of the gear into it, “that’s it.”
“Yep,” Katya said, doing the same. He turned and looked at her. In the gray light filtering in through the windows, she looked as dangerously beautiful as ever. Today she wore cut-off cargo pants and a combat vest she’d liberated from one of the dead Lima Company traitors. He noticed that her muscles were more defined than before, and, given her new position and the potentially vastly increased threat level they were living in now, he didn’t blame her for going harder in her workouts. They were all preparing for the worst.
“Let me take one last look around, you go see how Vanessa’s doing,” Katya said after a moment’s consideration.
“Okay,” he replied, pulled on his pack, and headed downstairs.
Given the instability of the attic, it seemed best not to bring the eight foot goliath woman up there. He found her in what had not too long ago been her bedroom. She was sitting on her bed, looking out a window, two duffel-bags and a backpack on the floor at the foot of the bed.
“Got it all?” he asked.
“Yeah. And I double-checked everything. We’re good. That’s the last of it. How about up there?” she asked, standing and facing him. Even now, even after all the time they’d spent together, he had to fight not to take a step back when she stood up quickly.
She was very intimidating.
“Katya’s wrapping it up now,” he replied. He looked around. “You going to miss this place?”
“Sort of,” she replied after a moment, also looking around. “Lots of memories here. Some bad, a few good, most neutral. But for the most part, I feel like this is an upgrade. I always felt a little, hmm...tied down, I guess, when I was living here. Donald wanted me here so often. I found myself wanting to go out and explore so many times, but I couldn’t. Now that I’ve got a new job...I feel good. I like what my future looks like.”
“Even if it might mean fighting off an invading army?”
Vanessa grinned fiercely at him. “Come on, David. You know I’m basically a Valkyrie, right? I live for the fight.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” he replied. “Goddamn I’m glad you’re on our side.”
“Always,” she said.
“Okay,” Katya said as she descended the stairs, “that’s it. The last of the gear is accounted for up there. How are we down here?”
“Done,” Vanessa said, pulling on her pack and picking up one of the duffel-bags. She handed the other to David, who accepted it.
The trio headed downstairs and outside. David knew the place wasn’t completely cleared out. It was now the site of a cache of guns, ammo, food, and emergency medical supplies. But otherwise, it was empty of gear. They had been coming and going for three days, hauling all the useful stuff out of it. Everything from the medical equipment to the bio-matter generator to the personal effects of the people who had once called this home.
“All right then,” Vanessa said, “I guess I’m off to start doing preliminary work on the hunting lodge. I know I’ll see youaround,” she added, looking at Katya, “but David,” she leaned down and gave him a long, lingering, pleasant kiss, then straightened back up, “come visit me, yeah? You’re like legit the only guy I know who isn’t scared of me and can actually get it up for me.”
“I, uh,” he laughed awkwardly, “yeah. Yeah, I’ll definitely come visit.”
She smirked. “I can’t believe you aren’t more suave with all the fucking chicks you’ve banged over the past eight months. Christ, you’ve got one of them pregnant...I mean as far as I know.”
“One,” David replied firmly. “Just Cait. I’m sure.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Although I’ve heard a rumor that’s about to change...” She stared at him intently, raising an eyebrow in inquiry.
“Uh...” he blushed fiercely and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not...at liberty to, uh, discuss that. If it’s even true,” he muttered.
Vanessa laughed. “Okay, so you’re terrible at lying. Obviously you’ve agreed to knock someone else up, but that’s fair. I mean I’m sure I’ll find out eventually. Either way, good luck. I hope you have healthy offspring.”
“Thanks,” he said.
“You’re welcome. Farewell for now.”
With that she turned and began walking away. He found himself staring at her absolutely enormous ass until she was out of sight.
“Come on, we’ve got to get this stuff back home,” Katya said. As they started walking away from the hospital and back towards Sanctuary, she spoke up again. “So it’s true, huh? You really are going to get another woman pregnant? Who is it?”
“I can’t say,” he replied.
“It’s not an inhuman, obviously. Lara can’t get pregnant, if I remember right. Neither can Ashley, if I overheard that conversation correctly...”
“Katya,” he said, and in a tone that made her look directly at him. “It’s private, okay? If she wants to discuss it, she will. It’s her business if she wants it to stay private.”
“Okay, okay, fair enough,” Katya replied. She smirked suddenly. “I’m impressed.”
“That I’ll have gotten two women pregnant?”
“No. I mean, kinda. No, more that you’ve got a lot more confident. You just flat out stood up to me. You wouldn’t have done that a few months ago. I know I intimidate you. But I’m impressed,” she explained.
“You like that I just shut you down?” he asked.
“Yes, honestly. You’re right, I was being rude. But more importantly, a leader should be unafraid of standing up to people. Even people they like. Especially people they like. If someone you like is doing something bad, or making a mistake, you need to be able to tell them plainly. So yes, I like that you have the guts to do that.”
“Well...all right then,” he replied, unsure of how else to respond.
She laughed. “You’ll be a fine leader, and father, David.”
He sighed. “I hope so. I used to just have the luxury of worrying over whether I’d be decent at being a parent or not. Now it’s like...are we going to fucking survive the next year? The next six months? The next week?”
Katya grew more serious. “David, whatever happens...you’ve got an army of dedicated people, working together, backing each other up. Hell, some of us are practically killing machines all on our own. Me, Vanessa, Ellie, Akila, Azure, Lara, fuck, Xenia, apparently.”
“Yeah, did you ever get more out of her?”
“No. She’s a titanium vault,” Katya muttered. She shook her head. “Whatever, point is: we can handle it. Whatever it is. Trust that. Believe that. I’m committed, David. I wouldn’t be if I didn’t believe in all of this. In all of us.”
“Thank you for that,” he said quietly. “I really appreciate it.”
She laughed. “I know. All I ask for in return is you find time to pencil me in your busy schedule of banging women.”
“I will always find time for you, Katya. You are...something else,” he replied.
She laughed again. “Something else, huh? You’ve got a fetish for scary women.”
“Apparently,” he agreed.
They walked on, back towards Sanctuary.
…
The settlement looked different than it had that night they’d made their final assault on the Marauders and the traitors of Lima Company.
David silently marveled at the changes that had been made in the following weeks. The biggest difference was that they had gone ahead and extended the fence to encompass the entire village, instead of just a few sections of it. That, combined with the fact that a nice little side effect of the Marauder occupation being that undead activity was way, way down, meant that people felt safer. And since people felt safer, they also felt more motivated to work, more focused. So repairs were coming along nicely on the dozens of old houses, stores, and other structures. And Jennifer had been hard at work getting the plumping going.
Over a dozen houses had running water now.
The mood was different. Some of it good, some of it bad, but probably the strongest thing that had come out of it all was a sense of unity, a sense of togetherness that had not been there before. Every time he noticed it, he appreciated it tremendously.
He and Katya walked up to what had once been a simple little clinic. In the new world, so many things got repurposed. So many things turned into homes that had been something else entirely. It was interesting to see something get resurrected into what it had once been. It was the new hospital, their new locus of medicine.
“David! Katya!” April said, looking up from the desk she was standing over as they entered the room. She was smiling and it was so good to see her smile so freely. “You got it all?”
“We got it all,” Katya confirmed, setting her pack down on one of the tables they’d set up in the entrance lobby. Everything was a scattered mess at the moment, but David had no doubt April and the others would get it sorted soon.
“Good work. Excellent work,” April replied, coming around the desk and wrapping David in a hug as he set the bag and his backpack down. She gave him a pleasantly enthused and long kiss on the mouth. She must be in a great mood. He’d noticed that recently. Ever since she’d been promoted to leader of the medical personnel at Sanctuary, she’d been happy and driven. He thought it would make her more anxious, but he supposed it was a measure of how much she’d changed, how far she’d come, that it didn’t have that effect on her.
“All right, lovebirds, with that responsibility crossed off the list, I need to go check in with the fishers. I want to make sure that guy is doing what he’s supposed to,” Katya said.
“You still don’t trust Cole?” he asked.
Katya sighed. “Shit, I dunno. I guess I do, as much as I trust most people. It’s just gonna take a bit to shake the stigma of having worked with Lima Company. But I do want to go down there and check on a few people. That’s my job now anyhow.”
“All right. I’ll see you around,” David said, disengaging himself from April and giving Katya a hug.
She, too, gave him a long kiss. “You will see me around. Bye you two.”
With that, she slung her backpack on again and walked out the door.
“I’m so glad I don’t feel like she’s my competition,” April murmured.
“Me too. I imagine she would be extremely intimidating.”
“Yep.” She looked back at the tables of supplies. “Will you help me get this shit sorted? Like, I need it at least basically sorted. Bandages, antibiotics, painkillers, just toss them into boxes. Frankly, I’m amazed at how much we have and I can’t even begin to get a proper inventory until we have it all sorted. Then I can start figuring out which ones need to be used first, what can go where...”
“Yes babe, I can help you,” he replied.
“Thank you.”
As they set to work, he considered the new structure of the doctors. Though really they were all closer to medics now.
Donald had relinquished control of the group. In his own words, he was, after all that had happened, more than thrilled to ‘retire’ to Haven. He now shared a cabin with Ann, the older woman who had been among the first to move into Haven, who was acting as a bit of a den mother for the children without parents. David thought Ann and David had started dating and figured it seemed like a good match. He was now the resident physician for Haven and he seemed as pleased as David had ever seen the man about his new job.
Katya, being a combat medic by trade and more prone to fighting and keeping on the move, had given herself the role of wandering medic. She would travel between the settlements to offer whatever help was needed, as a fighter or as a medic, and also keep an eye out for any people who might be off by themselves and need help.
Vanessa, who was really just a badass with a fighting skill-set, had moved on entirely from the group and was now involved in an operation to bring the hunting lodge outpost back online and turn it into a defensive forward station to serve as an early warning if there was another attack. David would be visiting her and the other people involved with that project quite soon, after he’d finished his business in Sanctuary.
The three remaining personnel, Janice, the stoic if somewhat sour jag and one of the only qualified surgeons in the entire region, was now second in command directly under April. He had been concerned that she might want to step up, as she’d already been second in command under Donald, but apparently she was happy in the position. The other two, the nurses, Peter and Amanda, had been happy to continue serving in their accustomed roles under April.
“So, how’s it all going?” David asked.
“Good,” April replied. “But busy. Very busy. I’ll be glad when the preliminary bullshit is out of the way. Right now Janice, Peter, and Amanda are all here and working very hard to scrub this place down. We’re going to need a very clean environment to practice medicine safely. Jennifer’s also visiting. She’s getting the generator and the other equipment set up. I’m hoping we can have the place cleaned and straightened up by tomorrow, as well as be ready to beginthe process of a proper inventorying of everything we have access to, but new stuff keeps coming as people find more stuff the Marauders abandoned. I know I shouldn’t be complaining but it’s like I make some progress and then more stuff comes in and just-ah! It’s annoying. But good annoying.”
“That’s good at least. I can hang out for the rest of the day and help you get it done. What about the future? What about plans after you get it set up?” he asked.
Her eyes gleamed with excitement when asked that. “I’ve been going around, looking for people who have any experience with or knowledge of medicine, or, barring that, an aptitude and willingness to learn. Practically speaking, I need more staff. But beyond that, I want to run classes. I want to teach everyone basic medicine and advanced medicine, so that we can all far more effectively take care of ourselves and each other.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” he agreed. He couldn’t help but stare at her and smile.
“What?” she asked, noticing his look.
“I just...I’m so impressed by you. Amazed, honestly. I love how far you’ve come. I love seeing this side of you. You’re ambitious and kind and enthusiastic and confident. I just...love you. I love you,” he said.
She was smiling and looking down now. “I love you too, David,” she replied quietly. She looked up at him. “Honestly, I was inspired by you. I mean, I was inspired by a lot of people. Cait and Evie and Ellie and Lara, so many amazing, brave people in our lives. But I think of you now when I’m scared or uncertain. I think of what you’d tell me, what you have told me. It helps. I’ve changed a lot, even I can see it. I think the biggest change that occurred was...at some point, I realized that I actually can do things. I can and I should get things done, make things happen. I don’t know if this clinic is going to work, but I think it is.”
“I think it is, too,” David replied. “And you won’t be alone.”
“No,” she agreed, “I won’t be.”
They fell back into a happy silence as they resumed their work.