Surprise dear readers! I didn't have much else to do so I was able to finish this quick chapter. This time we take a small look into the Loud's stay at Haven and a quick peek at Lincoln and Richard in the aftermath of Pete's compound. Hope you all enjoy the chapter.


Hope For The Future

September 3rd, 2019- Haven

The Loud girls were huddled around the living room of their new home in Haven, voicing their opinions of the settlement and the residents they've run into so far. "This is literally the best place we've seen since the shelter back home". "I told you to never bring that place back up again!" Luna angrily said through gritted teeth. "Sorry..." Lori replied, forgetting that it was because of that shelter that Luna both found and lost Sam.

"Well since she brought it up, what if this place is hiding something. Just like those asshat government fools back then". Lynn suggested before being scolded for her use of language by her mother, which she promptly ignored. "But look at how happy everyone is here, and They've all been like super nice so far. Maybe this is what we've been searching for". Leni said with hopeful innocence. "It's only been a day, you can't gather one's true intentions from first glances, everyone has something dark to hide, this place could be the same". Lucy countered.

"Well either way, I don't think we should go stirring up trouble just yet. We don't want to get thrown out when this place could be the home we need". Rita then turned to Lynn jr. and Ronnie-Anne. "And that means no secret investigations either okay? At least not yet". The two girls looked to each other before turning back to Rita and nodding in agreement. "Thank you". Rita sighed in relief.

"Now today is a brand new day, Steve said that they'd hold off on assigning us jobs for a few days to let us get settled in. so take this freedom to get to know some of the people around here, ask questions but don't be pushy". Rita figured she'd take this chance to accept Steve's offer of hospitality and head over to his house.

She walked over to Steve's residence and knocked on the door, waiting a minute before someone responded that they were on their way. She could hear the lock being undone and a woman opened up the door. She was blonde and had a similar build to Rita, around the same height. "Hi… um?" "Meredith, Steve's better half. Pleased to meet you..." Meredith held out her hand to welcome Rita, who extended her own before introducing herself.

"Meredith that's right, Steve mentioned you. I'm Rita Loud. I just moved in a couple doors down with my girls". "Yes Steve mentioned you guys last night, I was surprised by how many you have with you. Are they all yours?"

Rita nodded. "Yes, all but Ronnie, but she's a part of our family nonetheless". "Geez did you and your husband ever hear of protection?" Her and Rita laughed before Meredith invited her inside for a cup of tea.

After pouring her and Rita's glass, Meredith sat down with her at the dining table to get to know one another better.

"So Steve didn't mention much, just that you and the girls arrived yesterday after being on the road for what? Over half the year?" Meredith began before taking a sip of her tea. "Yeah our family made it to one of those government shelters but that only lasted a month before we were forced to leave once the dead swarmed in. Then me and the girls have been on the road ever since".

"I'm guessing your husband didn't make it then since it's just you and the girls?"

Rita frowned as she remembered the last time she saw her husband. "We were separated when we escaped the shelter, he had our infant daughter Lily with him as well… I haven't seen either of them since".

"Wait. You have another daughter!?"

"Well actually me and Lynn, my husband, have eleven children total. One son and ten daughters".

Meredith stared at her dumbfounded. "Yeah..." Rita then listed off all of her children and how two are now gone and two are missing. She didn't believe Lincoln or Lily were dead, she knew they were still out there. Meredith expressed her sympathies before talking about her own family.

"I have three children, two boys and one girl. All of them are from a previous marriage, I don't have any children with Steve. Jennifer Lives here with us and Tom, my oldest, lives with his family next door". She then bit her bottom lip before talking about her last son.

"Then there's my youngest… he's, he's missing as well, I refuse to believe he's dead. No matter what anyone else says, a mother just..." "knows". Rita said in understanding. Meredith nodded.

Meredith and Rita continued chatting long after the tea was gone, getting to know each other and sharing stories of days past.

The day was half gone by the time Steve showed up and Rita stayed a little longer to chat with him as well before heading back to her house to check in with her children.

Lori was still home, not having left in the first place as she finally had a place to rest and needed it since she was almost due. Leni was the last one back, ecstatic at having already made some friends in Haven. Lucy had went against her mother's wishes and snuck around the town, hiding in the vents of the main hall while the council held one of their meetings. But her discovery was that they were just talking about the status of the settlement and the details of expansion, nothing of evil intent. At least not yet.

The others had all gone off on their own, finding various people to talk to and all came to the conclusion that this was just a normal boring community, which was perfectly fine considering the alternative. Everyone in Haven just seemed happy to be there and have a place that let them live, instead of worrying about whether they have enough food to survive. Lisa found her way to the medical home and had a decent chat with the only professional there, Dr. Johnson. Mentioning that her eldest sister was pregnant and that they'd need medical assistance when the time came.

Once Everyone was together, they all shared what they discovered, which wasn't too much. They all agreed that so far everything seemed fine and that there was no secret experiments going on or evil government stooges pulling the strings. Just normal people helping each other build a community to live through the apocalypse.

"Well don't let your guards down just yet, but I agree that we might have finally found the home we've been looking for. Now we should make sure that they know we can do our part and be vital parts in this community". Rita said before putting a smile on her face. "Now who wants to check the kitchen to see what we can make for dinner?"

All the girls perked up at the thought of not having to eat the same canned goods for once and immediately rushed the kitchen in search of something to eat.

November 1st, 2019- The Bunker

Lincoln and Richard walked through the suburban neighborhood that housed Rich's bunker home, the entire walk was silent, save for the birds in the distance and the sound of the leaves and brush blowing in the wind. Rich opened the door to the bunker and the two stepped inside, finally glad they were safe and sound.

The night beforehand still weighed heavy on their bodies and the scars they both had will be a constant reminder of it. "I'm guessing you want to take a shower just as much as I do so go ahead and take yours first, then we'll take a look at those wounds and change the bandages". Lincoln nodded and Rich slumped over to the couch, crashing down on it with a loud thud.

He closed his eyes and went to run his hand through his hair, only to rediscover that it wasn't there. Richard let out an audible sigh as he stared at his missing appendage. "Least it was my left, Can't imagine how much more difficult things would be if old Righty was gone". Rich didn't know it but Lincoln was still lingering by the edge of the hall, seeing Rich brooding, with a sad expression on his own face.

The boy turned and found his way to the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror and seeing the bandages around the multiple injuries he received from Pete. "Could've been worse..." "Yeah but we have Rich to thank for things not going so far. I need to think of something to do for him". Lincoln began undressing but hesitated when he reached for his pants, images of the night before flooding his mind. He clenched his eyes shut and forced those thoughts out of his mind before continuing and turning the shower on.

Back in the living room, Rich looked at the TV, his reflection staring back at him. Rich got up and turned the PlayStation on, preparing to make more progress on God Of War. When he picked up the controller however, he realized he'd need to learn to play with one hand now. Shaking his head he continued anyway, figuring he'd best start now.

Lincoln stepped out of the shower and began drying himself off when he heard a loud bang coming from the outside, followed by Richard screaming in profanity.

Lincoln quickly got dressed and walked out to the living room, seeing Richard, with his one good hand holding his head in frustration and the 'you are dead' screen illuminated on the TV.

"Are you okay Rich?" Lincoln said as he looked around the room and saw the controller on the ground. "Must've been what the bang was" Richard took a deep breath and removed his hand from his head, letting it swing limply by his side. "Yeah, I'm fine its just… gonna take some time Linc".

"I'm gonna take my shower then we'll change out these bandages". Rich then walked past Lincoln, not bothering to turn the game off as he did so. Lincoln hesitantly picked up the controller, which was still working and restarted from a checkpoint. He hoped Rich wouldn't mind if he played a bit, maybe he'd appreciate him helping get farther in the game.

Rich was now stood in front of the bathroom mirror, just now realizing the amount of blood still on his face, not his blood. He was surprised Lincoln didn't say something, or maybe clean him up a bit, but he shrugged it off as he looked down on his bandaged stump. He figured the water would do it some good, and he needed to see it anyway.

Rich carefully unwrapped the bandage and looked at the damage he did. Fortunately it didn't look too bad, it could've been a lot worse if they didn't take care of it last night.

He sighed as he turned the water on and stepped inside the shower, turning the water a little colder than he's used to so he didn't mess up his arm even more.

Once he was done he got dressed and made his way back out to the hall, hearing the sound of Lincoln playing the game he left on. "hm wonder how he's doing. Probably better than I am right now".

Richard walked into the living room to see Lincoln fighting one of the Valkyrie sub-bosses in the game and by the looks of its health bar he was almost done. Lincoln activated the spartan rage mode and finished it off, marking another one down and only one more to go. "Nice…definitely better than I was doing right?" Rich said with a smile.

"I hope it's alright… I wanted to give it a try and then one try turned into two and then..."

"Lincoln it's fine, I wasn't making much progress anyway. Gotta get used to this, probably shouldn't be diving right into a boss fight before actually learning to play right?" Lincoln chuckled a bit and Rich sat down next to him, asking for the controller. After a few minutes however he realized they still didn't take care of their patches and paused the game so they could put new ones on. Lincoln had to help Rich when it came to wrapping his up.

"Probably gonna have a nice scar on your cheek there dude, but chicks dig scars anyway. I'm sure Ronnie-Anne will be all over you haha". Lincoln blushed a bit and lightly punched Rich in his good arm. "Okay, okay. How does the arm feel?" Lincoln moved his right arm around a bit, feeling some pain, but nothing too major. "It still hurts a bit but nothing I can't handle. I'll just avoid putting any strain on it for now".

"Well we still have ten episodes to go on Fullmetal, want to get that finished up before we have dinner?" Lincoln nodded enthusiastically and Rich went over to the bookshelf to grab the last DVD out of the set. Part way through their marathon, Richard turned to Lincoln and jokingly said "So you know what this means right? I need to cut my leg off too and then I can cosplay as Ed". They both laughed, Lincoln's was more of a nervous laughter but he was glad that Richard was still cracking jokes at least.

"You know it's the wrong arm right?" Lincoln said through the laughter. "Hey, no cosplay is ever perfect am I right?"

"I don't know, I make a pretty convincing Ace Savvy" Lincoln joked. "Okay that I gotta see". Richard Laughed.

Once they were done with the last episode, the two boys got to work on making dinner. As they sat down to eat, Lincoln asked Rich a question. "So Rich, do… do you think that your family is still out there? Have you ever tried to look for them?"

"I made my choice a long time ago Lincoln, I chose to abandon them and even though I once wished I could go back and change that, I wouldn't. I think things have turned out for the better anyway". Rich said as he smiled, and Lincoln could tell it was genuine. "I don't think the people I've helped would still be alive, and who knows they could be dead now, but they wouldn't have lasted as long as they did without my help..."

"...And then there's you. I couldn't in good conscious leave you to that hell, I'd leave my family over and over again if it meant I could save you from that. Despite my… fantasies, I could never allow a child to be abused in that manner, it makes me sick. I know. Confusing right?".

"Well, thank you Rich. But you didn't really answer my question. Do you think they're out there?" Lincoln asked. "Who knows? I certainly don't want to know because I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. And if I know where they are then I'm going to want to stay".

The two went to bed after looking at the map and planning out their next searching locations, planning on staying out as long as they're able to before it becomes too difficult on account of the winter weather. Both slept soundly in spite of what they went through the night before, and woke up ready to continue the search.

February 13th, 2020-Haven

Rita was not in a mood to deal with anything today, nor anybody. Today was a day she didn't want to think about as it reminds her of what's not there: her son. Today is Lincoln's birthday, he'd be turning thirteen today and Rita hated that he wasn't here to celebrate that with them, they nearly forgot the last one as they'd been too worried about surviving on the road.

But now they had the chance, the opportunity to actually celebrate each other's birthdays, and he wasn't here. Lori had turned nineteen, given birth to a baby boy. Luna had turned seventeen a few months back, Lily would be three last month and Lisa was going to turn six next month. Her family was fractured and days like this hurt the most. Lori checked on her mom, who was confining herself to her room, and asked not to be disturbed.

"Mom? I know you wanted to be left alone… and I know why. But you need to eat something". Lori received silence in response. "Mom he wouldn't...he wouldn't want you to be like this. Be sad sure but he'd want us all to move on. You know how the little twerp was".

Rita knew her daughter was right and decided to make the effort and get out of bed. "Thank you". Lori said.

There was a knock on the door and Lynn Jr. was closest so she offered to get it. She opened the door to find Meredith standing there with some type of food dish in her hands. "Hi Lynn is your mother home? I brought some lasagna that Steve made the other night. I figured I'd share some with you guys".

"She's been moping in her room all day, hasn't been talking to anyone. I think Lori just went in to check on her". Lynn said in dismissive tone. Just then Rita came out of the room, wrapped in a robe that was kindly given to her by Meredith. As soon as she saw her mom, Lynn walked into the living room to avoid her. "Hey Rita, are you okay?"

Lynn Jr called out from the Living room. "She's probably just sad cause its the birthday of the son she abandoned!" Lori and Rita were in shock at Lynn's comment and Lori walked in the room to have a little 'chat' with her sporty sister. The sound of a loud slap could be heard from the hall and Rita held a hand up to her face to hide her crying eyes.

"I see… um maybe I should come back another time". "No, no It's fine Meredith. I'm… sorry about that".

"Nothing to apologize for, I…understand completely. So how old would he be?" Meredith questioned.

"He'd be thirteen, he's out there starting his teen years and I'm not there for it. I feel like I failed him, like I failed all of them". Rita said as she began breaking down in tears. "Rita you got them here in one piece, maybe not everyone, but you can't save everyone. No matter how hard you try".

"You did the best you could in the situation you were given. You were put in a place no mother should be put in and you did all you could. Don't feel bad when things could be much worse, A few people here don't even have any of their kids anymore". Meredith said.

She then brought up her own son. "You guys got here a month after his birthday would've been. I was in the same boat as you". Rita looked up to Meredith as she began speaking about her youngest.

"He would be twenty-four now, I imagine he's out there living some stupid fantasy. Sometimes I feel like he left, that he didn't make it because he couldn't but because he didn't want to".

"You still haven't even told me his name. It must be hard bringing him up". Rita sullenly said. "I don't know, I just haven't been able to say it for awhile. Lincoln and him sound alike in a lot of aspects. They both sound like big nerds".

"Yeah, and I signed Lincoln up for football because I felt like he needed to exercise". "I signed mine up for Karate… he didn't follow through to the end though". Meredith said. "Lincoln had his sister Lynn switch places with him, he didn't even play until the final game in the season". They both laughed at that fact.

After a few moments of silence Meredith spoke up again, this time more hesitant but she eventually managed to get the words out. "His, his name is Richard. Richard Jones...".


Dun, dun, duuuuunnn. Yeah so coincidentally Richard's family is in the same location as Lincoln's. Who could've guessed that right!? LoL, anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this quick little chapter and I'll see you all in a week or two. Have a good one until then.