End Of Days

10: Normal

Wilbur weaved his way through the narrow streets and open paths of Haven, his messenger bag slung easily over his chest.

He smiled and waved as he caught sight of a couple of familiar faces, sitting outside of tents on the other side of the path. A young couple who he'd spoken to a handful of times, sitting out and enjoying the sun.

"Morning, Wil!" A lady called as he passed by, rushing to grab something from a tray and hold it out to him.

"Oh, you didn't have to!" Wil laughed as he accepted the chocolate chip cookie.

"Hush, hush." She rolled her eyes, giving him a firm pat on the arm. "Run along now. I have more tea on the stove I should get to."

"Thank you Mrs Jones!" He called over his shoulder as he continued on his way.

Haven was thriving. Absolutely thriving. It made him so unbelievably happy to see it, and even more so to be a part of it.

"Where's Ranboo?" A young boy called as he ran up, looking behind Wilbur for the boy with the split dyed hair.

"I think he was over near the community board." Wilbur offered, nodding in that general direction. "You playing soccer again?"

"He owes us." The boy said cheerfully as he kept on running. "Thanks Wilbur!"

Wilbur laughed and brushed some hair from his eyes as he kept making his way through the maze of tents, shelters and vans. The cookie was nothing short of delicious. Mrs Jones' baking was something else, especially at times like this.

It had been a few weeks since they'd come across the settlement known as Haven.

The people here were all survivors, but they didn't let that get them down. They picked eachother up when they fell, and shared supplies when they were needed. Never in his life had Wilbur felt such a strong sense of community amongst total strangers.

It was a lively little place, but it was only getting bigger. Over time, more and more survivors had shown up. The fence kept expanding, and more shelters and structures were put up. And with time, more and more little things were added.

Someone built goal structures out of PVC pipe for the kids on their makeshift sports field. Another person built a large memo board for the centre of town, where people pinned up pictures and names of people that they were searching for. A bunch of engineers banded together, and over the course of a week set up generators that ran off solar power. Wilbur loved the way that the lights came out at night.

"Well well well." Drista called as he made his way over to her market stall. "You made it back in one piece."

"Shocking, I know." Wilbur agreed with a smile.

Drista's little stall had been joined by a handful of others. The only rules were that you couldn't sell essentials, like vital food and bottled water. Some stalls sold little handmade trinkets and goods. Others sold trinkets like Drista. One even sold hand baked goods.

"You got anything good for me?" Drista eyed his bag, and Wilbur knew that she was smiling.

Wilbur dug around in his bag for a moment before producing an xbox controller and a small collection of tourist spoons. Her eyes lit up as he handed the goods over, and she turned them over to examine. "Not too shabby, not too shabby."

Wilbur snorted, rolling his eyes. "What about you? Come across anything interesting?"

Drista put the silverware down and moved the controller over to one side, and then she produced a small cardboard box. "I'm pretty sure you owe me, now." She said as she handed it over.