Reckoning

Chapter One: Dawn

Song for this chapter is
Dawn by Cinematic Orchestra

The morning light bathes the awake residents of Haven on the streets.  The birds chirp their morning song, and the dew on the grass slowly begins to dry. The tall pine trees inside and outside of the wall are a color of orange, and most of their leaves lay scattered across the  ground.

One by one, the residents of Haven exit their homes, yawning and stretching their arms. I lean on the railing of the front porch of the house, observing the beautiful sights of the community.

I scratch at my black hair, which has gotten pretty long these past few  months. I have on a pair of jeans and sneakers, along with a dark grey  hoodie over a simple t-shirt. I'm wearing my hawk necklace, which was  given to me a few months ago as a birthday gift. I smile and wave to our  neighbor, who's out on her morning walk. I hear the front door open  behind me and Anna walks out, coming to lean on the railing next to me.

"Good morning", she says to me.
"Good morning", I reply.

Anna is a good friend of mine who's an adult. She has her long black hair  tied back in a single braid, and is wearing a black shirt under an unzipped jacket, along with blue jeans. After a few moments of silence, she says to me, "I swear I will never get used to this. Seeing people living in harmony, as if nothing happened. It's weird."
"Anna", I  chuckle, "We've been here for almost four months now. Are you seriously telling me that you're still not used to this?"

She shrugs and asks, "Are you?"
"Hell yeah", I answer. We both laugh. After calming down, she pushes herself  off the railing and says, "Well, we better get to work."

"Yeah", I reply, following her off the porch. We both exit the neighborhood and soon get to the main street of Haven. It's a pretty wide street that  leads to the main wall and the gate, where several people stand guard atop the walkway. Many people are already out and about, socializing and getting to their day jobs.

Lately it's been getting chilly outside, mainly because it's around mid-October right now. At least we think so.

In the center of the street is a long, grassy barrier that separates the  two lanes. Standing on the barrier up ahead is Matt and Lucy, two good friends of ours. Matt has blonde hair and glasses, and he's Lucy's teenage son. He's wearing a grey sweater and tan colored pants. Lucy has on a red shirt under an unzipped white jacket along with blue jeans. Lucy smiles as Anna and I approach them. "Hi guys", Lucy says smiling,  "It's pretty cold out here this morning, huh?"
"Yeah", Anna answers, "Pretty soon we might get some snow. That'd be cool, right Matt?"

"Huh?",  Matt asks, paying attention to something else. He adjusts his glasses  awkwardly. "Just wanted to see if you were listening instead of staring  at Fiona."
Matt blushes. Fiona is a girl here that's about seventeen, like Matt. Speaking of ages, Matt turned seventeen last month and we had this big gathering at his house, and that's when he got to know  Fiona a little.

Lucy, Anna, and I turn our heads and see Fiona chatting with her friend not too far away. Fiona has her long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and she has on a bright green jacket with black leggings.

"She's pretty", Lucy tells her son, "You should go talk to her."
"Mom", Matt groans, clearly embarrassed.
"Come on, Matt. David has a girlfriend and he's younger than you."

Lucy refers to Grace, my girlfriend of barely four months. Grace and I have  known each other for a while now, and she kind of made our relationship  official when she kissed by a cliff the day before we came to Haven.  Matt mutters something then walks off. "Teenagers", Lucy sighs,  scratching her arm, or what's left of it. Oh yeah, I should probably mention that. Before we made it here, Lucy lost her forearm to a  walker bite. It was the only way we could save her.

Anna then says before she walks off, "I better get to the stables. Don't want Peaches to act up for not being fed on time."

Peaches is one of the horses we have at the stables. Yes, we have horses. Anna  took up the liberty of taking care of the stables and its animals. She doesn't do it alone, Logan helps her out. Logan is an older guy who knows a lot about farming and what not.

Then it's just me and  Lucy talking to each other for a few minutes until Charlie and Natalie  come out onto the main street. Charlie and Natalie are a couple who we  met, or found, before we got here. Charlie has black hair and blue eyes  and is wearing a leather jacket and jeans. Natalie has dark brown hair and is wearing crimson red sweater and leggings. Charlie holds Natalie's  hand as they walk over to Lucy and I. "Good morning, guys", Natalie  says politely.
"Good morning", Lucy answers, smiling, "How are two doing?"

"Good. Have you seen Tina and Caesar anywhere?", Charlie asks.

Caesar and Tina are a married couple here at Haven. Tina's pregnant, and she's  due any day now. Caesar is a guard atop the wall, and he's one of the  first people to see me and the group I was with.

"No", Lucy answers, "Caesar's probably at the wall, and Tina might be still sleeping. You know how pregnant women are."
"Yeah", Natalie chuckles, "We'll talk later, okay?"
"Okay. Bye", Lucy says as Charlie and Natalie walk towards the dining hall.

I guess I better get to work too, so I say bye to Lucy and I head to the armory to start the morning.