Nathan Jones - First Winter

So of course Murphy’s Law kicked in, and Trev’s voice crackled over the radio sitting on their bedside table. “We’ve got a military truck approaching. Alone, covered in markings.”

That was the last thing Matt wanted to hear. Even though Grimes seemed to have resolved the situation with Rogers and had dealt with most of the displaced refugees, news of an approaching military vehicle was enough to stiffen his spine and make the hairs on his neck stand on end. Sam twisted to give him a look of concern as he gently extricated himself and leaned over to grab the radio.

“Markings? Like a special branch of the military, or some civilian outfit?”

His friend’s voice came back sounding amused. “Well the markings say things like “Jewelry for sale”, “Discount ammo”, and “Winter coats”. So I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably a traveling salesman.”

Matt exhaled what felt like every ounce of air in his lungs in relief. At his side Sam gently shoved him, her expression suggesting it was meant for Trev for scaring them like that. “You couldn’t have said that from the start? Things are tense around here.”

“Humor’s good for morale,” Trev replied. “Anyway any salesman with a truck probably has high end stuff to trade, to justify the expense of using fuel. He’ll probably have things we want.”

Matt was already pulling on his boots, but he paused long enough to reply. “Probably. But either way I want you to cover him just in case this is some sort of trick. Remember, Ferris took Helper by pretending to be a relief convoy.”

“Already on it,” his friend replied. “In the meantime should I roll out the welcome mat?”

“Go for it. Specifically, I want you to represent the town and get first offer on all his trade goods.”

There was a long pause. “You want to buy it all up, even luxury items?”

Sam gave him a curious look as he answered. “Of course not. But I want the town to have a chance to pick up what we need first. There are a few folks here who are well enough off that they might want to snatch up everything they can afford, then turn around and flip it at a markup to people who are desperate for it.”

“Gotcha. I’ll talk it over with him.”

Matt’s bruises had healed enough that he could put on his own coat without help now. As he was zipping it up he noticed Sam pulling herself out of bed and felt a moment of guilt. He didn’t want to tell her to miss the fun, but at the same time he didn’t want her to exert herself.

“You should stay here and rest,” he said.

She gave him a plaintive look. “I was going to, I just need to pee again. This little guy’s using my bladder as a trampoline.”

“Okay.” Matt leaned down and kissed her, briefly resting a hand on her belly to confirm that yes, the baby was kicking like crazy in there. “I’ll try to find something nice for you.”

“Don’t worry about me, take care of the town,” she insisted as she started for the back door. Then she hesitated and gave him a sheepish look. “Although I wouldn’t say no if you did happen to pick something up.”

Grinning to himself, Matt headed for what everyone was jokingly coming to call the Greeting Field, where they usually waited for visitors.

Lewis and his dad immediately pooled their store of precious metals when they heard about the approaching trader. The entire time Lewis fidgeted with nervous excitement at the thought of what sort of useful items might be carried by someone who’d use up hard to find diesel to drive around in search of trades.

In the back of his mind tickled the thought that things didn’t quite add up. Aspen Hill was doing all right as towns went, but aside from this business with Rogers they’d stayed fairly low key and off the radar. And news that they’d been harassed by the military and were fighting off hundreds of refugees turned to banditry didn’t exactly scream prosperity.

With such a huge risk, not only of being robbed but of simply using fuel for no good reason, why would anyone come here to trade?

His dad was smiling too, and at first Lewis attributed it to his own excitement at what they might be able to purchase. Then he caught the looks his dad kept shooting his way when he thought Lewis wouldn’t notice. And just that suddenly it clicked.

“This is a deal you made at the Manti camp, isn’t it?”

Lucas chuckled and scooped up the last of their one-ounce coins. “Let’s see.”

Sudden excitement surged through Lewis, even more than when he’d first heard the news. “You found a supply of smokeless powder and primers.”

“Now how did—” his dad started, looking genuinely surprised and a bit put out. Then he sighed and shook his head. “You’re way too sharp, son. Can’t even let your old man spring a pleasant surprise on you.”

So it was true, his dad had found him a source. After all this time waiting and searching. Lewis wished Jane could be here for this, but she was out on patrol, using her typical method of keeping an eye out for game as well as threats. Still, it would be good news for when she got home.

As they gathered up their gear to head outside his dad coughed a few times, pausing to lean against the doorway. Lewis watched it with concern; it wasn’t the first time his dad had coughed like this in the last couple days. “Are you okay?”

Lucas straightened with a slightly irritated smile. “Guess I’m just not reacting to the cold all that well.”

“Doesn’t say much for our Viking heritage,” Lewis joked. Then he sobered up. “Seriously though. Think it’s possible you might’ve picked something up while you were with Grimes’s soldiers?”

His dad waved that away, even more irritable. “It gets cold, people cough. No need to read more into it than it is.”

Lewis nodded doubtfully. “Okay. But rest if you need to. The rest of us can take care of getting ready for the winter well enough if you need to take a few days.”

“Let’s just go get your reloading supplies,” his dad grumbled.

A lot of people in town were coming out to see what the trader had to offer. Even though most of them didn’t have anything they could afford to give as trade items they still wanted to see what was available. The two Halsson men joined the parade to the north end of town, watching as the truck rumbled down the road towards them.

Trev hadn’t exaggerated his description of the vehicle. It was covered with neat writing in white paint, large enough to read from a good distance away, of various items on offer at reasonable prices. Judging by how packed with goods the cab was Lewis assumed the covered bed would be equally crammed. A good sign.

Two men could be seen through the windshield squeezed in among the goods, an older man in the driver’s seat and a massive younger man who looked like a bodyguard, leaning out the passenger window riding literal shotgun with a 12 gauge in his hands.

Trev and his defenders intercepted the truck before it reached the crowd, and Lewis watched his cousin make his way around to the driver’s door to speak to the older man. About taking all the best stuff for the town.

Lewis wasn’t terribly happy about that. He got Matt’s argument about unscrupulous people hoarding essential goods for profit while their neighbors suffered. But considering Lewis was one of those with the means to purchase items his family and the shelter group in general could really use, and the town was stepping in and preventing him from doing so, it was a bit annoying.

Still, the smokeless powder and primers should be a different deal entirely, and if Matt tried to horn in on that Lewis was going to have a real problem with him. He’d been trying to get his reloading business off the ground for over a month now and had already invested a lot into it, and his dad was the one who’d made the deal with the trader that brought him here in the first place, specifically so Lewis could acquire those items.