Nathan Jones - First Winter

He was probably just being paranoid though. He couldn’t see his friend shafting him like that for the town’s benefit, assuming the town even could get some benefit from propellants they’d have limited use for.

Still, there was plenty of other stuff he wouldn’t be getting his hands on since Aspen Hill had first pick. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so excited about gathering up his precious metals. Then again, maybe there were potentially useful items Matt and the others would overlook, giving him a shot at them.

… which would then leave him with the dilemma of informing the town of their potential utility to benefit Aspen Hill, or withholding the information for his own benefit and doing exactly the kind of thing Matt had wanted to prevent. Crap.

He spied the Mayor making his way through the crowd to join Trev and fell into step next to him for a few seconds. “You sure have a way of making an exciting event less fun,” he muttered, hopefully low enough that only his friend could hear.

Matt gave him a confused look. “You mean first pick for the town?”

“Yeah.”

His friend grinned. “You know the town still owes you some for the food you and Trev sold us. Among other things. We need to pay you off somehow.” He patted Lewis’s shoulder and kept on going to greet the trader.

Well, that made him feel a little better.

It turned out the trader, Ned Orban, knew the sorts of things that were worth burning diesel to cart to potential customers. His truck was filled with small but valuable items like water filters, ammunition, nails, screws, hinges, and latches, larger items like wood burning stoves, a variety of saws, axes, hammers, picks, and sharpening tools, and squeezed into the top he’d crammed rolled up blankets and cold weather clothing.

And candles. Lots of candles of every size and shape. And oil lanterns, and electric lanterns and flashlights and hundreds of batteries. If Matt didn’t pick up every single means of producing light Ned was selling to get the town through this winter he was an idiot; solar power could only do so much, most of what their panels provided was limited to the Halsson and Smith homes and the clinic and town hall, and the nights were going to be long and dark.

The trader also had a shocking array of incredibly expensive jewelry, probably looted from an upscale store somewhere. Lewis noticed Trev, Rick, and a few others perusing the items on display, suspiciously watched over by Paul, the bodyguard. Even Matt poked his head in, although he seemed to lose interest when he saw the prohibitive price.

Sure, the cost wasn’t anywhere near what things like white gold, platinum, and diamonds were actually worth. But way more than anyone struggling to survive could afford for luxury items.

Unfortunately what Ned was willing to trade for was pretty limited. The list started at food and ended at… food. Aside from things of obvious value and utility, for instance he was interested when Lewis mentioned the town had solar panels and livestock, although disappointed they weren’t willing to trade any, he really didn’t want much of what the townspeople had to offer.

With the town facing an ammunition shortage Matt was able to trade some of their spare guns and parts for a surprisingly generous return, and a few people who were better off for food managed to get decent returns on other items they desperately needed.

As for Lewis and his dad and their precious metals, Ned was interested but not willing to offer anywhere near the full value for gold, silver, or platinum, unlike Newtown had when Lucas had traded there. Lewis had other things to trade, such as condoms from his stockpile and other small but valuable and useful items he’d prepared from before the Gulf burned.

The trader was very interested in Lewis’s hard drives, too. Lewis balked at first, until he realized the man had drives of his own and what he wanted was the terabytes of movies, music, books, and other media Lewis had stored on them.

“That sort of archive’s a valuable thing to have, one that few people thought to put together when they had the chance,” Ned said. “That deserves some reward.”

It was a good thing Lewis had all those things, because the boxes full of neatly stacked bottles of smokeless powder and carefully sealed packets of primers the man had brought weren’t going to be cheap. There was enough of both there to craft a lot of cartridges, anywhere in the area of ten thousand judging by Lewis’s hasty calculations. But Ned knew the value of his reloading supplies and wanted a good return on them.

“You can’t charge more than the reloaded bullets themselves would be worth,” Lewis protested, trying to talk him down.

“I can and I will, if the buyer’s desperate enough,” Ned replied with a grin. He abruptly scowled and turned towards his truck. “Hey! I said five people at a time! Paul!” The bodyguard hurried forward, along with a few of the defenders Trev had assigned to manage the crowd and keep townspeople browsing the goods to the limit the trader had set.

“I can and will break fingers if I see anyone stealing,” Paul rumbled. The Aspen Hill residents who’d tried to crowd the line to start their own shopping hastily retreated, hands up to show they were empty.

Ned turned back to Lewis. “Sorry. Like I was saying, this stuff’s got a serious demand and what you can make with it is worth its weight in gold.”

“Judging by your trade rates gold isn’t doing so well,” Lewis pointed out. “And it takes more than just powder and primer to make bullets.” His dad, who was along for the negotiation as a silent observer, snorted in amused agreement. It turned into a brief but deep cough.

The trader shrugged. “Maybe so. But without them you’ve just got shiny brass trinkets and hunks of jacketed lead.”

“If I can’t get the value of my time and all the other expenses I’ve put into this out of the reloaded bullets, there’s no point in doing it,” Lewis shot back. He had to admit he kind of enjoyed the bartering process. “I appreciate that you mainly came out here for this deal, but if it’s a bad one I have to walk away.”

There it was. Lewis was desperate to buy, but Ned would also be desperate to sell. He’d invested fuel to get here, and while he’d probably get a good return from the town and other buyers this was why he’d come.

“Don’t think I won’t walk away myself,” Ned warned. “Condoms and movies and gold coins would all be nice to have, but this stuff is hard to get your hands on and nobody on the continent is making it anymore. Unless of course Canada or Mexico or the occupying blockheads have a factory going somewhere. And if they do I doubt any of what they make is going to find its way to you.”

That was also a good point. “That might be true,” Lewis admitted. “But even if it’s a bad supply how’s the demand? Are you inundated by buyers trying to get their hands on a product that requires specialized tools and other materials to even get any use out of?”

“Yes. The military. But I thought I’d give the little guy a shot at my wares first.” Ned sighed. “Look, kid. You’re sharp, but neither of us is going to walk away from this deal happy. Just like any good deal. I can walk the price down a little, but I offered a reasonable trade to begin with.”

Lewis kept up the pressure, and the trader stubbornly pushed back, but in the end he was satisfied by how much he got the man to lower the cost. He ran home to gather up the agreed upon trade goods, and couldn’t fully conceal his satisfaction as they made the exchange and he hefted the boxes of materials he’d been trying to get for so long.

Under 60 pounds, he guessed. It felt like it should weigh more, take up more space, considering the massive amount of value he was going to get out of what he held.