by T A Williams
Winter had arrived.
As the cold wind bit into his skin Ben hunched down behind a tree for cover. Flecks of snow fell all around him slowly changing the color of the landscape. He glanced behind him and could just barely make out Trent hiding in the bushes. The man gave him a thumbs up and Ben couldn’t help but smile. He had learned a lot from Trent. He could travel through the woods while barely making a sound, and he had nearly snuck up on a rabbit the other day. Trent showed him a patch of blackberries hidden in the woods and was starting to teach him what plants were edible and which were dangerous. Yet the thing Ben wanted to learn most of all was how to shoot a gun and how to hunt. That was why he was on his current mission.
His father always kept the ammo for their gun in the glass cabinet near the living room. Trent was low on ammo so they couldn’t target practice with his, but if Ben could get some ammo from his father’s gun then Trent agreed to go target practicing with him. Ben knew his father probably wouldn’t be happy about him taking the ammo, but he would appreciate it when he realized Ben could help him hunt.
He bounded around the tree towards their house like he didn’t have a care in the world. If he acted like everything was normal then no one would think anything was up. Trent told him that and he had to agree it made perfect sense. Ben walked through the house as casual as possible, past Jack stacking wood in the mud room, past Joseph playing with toy cars in the kitchen, and past Alya and Alec sitting next to the wood furnace in the sitting room. He paused for a moment as he realized there was someone missing but quickly tossed that concern to the side as his father was probably just hunting.
Ben slipped into the hallway quietly and stood next to the case holding the ammo. No sounds. No Jack asking him to lend a hand, no Joseph asking if he would play with him, and no Alya trying to tackle him to the ground. He wasn’t expecting Alec to say much, ever since they moved to this place he had been keeping to himself. After a few beats of silence he slowly and quietly opened the cabinet, grabbed a handful of bullets, closed it, and casual skipped out the door. He carefully dodged Alya who noticed him and lunged toward him in order to get him to play, past Joseph who yelled something about playing cars, and past Jack who asked if he wanted to learn the proper way to stack wood. Why would he want to know the proper way to stack wood?
Out the door and into the cold he ran through the open field towards the bushes where Trent was waiting for him. He stopped just within the tree line and waited for the man to reveal himself. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t find the man unless he wanted to be found. After a few seconds he heard a voice come from his right side, despite the fact Ben was expecting it he still jumped.
“So much for trying to appear casual.”
Ben recovered and looked at him confused.
“You ran here like you were running from a fire, a fire you started.”
Ben realized he had forgotten the whole being inconspicuous part of the plan. He dropped his head and focused on his feet. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it squirt, what did you get?” Ben showed him the handful of bullets and a frown formed on Trent’s face. “That’s it?”
Ben glanced down to make sure the bullets were still in his hand, confirmed they were, and looked back up. “You said I needed some bullets for target practice. We didn’t have much and I didn’t want my dad to notice so I just took a few.”
Trent ran a hand through his scruffy beard and shook his head. “I don’t know if that is going to be enough squirt. You sure you’re dad doesn’t have any more cases of bullets lying around?”
He thought about it for a second then shook his head no.
“What about the new guy you have living with you for the winter?”
Ben had to admit he hadn’t thought about that. Jack was staying with them for the winter so they could share firewood and help out with hunting duties. Jack had his own gun and it was different from his dad’s so Jack had to have his own stash of bullets.
Trent watched the realization dawn on Ben’s face. “You’re next assignment is to find out where your new friend is keeping his ammo and-“
“That isn’t going to happen.”
Ben looked up and saw his father pointing a gun directly at Trent’s back. In one quick motion Trent pulled out his handgun, spun around and pointed it directly at his father. For a second, just one brief second Ben saw his father’s hand tighten and he thought he was going to fire, but didn’t.
“Ben get back to the house right now.”
Ben couldn’t move a muscle. The sight of a gun pointed at another person suddenly made them seem so much more dangerous and now there was one pointed at his father.
Trent placed his left hand up in the air as if to calm his father down. “Look man I’m not here to hurt anyone, I think you’ve got the wrong idea.”
Ben could see the anger on his father’s face. “I see you out here with my son asking him to bring you our supplies, what kind of idea should I have?”
Trent slowly returned his left hand to his gun and continued aiming it at his father.
“It’s just a game we’re playing, I’m not trying to steal your stuff.”
“No, you’re not. You’re using my son to do that.”
The stood there again in silence, neither moving.
“What’s your name?” his father asked.
“Trent.”
“Trent, I need you to go back where you came from and never return, do you understand me?”
Trent was silent for a moment. “I’m not your enemy. I wasn’t sure if you were a good guy or a bad guy. Yeah it’s wrong to attempt to use your son behind your back to figure that out but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“If I see you on my land or around any of my family members again I will end you, do you understand?”
Again silence. After a few beats Trent slowly dropped his gun.
My name is Trent. I’ve been living in that abandoned house since right before everything went black. I’m originally from Colorado, I moved up here when my father died. I don’t have any other family and I’m not a socially active kind of guy. I’m not a bad guy.”
Ben’s father didn’t budge. His eyes stared back at Trent and his gun didn’t waiver.
Trent nodded his head.
“I understand. I’m sorry for what happened.” He walked carefully around Ben’s father giving him a wide berth. “Your son knows where I live, if you all are truly good people and need help let me know. If you’re not good people, please just leave me be.” With that said he walked into the forest.
Ben noticed he was shaking and he didn’t think it was because of the cold wind. He took a few steps back and for a second felt like he might lose his balance but caught himself. His father watched the man disappear into the forest and then turned around and gave Ben a look he knew well. Ben was in trouble.
Grant
Alec was pacing back and forth. “We can’t just have him out there. We already have an idea of what he is capable of.”
“And what would you propose?” Jack asked calmly, “That we march over there and kill the man because he was talking to Ben behind our backs?”
Grant fought the urge to pace. He was just as angry as Alec, if not more so, the man had pointed a gun at this face after all. But Jack was right they didn’t know if he was truly a threat. After talking with Ben the man could have done much worse a long time ago but didn’t. It was hard for him to believe that Trent was using Ben to learn more about them and not just to steal their supplies, but the man could have killed him. His thoughts flashed back to when Trent had swung around. The man was fast but Grant had plenty of time to end the man’s life but he hadn’t. Before the power went out that would have been a source of pride but that was the old world, and things had changed. If Trent had shot him then there wouldn’t have been anyone there to protect Ben. Grant had to learn to protect his family.
Alec’s fists clenched. “He was using my brother in order to spy and steal from us. He was usin
g my family.”
“Calm down Alec.” The boy shot him a look of challenge. Grant looked away; he was going to have to make another attempt to deal with their issues but now was not the time. “I agree we don’t need a loose thread out there but Jack brings up a valid point, what are we going to do about it?”
Jack got up from the couch, groaning until he had completed his task. “Grant do you think he is dangerous?”
He thought about it for a second. If the man had wanted to kill him he could have done so. Not just today but the entire time Ben had been interacting with him. He shook his head no.
“He’s not a bad person dad. He’s been teaching me to hunt and take care of myself.” Ben’s head peeked into the room.
Alec turned on Ben. “No, he was using you to learn about the things we had. He would have kept using you and ended up stealing all of our supplies, or worse.”
Ben stormed up to Alec. “No he wouldn’t have. He’s my friend. You just don’t like anybody.”
“Ben.” Grant interrupted. “Go to your room, we need to talk about this.”
“He didn’t hurt me and you better not hurt him. He’s all alone out there and I’m his only friend.”
Grant pointed towards Ben’s room. “Now.”
Ben stomped out of the room.
“We need to make him leave.” Alec demanded.
Jack disagreed. “I don’t think we have that right. We try and tell him that he needs to find a new place or what?” Alec didn’t say anything. “We start making demands we need to be ready for what happens if those demands aren’t met.”
“Alec, you need to calm down.” Alec kicked a nearby chair and stormed out of the room. Grant exchanged a glance with Jack and shook his head in frustration. Grant turned to Jack. “He could have shot me, he didn’t. I think we need to go over there and talk with him, then we can decide for certain if he is a threat.”
Jack nodded, “And what if we determine he is a threat? Then what are we going to do?”
This time Grant didn’t hesitate. “What we need to do.”
Grant
Jack walked beside him with his rifle; they had decided it was necessary to bring one gun just in case, even if that spooked Trent. Alec was watching the kids, a decision that Grant thought was best due to how angry the kid was, of course that had just pissed Alec off more.
Thanks to Ben they knew exactly how to get to the man’s house. The entire way there Grant fought back a strong feeling of anger. He felt anger towards Ben for going this far from home and keeping Trent a secret from them, and then anger towards Trent for putting Ben in that position.
They pushed their way through the shrubbery until it gave way to an old gravel road and across from the road was Trent’s house. He had a feeling this was either going to go really well, or really bad. Grant gestured for Jack to stay where he was and stepped forward with his hands up.
“Trent,” for a second he almost said we come in peace, “we’re just here to talk.”
Silence.
“Then why are you armed?”
Grant couldn’t tell which of the windows the voice came from.
“I’m not. This is my friend Jack. He brought the gun for our protection.”
The door slowly creaked open and Trent peeked out, at his side you could clearly see the barrel of a gun but for the moment it was pointed to the ground.
“Protection from me?” Trent asked.
“If need be, but I’m hoping to talk with you to help decide whether you’re a threat. I didn’t give you much of a chance before.”
Trent stared blankly at the two of them for a moment then disappeared back into the house. Grant glanced back at Jack but couldn’t read the man’s face. Jack stood still but he also seemed spring loaded and ready to act if needed. For an old guy he still had a lot of spirit.
The door opened again and Trent stepped out sans gun. He held his hands up, turned around in a circle, then walked towards Grant casually. When he got within ten feet he stopped.
“I truly am sorry for the position I put your son in.” The man’s voice seemed sincere, as did his expression.
“If you weren’t trying to rob us what was your motive?”
Trent shrugged and then ran a hand through his scraggly beard. “I wasn’t exactly trying to rob you, I was more trying to scout you guys out.” Grant didn’t respond. “And to be totally honest if things got bad I can’t exactly say I wouldn’t have used the information I obtained to borrow some food.”
“Borrow?”
Trent smiled, “I would have paid you back in the spring, scout’s honor.”
Jack spoke up. “You know how to hunt?”
Trent nodded yes, “Wouldn’t be alive right now if I didn’t.”
Jack looked to Grant for confirmation. Grant thought for a moment then nodded his head.
Jack relaxed the gun. “You help us, we’ll help you. But you better believe you’ve got a lot of trust building to do.”
Once again Trent smiled. He walked up to Grant and gave him a firm handshake. “I won’t let you down.”
Grant watched Trent go over and thank Jack. He hoped they weren’t making a mistake. A cold gust of wind reminded him of what laid ahead and he had to admit that having someone else around to help out would increase their chance for survival. Now he just had to decide if Trent was a helping hand or something else.
Alec
“You’re not being fair to him.”
Alec grabbed another piece of wood and threw it in the back of Jack’s pick up. He didn’t trust Trent. He didn’t trust the man not because he didn’t like him, but because he wasn’t trust worthy. Ben was desperate for a friend and Trent fed off of that. Given enough time the man would have caused more damage than he did,
“You can be quiet all you want but you know I’m right.”
Alec took a break and turned to Ben. The boy had the same stubborn look on his face that he had seen millions of times in the past, only then it was being used on their mother. “You’re not right, you want to be right, and you might be partially right.” He saw Ben’s face light up for a brief second. “But you know dad and I are partially right too.” Ben’s face returned to its stubborn form. “It would have only taken Trent a few days of watching us and talking with you to see that we’re not bad people. Instead he asked you questions to learn where our stuff was and kept hidden away.”
Ben grabbed a large piece of wood and attempted to throw it in the back of the truck but it was a little too heavy. The piece of wood made it half way and fell back to the cold hard ground and Ben followed it there a second later. He picked himself up from the ground and gave Alec a look of pure hate. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s just cautious. You have to be to survive in the wild. He wouldn’t have hurt me and he wouldn’t have hurt us.”
“That isn’t entirely true.” Trent walked out from behind the truck. “I’m sorry Ben but your brother is right.”
Ben stumbled back a few feet. “Wha…..what do you mean?”
“I knew within the first week that you all were just a family trying to survive. I knew you all weren’t likely to hurt me or try to steal my supplies.” Trent then turned to Alec. “But that doesn’t mean I was going to try and rob you all. I….I’m not the most social person in the world, never have been. Before the world went to shi-,” Trent glanced over at Ben, “Before the world went dark I didn’t have a lot of friends. I’m not good with meeting new people and in large groups I tend to get a little sick to my stomach. It was easier to hang back and let you all be. I knew that if you needed my help I would step in and you all were likely to do the same if I needed help.”
“You need to get out of here.” Alec’s voice came out as a growl. The man wasn’t more than a twig but deep down Alec knew he wouldn’t stand much of a chance against him, but that didn’t stop him from pretending that wasn’t the case. “You hurt my brother. I don’t care what your plan was. You leave us alone and we’ll leave you al
one.”
Trent was quiet for a second. “That’s understandable.” Trent started to walk away then turned back after a few steps. “I set up snares to catch small animals. It makes for a good meal. Come this winter I’m sure good meals are going to be hard to come by. If you all want I can set some up around here, even show you how to work them.”
“We’d appreciate that.” Alec heard his father’s voice come up from behind him. Grant stopped directly behind Alec. “But right now I agree with my son, you need to leave.”
Trent nodded his head and paused, “I’m sorry Ben.” He then walked off.
Ben stood alone with a look of confusion on his face. When Alec started to walk towards him the boy ran into the house..
“Give him some time.”
“I don’t like that he’s hurt.” He said to his father.
“He’s going to be regardless. Give him a while and he’ll realize that we’re on his side.”
Alec glanced at his father and saw the look of concern on his face as he stared off in the direction where Ben took off. Grant looked back at Alec and he quickly looked away. “And what about Trent?”
“I don’t think the man is evil but we should still keep an eye out.”
Alec almost said thanks but stopped himself, he wasn’t sure why but he wasn’t ready. Instead he nodded his head and began placing wood into the back of Jack’s truck. After a few seconds Grant joined him and together, in silence, they prepared for winter just as the snow began to fall once again from the sky.
Chapter 4
Grant
They had lost track of time but Grant was pretty sure it was January. The cold wind battered their home causing everyone to hunker around the wood stove. The fire inside blazed bright radiating a wall of heat that reached out to cover most of the room, but if you walked outside that barrier the cold took your breath away.
That was where Grant found himself now, outside the warmth of the wood stove, outside the old walls of the house that at least attempted to keep the howling winds at bay. He looked out across the open field and his eyes were filled with nothing but the bright white glow radiating off of the snow. Even with his eyes squinted he could barely stand to stare out in the open for more than a few seconds.