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  “There’s something you should know,” Brad said as he dunked the dishes down into the sink water.

  “About what?” Anna asked, looking worried at his suddenly serious tone.

  “About why I don’t want to leave the cabin. It’s not just the safety or the weather, even though I meant those things, too. I just…I can’t help but keep hoping he’ll come back.”

  “What? Who?” Anna asked, her worry morphing into confusion.

  “My dad,” he clarified. “I just can’t believe that he wouldn’t have made it through. I feel like he’s out there, somewhere.”

  “The virus took a lot of people,” Anna said gently. “I mean, ninety percent of the population was what they said, right? All of the survival skills in the world wouldn’t have cured that. And it spread so quickly that he might not have had time to get up here. Or the soldiers might have stopped him when he tried.”

  “I know,” Brad said. “I know all of that. But it just…” he let the sentence die. “I just thought that you should know that that’s a part of the reason I didn’t want to go,” he said with a shrug. “If he’s out there, he’ll show up here eventually. I want to be here when he does.”

  Her arm brushed his as she leaned over and begin pouring the rabbit broth into jars to seal and stash in the cellar for another day. “I get it, Brad.”

  This time, he felt like she really did. “Thanks, Anna.”

  “You’re welcome.” She shook her hair back over her shoulders and looked up at him. “I hope he comes back. I’d love to meet him.”

  The thought of Lee meeting Anna and Sammy still stressed him out a little, but he wasn’t lying when he replied, “I’d love to introduce you.”

  Chapter 4

  “Hey, Brad?”

  “Yeah?” he called back, pushing himself upright and trying very hard not to look like he’d been nearly asleep, half collapsed on the couch.

  Brad knew Anna wouldn’t be pleased to find him taking a break, but he hadn’t been able to resist the siren song of the couch when he’d walked through the living room half an hour ago. He’d only planned to sit for a moment, but when the cushions had conformed to his aching muscles as he sank back against them, he hadn’t been able to summon the willpower to start moving again.

  He was exhausted. The last time he’d been this tired was when his father had made him expand the cellar. He’d been wrong to worry about the possibility of Anna and Lee not being able to get along. They’d be fine. In fact, he’d probably be the one out in the cold if his father found out about the difference in their work ethics.

  “I was down at the lake,” Anna said, walking into the living room and speaking quickly. “And…” she stopped suddenly, looking at him critically. “Were you sleeping?”

  She said it as if the very idea was insane. From her behavior over the past few weeks, he guessed that she thought it was. He would swear that he hadn’t sat down unless he was eating or getting the six hours of sleep she allowed him.

  “Um, maybe,” he replied.

  Anna rolled her eyes and dropped down beside him, looking annoyed. “Seriously? It’s not like we don’t have things to do, Bradley.”

  He sat up a little straighter at the use of his full first name. “Come on, Anna,” he protested. “It’s been three weeks, and I’ve beefed up every defense system we have from the roof to the perimeter.”

  She had insisted on adding more traps and learning how he built alarms. He hadn’t minded either idea, but both of those things took a lot of time. Especially the traps. His fingers ached from the detailed work they took.

  “We’ve harvested,” he continued when she appeared unmoved by what he was saying. “We’ve canned, and we’ve trapped. I built the smokehouse. You’ve been fishing like crazy—”

  “The lake is starting to freeze,” she cut in.

  He blinked at her for a moment. “What do you mean the lake is freezing? It’s only October.”

  “I know,” she said pointedly. “You said we’d have longer than this to get ready for winter.”

  Brad didn’t miss the hint of accusation in her tone, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “I thought we would,” he said instead. “And it’s really strange for it to be freezing so soon.”

  “I thought so, too,” she said, her voice tight. “Why the hell is this happening?”

  “Sometimes it just gets cold early,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.”

  She huffed indignantly. “Oh, really? A sudden and unusually harsh winter isn’t anything to worry about?”

  Brad gave her a smile. “It really doesn’t change anything,” he replied, holding his hand up when she started to speak again. “Seriously, Anna. You insulated the whole place. I filled every building and half of the living room with firewood this weekend for the winter and for the smokehouse.” That was a big part of why he was so damn tired. Sammy was too little to help with that particular chore and Brad hadn’t been able to pry Anna away from the dock. “We—”

  “But is that going to be enough?” she asked, her voice edging on shrill.

  “Of course it will,” Brad replied, finally beginning to get frustrated with the way they seemed to be going in circles. “We’ve been through this over and over. What’s the problem? It seems like there’s something bigger here than supply issues or the weather.”

  She linked her fingers together, turning her gaze away from his to stare down at the couch. She let out her breath in a long sigh and then shrugged almost obstinately before she spoke again.

  “I don’t know, okay? I just…I can’t seem to shake this feeling.”

  “What feeling?” he asked.

  “I don’t know!” Anna said again. “Just the feeling that something is wrong.”

  Brad looked at her closely. She really did look worried. Her brows were drawn and her lower lip was between her teeth again. He felt bad for pushing her, but a little relieved that she’d finally gotten her issues into the open. He put his hand on her shoulder and when she didn’t pull away, began to rub her back in small circles. Her muscles were incredibly tense.

  “I know it’s different,” he said. “But it really does happen sometimes. Anna, we’ll be okay. We’ve done everything we can do.”

  “You haven’t gone looting yet,” she pointed out, but her tone wasn’t as strident as it had been.

  “No,” he agreed. “Not yet.” He didn’t bother to point out that he couldn’t be in two places at once, especially since her tone had softened. She had insisted on the firewood being cut and with the amount of fish she’d been bring in, it was all he could do to keep up with preserving her catch. “Do you want me to do that tomorrow?”

  “I thought you were going hunting tomorrow.”

  He shrugged, keeping his hand light on her back. She had relaxed just slightly as they’d spoken, but had tensed up again at the idea of him going off of the plan she’d come up with. “I’m offering to do whatever makes you feel better,” he said simply.

  She didn’t speak for a moment and then when she did, her voice was tired. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

  “No,” he replied honestly.

  She scoffed. “Come on. You don’t have to lie to me.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Then, what do you think?’ she asked.

  “I think that you’re in a situation you never planned for and you’re not quite sure how things are going to work out,” he said. “Anna, it’s okay to be cautious. It’s okay to ask for what you need to feel better, too. Now. Do you want me to hunt tomorrow, or do you want me to go see what I can find around?”

  “Do you think you’ll run into the soldiers if you go looting?” she asked.

  “I don’t plan to head in the same direction,” he answered. They hadn’t had any issues with the soldiers and he wanted to keep it that way. He saw no reason to head back into what might be their territory. “I know of some houses in the other direction. I figured I’d head out t
here to look.”

  “We should probably get the hunting done first,” Anna said after a moment of thought. “Looting won’t be as bad in the cold, right?”

  “As long as the snow doesn’t get too heavy, it should be fine,” Brad agreed, glad that she seemed a bit more relaxed. “Is that your way of telling me to get off the couch?”

  She shrugged slightly. “I guess that’s up to you. But have you checked the traps today?”

  “Not yet,” he admitted. “Do you mind if I take Sammy with me? It will be good for him to learn how to open the traps without getting hurt.”

  “That’s fine,” she said. “I’ll be in the kitchen. There are a few more apples I can dry.”

  “Sounds good to me,” he said. “Do you think you can get something together for dinner too? I haven’t gotten started on it.”

  “Yeah, I can do that.” When they stood to go their separate ways for the rest of the day, she put her hand on his arm. “Thanks, Brad.”

  “For what?” he asked, surprised at the warmth in her voice.

  She didn’t answer. Instead, she only smiled and walked out of the room. He headed off to get Sammy, who was predictably enthusiastic about helping with the traps. They walked down to the first set of traps at the edge of the woods, Sammy chattering about what they might find in them.

  Brad caught his breath when the wind tugged at his jacket as they crossed the front yard. Now that he was outside, he could feel that it was definitely cold enough for the lake to freeze. That had its pros and cons. The pro was that Anna had done an amazing job on the insulation. The cons were obvious.

  Even though he’d reassured Anna about it, the early onset of winter was strange. More than strange, it was going to be inconvenient. He’d counted on being able to haul water easily for at least another month.

  “Brad, look,” Sammy called from ahead of him, his voice wavering in the fragile air. “Something happened.”

  Brad quickened his pace when he saw the smears of blood on the ground. It wasn’t unusual to see that near a trap, obviously. What was unusual was the fact that the wire trap was completely mangled, and completely empty. Brad knelt down by it and looked at it carefully. Sammy knelt too, glancing between Brad and the trap.

  “What happened?” the kid asked, and Brad heard that waver again.

  When he looked up, he saw that Sammy’s eyes were wide with fear. “It’s nothing too bad,” Brad said. “It was probably just a bear. They like to get into things like this, and it’s about time for them to be showing up.”

  He wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but the kid went even paler. “A bear?” Sammy asked. “There are bears here? Why would it be this close to the house?”

  Brad couldn’t help but be surprised by Sammy’s fear, even though he worked not to let it show on his face. The boy had faced every danger so far with a childlike faith that everything was going to be okay. It was weird to see that change over something as normal as the fact that there were bears in the woods.

  “Yeah,” he said, keeping his tone matter-of-fact. “They ramble around the woods out here all the time. With the cold coming in a little earlier than usual, they’re probably rushing to get enough food to hibernate. That would be why they raided the traps.”

  “We’ve never seen one before,” Sammy protested. “And we’re out here all the time!”

  “It’s pretty rare to have a sighting,” Brad agreed. “They’re pretty shy.”

  “Shy?” Sammy asked incredulously.

  Brad laughed at the kid’s obvious disbelief. “Usually, yes, they are. Black bears are the smallest bears and they really don’t like people very much.”

  “How do you know it’s a black bear?” Sammy asked cautiously. “What if it’s a grizzly bear instead? They’re really mean and really big.”

  “Mean and big or not, they don’t live in Maine,” Brad replied, standing up once more. “The only type of bear around here is the black bear. Unless you think that a grizzly moved here for the tax breaks.”

  Sammy stood, too, and made a face at Brad. “Ha-ha. Very funny.”

  “Well, I try.” Brad motioned for Sammy to follow him along to the next trap. As he’d feared, it was in the same mangled condition as the first one had been. “Do you know what to do if you see a bear?” he asked.

  “Play dead,” Sammy answered promptly.

  “Nope,” Brad replied just as promptly.

  “What do you mean, nope?” Sammy said. “What else am I supposed to do?”

  “I’m glad you asked,” Brad said. “First of all, make as much noise as you can if you see one. Black bears really, really, do not like to be snuck up on. That’s why shops used to sell those bear bells.” When Sammy looked at him blankly, Brad moved on. “It doesn’t matter. The point is, you should make a lot of noise and the bear will usually run away from you. They really don’t like people. If it doesn’t see you, just back off. If worst comes to worst and you startle one, make as much noise as you can and make yourself look as big as you can. They’re small bears, so they can be pretty easily intimidated.”

  Sammy crossed his arms and shook his head firmly. “Bears aren’t small.”

  Brad fought back a smile. “Okay, yeah, it’s not small like a Chihuahua is small. But for a bear, it’s pretty little, I promise you.”

  “I’m pretty little,” Sammy countered.

  Brad put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You’re really freaked out by this, aren’t you?”

  After a moment, Sammy nodded, looking away. “I’m sorry. I just really don’t like the idea of bears being out here with me.”

  “No worries,” Brad said easily. “Remember how I said that everybody has a thing they’re scared of?”

  “Yeah, but I’m scared of masks.”

  “Okay, then you have more than one.”

  “Do you?”

  “Nope,” Brad said. “Just every single insect on the face of the planet, that’s all.” He grinned at the kid and Sammy smiled back after a moment, so Brad continued. “There probably won’t be a whole lot of hunting left this season. How about you just stick close to the cabin for the rest of it? You can still help me skin the game.”

  His father never would have let him sit out the remainder of hunting season due to fear, but the relief on Sammy’s face told Brad he’d made the right choice. Sammy would have to learn to deal with his fear eventually, of course. However, if his fear was really that strong, Brad couldn’t count on him not to freeze up. And if he froze up, he would probably do exactly the wrong thing in the event that they did meet up with the bear who’d stolen their food.

  “I’ll walk you back to the house,” Brad said. “Then I’ll finish checking the rest of the traps.”

  “You two got back soon,” Anna said, scanning both of them quickly for injuries and then looking to see what they’d brought back. Confusion flashed in her eyes when she realized that they were empty-handed. “What—”

  “A bear got our traps!” Sammy blurted.

  Brad had to bite his tongue to hold back from cursing. He should have told the kid to let him break the news. Anna had gone pale, too. Great. More things for her to be worried about.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, looking to Brad.

  “It stole the catch and ripped the traps up,” Sammy continued. “They’re completely destroyed. It—”

  “Why don’t you go wash up,” Brad suggested, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder and pressing down.

  “But I…” Sammy got a good look at his mother’s face and then Brad’s expression and stopped arguing. “Oh. Okay.”

  “A bear?” Anna demanded in a whisper. “A bear? Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” Brad admitted. “But it’s not as scary as it sounds,” he hurried to add.

  “Since when is an entire damn bear not as scary as it sounds?” she hissed in return. “And it stole all the food, too?”

  “I don’t know if it stole everything,” he said. “I thought that it would
be a better idea to bring Sammy back here before I go check the rest of the traps.”

  Anna let her breath out slowly and nodded. “Okay. That makes sense.”

  “I do that from time to time.”

  She looked away. “I’m sorry. I’m just—”

  “Worried,” he finished for her. “I know. I’ll be back soon.”

  Brad grabbed the shotgun and headed back out into the cold. As he walked, his steps got slower and slower. He hadn’t been alone in a while. Either Anna was with him in the cabin or Sammy was trailing his every footstep outside of it. He appreciated their companionship, but he also appreciated the stillness as he took in a lungful of the cold October air.

  He needed a little time to calm down, anyway. He fully understood Anna’s worries. He really did. What he didn’t understand was what she gained from throwing all of those fears directly at him. Or what he could do to alleviate them. Because God knew he’d tried, and nothing had seemed to work. And now, there was a freaking bear to deal with.

  Brad let out his breath and pushed the frustration down. He had to push it down a few more times before he could really focus, but he managed it in the end. The atmosphere helped. It was nice to hear nothing but the sounds of wind and woods. The trees creaked and swayed with each strong northern gust and twigs snapped with a brittle sound under his boots as he walked. He was taking his own advice. The last thing he wanted to do was sneak up on that bear, even if he was reasonably sure it wouldn’t mess with him.

  The bear had left some of the traps alone, but they were the empty ones. As he walked back from the last trap empty-handed, he felt something brush his face. He glanced up to see snow filtering down out of the iron-gray sky over his head. Apparently autumn had lost the fight against winter, already.