Page 23 of The Pale Rider
I got the feeling in the past I didn’t like any surprises, good or bad. There was a knock on the door, and Aeron went running like this surprise had to be better than nachos or Cheetos. Aeron let a small, wiry man in who had something in a box. Of course, it had to be gift wrapped.
They sat at the small dining room table like they were at the Yalta Conference instead of just trading what we all looted. I sat next to them because what the fuck did I know about bartering stolen goods during the apocalypse? I didn’t want to ruin this. I was just going to watch and keep my mouth shut.
Steven slid the box across the table.
“It’s unopened. We lost some men getting this.”
Aeron steepled his fingers, and his gray eyes glittered like he was enjoying every minute of this.
“From what Cougar said, you found enough to go around. And I took out Scooter.”
“Don’t be nasty, Aeron. Fair is fair. You know Cougar won’t like it if you shaft her on a trade.”
“Oh, I have no intention of shafting her. But I know she sends you in when she wants to get greedy, and I have no intention of being the one getting shafted.”
Steven fell out laughing.
“Welcome back, Aeron. Still, you know she will want something good for this.”
“How does Doritos and chocolate sound?”
Wait, Aeron had chocolate and was holding out on me? Whatever was in that box had better be worth it. Were we giving up all the chocolate? I had questions.
“How the fuck did you manage to find that?”
“How did you manage to find enough of what’s in that box for the entire community?”
“Found a Rage Head barricaded in his basement with a whole supply and massive amounts of MREs. If he had stuck to the liquor instead of the bottled water he had stockpiled, he might not have turned. He had some brands you warned us about.”
“Doomsdayer? Did you get a lot of ammo?”
“Oh, yeah. We got guns, ammo, MREs, canned goods, and some nudie mags for the men. It took several trips, but that Rage Head was fairly fresh, and it was a cramped space. He got his teeth in three of us before we could kill him, and there’s no cure for a bite.”
“Supply runs can turn shitty in an instant. Do you want to stay and pour one out for them?”
Steven just gave him this crooked grin.
“No. I got my own. I got some MREs and girly mags out of the haul. Cougar has been fiending for some chocolate. She’s had us looking on our runs. The most we’ve found is that nasty baker’s chocolate you can’t eat. Samantha tried to make brownies with it on the fire since we have flour, but sugar is one thing we don’t have.”
“Well, tell Cougar she’s got her chocolate. I swiped an entire box of Snickers.”
And he was just trading them? There had better be somethingdeliciousin that box. If there was a shitty surprise in that box, I would be upset. I was already questioning Aeron’s sanity with this whole killing the president, but if he was just handing out Snickers for mystery boxes, then he was definitely totally insane.
Steven held out his hand.
“You’ve got yourself a trade.”
Aeron went to one of the saddlebags and took out the chocolate and Doritos he was hiding from me. If I knew there was chocolate hidden in there, I probably already would have torn into it and ruined this trade. There’d better be somethingoutstandingin that box.
Steven gathered all that beautiful chocolate and disappeared. I was left with Aeron and his mystery box. He was stroking the damned thing like it was his favorite pet.
“What’s so special that you gave away chocolate during the end of the world?”
Aeron ripped off the top of the box and triumphantly held up a bottle of Wild Turkey. I cocked an eyebrow at him.
“All that for booze?”
“We’re in a safe place to get drunk. Think of it as a way to forget the apocalypse and feel good for a night.”
