Free Surrender the Sun: A Post Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller by A R Shaw Page A

a large clean blue cooler from the garage and had Ben put the finished steaks inside.
    She kept out one set of steaks for their dinner later that night. Though they would have meat to eat and beans that she’d cooked on the woodstove, there were no other vegetables to go along with their meal. She had a feeling that the lack of vegetables would be an issue they would have to contend with until this weather thing passed over or when she could get to the store.
    “Um, do you know anything about cars? My truck isn’t starting, and I need to go get some supplies before this gets too bad.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other but instead of answering handed her a few more steaks. Maeve slid them into the next bag and wrote on the label, then gave the package to Ben to put in the cooler. She wasn’t sure why he had not answered her question. “I mean, if it’s not too much of a problem for you to check the truck out while you’re here.”
    “I’ll look at it. Do you have snow tires somewhere?”
    “Snow tires? Yes, they’re in the garage stacked in the corner. I know it’s a lot to ask. You must be exhausted after bringing this to us.”
    “That’s all right. I’ll take a look at it when I’m finished here, but you really shouldn’t drive around with that truck. It needs to be locked up in the garage and out of sight. I also brought a deadbolt for your back door.”
    She looked at Ben before asking the question on her mind. Scaring her son was something she was trying to avoid. “Do you think we’ll get looters as far as up here? I mean, we know a lot of our neighbors. I can’t imagine they’re the type of people to steal from others.”
    Bishop continued to slice easily through the meat and divide up what he could as quickly as possible. She thought he was probably used to being alone and wasn’t used to so much conversation at once.
    He seemed to wait longer than the social norm to respond to her questions, perhaps trying to formulate his response using the least number of words.
    “Desperate people are dangerous. They do things you couldn’t imagine.”
    His expression told her more than the words, as if he too were trying to limit the fear in front of her son. A tingle of fright ran up her spine.
    “So you think this will get worse?”
    Again, he didn’t respond for a while. “Don’t open the doors when someone knocks. I’ll check on you every few days.”
    That certainly wasn’t enough to stave off her fears. In fact, she was more terrified than before. Not only that, the room had become quite dark with the waning light fading through the blocked windows. She lit several candles so that they could see as they worked.
    “Surely this will blow over in a few days,” she said and smiled at Ben.
    “It won’t,” he said, shaking his head while handing her a few more steaks to package.
    “What do you mean?”
    “We’re in the Maunder Minimum—for years now. This will go on for at least ten years if we’re lucky. The last time this happened, the ice age lasted seventeen years.”
    Ben piped up, “Ice age? Like when the mammoths were here?”
    “Yes,” Bishop said, nodding. He was working diligently while answering when asked, though a little delayed. He looked healthy enough, but she knew he was scarred by war or at least suspected that was the case.
    Once he’d finished boning out the last hindquarter, his arms were completely bloodied. Bishop washed them in the frigid water from the tap and then moved the heavy chest full of elk steaks out to the garage while Maeve held a flashlight to guide the way. It was completely dark outside by then. He set the chest next to the inside wall of the garage. “The tires are over there,” she said and flashed the beam in the corner of the garage.
    He nodded and then stepped inside the house next to her and closed and locked the door to the garage. “Keep this door locked all the time, too. Even when you’re inside,” he said.
    Nodding,