An Alaskan Midnight

Chapter 7

As Eddy lay on the couch, he was still wide awake, wondering what could have happened to Brett. Maybe whatever happened was the reason why he appeared so harsh. After being with him for several days though, Eddy knew that Brett was secretly the softest, sweetest person he knew.

One time, when Eddy couldn't stand eating that gross, salted fish, Brett had noticed. "You doing alright?" he asked, trying to sound gruff.

"Yeah, it's just," Eddy had tried to get the salty taste out of his mouth. "This fish... probably should get used to it though."
Standing up silently, Brett had gotten some flour out of the sack in the corner. They were trying to be careful with using it too much to have enough for winter. Using water and a little sugar, he made a few pancakes. Then he gave them to Eddy. "You still have to eat the fish, but this should help get the taste out of your mouth."
Eddy had blushed gratefully. "Thank you!"
Brett had muttered. "Don't get used to it, we can't be using flour every meal if we want to last through winter."
Eddy had nodded, eating contentedly.

Suddenly Eddy sat up from the couch. He could hear sobbing from upstairs. He walked up the stairs, not caring if Brett didn't like him after that. Even if he lost Brett's respect, he wanted to do everything he could to make sure his friend was okay.

He gently opened the door. "You okay?" he whispered, standing in the same spot.

Brett looked up and flushed red. "Yeah, I'm fine..." he shook his head. "It's just." He broke down again.

Impulsively Eddy sat on the bed and put his hand on Brett's shoulder. "It's okay."

To Eddy's surprise, Brett didn't flinch. He just leaned on Eddy's shoulder, sobbing quietly.

"You can tell me about it, if, um, you're fine with it," Eddy stuttered in an attempt to find the right words.

Brett sighed. "When I first started researching here, I had a friend, Timothy." His voice cracked at the name. "We were really close from day one, and before we knew it we were besties." He gently fingered a bracelet on his wrist. "Sounds kind of stupid, but after successfully hunting this moose, we took some of its fur and made friendship bracelets with it. And this blanket was from its hide. It took so long to clean and prepare it, but we did it together." For a moment he smiled at the fond memory. Then he began to tear up again. "Then winter came. We got in a fight over building the shed, because we needed to finish it but a really bad blizzard had started. I got mad, told him to get out. And-" Brett broke down. "He did. And he never came back."

Eddy wrapped his arms around Brett, his eyes filling with tears from compassion. He didn't know what to say. So he just stayed silent.

After a few minutes, Brett regained his composure. "Thank you for listening, I... truly appreciate it," he whispered.

"I would do anything for you!" Eddy impulsively responded with all his heart. The response shocked both him and Brett. Sure, they were nice to each other, almost friends, but definitely not close.

To Eddy's surprise and relief, Brett didn't take offense from his overbearing remark. Instead he smiled. "Thank you." Then he gently pulled away from Eddy's arms. "It's getting late, I need to get my rest." He looked over at Eddy. "You do, too." Then he drifted off to sleep.
Eddy nodded, glad that his friend was feeling better. Walking back down the stairs, he fell asleep as well.

When he woke up, he looked out the windows. He could hardly see a foot outside of them, the snow was so thick. Brett stood there staring, clearly distressed. "This is the worst storm we've had in years," he whispered. "There's no way we can do research here for the winter, we need to get back as soon as possible."
Quickly he ran to get his boots, motioning for Eddy to come with. Eddy grabbed his boots and coat.

"Alright!" Brett yelled above the howling wind. "We need to get this truck running, it's been out in the cold so it will take a minute to warm up. But first we need to get it out of the snow."
Working together, they dumped off the thick layer of snow, which had begun to harden and would have been too compacted to take off had they arrived any later. Hail and freezing rain began to pour on them, but neither of them cared. They just needed to get out of there.

"Good," Brett sighed, out of breath. "We need to get out of here tonight before the snow gets too high to leave. Get the dogs, Eddy!" Then he put the key in the ignition.

The truck didn't start.

"Oh, fuck!" Brett yelled desperately. Eddy stood and stared as Brett jumped back out. He tried to lift the hood, but it was sealed shut with ice. He groaned in agony. "The truck's engine is ruined from the freezing rain. There's no way to leave."

They would have to survive the hardest winter in Alaska seen in years.