Dan stood behind the grocery store counter, blinking hard to stay awake as the beep of the scanner sounded for each item. His shoulders drooped, his back sore from hours spent at the metal press, and now he was on his feet behind the register.
"Dan, you look tired," Lloyd remarked, eyeing him with concern. He set the bag of apples on the counter. "Are you having nightmares from being drafted into the war?"
Dan yawned widely, rubbing his eyes. "Nah. I had to work overtime at the metal press factory." His shoulders sagged under the weight of exhaustion.
Lloyd nodded sympathetically, his gaze lingering on Dan's weary face. "You should see Pastor Steve at our church. He does real counselling now, not just prayers.
Dan gave a tired half-smile. "I don't have time. Not when I've got a family to feed."
As Dan punched a few buttons on the register, he paused, wincing slightly as he shifted his weight. "Sometimes I still feel it… that damn wolf tearing into my leg. Tore the tendon clean through. I get flare-ups when it rains. Still on pain meds some nights."
He slid the five-dollar bill into the cash drawer. "Why the hell were the Ossarians even allowed to use cave wolves in war?"
"They claimed it was fair," Lloyd said with a shrug. "Said we were using Anua wolves."
Dan scoffed. "Anua wolves? Those things are half the size of cave wolves. They're shepherd dogs compared to war beasts. The Ossarians cheated. We had more soldiers. We should've won."
Lloyd leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial tone. "You're forgetting Dorne backed them. Doubled their numbers almost overnight."
Dan's brow furrowed. "Thomas Lincoln was ruler of Dorne; why did he agree to help Richard Scott?"
"Because he agreed with Richard that James Evergreen was an incompetent ruler of Intermarium."
Dan's jaw tightened, his eyes glaring with anger, "Incompetent? The man was dealing with-"
"The drought, yeah. But that's not how they saw it."
Dan shook his head, his voice rising slightly. "It wasn't his fault! James can't control the weather!"
"The Ossarians were angry that agricultural aircraft weren't used to save the crop. James increased taxes in Ossory that year because of the poor harvest, which was one of the reasons why the war broke out between Intermarium and Ossory."
Lloyd glanced at his watch, his expression turning apologetic. "I've to go help my brother at his sheep farm. I'll see you another time, Dan."
As Lloyd exited through the front door, Dan wished he could afford to give the man a discount—hell, Lloyd had saved his life. But with two kids to feed, every penny counted.