The Winners

In this short chapter, the narrator opines that boys like Benjamin “Benji” Ovich do not live long enough to die peacefully from old age.

In towns like Beartown and Hed, the narrator says, everything is connected. Kevin Erdahl sexually assaulted Maya Andersson at a party two years prior, starting a series of events that resulted in a young man’s death. Maya and Benji both left Beartown shortly afterward. A future Maya will sing of the small towns and the storms that disrupt them. In the present, an autumn storm builds as a young man tries to drive his pregnant wife, who has gone into labor, to the hospital in Hed. A tree lands on their car as they take a shortcut through the forest.

In Hed, Hannah, Johnny, and their four children help the community prepare for the upcoming storm. Hannah and Johnny argue about his inevitable departure into the storm, as Hannah expresses anger over his tendency toward heroism and rashness as a firefighter. In Beartown, Ana’s instincts warn her of the weather to come, and she prepares. Her father is too drunk to be helpful.

Johnny tries to comfort Hannah, reinforcing that he is needed to clear debris.