Before leaving for Portland, Allison had made peace with the fact that there would be a few bumps on the road, but she hadn't expected anything such as this to happen. More had gone wrong within the last hour than the last fifty-nine combined, and the failures were all too specific to be completely random. Then, there was the issue of the blackout in Portland. Allison wondered if that too could be related to the lack of cell phone or GPS signal, or even the static on the radio. If only she could have gotten into contact with someone and find out what was actually going on; that would have put her mind at ease.

Luckily, all didn't appear to be lost thanks to the kind Scandinavian man. “That would be great. Thank you,” said Allison with much gratitude in her voice. He didn't have to do anything for her, after all, she was just some stranger who had wandered up to his house.

As the man's form disappeared into the surrounding darkness, Allison relaxed back into her seat. Within the confines of her car, she wasn't as worried, but her nerves were getting close to fried. She hoped that with a jump from this man's motorcycle, she would be on her way once more. The dark-haired woman was looking forward to getting something to eat and crawling into bed for the night. The looming promise of a good night's sleep and putting this ordeal behind her had Allison forgetting just how odd her current circumstances were. Without thinking, she reached over for her cell phone and pushed the home screen button, expecting the device to illuminate to life, but just the same as with her car, her phone was dead. “Son of a...” she trailed off without finished her curse, sighing in frustration as she tossed the phone back into her purse.

Allison had barely mourned the loss of the most essentials when the helpful mountain man returned to her car without his motorcycle and more bad news. The idea of spending the night with a stranger, no matter how helpful he was, didn't exactly appeal to Allison, but it didn't seem like she had much of a choice for the time being. The worried frown that had graced her lips was soon replaced by an easy smile as she nodded and agreed to stay the night. 

“I don't have any boots,” Allison told him over her shoulder as she locked the doors to her SUV. Just because it didn't run didn't mean it couldn't be stolen. “Most of my stuff was already shipped to my new apartment, and I only have what I'm wearing and some stuff in an overnight bag.” Her current outfit was far from glamorous—a sweater, an old pair of comfortable blue jeans and running shoes that were at least three years old. They probably weren't ideal for hiking anywhere.

Turning back to him, Allison waited for him to lead the way back to the cabin. “I'm Allison, by the way,” she mentioned and held out her hand. “Thanks for letting me stay.”