Isolation (Book 3): Starting Anew, page 27
part #3 of Isolation Series
Ellie nodded; tomorrow marked three weeks since Nick had begun his scavenging. Although since he'd started the stockpile at the end of the day, they were going to have to wait until almost dark before they could crack it open to get at the weapons inside.
Some had wanted to wait until the morning of the next day, but given the threat Jay represented Starr had insisted on getting the means to defend themselves the moment they were technically considered safe.
“As far as I know,” she said. “I'm guessing Darby will be just as eager as you are to have more guns, after what happened last night.”
“So my people will finally have at least some semblance of being properly equipped for the job,” the veteran grumbled. “Let's just hope we don't need them before tomorrow night.”
Ellie nodded grimly at that, and Hal grunted. “Let's hope,” he agreed.
Chapter Fourteen
Big Day
Nick spent the entire morning debating whether to contact Gen over the radio and ask to talk to her. But he kept chickening out, dreading the thought of seeing hurt or sorrow on her friendly, trusting face.
She'd never been anything but good to him. She didn't deserve that sort of pain just because he'd misread the situation with Val and let things go a direction he hadn't intended.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, he didn't need to ask Gen to come visit him because she did anyway, around noon. And judging by her sunny expression and obvious eagerness she had good news, which just made things even worse.
“Did you hear?” she asked excitedly as he popped his head up over the fence to talk to her. “Hal asked Ellie to marry him last night!”
Nick blinked; he definitely hadn't heard. “Because of the fires? That seems . . . sudden.”
“I think it's romantic,” Gen chided gently. “Oh, and she asked me to be her maid of honor! Isn't that so sweet of her?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, gut churning; under the circumstances it was impossible to get into the spirit of things.
She didn't seem to notice. “Ellie wants to hold the ceremony in a week. We've been trying to think of the best place to hold it so you and Tallie can both watch.” She gave him a shy smile. “And of course I want to find a way to go together with you, even if “together” is fifteen feet apart.”
Nick gave her a sickly smile, feeling awful at the sight of her enthusiasm and happiness.
Telling her about last night would've been bad enough if this had just been a normal visit, but with her all excited about a wedding? But he wasn't about to hide it from her, and the longer he waited to tell her the worse it would be.
Better to tear off the Band-Aid quickly. He took a deep breath and spoke up gently but firmly. “Listen, Gen, there's something I have to tell you.”
His almost-girlfriend finally seemed to notice something was up with him. Her smile faded. “What's wrong?”
Nick looked down. It took effort to force the words out, especially since the other scavengers were back in the camp, within earshot since he had to talk loud enough for Gen to hear him from fifteen feet away. “You know I've been sitting up with Val some nights, because she's been going through a lot with everyone she's lost and everything she's been through.”
“Oh,” she said quietly, tone hard to read.
He risked a glance up, then was stricken by her expression. The hurt he'd dreaded was starting to make an appearance as she guessed where this was going.
He looked away and plunged on determinedly. “I've done my best to be a good friend to her, but I'm afraid she might've misread the situation.” He hesitated in case she wanted some clarification, but there was only silence. “So last night she, um, kissed me. I turned her down, of course, let her know I care for you. She moved in with Lila in the main camp to help the sick residents immediately afterwards, but . . .” He trailed off, then continued lamely. “Well, I just thought you should know.”
“Oh,” Gen said again. Her tone was so thick with hurt it made his heart ache.
Nick forced himself to look up, meet her eyes. “I'm sorry. I wanted to help her, but I didn't mean to give her the wrong idea about us. I made it really clear that I was with you, that I'm happy with you.” He shrugged helplessly.
It was her turn to look away. “Maybe you'd be better off with her,” she said bitterly. “At least you can actually be with her. And you seem to have developed such a strong bond.”
“We've gotten close, but I've got no romantic interest in her,” he protested. “And it's just a couple weeks until you and I can be together. I'd wait as long as it took for you.”
For a terrible half minute she didn't answer, barely even moved. Then she abruptly turned away. “I, I need to sort this out.” Without another word she fled.
Nick settled down on the sentry chair, shoulders slumped. After a few glum minutes he turned, ready to vacate the seat to Chase who was on sentry duty. Then he jumped at the sight of his entire team's eyes on him.
“Oh,” he said. “Um, sorry you had to overhear all that.”
“Not as sorry as us, boss,” Ben said, although there was a slight edge to his voice.
That was understandable. Val was one of them, so of course they'd care as much about her side of things as his. He'd told Gen the truth, at least he believed he had, but it hadn't exactly painted Val in the best light. Almost as if this situation was all her fault, when she'd just been following her heart and he'd been too blind and insensitive to see the feelings she'd been developing for him.
“She kissed you, huh boss?” Chase said as he slipped past him to take his spot on the sentry chair. “If I didn't like you, I would say you sounded like a real piece of work back there.”
That stung, but it was hard to argue. “Yeah. I wish things hadn't gone the way they had. Val deserves better than that. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.”
His scavengers all looked away uncomfortably. “Well, if there's one thing life's taught me, it's that nothing good comes of sticking your nose into other people's love lives,” Charlie said. “That goes double for friends and family.”
They left it at that, but the awkward atmosphere eventually drove Nick into his tent for a while to read a book.
The day dragged on, tense in the aftermath of the attack and everyone waiting for the other shoe to drop, wondering what else Jay had planned for them. The sense that nobody was doing anything to stop him was prevalent in the camp, the feeling that they were all helpless and he was calling the shots.
Nick saw it in his scavengers and the people in the nearby isolation spaces, and later on in the day when Ellie came to visit with Ricky she confirmed how tense the larger camp and town both were. Although officially she'd come to formally announce her planned wedding with Hal next week, even though Gen had already told him.
Considering how the talk with his almost-but-probably-not-anymore girlfriend had gone, it was hard to drum up much enthusiasm for her news. But considering how obviously happy his ex-wife was about it, he felt like he had to try.
So he pasted on his best smile. “Congratulations!” he said warmly. “It's great to hear some good news with everything that's going on.” He turned to Ricky. “This is pretty exciting, huh kiddo?”
“Yeah, sure,” his son said, obviously also trying to show more enthusiasm than he felt for his mom's sake. “Hal's pretty cool.”
“Have you told Tallie yet?” Nick asked.
Ellie shook her head. “We're visiting her next. She hasn't had as much of a chance to get to know Hal, so I want to spend some time talking it over with her. Make sure she's okay with everything that's happening.”
“She seemed to like him, and she seemed just fine with you dating,” he offered.
“Yeah, I think she'll be excited about the wedding. Maybe I can ask Gen if she can gather up some flowers for Tallie so she can be a flower girl.”
Nick shifted uncomfortably. From his ex-wife's tone, he doubted she'd talked to Gen since he had, so she probably didn't know what had happened between them. “That's a great idea,” he said with an effort at a smile.
She smiled back uncertainly, probably misreading his reaction as mixed feelings about her wedding. Which was fair enough since he could admit he had at least a few of those, even if he liked Hal and hoped things went well for the two of them.
“Hey, how about I leave Ricky here for a few minutes while I go talk to her?” she suggested. “You guys can catch up.”
“Sure.” Nick settled down to talk to his son, pushing his worries about his relationship with Gen into the background. There wasn't much he could do about it until she wanted to talk to him again, anyway; romantic gestures were somewhat difficult to manage when he was trapped in this place.
Besides, he'd always been terrible at that sort of thing.
Ellie eventually called Ricky over to visit with his sister, and Nick settled back to more tense waiting with his team. It went on like that for the rest of the day, the feeling of an approaching storm but no sighting of Jay or hint of trouble.
That mood only grew as night fell, since the Wensbrook survivors' last attack had come after dark. Nick had the second night shift, and he gave himself a headache straining his eyes into the darkness, looking and listening for signs of danger. He had his floodlight next to him, ready to shine on any suspicious activity to draw the attention of the other sentries.
But just like all day, there was nothing that night. Nick almost wondered if this was also part of Jay's plan, making a few flashy displays that required relatively little effort, and produced the result of forcing hundreds or even thousands of people to exhaust themselves staying vigilant nonstop.
If so it wasn't the worst idea. But no matter what the bald man planned it was him and a few dozen people, even if those agitators from the quarantine camp had joined him, against thousands.
And that evening they'd have over a hundred more guns available to arm more volunteers. At that point the numbers would be even more against Jay.
Nick couldn't help but wonder if the man, blinded by his desire for vengeance or his version of justice or whatever, would even care.
✽✽✽
Since the storage unit complex was close to the edge of town, Ellie and Hal were able to take the kids to watch from outside the patrol area as Darrel and his people decontaminated the first stockpile to get ready to open it up.
Although if she was being honest, even though the patrols were most vigilant in this area, and it was all open space so they'd see Jay coming from a ways off if he tried anything, she couldn't help but feel a bit vulnerable out here. She imagined Stanberry's leaders probably weren't best pleased about the exposed location of the precious stockpile, either, even though it was the most heavily guarded place in town.
There was a stir of excitement as Darrel's people finished up the decontamination and cracked open the unit. They began hauling out boxes of bullets and gun accessories, as well as more carefully bringing out individual rifles, pistols, and shotguns.
Or even more carefully, to be fair. Although it had been three weeks and they were taking care to decontaminate everything they took out of the stockpile, Ellie could see the townspeople's obvious unease with handling the weapons and other items in the storage unit. Which was perfectly understandable, she supposed; with something as deadly as Zolos, even knowing something was safe wouldn't be enough to really feel like it was completely safe.
Actually, considering the extreme caution she'd seen from people in town, it was kind of surprising they were bringing out these guns the moment they were officially safe. It spoke to their growing desperation in the face of Jay's attacks.
She was just glad she hadn't reacted with that sort of squeamishness when Ricky came out of his 21 days, or even really gave the potential risk a second thought. She'd just been overjoyed to finally hold her son again. And as soon as it was safe to hold Tallie she fully intended to cuddle her close with zero reservations either, even though her daughter had actually fallen sick to the disease and so would've definitely been a carrier.
“That's so many guns!” Ricky shouted. “Are we going to get any?”
Ellie wasn't sure whether he meant them as in the quarantine camp or them as in their family. She could admit she would like to have a weapon to protect herself, but for the moment Hal's hunting rifle was enough for their camp.
She hoped.
“Mayor Darby has promised half the weapons to the camp so we can defend ourselves,” she answered. “Mr. Starr is already gathering more security volunteers and planning on how to train them.”
“I wish I was old enough to fight,” Todd said.
Hal shook his head grimly. “Let's hope if there is a fight, it's quick and one-sided our way. We have enough problems without Jay forcing this to get ugly.”
Uglier than it already is, Ellie thought grimly, thinking of Nick getting a gun shoved in his face twice, and the poor families who'd lost their homes.
Even though it was only one truckload of items, carefully packed, Darrel's people loaded up two trucks so she and Hal could drive one to the quarantine camp. Even though she expected them to be fair in the distribution, she still kept half an eye to make sure they weren't giving the camp all the ones in poor repair or that would be less useful in a fight.
Or really Hal did, since he had a better idea of what to look out for.
Ricky came and took her hand as they watched, and she squeezed his and smiled down at him. “Hey, I was wondering,” she said. “Would you like to hold the rings at the wedding?”
He squinted up at her, forehead crinkled. “I thought you were still looking for some.”
Ellie chuckled ruefully. True, she'd asked Gen and the Norsons to ask around and see what they could find in the way of wedding bands. Hal's carved rose ring rested heavy on her finger, wrapped in cloth on the bottom now for fit, and she felt a small thrill every time she noticed it.
She was engaged to this amazing man. In a week they'd be married.
“We are, but even if we have to use pipe cleaners or tin foil as temporary replacements we're going to have rings at the wedding,” she replied.
“So you want me to be the pipe cleaner bearer?” he asked, adopting a surprisingly good poker face. She couldn't tell if he was teasing her, although Hal laughed and leaned over to ruffle his hair. Her son finally let a grin peek through his sober expression as he nodded. “Okay, I can do that.”
Ellie pulled him into a hug and kissed the top of his head. “Thanks, honey.”
The rumble of rolling doors closing alerted her to Darrel's volunteers finishing their task, and she turned back to the stockpile to watch as a few men piled into the cab of each vehicle. Engines started, and the truck bound for the quarantine camp rolled up to park a cautious distance away.
“She's all yours,” a man called to them as he hopped down from the driver's seat. “Keys are in the ignition,” he added as he and his buddies started back for town.
“I'll drive that if you want to take the kids back in the car,” Hal offered, starting for the truck.
Ellie nodded and ushered her son and soon-to-be siblings back to the car. As they all piled in she glanced over at her fiancé, waving as he started up the truck and pulled away down the road.
She was about to climb behind the wheel and follow him when she spotted a lone figure on a distant hillside, and froze in sudden caution at the sight; she was positive he hadn't been there last time she glanced that way. Over at the stockpile she heard cursing and shouted warnings as Darrel's people also seemed to notice the faraway observer.
Was it Jay? One of his people?
She could just make out the man raising a fist towards her and the town, then after a second realized it wasn't a fist and he was giving them the finger. Then he saluted them with that middle finger and disappeared down the other side of the hill.
Ellie wasted no time scrambling into the driver's seat and getting the car started, peeling away to the safety of administration tent between the quarantine camp, roadblock, and town.
The Wensbrook survivors knew they had more guns now, and obviously wanted them to know they knew. The question was, what were they going to do about it?
She told Hal what she'd seen the moment she joined him at the parked truck, and as they delivered the weapons to Starr in the camp she warned him about it. The old man scowled and waved for a young man with him, possibly a grandson, to run and pass the word among the sentries to be extra vigilant for trouble, especially on the north and west sides of the camp, as they moved the weapons to his informal command center beneath a big pavilion.
“Be just our luck if Jay decided to take potshots at us as we're getting the means to protect ourselves from him,” he growled. “Seems like the kind of thing he'd think of.”
Ellie just shook her head. It was sobering how just seeing a lone figure on a hill in the distance, little more than a reminder that the Wensbrook survivors were out there and watching them, could leave her feeling so on edge.
Jay was definitely winning the psychological war that was for sure.
They were going to have to find a way to take away his intimidating mystique, as if he was capable of far more than a lone man with a small group of followers should be, if they were going to have any hope of beating him.
Although she wished the man would finally come to his senses and just let this be over; the conflict was undoubtedly bad for Stanberry, but wasn't it also keeping Jay's own people from getting back to their lives? Forcing them to spend all their time on edge and ready to fight, instead of focusing on survival as the world went crazy around them?
Who did this benefit?
✽✽✽
Nick had the midnight shift again.
It was probably the worst shift, since you either had to go to bed ludicrously early, sleep in ludicrously late, or sleep for a few hours then wake for your shift, then sleep some more. Which in practice never really worked out.
On top of that his head still kind of ached and his eyes were bleary from last night's intense vigil. He knew he should be just as vigilant tonight, since if Jay hadn't done anything before the chances were greater he would now.
