Isolation (Book 3): Starting Anew, page 6
part #3 of Isolation Series
As a pleasant surprise, this time Hal was also asked to introduce himself. He looked a bit off-balance at finding himself in the spotlight, although he responded with good humor to briefly explain his experience in roofing and repairing damage in houses from disasters like floods and fires.
“I hope you're not considering constructing permanent dwellings in the camp?” an older woman on the city council asked worriedly. “We intended the place to be a short term help to people who needed it, not some sort of permanent settlement.”
“We don't know how long this disaster will last or how long the camp will be needed,” Hal replied politely. “If it's any sort of length of time then houses might be more comfortable than tents.” He smiled reassuringly. “But if nothing else, I got a good look at the workings of an official quarantine camp while working with Ellie. I'll do what I can to improve conditions in this place.”
“And what do you expect from the town for those improvements?” Bruce spoke up, looking apologetic about having to ask the question. He turned to Ellie as he continued. “We're all struggling to scrape by until we have access to the supplies your ex-husband scavenged. And that's only going to get worse as the camp continues to grow. Asking for more is all well and good, but there's only so much we can do.”
“You could go to a federal relief stockpile,” she suggested. “They'd have Zolos-safe supplies ready for immediate use. I could even make the trip, if no one else is willing to. Although I'm surprised no one here has if things have gotten this dire.”
The older man frowned. “We were confident we'd be able to manage until the scavenged supplies became available. We didn't think the camp would grow this quickly, and it's only been recently that the numbers have become unmanageable.”
The others murmured their agreement. She supposed she couldn't fault them for wanting to fend for themselves, but that still didn't explain why nobody had taken that step once they realized things had become dire.
If she had to guess, it was probably the same caution that had led the town to seal off its borders that also kept its citizens from venturing outside those borders, even in need. Similar to how Cara had been willing to starve with her children rather than risk going outside to find food.
And they couldn't pass the job off to any outsiders, like people in the quarantine camp, because then they'd have to suspect that the returning food would be contaminated. No safer than the food Nick scavenged.
Ellie made her tone firm but did her best to avoid expressing any condemnation as she continued. “This isn't just about supplies. The state of that camp is beyond appalling, and anyone unwilling to admit that has either avoided looking at the place or is heartless. You can't just dump food at the perimeter and say your job's done. Not when those people are suffering from poor hygiene, lack of shelter, poor safety procedures for avoiding the spread of Zolos, and a host of other problems along with malnutrition.”
The town's leaders looked at each other, some resentful but most chagrined or at least uncomfortable.
“In our defense,” Darby began in a commendably mild and conciliatory tone, “any mismanagement of the camp isn't due to malice. None of us were expecting to have a quarantine camp full of over a thousand refugees, with all the attendant risks and responsibilities, dropped in our laps. We don't have anyone with any real training in managing a camp like that. We're civic leaders, not trained disaster relief coordinators.”
Ellie supposed she couldn't fault them for that. Although part of her couldn't help but think that the people responsible for a town of over a thousand people should've at least given some thought to preparing for a disaster. Although in fairness he was right that there was a world of difference between preparing your town as best you can, and suddenly finding yourself dealing with your own number of refugees.
“Even so,” she said, mimicking his tone, “you couldn't have been completely blind to the serious comfort and sanitation issues in the camp.”
“No,” the Mayor admitted with obvious guilt. “We just didn't know what exactly to do about them, when we didn't dare enter the camp ourselves and the residents proved . . . extremely reluctant to our suggestions and requests for improving their own circumstances.”
Requests made by people who didn't know exactly what was needed, to people in the same boat. No wonder it looked like everyone involved was lazy and incompetent. “Well, I'm willing to offer my expertise if I can be sure of your support,” Ellie said.
The town's leaders huddled up and began debating the issue. She wanted to sit down while she waited, but that wouldn't look professional.
At one point a man from the city council stepped forward. “You came from a quarantine camp, so you have certification?”
Ellie nodded and reached for her laminated card, as Hal did the same. They couldn't exactly approach to hand the man their cards, but thankfully the relief agency had planned for that and the words “CONFIRMED ZOLOS FREE MAY 2” dominated most of the space, large enough to read from up to ten feet away if you had good eyesight.
The man nodded in obvious satisfaction. “Before we discuss anything else, were you serious with your offer of going to the federal relief stockpile?”
She gave him a surprised look. “You'd trust that we've remained Zolos free since leaving?”
Darrel snorted. “Of course not. We can provide you with a semi-truck and attached trailer, but before you go near it you'll have to put on hazmat suits and go through a thorough decontamination. Don't remove those suits until you're safely back in Stanberry and have ideally unloaded the truck, or if not then that you're a safe distance from it first.”
That sounded like a huge hassle, especially trying to drive while looking through a faceplate, but she nodded. “That's reasonable enough.”
“Then you'll go?” the councilman pressed. “We've heard there's a federal stockpile near St. Joseph. We can give you directions to it.”
Ellie glanced at Hal; she had no idea how to drive a semi-truck, so it would be on him.
At her look he grimaced. “Never driven anything bigger than a moving truck and some big earth moving equipment, but I should be able to manage it. Especially if an experienced truck driver could give me some pointers.”
“That would be Mr. Bowman, the truck's driver,” Darby offered. “He doesn't want to risk the trip himself, but I'm sure we can get him to donate the truck and talk you through operating it.”
“Then I think a visit to the stockpile would be a good idea,” Ellie said. “Even one semi full of supplies could seriously improve conditions in camp, and if it goes well we can always make more trips.”
“Could you go tomorrow?” the councilman from before asked.
That caught her off guard. She'd barely had a chance to reunite with her children, and anyway a trip like this could probably benefit from some planning. On the other hand, given the state of the quarantine camp the sooner they left, the better.
“I think that's doable,” she said cautiously.
Darby clapped his hands briskly. “Great!” He turned back to the others. “What do you say we tour around the camp? We can hear Ms. Feldman's plans for improving it and make sure the refugees know her new position is official.”
✽✽✽
Ellie was exhausted by the end of the day.
Organizing the camp had seemed like a huge, complex, and daunting task, but even with everything she knew about the process she hadn't expected it to be as difficult as it turned out to be. The big problem was that she was directing from the outside, trying to get poorly equipped, malnourished people to work together and follow her instructions.
As any experienced leader could tell you, even the most detailed instructions began to go wrong the moment a worker was out of your direct supervision. People couldn't read minds, which meant workers often didn't understand exactly what you were trying to accomplish with the tasks you gave them. And unless the instructions were written down, the more complex they were the easier it was to forget details.
Of course, all of that was assuming obedient, eager workers. That was another huge source of headache in and of itself, since over half the camp's residents didn't want to cooperate at all. Not even Johnny or Starr could wheedle any sort of help out of them, although that didn't stop the unwilling residents from demanding they be provided the benefit of the improved conditions in camp.
Honestly, Ellie could only assume that anyone who envied and resented leaders for their authority had never actually taken on that responsibility themselves. They had no idea how much work was required, the expectation of being the one to personally pound your head through every single obstacle that presented itself, blamed if the job wasn't done or if anything went wrong, and receiving little acknowledgment if things went well.
Sure, there might be people out there who stepped up for the glory. But she wondered how many of them actually stuck around unless they cared about the work they were doing.
Or were the type to abuse their power as far as they could before being tossed out, she supposed. Although that sort of thinking genuinely baffled her, so it was hard to get that as a motivation. Which didn't mean she hadn't seen plenty of it in her consulting; the best you could do when working with those sorts of people was either work around them or hope they liked you.
In any case, on top of the unrewarding feeling of helping a camp half filled with unwilling residents, there was the fact that she wasn't being paid jack squat for this. Not that she wanted to be paid for helping people during a worldwide crisis, of course, but the thought was there in the back of her mind that this was feeling like a seriously thankless task.
So it was safe to say she wasn't at her best when Nick came back from scavenging that evening and she met with him to touch bases on their days. After sending Tallie back to his camp with Val so they could speak in private, of course.
And equally safe to say that after her ex-husband's own exhausting day, he wasn't at his best either. They both should've known better, or at least tried extra hard to keep things friendly.
Pretty much the first words out of his mouth started things off on the wrong foot. “So after a month of waiting for you to make it back to us, the first thing you do is volunteer for a job that's going to eat every hour of your day and then some, so the kids never get to see you?”
Ellie stiffened, immediately on the defensive. “You've seen that camp. You go there all the time, so you should be just as horrified by it as I am! Do you seriously have a problem with me doing what I can to improve things?”
“Kind of, yeah,” Nick said. “You're not trapped in that quarantine camp, and our kids need their mom. You have no idea how much they've gone through.”
“You're right, our kids need their parents,” she snapped. “Which is why you ditched Ricky every day to go out and do the exact same thing I want to do.”
He spluttered furiously for a few seconds before he took a deep breath and reined himself in. “One, we would've been kicked out of Stanberry if I hadn't. Two, I've been scavenging supplies for our family so we can last out this disaster.” He pointed accusingly towards the moving trucks down the road. “In fact, I've got the supplies for you and your boyfriend's family's stockpile right there! Waiting to be moved into the shed, by me, as a capstone to an already exhausting day.”
Ellie hesitated, abashed, but before she could try to backpedal on what she'd said he continued. “And even then, I had Tallie with me and did my best to make sure she was safe and happy. But no, you're right, you working full time at the quarantine camp where neither of our children can be with you is exactly the same. Just tell me how what you're doing benefits our family, I'm waiting to hear it.”
She bridled all over again. “It's not all about benefitting our family, Nick! Tallie and Ricky are fine, in the same situation as before I came, and I have a chance to potentially save hundreds of lives by whipping that camp into shape. Your main reason for scavenging beyond what our family needs is to help people, so you should understand that if we have a chance to do something, it's our duty to do it.”
Her ex-husband looked taken aback, on the verge of stepping back from what he'd said himself, but it was her turn to keep pushing. “Although if you've been scavenging to help the camp, the least you could've done is take five minutes to try to do something to improve things there. You didn't even seem to notice anything was wrong, or care, when we were there this morning.”
“Haven't-” Nick spluttered some more. “Aside from busting my butt scavenging for over a week now to help them? What else could I do?”
“Well the Mayor talks to you all the time, so maybe you could've mentioned your concerns about the camp to him.” She hesitated, then couldn't help but add. “Or did you think you'd done enough after you helped the Zolos survivors on behalf of your scavengers?”
“That's not fu-not fair at all, Ells,” he snapped. “Although if you want to talk about selfishness, how about what Ricky was telling me about you and Hal making out right in front of him? You think that wasn't a bit much when he's still getting used to the idea of his mom having a new boyfriend?”
Ellie felt her flush deepen. “It was a misunderstanding. I talked to him.”
“That's good. Maybe you could've taken a minute to talk to me about who you're bringing into our kids' lives.”
Seriously? “It's none of your business who I date, and Hal's a good man who's going to be great for the kids.”
“Just as long as you don't get bored of your boy toy in a few weeks and ditch him.”
Ellie fought down a sharp flash of rage. “That's not fair and you know it!” she said heatedly. “You have no idea what we've been through together.”
“I know he's been through a decade less of it than you have!”
A hefty chunk of her anger bled into confusion; had this argument suddenly turned to something as petty as jealousy? Or was it why Nick was fanning the flames in the first place? “Where's this coming from?” she demanded. He didn't immediately answer, and realization dawned. “Hold on. You didn't think this disaster was going to make us get back together, did you?”
Nick shifted uncomfortably. “The possibility occurred to me.”
Ellie laughed harshly. “Hard times were why our marriage failed in the first place. What makes you think this would be any better?”
He fumbled. “Well, there are bad times that tear people apart, and bad times that bring them together. This just seemed like, well, you know, one of the latter ones.”
“I hope this does bring us together,” she said firmly. “But not that way, Nick. Hal was with me through things I could never have survived on my own. I've-” She paused, about to say she'd never felt as close to anyone besides her parents, but decided that would be salt in the wound. “I love him,” she said simply. “It's real, and it's happening. I'd appreciate it if you could make your peace with that.”
Nick was slow to answer. “You say it's real, but it's been less than a year since the divorce and he's almost a decade younger than you! Not to mention he's built like an Olympic athlete. That screams rebound fling.”
Ellie closed her eyes and silently counted to five. “Nick,” she said very carefully, “even during the worst times of our divorce, we never got like this. Don't start now.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, then another. “I need to unload your supplies,” he growled. Without waiting for a response he turned and strode away.
Chapter Three
Stockpile
After his argument with Ellie, which came out of nowhere as far as Nick was aware, not even sitting with Gen afterwards watching the stars come out could improve his mood. Especially since it was only for a few minutes because he'd been up so late unloading Ellie's stockpile into the shed, and that brief time with his sort of almost girlfriend had been tense in the aftermath of the argument.
So it was no surprise he went to bed in a bad mood, and woke up on the wrong side of bed the next morning.
Although as it turned out, for once Darby visiting the camp bright and early actually improved his mood, because this time the man brought three people with him.
Although not with with him; he used the safe approach to the camp, while the two men and woman accompanying him used the same route Nick and his scavengers used. That suggested who they were immediately, without the Mayor needing to explain anything.
“All right!” Val called, hopping up from the fire to greet the new arrivals. “Finally, some help!”
“And another truck,” Darby shouted through the trees. “Darrel's bringing it around now.” He hurried into view, expression tense. “We're also working on a tanker truck and finding someone who can talk you through getting fuel from gas stations. With how much you guys are using each day we'll be out sooner rather than later.”
Nick joined Val greeting the three new arrivals, with Lila and Charlie close behind. Chet and Ben, on the other hand, hung back by the fire.
The brothers' expressions had become guarded, reminding Nick that although they'd opened up to this small team of scavengers, apparently they still harbored suspicion for the other Zolos survivors in the quarantine camp. Which meant they were probably still searching for whoever had infected their farm and gotten most of theirs and Aimee's families killed.
One of the men and the woman turned out to be a young married couple, the Drydens. Tony Dryden had been hit by Zolos, but had been fortunate to be one of the milder cases. He was well on his way to recovery, similar to Charlie, and was confident he had the strength to help out. Although since his wife, Denna, was on the petite side, Nick had to wonder if the two would struggle with the heavy lifting.
The couple had come from St. Joseph, and although they were both Zolos immune and that particular danger was past for them, they'd still opted to flee the city since the utilities were out and vandalism and even arson were becoming more commonplace.
The third new arrival was an outgoing guy in his late 20s who introduced himself as Chase Brighton. “I'm already an old hand at scavenging,” he said by way of introduction. “Been searching abandoned places for a while now.” He winked. “And let's just say that once the economy recovers I'll be set for at least the next few decades. Hopefully by the time I'm done with scavenging for good I'll be rich enough to live in luxury for the rest of my life.”
“I hope you're not considering constructing permanent dwellings in the camp?” an older woman on the city council asked worriedly. “We intended the place to be a short term help to people who needed it, not some sort of permanent settlement.”
“We don't know how long this disaster will last or how long the camp will be needed,” Hal replied politely. “If it's any sort of length of time then houses might be more comfortable than tents.” He smiled reassuringly. “But if nothing else, I got a good look at the workings of an official quarantine camp while working with Ellie. I'll do what I can to improve conditions in this place.”
“And what do you expect from the town for those improvements?” Bruce spoke up, looking apologetic about having to ask the question. He turned to Ellie as he continued. “We're all struggling to scrape by until we have access to the supplies your ex-husband scavenged. And that's only going to get worse as the camp continues to grow. Asking for more is all well and good, but there's only so much we can do.”
“You could go to a federal relief stockpile,” she suggested. “They'd have Zolos-safe supplies ready for immediate use. I could even make the trip, if no one else is willing to. Although I'm surprised no one here has if things have gotten this dire.”
The older man frowned. “We were confident we'd be able to manage until the scavenged supplies became available. We didn't think the camp would grow this quickly, and it's only been recently that the numbers have become unmanageable.”
The others murmured their agreement. She supposed she couldn't fault them for wanting to fend for themselves, but that still didn't explain why nobody had taken that step once they realized things had become dire.
If she had to guess, it was probably the same caution that had led the town to seal off its borders that also kept its citizens from venturing outside those borders, even in need. Similar to how Cara had been willing to starve with her children rather than risk going outside to find food.
And they couldn't pass the job off to any outsiders, like people in the quarantine camp, because then they'd have to suspect that the returning food would be contaminated. No safer than the food Nick scavenged.
Ellie made her tone firm but did her best to avoid expressing any condemnation as she continued. “This isn't just about supplies. The state of that camp is beyond appalling, and anyone unwilling to admit that has either avoided looking at the place or is heartless. You can't just dump food at the perimeter and say your job's done. Not when those people are suffering from poor hygiene, lack of shelter, poor safety procedures for avoiding the spread of Zolos, and a host of other problems along with malnutrition.”
The town's leaders looked at each other, some resentful but most chagrined or at least uncomfortable.
“In our defense,” Darby began in a commendably mild and conciliatory tone, “any mismanagement of the camp isn't due to malice. None of us were expecting to have a quarantine camp full of over a thousand refugees, with all the attendant risks and responsibilities, dropped in our laps. We don't have anyone with any real training in managing a camp like that. We're civic leaders, not trained disaster relief coordinators.”
Ellie supposed she couldn't fault them for that. Although part of her couldn't help but think that the people responsible for a town of over a thousand people should've at least given some thought to preparing for a disaster. Although in fairness he was right that there was a world of difference between preparing your town as best you can, and suddenly finding yourself dealing with your own number of refugees.
“Even so,” she said, mimicking his tone, “you couldn't have been completely blind to the serious comfort and sanitation issues in the camp.”
“No,” the Mayor admitted with obvious guilt. “We just didn't know what exactly to do about them, when we didn't dare enter the camp ourselves and the residents proved . . . extremely reluctant to our suggestions and requests for improving their own circumstances.”
Requests made by people who didn't know exactly what was needed, to people in the same boat. No wonder it looked like everyone involved was lazy and incompetent. “Well, I'm willing to offer my expertise if I can be sure of your support,” Ellie said.
The town's leaders huddled up and began debating the issue. She wanted to sit down while she waited, but that wouldn't look professional.
At one point a man from the city council stepped forward. “You came from a quarantine camp, so you have certification?”
Ellie nodded and reached for her laminated card, as Hal did the same. They couldn't exactly approach to hand the man their cards, but thankfully the relief agency had planned for that and the words “CONFIRMED ZOLOS FREE MAY 2” dominated most of the space, large enough to read from up to ten feet away if you had good eyesight.
The man nodded in obvious satisfaction. “Before we discuss anything else, were you serious with your offer of going to the federal relief stockpile?”
She gave him a surprised look. “You'd trust that we've remained Zolos free since leaving?”
Darrel snorted. “Of course not. We can provide you with a semi-truck and attached trailer, but before you go near it you'll have to put on hazmat suits and go through a thorough decontamination. Don't remove those suits until you're safely back in Stanberry and have ideally unloaded the truck, or if not then that you're a safe distance from it first.”
That sounded like a huge hassle, especially trying to drive while looking through a faceplate, but she nodded. “That's reasonable enough.”
“Then you'll go?” the councilman pressed. “We've heard there's a federal stockpile near St. Joseph. We can give you directions to it.”
Ellie glanced at Hal; she had no idea how to drive a semi-truck, so it would be on him.
At her look he grimaced. “Never driven anything bigger than a moving truck and some big earth moving equipment, but I should be able to manage it. Especially if an experienced truck driver could give me some pointers.”
“That would be Mr. Bowman, the truck's driver,” Darby offered. “He doesn't want to risk the trip himself, but I'm sure we can get him to donate the truck and talk you through operating it.”
“Then I think a visit to the stockpile would be a good idea,” Ellie said. “Even one semi full of supplies could seriously improve conditions in camp, and if it goes well we can always make more trips.”
“Could you go tomorrow?” the councilman from before asked.
That caught her off guard. She'd barely had a chance to reunite with her children, and anyway a trip like this could probably benefit from some planning. On the other hand, given the state of the quarantine camp the sooner they left, the better.
“I think that's doable,” she said cautiously.
Darby clapped his hands briskly. “Great!” He turned back to the others. “What do you say we tour around the camp? We can hear Ms. Feldman's plans for improving it and make sure the refugees know her new position is official.”
✽✽✽
Ellie was exhausted by the end of the day.
Organizing the camp had seemed like a huge, complex, and daunting task, but even with everything she knew about the process she hadn't expected it to be as difficult as it turned out to be. The big problem was that she was directing from the outside, trying to get poorly equipped, malnourished people to work together and follow her instructions.
As any experienced leader could tell you, even the most detailed instructions began to go wrong the moment a worker was out of your direct supervision. People couldn't read minds, which meant workers often didn't understand exactly what you were trying to accomplish with the tasks you gave them. And unless the instructions were written down, the more complex they were the easier it was to forget details.
Of course, all of that was assuming obedient, eager workers. That was another huge source of headache in and of itself, since over half the camp's residents didn't want to cooperate at all. Not even Johnny or Starr could wheedle any sort of help out of them, although that didn't stop the unwilling residents from demanding they be provided the benefit of the improved conditions in camp.
Honestly, Ellie could only assume that anyone who envied and resented leaders for their authority had never actually taken on that responsibility themselves. They had no idea how much work was required, the expectation of being the one to personally pound your head through every single obstacle that presented itself, blamed if the job wasn't done or if anything went wrong, and receiving little acknowledgment if things went well.
Sure, there might be people out there who stepped up for the glory. But she wondered how many of them actually stuck around unless they cared about the work they were doing.
Or were the type to abuse their power as far as they could before being tossed out, she supposed. Although that sort of thinking genuinely baffled her, so it was hard to get that as a motivation. Which didn't mean she hadn't seen plenty of it in her consulting; the best you could do when working with those sorts of people was either work around them or hope they liked you.
In any case, on top of the unrewarding feeling of helping a camp half filled with unwilling residents, there was the fact that she wasn't being paid jack squat for this. Not that she wanted to be paid for helping people during a worldwide crisis, of course, but the thought was there in the back of her mind that this was feeling like a seriously thankless task.
So it was safe to say she wasn't at her best when Nick came back from scavenging that evening and she met with him to touch bases on their days. After sending Tallie back to his camp with Val so they could speak in private, of course.
And equally safe to say that after her ex-husband's own exhausting day, he wasn't at his best either. They both should've known better, or at least tried extra hard to keep things friendly.
Pretty much the first words out of his mouth started things off on the wrong foot. “So after a month of waiting for you to make it back to us, the first thing you do is volunteer for a job that's going to eat every hour of your day and then some, so the kids never get to see you?”
Ellie stiffened, immediately on the defensive. “You've seen that camp. You go there all the time, so you should be just as horrified by it as I am! Do you seriously have a problem with me doing what I can to improve things?”
“Kind of, yeah,” Nick said. “You're not trapped in that quarantine camp, and our kids need their mom. You have no idea how much they've gone through.”
“You're right, our kids need their parents,” she snapped. “Which is why you ditched Ricky every day to go out and do the exact same thing I want to do.”
He spluttered furiously for a few seconds before he took a deep breath and reined himself in. “One, we would've been kicked out of Stanberry if I hadn't. Two, I've been scavenging supplies for our family so we can last out this disaster.” He pointed accusingly towards the moving trucks down the road. “In fact, I've got the supplies for you and your boyfriend's family's stockpile right there! Waiting to be moved into the shed, by me, as a capstone to an already exhausting day.”
Ellie hesitated, abashed, but before she could try to backpedal on what she'd said he continued. “And even then, I had Tallie with me and did my best to make sure she was safe and happy. But no, you're right, you working full time at the quarantine camp where neither of our children can be with you is exactly the same. Just tell me how what you're doing benefits our family, I'm waiting to hear it.”
She bridled all over again. “It's not all about benefitting our family, Nick! Tallie and Ricky are fine, in the same situation as before I came, and I have a chance to potentially save hundreds of lives by whipping that camp into shape. Your main reason for scavenging beyond what our family needs is to help people, so you should understand that if we have a chance to do something, it's our duty to do it.”
Her ex-husband looked taken aback, on the verge of stepping back from what he'd said himself, but it was her turn to keep pushing. “Although if you've been scavenging to help the camp, the least you could've done is take five minutes to try to do something to improve things there. You didn't even seem to notice anything was wrong, or care, when we were there this morning.”
“Haven't-” Nick spluttered some more. “Aside from busting my butt scavenging for over a week now to help them? What else could I do?”
“Well the Mayor talks to you all the time, so maybe you could've mentioned your concerns about the camp to him.” She hesitated, then couldn't help but add. “Or did you think you'd done enough after you helped the Zolos survivors on behalf of your scavengers?”
“That's not fu-not fair at all, Ells,” he snapped. “Although if you want to talk about selfishness, how about what Ricky was telling me about you and Hal making out right in front of him? You think that wasn't a bit much when he's still getting used to the idea of his mom having a new boyfriend?”
Ellie felt her flush deepen. “It was a misunderstanding. I talked to him.”
“That's good. Maybe you could've taken a minute to talk to me about who you're bringing into our kids' lives.”
Seriously? “It's none of your business who I date, and Hal's a good man who's going to be great for the kids.”
“Just as long as you don't get bored of your boy toy in a few weeks and ditch him.”
Ellie fought down a sharp flash of rage. “That's not fair and you know it!” she said heatedly. “You have no idea what we've been through together.”
“I know he's been through a decade less of it than you have!”
A hefty chunk of her anger bled into confusion; had this argument suddenly turned to something as petty as jealousy? Or was it why Nick was fanning the flames in the first place? “Where's this coming from?” she demanded. He didn't immediately answer, and realization dawned. “Hold on. You didn't think this disaster was going to make us get back together, did you?”
Nick shifted uncomfortably. “The possibility occurred to me.”
Ellie laughed harshly. “Hard times were why our marriage failed in the first place. What makes you think this would be any better?”
He fumbled. “Well, there are bad times that tear people apart, and bad times that bring them together. This just seemed like, well, you know, one of the latter ones.”
“I hope this does bring us together,” she said firmly. “But not that way, Nick. Hal was with me through things I could never have survived on my own. I've-” She paused, about to say she'd never felt as close to anyone besides her parents, but decided that would be salt in the wound. “I love him,” she said simply. “It's real, and it's happening. I'd appreciate it if you could make your peace with that.”
Nick was slow to answer. “You say it's real, but it's been less than a year since the divorce and he's almost a decade younger than you! Not to mention he's built like an Olympic athlete. That screams rebound fling.”
Ellie closed her eyes and silently counted to five. “Nick,” she said very carefully, “even during the worst times of our divorce, we never got like this. Don't start now.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, then another. “I need to unload your supplies,” he growled. Without waiting for a response he turned and strode away.
Chapter Three
Stockpile
After his argument with Ellie, which came out of nowhere as far as Nick was aware, not even sitting with Gen afterwards watching the stars come out could improve his mood. Especially since it was only for a few minutes because he'd been up so late unloading Ellie's stockpile into the shed, and that brief time with his sort of almost girlfriend had been tense in the aftermath of the argument.
So it was no surprise he went to bed in a bad mood, and woke up on the wrong side of bed the next morning.
Although as it turned out, for once Darby visiting the camp bright and early actually improved his mood, because this time the man brought three people with him.
Although not with with him; he used the safe approach to the camp, while the two men and woman accompanying him used the same route Nick and his scavengers used. That suggested who they were immediately, without the Mayor needing to explain anything.
“All right!” Val called, hopping up from the fire to greet the new arrivals. “Finally, some help!”
“And another truck,” Darby shouted through the trees. “Darrel's bringing it around now.” He hurried into view, expression tense. “We're also working on a tanker truck and finding someone who can talk you through getting fuel from gas stations. With how much you guys are using each day we'll be out sooner rather than later.”
Nick joined Val greeting the three new arrivals, with Lila and Charlie close behind. Chet and Ben, on the other hand, hung back by the fire.
The brothers' expressions had become guarded, reminding Nick that although they'd opened up to this small team of scavengers, apparently they still harbored suspicion for the other Zolos survivors in the quarantine camp. Which meant they were probably still searching for whoever had infected their farm and gotten most of theirs and Aimee's families killed.
One of the men and the woman turned out to be a young married couple, the Drydens. Tony Dryden had been hit by Zolos, but had been fortunate to be one of the milder cases. He was well on his way to recovery, similar to Charlie, and was confident he had the strength to help out. Although since his wife, Denna, was on the petite side, Nick had to wonder if the two would struggle with the heavy lifting.
The couple had come from St. Joseph, and although they were both Zolos immune and that particular danger was past for them, they'd still opted to flee the city since the utilities were out and vandalism and even arson were becoming more commonplace.
The third new arrival was an outgoing guy in his late 20s who introduced himself as Chase Brighton. “I'm already an old hand at scavenging,” he said by way of introduction. “Been searching abandoned places for a while now.” He winked. “And let's just say that once the economy recovers I'll be set for at least the next few decades. Hopefully by the time I'm done with scavenging for good I'll be rich enough to live in luxury for the rest of my life.”
