Isolation (Book 3): Starting Anew, page 9
part #3 of Isolation Series
Nick frowned at this bit of news. Had the brothers assumed that with Chase's cheerfully admitted background in scavenging abandoned houses, he might be the one who'd infected their farm? That had the potential to become a catastrophe, and soon, if the brothers discovered an answer they didn't like and went after the man.
Especially since nobody liked Chase much to begin with; Chet and Ben might be less gentle with him than they otherwise would've been.
Gah, this was frustrating. Nick felt like he had the team in good shape when it came to scavenging, as well as with their morning shooting practice. Even the new people had easily fallen into the routine. Their runs to Wensbrook were going smoothly, the trucks filled with what the town and quarantine camp needed most, and the second unloading completed well before dark so they actually had time to rest and relax in the evenings.
The parts of the job that actually mattered were going great, and team cohesion was good, but then along comes a hurdle like this for him to deal with. He just didn't have the experience or talent for handling interpersonal disputes, would've preferred not to have to at all, but this was the sort of thing that could tear the team apart and ruin all their hard work.
Ellie was the person for resolving this sort of issue.
Then again, she also hadn't spoken to him since their fight, aside from the usual niceties when she spent time with Tallie every morning and evening. Which was proof that even with someone whose entire skillset revolved around resolving disputes, there were some even she couldn't deal with.
That, or they'd both just been too busy to have time to really clear the air.
Nick had gotten over any anger he might've felt during the argument, and actually felt bad about how childish and unfair he'd been. Maybe he should just apologize the next chance he got, see if he could get them on the path to mending fences.
Especially since tomorrow morning he'd be taking Tallie to Aimee to begin their 21 days, which would be one less excuse to be around his ex-wife. One less chance to talk to her. Then three days after that, Ricky would be done with his 21 days and could be with his mom. Yet another reason for them to spend time together gone.
If he didn't heal this rift soon, they might drift apart and never resolve it. For the children's sake, and since they were all trying to survive this together, he didn't want that to happen.
Well, he'd do what he could tonight to patch things up with Ellie, but that still left the matter at hand. With a sigh Nick nodded for Charlie to go ahead and start the truck. “Thanks for letting me know. I'll take care of it.”
The older man nodded and got them moving towards the gas station, Tallie still sleeping away in the middle seat. She'd usually been good on road trips even before the Zolos crisis, but at this point she'd become a pro traveler.
Before long they were pulling into the parking lot, around to where the access to the station's tanks was. Chet, Ben, and Chase looked busy around the tanker truck, although they stopped as the truck rolled up and Nick and Charlie hopped out.
“Almost done here, boss!” Ben called as they approached, although his carefree demeanor looked a bit forced.
Nick blinked. “Already?”
“Already!” Chase agreed, looking relieved at their arrival. “Chalk it up to good instructions and having the right tools.”
Chet nodded, also looking more subdued than usual. “We're about ready to take this beast back up to Stanberry. Fingers crossed the guys there will have the tanks ready so we can empty it and head back down for another load.”
“Good to hear.” Nick nodded at the truck. “You think you and Ben can manage the trip on your own? We've still got a lot of heavy lifting to do here.”
“Heavy lifting?” Chase said, visibly brightening. “That's my favorite thing!”
Looked as if Charlie was onto something about what the brothers had been up to. Nick motioned towards the new scavenger, nodding off to one side. “Got a second to talk while Chet and Ben finish up here?”
“Sure, they've got this.” Chase followed him around to the front of the long since looted convenience store, well out of earshot of the working men.
Once there Nick turned to him, taking a deep breath. “I'm going to need you to tell me exactly where you scavenged before joining us.”
“Come on, this again?” Chase threw up his hands in exasperation, although there was a trace of nervousness in his expression. “It was bad enough with the McCleese squad all up in my business.”
Nick shook his head grimly. “This is serious, which is why I need to know.”
The other man sighed. “Then I'll tell you what I told them. I live not far from here but I scavenged around Bethany. I knew a lot of people around Stanberry had moved into town when the crisis started and Darrel closed the place off, and I didn't want to loot the houses of neighbors who might be coming back at some point.”
“And you made sure the houses you scavenged were abandoned?”
Chase stiffened in outrage. “Carefully, before I ever came close to them. I know you all think I'm a jerk, but I'm not a monster. I'd never infect anyone with Zolos, even by accident.”
Nick stared at the man closely. He seemed to be telling the truth, but it was hard to know for sure. Maybe that was why Chet and Ben were still questioning him and hadn't jumped to conclusions.
“From now on, I'll try to make sure the brothers leave you alone,” he finally said. “If they want to talk to you, they can do it with me there.”
The new scavenger sighed in relief. “Thanks, Nick.” He started to lean forward to clap him on the shoulder, then seemed to think better of it and instead just gave him a thumbs up. “Whatever's got a bee under their bonnet, they're barking up the wrong tree with me. I promise you that.”
Nick really, really hoped so. “How about you and Charlie start searching that house over there?” he said, pointing to one near the gas station that they had yet to check. “I'll talk to the brothers, then drive the truck over and meet up with you.”
Chase nodded and trotted over to exchange a few words with the older man. Then the two started off down the street towards the new house. Nick went over to join Chet and Ben by the truck, where they were staring after the departing members of the team.
“What gives, boss?” Chet groused. “We still needed his help for a few things.”
“I'll give you a hand with those,” Nick said. He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders, then continued bluntly. “Listen. Lay off the new guy.”
Both men's eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean?” Ben asked, a faint tightness to his light tone.
Fantastic. Guess they wanted to make this harder than it needed to be. “I know you suspect he's the guy, and you're digging. My gut says he's not. But even if he is, if you push him too hard and he clams up you'll never get him to admit to anything.”
The brothers exchanged glances, then Chet sighed. “We were kind of leaning towards him not being the guy ourselves,” he growled, slouching back against the tanker truck. “He's not reacting to details we throw at him, and he doesn't seem to know the area around our farm.”
Ben nodded and spat off to one side. “Besides, he might be a jerk, but he doesn't seem like an idiot. He got seriously pissed when we suggested he might accidentally infect an inhabited house, and not the guilty sort of pissed.”
“So you'll lay off him?” Nick pressed.
“He's all yours, boss,” Chet replied wryly. “Have fun with him as your partner. We'd rather work with Charlie anyway when we get back to refill this beast.”
That was enough to satisfy him, for now. And it was a good opportunity to change the subject back to work. “You guys okay with being on fuel duty until we make sure we have enough to last us for a while?”
“Or until we run out of tanks to store it in,” Ben said. “Shouldn't take long either way.”
The brothers got back to work, while Nick hung around and helped where needed now that Chase was gone. Before long they'd finished up the final preparations, and the full truck was ready to be driven back up to Stanberry.
Nick joined the two men as they took a short break, bringing a newly awakened Tallie out so they could all share a picnic on a nearby patch of grass.
“I was wondering, boss,” Chet said, frowning thoughtfully down the street, chewing on a candy bar.
Nick tensed, wondering if this had to do with Chase. “Yeah?”
To his relief it wasn't that. “We've still got a bit more to do in this town,” the young man mused, “but I'd say we're well to the point where we should be figuring out where to go next.”
It was his turn to frown; Chet wasn't wrong, but at the same time Nick was still wrestling with whether he should tell Darby he was done with this job once they'd finished searching Wensbrook.
Ellie had actually jumped to the other side of the issue since she'd taken over management of the quarantine camp, always worried about supplies and where they were coming from. She'd probably be content to have him scavenge until the crisis was over, especially once Tallie went with Aimee tomorrow and would eventually be able to rejoin her mother.
But Nick wouldn't be content. He wanted to help out, sure, but he also wanted to be with his kids. The Norsons were planning a huge garden using his seeds, and there were plenty of other ways he could help out and support the group without constantly having to expose himself to potential Zolos infection, remaining a carrier and thus a pariah.
And then there was Gen. The sooner he could get closer than fifteen feet to her, the sooner he'd feel comfortable asking her on a real date and taking their relationship in that direction.
But all of that had nothing to do with the topic at hand. Chet was still frowning down the street as if going through the news they'd heard of the local area, trying to remember if he'd heard of any places that were abandoned like Wensbrook that they could check out next.
And Nick had to admit that, whether or not he intended to keep scavenging himself, as the leader of the team he had a responsibility to help them plan for their future work. It wouldn't be fair to them to finish the job in Wensbrook, then casually wish them the best and walk off while they were left twiddling their thumbs, wondering who was going to lead them now and what they were supposed to be doing next.
“I'll bring it up with Darby tonight, or tomorrow morning if he isn't available,” he promised. “He found Wensbrook for us, and he's bound to have considered where we'll go from here.”
“Okay.” The young man clapped him on the back. “Back to town with all this gas, then.”
✽✽✽
“This had better be important,” Darby growled as he climbed out of his car behind the roadblock. “I've got close to fifteen hundred residents in the camp to sort through, figuring out how far along they all are in their 21 days and how to make sure they keep isolated the entire time.”
Nick blinked. “You're keeping track of everyone for their 21 days? Individually?”
“What choice do I have, considering the alternative?” Darby rubbed at his temples, groaning. “Keeping track of who and what has been exposed to Zolos for how long, and who and what might be getting re-exposed so the 21 day timer has to be reset, is becoming a real nightmare. Ms. Feldman is doing her best on her end, but she's got enough on her plate so I've got a few people working on it and nothing else full time. Including safeguards to make sure no mistakes are made.”
If Nick was being honest, hard as scavenging was with all the heavy lifting he wouldn't trade it for a job like that. “Well, Mayor, rest assured I'll do my best to make sure the record keeping on my side of things isn't giving you any more headaches.”
The tall man snorted. “Just keep bringing in eight truckloads of supplies every day, and fuel too, and you'll have done enough.” He waved that away, tone becoming brisk. “Anyway, what did you need?”
“Actually, it's about making sure we're able to bring in those truckloads long term. We're getting close to finishing up in Wensbrook.” He paused, then added dryly. “Even with searching every building there.”
Darby rolled his eyes at the reference to how he'd twisted Nick's arm about searching the houses. “So you need a new place to scavenge,” he concluded.
“Hopefully somewhere like Wensbrook. Evacuated due to a severe Zolos outbreak, and big enough that we'll be able to get enough out of it to keep supplying thousands of people.”
The Mayor grimaced. “That's not going to be as easy as you think. Most towns around here are doing closer to how we are. There are outbreaks, sure, but they're being contained well enough to not spread to entire towns. Also, federal relief efforts have stopped evacuating outbreak areas. They usually don't even show up to help with containment.” He sighed. “But I'll ask my guy on the radio what he's heard.”
“All right, thanks,” Nick said. “I guess if need be we can drive around, see what we can find ourselves.”
“As a last resort.” Darby jerked his thumb towards the quarantine camp to the east. “You can also ask your ex-wife. Maybe some of the dozens or even hundreds of people who come in every day have some information that could help you find a new place.”
That wasn't the worst idea. Nick was a bit nervous about approaching Ellie after the coolness of the last few days, but maybe this would be a good opportunity for him to apologize and try to clear the air.
It was long past due.
“Okay, I'll see what I can find on my own,” he promised. “Maybe save you a bit of work when you've already got so much on your plate.”
The Mayor gave him a long, thoughtful look. “I appreciate that, Statton. And I appreciate all the work you've put into scavenging, I mean that. You've eased a lot of potential worries for the town.”
“Well, hopefully my team can keep that up once we're done with Wensbrook.” Nick waved goodbye and headed back to his moving truck, where Chase was leaning against the front bumper. When the man saw him coming he climbed into the vehicle and buckled up.
Back at the Norsons' house, Nick parked by the other moving trucks, popped into camp long enough to check in on the scavengers, then carried Tallie on the path to the shed so she could visit her mom. And, fingers crossed, he could talk to her too.
“You excited to go stay with Aimee in the morning?” he asked his daughter as they waited for Ellie to make her way over from her camp.
The five-year-old nodded dubiously. “I guess. Will I really be able to be with Mommy after that?”
“You will.” He hugged his daughter close. “I'll be sure to visit you every day, okay? And your mommy will be at the camp all the time to visit you, too.”
“Okay.” His daughter kicked her legs at the air, smiling up at him. “I'm feeling a lot stronger, so I'll be able to walk soon. I can play with Ricky and Linny and everyone after the 21 days.”
“That'll be so much fun, won't it?” Nick waved as Ellie crossed the yard, calling to her. “How'd things go today?”
“Good!” she called back. “The camp's looking more and more like a proper quarantine camp every day. And everyone's finally fed, in clean clothes with proper shelter, and planning for the future.”
“That's good to hear.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Hey, before I leave you and Tallie to talk, I wanted to say I'm sorry. For, you know, before.”
Ellie's eyes softened. “I'm sorry too, Nick.” She motioned to her camp, the scavengers' camp, and the house. “We're all in this together, and it's especially important that our family stays strong.”
“Yeah.” Nick glanced over at where Hal and his family were eating dinner. “Including the new additions. Hal's a good person, and I'm glad you found him.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at Tallie, speaking to her. “How was scavenging, sweetie?”
“Good,” their daughter piped. “We got a big truck full of gas!”
Ellie laughed. “Good.” She glanced at Nick. “Are you going to be able to keep up with the camp's demands? We can visit the federal relief stockpile again if needed, but you guys bring in so much more. It's just a matter of holding out until what you scavenge is safe.”
“We're working smoothly as a team,” he said. “Speaking of which, we're almost done with Wensbrook. I was wondering if you could ask around with the new arrivals in camp and see if there's another place we can go.”
“I'll see what I can find out,” she promised. She turned back to Tallie. “All right, sweetie, let's hear all about your day!”
✽✽✽
Tallie really was regaining her strength, because she clutched Nick tightly around the neck as he gave her one last hug before handing her to Aimee.
Beside him Val stood wiping at her eyes after her own big hug from the five-year-old. The auburn-haired woman had looked so forlorn as Nick prepared to take his daughter to the camp that he'd invited her to come along to say her goodbyes. Ellie had seemed a bit put out by her presence at what should've been an intimate family event, especially with the hugging, but Val had come to care for Tallie and Nick felt like she deserved a chance for a proper goodbye as well.
Especially given her fragile state after losing her own daughters.
Nick finally handed Tallie to Aimee in her wheelchair. The young woman could walk fairly well now, but she still wasn't strong enough to carry even a small child for long. Ellie called out her own goodbyes, and then asked if they could go over a few final details of Tallie's care.
Val excused herself after a little while, hugging herself as if cold while walking back to Nick's car. Nick stuck around to clarify a few things, gave Tallie one last big hug at her insistence, then reluctantly excused himself and also headed for his car.
At least three weeks before he could hold his daughter again. Probably weeks more than that.
He hadn't even begun the wait and his heart had already sunk right down to his boots. He had a new appreciation for Ellie's plight as she kept fifteen feet from her children, wanting to hold them as they were reunited after so long, but unable to. It must be unbearable, and the prospect of being in that same position for who knew how long wasn't one he looked forward to.
