Isolation , Jones, Nathan [top 20 books to read TXT] 📗

Gen shot him a wry look as the song began, probably thinking along the same lines. But with Billy's voice rising loud and enthusiastic but slightly off key over the other singers, she couldn't help but grin at Nick over her son's head.

He couldn't help but grin back as they continued singing, settling in for the trip to start their new lives.

Whatever lay ahead, they'd face it together.

Epilogue

Looking Ahead

“This is our apartment?” Gen asked, looking around in disbelief.

Nick didn't comment, although he was equally surprised; in terms of square footage, it was probably as big as his and Gen's old apartments in Kansas City combined, with four bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. Not to mention a large kitchen and living area.

And it was fully furnished, probably with everything the previous occupants had owned before they died or were evacuated. Nice furniture, too, tasteful and in good condition.

“That's right,” the FARR worker assigned to them said uncertainly, as if preparing for complaints. She checked her clipboard. “I have you listed as a couple with one dependent, and possibly two more dependents in the future, correct? If it's not big enough . . .”

“Oh no, it's fine,” Nick said hastily. “Bigger than we expected, actually.”

“Oh. Yeah.” The worker, part of the new Federal Agency for Relocation and Rebuilding, nodded in understanding. “Well we're not exactly struggling for housing . . . just the opposite, really. Over seventy percent of Houston's population died during the pandemic, and the soldiers stationed here were able to prevent most looting and vandalism and keep the buildings intact. So we've got plenty of room.”

She checked her list again. “In fact, once we get things better organized we can probably move you into a house. You're listed as Tier Three, so you'd be pretty high on the list if you requested one.”

Nick still wasn't 100% sure of the specifics of the tier system, other than that Tier One was apparently high ranked government and military leaders, Tier Two was managers and administrators and specific VIPs, Tier Three included educated or skilled laborers whose professions were in high demand, and Tiers Four and Five were for those doing jobs that required less education or skill or weren't in as high demand.

He couldn't exactly complain about where he'd landed on that list. In fact, everything they'd seen so far of the rebuilding effort, and their place in it, was proving to be surprisingly hopeful.

For all her cutthroat nature in strong-arming them into this situation in the first place, it looked as if Gorstrom had proven true to her word about what they could expect. The trip here had been efficient but with due attention paid to their comfort, and they'd spent the night in a clean, safe facility converted into a dormitory for new arrivals. The food had been tasty and there'd been lots of it, and they'd had access to restrooms and even hot water for showers, although on a timer so they didn't waste water.

Then they'd spent the next morning in interviews, making sure the FARR workers knew their situation and Nick's particular talents so he could be assigned to the most suitable job. If any of the workers were aware of his unique position as part of a mandatory work program for the next three years, they showed no sign of it and treated him with every courtesy.

The job he'd been assigned to was as part of the group managing the area's networks and information systems, particularly in service to relief services and FARR's rebuilding efforts. From the description it was mostly stuff he'd done before, and anything he didn't know he should be able to pick up quickly.

As for Gen, since she had a child and she was with Nick who had his Tier Three status, he'd be able to provide for all of them; she wouldn't have to work unless she wanted to, and for now they'd agreed she'd focus on settling in with Billy.

Although surprisingly, the more they'd seen of the rebuilding efforts, the more enthusiastic she'd become about them doing their part. He almost got the feeling she wouldn't mind finding ways to help out where she could.

The FARR worker went through some quick details about the apartment with them, all the while extolling its virtues, along with that of Houston itself. It was obvious she was proud of what they'd accomplished here, the major steps they'd taken towards rebuilding from Zolos, and considered him and Gen now equal participants of that effort.

Nick didn't really disagree with her, either. He didn't recall ever visiting Houston, aside from maybe passing through on trips, but from what he'd seen the FARR worker was right that it had weathered the pandemic far better than KC.

Almost none of it had been ravaged by fires, rioting, or looting, and driving through it to get here it had looked mostly intact. And judging by the state of this apartment, the interiors of the buildings were in nearly as good shape as the exteriors.

In spite of his circumstances, he was finding himself looking forward to being here.

“Well, that should be it, Mr. Statton, Ms. Foss,” the FARR worker said briskly after a few minutes. “I've got a lot of people to move into their new homes today, so I'll leave you to settle in. You've got your phone, right?”

Nick nodded. He and Gen had both been issued new, working phones, complete with texting and limited internet. Mostly connected to the government's networks behind serious security clearance, so they couldn't really do much with the internet at the moment, but it promised that in the future they'd have more options.

It was just your basic smart phone, years out of date, but even so it felt surreal to have one again, even though he'd spent his entire adult life taking them for granted.

“Good,” the FARR worker said. “Your new boss will contact you with details for what you'll be doing