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

the newly reinstated leader shouted above the rumble of the crowd. “Let's show these SOBs they won't get away with this!”

Everyone roared their agreement and followed after him.

Larry stared at the burning houses around him, some of which could probably still be saved if they acted quickly. Then, defeated, he followed the crowd as they made for their vehicles.

Liza fell into step beside him, face smudged with soot and wheezing slightly from smoke inhalation. She looked as dismayed as he felt, although she kept her eyes woodenly forward. After a few moments he felt her fumbling at his arm, then her fingers closed around his.

He held her hand tightly, clinging to that small source of comfort in a world that had once again gone completely insane.

Chapter Four

Rekindled

Ellie jolted awake with a gasp, all at once remembering the Zolos outbreak.

How long had she slept? How many more people had gotten sick in that time? Was there anything she could've done to help them while she'd been here sleeping?

Irrational as she knew those fears were, they weren't just idle ones. Since she was outside the camp and couldn't safely take part in any of the work that needed to be done, and especially considering she was in charge of running the place, pretty much the entire burden of coordinating the efforts to deal with the crisis had fallen on her shoulders.

It irked her that so many had asked, with more than a little hostility, why she got to be the one giving orders considering she wasn't lifting a finger to help. Those people had no idea just how much work went into making sure their efforts to contain the outbreak were streamlined.

She had to organize lists of volunteers and where their talents lay, then match them with the tasks that needed to be done. On top of that she had to make sure their shifts were reasonable and they weren't running themselves ragged, and that they were getting food, water, and other necessities as they worked.

Then on top of that she had to make sure nobody who was definitely infected was coming in contact with anyone who might be infected or definitely wasn't infected, and ditto for both of those other groups. It made for a nightmarish boondoggle that split the camp into raggedly delineated zones that people couldn't leave, and yet that supplies needed to be safely distributed to and common tasks coordinated for.

A headache that had only grown worse as more and more people showed signs of Zolos, forcing them to track down everyone who'd come in contact with the new cases and create new quarantine areas and lockdown zones; by the time she'd forced herself to head for bed almost a quarter of the camp had infected people in it, and the cases had jumped to over fifty.

Considering all the people those fifty would've come in contact with, and everyone those people would've potentially infected, and so on, the number of cases could very well skyrocket within the next few days.

And given the fact that most of those cases were in the areas of the camp bordering Ellie's own camp, where her and her son and her fiancée and his family all lived, that was truly terrifying. After everything she'd done to protect herself and her loved ones from Zolos, was it possible that now an errant breeze from the wrong direction could kill them all?

Ellie had been up half the night coordinating the containment, ignoring her own rule about not letting any volunteers run themselves ragged. She might still be up and blundering through the job, making more and more mistakes as her exhausted mind turned to mush, if Hal hadn't gently but firmly taken the radio from her. Ignoring her exhausted protests, he'd informed the leaders in the quarantine camp that she was ending her shift for at least the next six hours while she got some sleep.

Then he'd gently guided her to her tent and helped her into bed.

She'd been irritated at him for insisting she rest during a crisis, but she was also well aware that he was looking out for her wellbeing when otherwise she probably wouldn't have done it herself. It felt nice to know he cared for her enough to do that.

The position of the sun's light filtering through the fabric of her tent suggested it was midmorning, so she probably had slept for about six hours. She still felt exhausted, her head aching slightly, but she still dragged herself out of bed with a groan and dressed.

When she ducked out of the tent she found Hal and the kids sitting around the fire, working quietly on what looked like math. Her fiancé gave her a wan smile. “Morning,” he murmured. “Kept some water boiling if you want coffee.”

Ellie groaned in relief and plopped down next to him, resting her head on his arm. “I'm pretty sure those are the most romantic words I've ever heard,” she mumbled, scrubbing a hand through her hair. Then for good measure she ran a hand through his hair and leaned up to kiss his stubbly cheek. “Good morning to you, too.” Abruptly she frowned. “How long have you been up? You went to bed about the same time as me, so you must be exhausted.”

“I'll survive.” He picked up a hot pad and pulled a kettle off the fire, pouring some water into a camping cup and then shaking a packet of instant coffee into it. Last of all he wrapped the cup in the hot pad and handed it over to her.

She leaned over to breathe in the steam, feeling her mind start to clear. She knew she should ask what the situation in camp was, but she also knew that the moment she got into crisis management mode she'd stay on it until she'd once again run herself ragged.

Better to get some breakfast first.

“Were those really the most romantic words you've ever heard?” Linny asked, little nose furrowed in a mixture