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

to cover towards where they'd parked their vehicles, more than a mile north of the camp. It was slow going, Chet leading the way with utmost caution as they looked around warily for signs of Jay's sentries.

They weren't too close to the hidden camp, but close enough to be careful. Or as careful as Nick was capable of being in this setting; during the Zolos crisis he'd mostly shed the weight he'd put on over the last few years, replacing it with muscle, but he was still a programmer who hadn't spent much time outdoors.

He didn't have any experience with hunting or sneaking around in the undergrowth, and with every step he felt like he was blundering around making enough racket to bring people from the distant camp running. It wasn't just in his head, either, considering the nervous and irritated looks Chet kept shooting him.

But in spite of his worries they made it to their vehicles without being seen, or at least challenged.

Nick was relieved to see that the truck and car they'd brought were still sitting on the small gravel drive they'd taken to get here, with no signs they'd been spotted or that the rest of the group who'd waited behind had come under attack.

It had been easier to get out of Jay's cordon than he'd expected, without that convoy of vehicles roaring around. He guessed there were probably still scouts around keeping an eye on Stanberry, but if so they weren't showing themselves or taking potshots at passing patrol vehicles.

That combined with four days of peace might even let a less cautious person allow himself to believe that the threat was gone. But Nick seriously doubted it; given Jay's incandescent rage following the fires he claimed had burned half of Wensbrook, it wasn't likely the man would be satisfied with burning a few outlying houses.

Especially since his camp was still there, perched menacingly within easy driving distance of town.

They met up with Ben, Chase, Charlie, and Val back at the vehicles, the latter two with their heads together and expressions serious. Although at Nick and Chet's approach all four rushed forward to hear the news.

Nick quickly filled them in on what they'd seen and his conclusions. When he was done Ben spat off to one side. “So what now? Burn them out?”

When they're not doing anything to us at the moment? Nick thought. Then again, if Jay was planning to do something then hitting his camp might disrupt his plans. But he shook his head firmly. “For now, let's get back to camp before Jay's scouts spot us. We can see what Denny and Starr want to do about what we found.”

The young man sighed. “Which means our shift is done, and it's time to go back to wiping bloody butts.”

Val shot him a reproving look, while Charlie chuckled ruefully. “At least there's only been one new case in the last 24 hours,” he said. “We nurse the current survivors back to health, and hopefully that'll be the end of it.”

“It'll be the end of it when Jay faces justice for killing hundreds of people,” Chet growled.

Hard to argue with that, as long as the two brothers didn't intend to personally go do it now that they knew where the Wensbrook camp was; Nick had been quietly keeping a closer eye on the two since the Wensbrook fires, but so far they'd been as reliable as usual.

He shook his head, dismissing those suspicions, and climbed into Chet's truck, Ben crowding in next to him. Charlie, Val, and Chase wasted no time piling into Val's car, then they were on their way back to camp.

Nick called ahead to alert the patrols that they were coming in, and was a bit surprised when Ellie chimed in to ask him if he'd swing by her camp on the way so they could talk about something.

She'd been in a sour mood ever since Darby barred her from entering Stanberry yesterday. Not that he could blame her, considering she and their son were just hanging out right outside the entrance to the quarantine camp, beyond Starr's fortifications.

They had fortifications of their own that Hal had dug, and they were pretty solid, but even so Nick worried for them. In fact, he sort of wished he was assigned to guard south of town instead of west so he could personally look out for them, even though that meant he wouldn't be able to guard the remaining cache at the Norsons' house.

Chet dropped him off as close as he could to Ellie's camp, and Nick slung his rifle on his back and trekked the remaining distance, calling over the berm to let them know he was there.

Ricky was first to pop into view, expression eager. “Did you find it?” he called.

Nick couldn't help but smile. “We did, or at least we're pretty sure it's them. We should be able to watch them more closely now, get more advance warning if they try anything.”

“Good. After what Jay did to all those poor people in camp, he-” Ricky jumped and broke off when Ellie wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed the top of his head. Then she ducked to whisper in his ear, making him scowl. “I guess I'll talk to you later,” he grumbled, then reluctantly climbed back down into the camp.

That left Nick alone with his ex-wife; even if Ricky and everyone else could still hear everything they said, that probably wasn't a good sign.

“What's going on?” he said, settling back into a more comfortable position.

She gave him a sober look. “Darby's people on the radio in Stanberry got in touch with some friends of theirs who live down near Wensbrook. They've been keeping half an eye on the place from a distance, contacting us through very obscure, prearranged HAM radio frequencies.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. They haven't been able to give us much, right?” Which wasn't too surprising, since the bulk of Jay's thugs didn't seem interested in spending