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

Judging by the light it was probably thirty or so minutes until sunrise, which meant he couldn't have gotten more than four hours of sleep; even when they were “turning themselves in”, Jay's people were still a huge hassle.

“Come on,” he said, making his way over to Aimee's tent.

Five minutes later he had Tallie settled in and the McCleese brothers, Charlie and his son, and Val up and ready to go. They headed south on the road, keeping to the clearly marked Zolos contamination path, until they spotted a truck up ahead.

Denny and two people from his patrol were there, hovering vigilantly over a man and woman kneeling on the pavement with their hands bound behind their backs. As Nick got closer he could confirm that the big man of the two was definitely Jay's friend Larry.

For a moment rage flashed through him, remembering everything Jay had done. Then he also remembered that Larry had twice been there to calm his unstable friend down, and even physically push aside Jay's gun so it wasn't pointed at Nick's face.

Whatever else the man had done, Nick might be dead if not for him. That at least deserved to be acknowledged.

He led his team forward, nodding a greeting to Larry as recognition flashed in the big man's eyes. “Thanks,” Denny told them. “Sorry to wake you up so soon. Starr wants to talk to these guys as soon as you get them back to camp.”

That made sense. Nick nodded and motioned for Chet and Ben to watchdog Larry, and for Val to keep an eye on the young woman. They stepped forward and helped the prisoners to their feet, then started forward.

“Been a while,” Nick told Larry, falling into step beside him. “Although I can't say I miss having a gun shoved in my face.” His friends snorted, sounding more angry than amused.

The big man nodded. “Yeah. Jay shouldn't have gone that far.”

“That can be the title of his biography,” Ben joked, although the undercurrent of rage simmering in the young man was closer to the surface than usual.

Chet wasn't so amused. “It was all Jay, huh?” he demanded, poking Larry sharply in the back. “You weren't there waving a gun at us along with him? Trashing my family's house and pissing on my parents' bed? Wiping your butt with my dead mom's Sunday dress? Then burning the place to the ground after we struck back at Wensbrook?”

Nick was keenly aware of the use of “we” there, further supporting his suspicions about the brothers' part in the arson in Wensbrook.

Larry hung his head, shame clear on his features. “I walked away from that. But I won't deny I've taken part in a lot of stuff I'm not proud of since this all began. Or at least didn't try hard enough to stop it.”

“So what're you doing here?” Ben demanded. It was his turn to prod the big man. “Things getting a bit too hot in Jay's camp, so you're switching sides? You think we'll welcome you with open arms after what you've done, a traitor on top of everything else?”

“Larry's not a traitor!” the young woman with Larry shouted, looking furious for his sake. “He did everything he could to convince all our friends to walk away from this fight. He did convince them, and we were all back in Wensbrook ready to get on with our lives before you idiots burned down half the town and gave Jay more fuel to push his war.”

“Yeah, sure,” Chet sneered, although there was a hint of doubt in his expression; if that was true then what he'd done, if he was responsible for the fires, was even more reckless and shortsighted.

“Take it easy, Liza,” Larry murmured. “They've got plenty of reason to be mad at us.”

“Of course they do, but they also need to know the truth!” Liza snapped, turning back to Nick. “You want to know why we're here? Because we want to tell you everything we know about Jay's plans, so you can protect yourselves and hopefully stop him before more innocent people get hurt.”

Ben snorted. “You expect us to believe any of that? Larry is Jay's best bud, his right hand man.”

“Was,” Larry said, sounding more sad than angry.

The brothers both opened their mouth to reply, and Nick cleared his throat sharply. “Take it easy, guys. It's our job to take them to Starr so he can talk to them, not give them the third degree ourselves. If they really are here to help us against Jay, let's not antagonize them to the point where they change their minds.”

“More like they're here to give us false information so we walk into an ambush or are looking the wrong way the next time Jay attacks.” It was Val who said that, although more as a warning than out of anger. Not that she didn't look angry, of course.

“Why would we do that?” Liza demanded, angry as well. “You already have enough reasons to want to kill us . . . you think we'd commit virtual suicide by trying to trick you?”

“Enough,” Nick said, shooting his friends a warning look. Thankfully, everyone fell silent after that.

They returned to the survivors' camp and led their prisoners through it to where it connected to the visiting area in the main camp. Starr was already waiting there, along with Johnny and a few of their patrol leaders.

“Any trouble?” Starr growled, giving the prisoners a baleful glare as Nick stopped on the other side of the fence.

“No, they've been cooperative,” Nick replied. “In fact, they claim they want to give us information to help us fight Jay.”

“That so.” The old veteran turned to the prisoners. “All right, let's hear your names.”

“Larry Barons,” the big man replied quickly.

The young woman hesitated before speaking loudly and clearly, although her voice trembled slightly with nerves. “Liza Coates.”

“And you're asking us to take you in?” Starr pressed. The prisoners glanced at each other, then nodded, and he grunted. “I'm a