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

we can get them with overwhelming numbers, we can pin them down and force them to surrender without further bloodshed. Better than playing defense and having a bunch of firefights that really make things messy.”

Seemingly decided, the patrol leader maneuvered around to where he could talk to his boss Starr. “Keep the meeting going,” he called. “Radio included. We'll chime in where we can, but we're going to head out. Make sure everyone keeps quiet about us leaving on the airwaves.”

The old veteran gave them all a gimlet glare. “Going to go raise a ruckus out there?”

“I hope not. But fingers crossed we might be able to end this fight right now.” Denny motioned to Nick and the others. “Come on, let's go gather up everyone available in camp.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ellie asked anxiously, eyes on Nick.

He returned a reassuring look. He wasn't sure if she was worried for him and their other volunteer friends, or that any fight they got into would just escalate the conflict, as she was constantly cautioning them.

Both, probably.

“All due respect, ma'am, but you're not taking the risk here,” Denny said, just a hint of sharpness in his voice. “I'd appreciate if you didn't second-guess our decisions from inside the safety of your protected camp.”

Ouch.

Ellie stared back with wide eyes, looking unsure whether to be abashed or furious. “This is a tense situation,” she said carefully. “I just want to make sure you don't let your emotions get the better of you when you're going into a fight.” For just a split second, her eyes flicked to the McCleese brothers.

Denny nodded curtly. “We're here to defend Stanberry, full stop. We'll do whatever we can to stop Jay, but only act with force if he gives us no other choice.”

Nick couldn't help but think that an unhinged psychopath with a grudge probably wasn't going to give them a choice, but he kept that to himself.

Denny led the way back to camp, where he sent Nick and the other leaders off to gather up as many people as they could find who'd be any use in a fight, while he hurriedly scrambled to gather weapons and plan vehicles.

It didn't seem like something that could be thrown together in quicker than a half hour, especially since a lot of the people on patrol had been shirking caring for their gear. But Nick hurried to round up Val Brunswick, Charlie Lyman, and Chase Brighton from his own camp, as well as a couple guys from the volunteers assigned to him for patrolling the western side of Stanberry.

With the McCleese brothers, that made eight people in his team. Hopefully that would be enough; thanks to their scavenging they had enough rifles and shotguns for a dozen people, although some of those were on loan to people currently out on patrol.

Jay's current tactic was roaring around the perimeter of Stanberry in a convoy of half a dozen trucks, with an estimated twelve to fifteen people with him. Their main goal seemed to be intimidation, responding to the scouts they must've had surrounding the town and chasing back any of Denny's patrols that wandered too far from the safety of its borders.

Nick had been on the receiving end of that treatment himself, forced to cross terrain the Wensbrook vehicles couldn't follow him and his patrol over so they could escape the convoy's sudden arrivals. Thus far Jay's thugs hadn't done more than shoot their guns in the air to spur Denny's people to greater speeds as they fled, but Nick couldn't forget having a dozen guns trained on him outside that store his scavengers had tried to forage from, back near the beginning of the trouble with the Wensbrook survivors.

Or the bald lunatic's clear threat that his people would shoot if they were given an excuse. Such as a bunch of Denny's Zolos survivors ambushing Jay's convoy and trying to capture them at gunpoint; maybe Ellie wasn't wrong to worry that that might just turn this into open conflict with both sides shooting to kill.

On the other hand, there was also the chance they'd capture the people threatening their loved ones and destroying their friends' homes. Ending this fight for good was worth the risk.

“Are you going to go fight, Daddy?” Tallie asked, staring at him and the others gathering up their guns with wide eyes from where she sat on Aimee's lap by the fire.

Nick paused and dropped to one knee beside his daughter. “We're going to go defend our friends' houses, sweetie. But we'll try not to fight unless we have to.”

She looked at him with tears in her wide eyes. “Are you going to be safe?”

He felt a pang at the sight of her obvious fear, and carefully set down the gear he'd been holding to gather her up in his arms and hug her tight. “Of course I will, honey. We're going to be really careful.”

It was easy to forget what a big and scary place the world could be for a child. And far more scary for his children in these terrible times than it had ever been for him growing up, even with everything he'd gone through with his parents' divorce.

And Tallie wasn't wrong to be worried for him, considering Jay had specifically threatened to kill him after the shootout in the woods. Not that Nick had told his daughter that, of course.

“Will you be back soon?” she asked tremulously.

“In no time at all,” he promised, kissing the top of her head as he passed her back to Aimee. Tallie was reluctant to let go, which just made saying goodbye even harder.

He hurried to finish gathering his stuff, then led his group to the tent Denny used as an informal command center. There were already a few dozen people gathered, bristling with weapons and looking grim and determined. A few of the younger people seemed excited by the action, but mostly everyone seemed aware of what they were getting into and