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

looked at her maskless face and clear lack of any hazmat suit or other protective precautions. “Assuming you're Zolos free.”

The relief administrator abruptly smiled, surprisingly warmly. “Not only Zolos free, but vaccinated.”

Nick stared at the woman in shock, part of the stunned silence that settled over the crowd at that bombshell. Then everyone seemed to talk at once, tossing out questions, expressing their disbelief, or starting to celebrate.

Borden waved them curtly to silence after a few seconds, speaking over the reduced uproar. “A vaccine? It's only been a few months.”

“It has,” Gorstrom agreed solemnly, although the smile continued to tease the corners of her mouth. As if she herself could hardly believe it and was still celebrating the development. “Amazing what you can accomplish when the entire world cooperates towards a common goal, with the possible extinction of our species as motivation.”

Ellie, who'd just arrived and moved up to stand beside Hal, spoke up. “But even if you've developed a vaccine that works and is safe to use, you can't have started mass producing it so quickly. That's not exactly something you can do at the drop of a hat, no matter how motivated you are.”

“You can, with proper planning and preparation,” the administrator replied, giving her a polite smile. “We had every facility that could manage the task prepped so we could get going on it the moment we had one developed. And since the creation of the vaccine they've been working around the clock.”

She waved vaguely back at the line of vehicles behind her. “As you can guess, we've been working just as tirelessly to distribute the vaccine to everyone we can, along with any other aid they might be in need of.”

“Then you have vaccines for us, too?” Ellie asked, sounding as if she barely dared to hope.

Gorstrom nodded, looking pleased at being the bearer of good news. “Enough for your town and the quarantine camp you've got outside. I'd also like to coordinate with the relief worker in charge there, find out why they haven't reported in.”

Hal snorted. “You're talking to her.”

“Although I'm not a relief worker,” Ellie said, looking embarrassed at being put on the spot. “I've just been doing the best I could.”

The administrator glanced back at the camp, surprise slipping through her professional exterior. “Is that so? From what I can see it's set up almost exactly like a federal quarantine camp, although with nonstandard materials.”

Ellie shrugged. “Well, I did 21 days in one of those camps and worked with the relief workers there. I did my best to do things the same way.”

Borden cleared his throat. “Sorry to get back on point, but we've got thousands of Zolos-vulnerable people here who've been living in fear of the virus for months. I think I speak for everyone when I say we don't want to waste any time getting the vaccine.”

“Understandable,” Gorstrom said. She briskly turned and motioned to the convoy, where a few other official-looking men and women had left their vehicles and gathered to wait for her signal. They started forward, bearing clipboards or more with the times phones and pads.

“First off, quarantine concerns as we administer the vaccine,” the relief administrator continued, right to business as her staff joined her. “I see you've done a good job separating the camp between the Zolos carriers and the vulnerable. How about the town? We need to know who's been exposed, who's immune, and what areas remain vulnerable. And while we're at it we might as well get other numbers, like total population before the pandemic, how many refugees you've taken in, how many of your people were exposed to the disease, and how many died of it.”

Borden scratched at his jaw. “I'm afraid I don't have the exact numbers at my fingertips, although we can get them for you. But first things first, the entire town is effectively Zolos-vulnerable.”

Gorstrom looked visibly taken aback. “As in Stanberry hasn't been hit by Zolos?” she asked. The acting mayor nodded, and her eyes widened. “At all?” Her tone was one of jaded disbelief.

Nick couldn't help but feel a surge of pride at the relief workers' reaction, proof of what his town had accomplished. Even if he'd spent much of his time outside Stanberry's borders resenting their strict precautions.

“We've had a few isolated cases,” Borden admitted. “But we were able to quarantine them in their houses and stop the spread there.”

Gorstrom blew out a breath. “That's . . . almost unprecedented. You must've closed off your town right at the beginning, and successfully kept it closed this entire time. That, and been extremely lucky to not have any infected among you before we knew of the danger.”

“We were lucky,” Borden said. “But yes, that's pretty much exactly what we did.”

“And you were able to pull it off with a quarantine camp on your doorstep.” She shook her head, a hint of admiration leaking through her professional demeanor. “Along with the vaccine, we came to help you with any supplies you might need. But you almost look like you don't need help.”

“We do,” the acting mayor said hastily. “Our food supplies will be critical within a few weeks, and people are already going hungry.”

“Within a few weeks, hmm,” the administrator said slowly. “Well, we'll have to talk about what your people are going to do moving forward. There's some major rebuilding efforts in the works, and it's in everyone's best interests to be part of them.”

She glanced at one of her staff, who offered her a view of his clipboard, then nodded sharply. “If possible, I'd like to address the entire town once we've gotten all the Zolos-vulnerable sorted out with the vaccine,” she continued. “As you can imagine, we've got important things to discuss.”

Nick shared glances with Ellie and Hal, wondering what exactly Gorstrom meant by that. So far everything she'd said sounded great, especially considering this convoy was showing up out of the blue with a strong military presence.

But after everything he'd been through in the