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

That reassured Nick quite a bit; he'd noticed some of Jay's people seemed to treat terrorizing innocent people almost like a game, having fun with the destruction and intimidation.

But not on Stanberry's side of things. They were fighting for their loved ones, which hopefully made all the difference.

Denny spent a few minutes making sure everyone was divided into four teams (one of them Nick's group), and getting descriptions from Chet and Ben about the area where they'd be setting up, and how to get there. Then they all headed for the SUVs and trucks Denny had picked out for their use.

“Remember!” their leader called as everyone piled into the vehicles. “Radio silence until this is over unless it's an absolute emergency! We shoot out the tires of Jay's trucks, then once he's pinned down I'll demand he surrender. Do not shoot at anyone or anything but the tires unless I either give the order or things go south in a major way!”

Nick called out his understanding as he ducked into the passenger seat of the SUV his team had been given, with Charlie behind the wheel, while the rest of his team piled into the backseat or into Chet's truck. Then the vehicles were tearing off, hopefully unobserved by any Wensbrook spies as they circled around towards the northeast side of Stanberry.

With any luck, within the next few hours Jay and his thugs would be captured, and this fight would be over and done with.

Chapter Two

Answer

Nick's group was assigned to the hill south of the road, closest to the Drewsburys' house.

They approached on the orchard road the McCleese brothers had described, pulling past the other team assigned to their hill and continuing on to their own position. Leading the way in his truck, Chet showed his familiarity with the area, as well as a good deal of common sense, by parking them behind a hedge growing between the orchard and the beginning of the house's extensive yard.

They all piled out, Nick leading the way to the hedge to peer through the leaves. He held his rifle tight as he did, expecting to see vehicles parked around the nice ranch-style house a hundred or so yards away.

To his relief the place seemed empty. Better yet, it also looked untouched, no sign of any vandalism or looting like Chet and Ben had described.

Which meant Jay and his thugs hadn't gotten around to this house yet. And since it was reasonably close to the McCleese farm, chances were good the bald man's convoy would show up here before long.

“All right, let's set up ambush spots overlooking the driveway in,” he said, slinging his rifle across his back. He turned to the brothers. “You guys familiar enough with the yard that you're comfortable sneaking around the house to make sure the place really is abandoned?”

“Sure,” Chet said. “We used to play around this lot all the time with the Drewsbury kids.” His smile widened and his tone turned teasing. “Although more recently Benny was the one hanging around . . . all those long romantic walks with Elea?”

Ben took the ribbing cheerfully. “There's a bower with a bench she loves at the far end of the orchard, so we usually did more sitting than walking. At least until she broke it off and headed to college last year.” His smile abruptly faded, as if contemplating the grim fate his former girlfriend might've faced out in the pandemic. And the fact that he might never find out what had happened to her.

His brother clapped a hand on his shoulder, guiding him towards an opening in the hedge, and the two slunk away to scout.

Nick directed the rest of his group in lining up along the top of the hill overlooking the road, finding places where they had a good vantage behind cover. He caught glimpses of the other two groups across the road as they did the same, at least until everyone was in position and had stopped moving around; for a bunch of people with no real combat experience or training, they actually did a pretty good job of hiding.

After that it was just a matter of waiting to see if Jay showed up. And waiting.

And waiting.

Chet and Ben crept back after maybe a half hour, shaking their heads at Nick's questioning look. Apparently there was no suspicious activity around the Drewsburys' house. They settled down in positions on either side of him, grim and focused with their weapons.

And then they all waited some more. Nick discouraged the few attempts at conversation among his people; they were expecting Jay's convoy to come roaring up in trucks on the road below, but there was also a chance the man would send scouts ahead first. He didn't want his group giving themselves away by shooting the breeze and potentially giving Jay a chance to sneak up on them.

It made for a boring wait as noon crawled along into the afternoon. The heat was bad enough, even though most of their positions were under shade, but with them all lying motionless it was the insects that were truly maddening. The recent rains had made conditions ideal for mosquitos, and most of them had dressed in light clothing for the heat and had plenty of exposed skin for the little bloodsuckers to feast on.

Nick had always spent more time worrying about things than was probably healthy, and he couldn't help but wonder if they should be concerned about malaria. Zolos was steadily decimating humanity, but that didn't mean that other diseases didn't remain a risk.

Of course, from what he knew malaria wasn't really a problem in developed countries. Although if it were to have a resurgence, now would be the worst time since medical and emergency services were completely swamped dealing with the pandemic.

He was surprised to see Charlie, more pragmatic than most of them, smearing mud on his bare arms and the back of his neck and other exposed patches of skin