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

It was already so late, and she hadn't even had a chance to get back and spend time with her husband on his birthday. So she finally tore herself away from talking to one person after another and sought out one of Gorstrom's aides to deliver her clipboard and report in.

Instead, she was pleasantly surprised when the relief administrator herself broke away from the beehive of activity that always surrounded her to exchange a few words.

Gorstrom accepted Ellie's clipboard and asked a few pertinent questions about what she'd been up to over the last few hours. Ellie was a bit worried that the stately woman would object when she announced she was signing off for the day, but Gorstrom simply nodded in appreciation, glancing out over the camp busily preparing to celebrate the day's events.

“You've done good work here, Mrs. Westmont,” she said. “We've done this in half a dozen towns so far, and this is about the smoothest we've been able to get this many people organized and vaccinated, supplies distributed, and their information gathered for our records.”

“Thank you,” Ellie said, surprised. “Your aides know their business, so it was mostly just following their instructions.”

The older woman smiled wryly. “You'd be surprised how often that can be an issue. Even with the best of intentions, instructions can be misunderstood. And some people are just downright cantankerous and make trying to help them feel like pulling teeth.”

Gorstrom paused. “Speaking of my aides, one of them mentioned you have some experience helping out in a quarantine camp. Colorado Springs, was it?”

Ellie nodded. “I got stuck in LA with my now-husband when this all started. We had to make our way across the country by car and even on foot to get home. On the way we got scooped up by the camp and did three weeks there.”

The relief administrator apparently wasn't in the mood to hear her life's story. She continued, slightly impatiently. “And you organized a program there to help keep the residents occupied, healthy, and hopeful for the future?”

Surprised and a bit impressed that the aide had been paying that much attention to Ellie's offhand comment, and Gorstrom had been interested enough to inquire about it, Ellie nodded again. “A lot of it was Cathy Johanns, the relief worker who went to bat for me. I couldn't have done it without her.”

“Well it showed admirable clear thinking and leadership potential,” Gorstrom said. “We could use people like you in our rebuilding efforts . . . we don't have any more quarantine camps, or at least won't soon, but we do have lots of people to organize into productive activity. I believe you mentioned you were a manager-level consultant before all this, making workplaces more efficient and improving morale and employee cooperation. Sounds like this would be right up your alley.”

Ellie had mentioned that. To a different aide; how much attention was Gorstrom paying to her? On one hand it was flattering to be given an offer like this, especially by someone as impressive as the relief administrator. But on the other hand . . .

“I've got my family to consider,” she said reluctantly. “We're settled here, part of this community. And we've already made so much progress.”

“I understand,” Gorstrom said. Grief briefly flashed across her stately features before being quickly suppressed. “If any of my family had survived, I'd feel the same way. But I hope you'll consider whether it wouldn't be better for them as well as for you if you joined the rebuilding efforts. We can offer you generous compensation, and you'd be doing important work.”

“Thank you, I'll give it some thought,” Ellie said. And she would, even though she knew which way her heart was leaning.

“Good.” The stately woman briefly squeezed her arm, then abruptly changed the subject, tone turning businesslike. “Now that we've got the vaccine administered to everyone in the area who needs it, there's another issue I need to look into. I've heard something of a conflict you had with another town?”

Ellie nodded warily. “A few weeks ago, yes. It was quite an ordeal.”

“I can imagine.” Gorstrom's expression suggested that what she was imagining wasn't completely sympathetic. “You wouldn't be the only people that ended up in conflict with another group. Not by a long shot. But if we're going to get the nation back on track we need to get past such ugliness, and that means I need to get to the bottom of this conflict and determine if it's going to be a continuing problem.”

“I don't think it will. Their leader, Jay, is dead, and we haven't so much as glimpsed any of his followers for weeks.”

“Even so.” The administrator motioned towards the camp her convoy had set up between the town and the quarantine camp. “Let's go grab a cup of coffee in my office, and you can give me a full accounting of the incident from your perspective. I trust your input.”

“I'd be happy to,” Ellie said, although she wondered if this was going to be a problem; hadn't the war with Jay caused them enough trouble? “But I wasn't exactly at the center of the action. I spent most of that time in isolation for my three weeks, watching what happened from a distance or hearing about it over the radio.”

“That's fine. I want to talk to as many people as I can. I've already interviewed Mr. Borden, Mr. Clarks, Mr. Starr, Ms. Griegs, and a few others.” Gorstrom started briskly towards her camp, clearly expecting Ellie to follow.

As promised, the stately woman offered her a cup of instant coffee from an actual coffee machine, plugged into a generator. Then they made their way to her spare but comfortably furnished office tent, the most notable feature of which was an actual portable desk Gorstrom settled behind, motioning for Ellie to take a seat in a folding chair across from her.

When Gorstrom had requested a full accounting, she hadn't been