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

relief workers, and been informed that buses would be coming to pick them and the others up tomorrow.

“That's not a hard deadline, though,” Val had told the group. “Gorstrom's aide told me that the offer remains open for everyone in town, and relief workers will be checking in regularly to make sure we're all doing okay, and to see if anyone else wants to relocate.”

Nick appreciated that the opportunity remained, since he still held out some hope that Ellie would change her mind once the romantic appeal of a simple agrarian life wore off. He was honestly shocked she felt that way, since he would've thought she'd jump at the chance to be part of something like the rebuilding efforts.

Especially after she told them that Gorstrom had specifically invited her.

But she was dead set on staying. And between her and the Norsons, who refused to leave their home, after nearly a full day of debate the rest of the group had also opted to stay. Even Gen had reluctantly leaned that way, so Billy wouldn't have to leave his grandparents.

Faced with that surprising, to him at least, consensus, he'd had little choice but to give in and resign himself to the life of a farmer.

Oh well. Maybe once Stanberry found a way to get power back, even on a limited basis, he could volunteer his technical expertise. Hope sprang eternal.

And if he was being honest, this life wasn't terrible. He was surrounded by family and good friends, they had enough to meet their needs until they could figure out a way to sustain themselves long term, and Stanberry was a great community to live in.

Nick could be content with that.

At the moment he and Tallie were watering the garden. Before he'd actually tried his hand at growing something in Missouri, he would've assumed that the humid, often rainy climate meant that watering the crops would be unnecessary; it always seemed like after a rain, the ground remained practically boggy for a week or so.

But the moment he'd had the garden plots prepared and all the seeds planted, the ground in those plots had immediately turned bone dry, fissured with cracks like a miniature wasteland. Even when they watered, it seemed to dry out within minutes afterwards.

Chet and Ben had reassured him that underneath the dry surface the soil was just fine, and the garden would do great as long as they watered it faithfully. Although Ben had pointed out that if they were really worried about water retention in the soil, they could always put down a ground cloth, cutting holes for all the desirable plants, or even just put down straw.

“It's good for keeping down the weeds, too,” the young man had added cheerfully.

Getting a ground cover would've been out of the question when they were going through their 21 days. Or even when they only had access to what was in town, and just about everything had already been claimed by others who needed it.

But now that they had the vaccine, and didn't have to fear possible exposure to Zolos anymore, the situation was different. They could find ground covers, and shingles for the roofs, and all sorts of other stuff that they'd had to do without, finding other alternatives.

Even after a few days, the idea that the pandemic was over took some getting used to. For months they'd lived in terror, and now the threat was just gone.

He and Tallie were just headed to refill their buckets when Bruce burst out the front door of the house, face tight with concern. He barely seemed to notice them as he made a beeline for his truck.

Again?

“What's going on?” Nick called, hurrying to catch up.

The older man didn't slow down as he answered. “I don't know. Some sort of confusion with the relief workers, it sounds like. They called Darby, the City Council, and a few other town leaders in to talk to Gorstrom, along with most of the quarantine camp's leaders, and how they went about it is raising everyone's hackles. Sounds like Gorstrom sent the soldiers to fetch them, instead of her aides.”

That didn't sound good. “Tallie, go to your mother,” Nick said tersely, preparing to get in the truck with Bruce. “We'll finish the watering later.”

His daughter, bless her heart, didn't ask questions or whine, just nodded and bolted towards where Ellie was sitting with Hal and his siblings in front of their house.

It was good Nick had sent her away, although not because they were about to leave; Bruce was still unlocking his truck when the noise of an approaching vehicle turned them towards the street.

It was a military car by the looks of it, moving quickly and with purpose. Straight for them.

“What do you think they want?” Nick murmured.

“I don't know, but I'm not thrilled at the fact that they're ignoring all the other houses and heading right for mine,” Bruce replied, expression grim.

True. With Jay gone many of their neighbors had moved back into their abandoned houses, or were renting the places out to refugees from the camp. The fact that those soldiers were coming right here probably meant they had a specific purpose. One related to the trouble Nick had just heard about.

Were they here for Bruce, as a town leader? Ellie?

The vehicle stopped at the end of the driveway and four soldiers climbed out and approached. Bruce stepped away from the truck, waving warily, and Nick joined him.

“Hi,” Bruce called to the approaching men. “How can I help you?”

The soldier in the lead, a corporal if Nick's vague knowledge of military rank insignia was correct, spoke tersely. “Sorry to interrupt your work. We're looking for Chester and Benjamin McCleese. We were told they live here.”

Nick wasn't sure who had told them that, since the brothers had moved back into town and anyone who knew them would be aware of that fact. But it instantly made him wary.

Why would they be after those two, specifically? And what did that have to do