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

the same time, he didn't want to be taken away from his kids, from Gen and the life they were rebuilding here. If Gorstrom was going on a justice rampage and he was square in her sights, he might lose it all.

“You really did bring me in to arrest me, then?” he asked. “While I was trying to speak on my friends' behalf, you were sitting there laughing behind your hand that I was in the same boat and you didn't have the decency to tell me.”

“Not . . . exactly.” She sighed. “Just like if we tried to arrest everyone who defended themselves, if we arrested everyone who broke the law while trying to avoid starving to death, we'd end up arresting half the country and our dreams of rebuilding would be over. And from everything I've heard, you at least attempted to minimize the damage done by your scavenging, and only took things the town absolutely needed. That puts you in the vast minority among those who resorted to scavenging, and often indulged in some senseless destruction at the same time.”

Nick thought of Chase and his hoard of stolen valuables, but now seemed like a bad time to bring that up.

Gorstrom's lips twisted wryly, as if she'd noticed his sudden uneasiness. But she didn't press the issue, continuing briskly. “Besides, mercenary as it seems, we can't exactly go around arresting people with useful skillsets and putting them to work doing manual labor like clearing debris if we're to have any hope of restoring the infrastructure.”

Nick blinked. “Useful skills? I'm a programmer.”

Before Zolos his abilities had certainly been useful and valued, even if he'd been going through a recent spate of financial issues. But now? What use was programming in rebuilding the country after a pandemic?

“Yes, and there's a surprising lack of those around,” Gorstrom said. She shook her head with a sigh. “Skilled professionals tended to live in cities, and got hit hard by Zolos. We need people with technical expertise to help restore infrastructure that in many cases few people know how to operate or maintain anymore, since all those who did died to the virus. Especially since one of our big goals is getting the phone and internet services back online nationwide to aid with coordinating the rebuilding process. Not to mention to benefit the surviving population.”

“That's more on the hardware side of things, which isn't exactly my strong point,” Nick said. “Unless you're talking about setting up large scale computer networks and systems for businesses, I'm not sure how I can help you.”

The moment the words were out of his mouth he felt like an idiot for arguing against his own case; was he trying to end up arrested along with Chet and Ben?

“Actually, in many cases data processing and organization would be highly useful to our efforts,” Gorstrom said. “With all the chaos, the people in charge are still trying to figure out the scope of the devastation, let alone begin making useful plans to fix things. We need to parse through tremendous amounts of information, and get it to the people who need it most.”

She leaned back. “And that's just the obvious application. There are numerous other jobs your skills could be useful in, with a little bit of extra training. At the moment we're particularly in need of power plant technicians, especially for nuclear plants. We need those back up and running fast so we can get everything else online.”

Nick couldn't help but laugh incredulously. “I wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do there.”

“But you'd be in a better position to learn quickly than most.”

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. “You know what this looks like? It looks like you guys are so desperate to push your rebuilding efforts that you're trumping up any bogus charges you can think of, to scoop up people to pad out your workforce.”

Gorstrom's eyes narrowed. “You've got that backwards, Mr. Statton. In truth, we're so desperate to make progress on rebuilding this country that we're willing to be extraordinarily lenient to criminals, as long as they're willing to join the effort.”

“Me and the McCleese brothers are already working from sunup to sundown to rebuild, right here in Stanberry,” Nick said heatedly. “How does tearing us away from our friends and families and moving us across the country improve anything?”

“Because you're rebuilding in the wrong place!” the administrator snapped. “Along with too many other people too stubborn and lacking in common sense to go where they're desperately needed, even if it vastly improves their circumstances!”

Nick leaned back, blinking at her sudden outburst.

Gorstrom leaned forward, expression sharpening. “Here's the deal, Mr. Statton. You can join the rebuilding efforts where you'll do the most good, and receive the generous compensation due a skilled professional. You'll be allowed to bring your family, and they will similarly have a high standard of living. You can be an important and respected part of rebuilding our great country.”

Her voice hardened. “But I'm afraid that you don't have the option of staying with the others who opt to remain here and muddle through rebuilding on their own. If you refuse my offer, we'll start looking at you very closely for your scavenging, as well as everything that happened during the war with Wensbrook. Especially that firebomb attack you helped plan and carry out on the camps of the Wensbrook survivors and the Zolos-vulnerable people they convinced to join them. Hard to justify that as self-defense, especially considering all the noncombatants in those camps. Even with as lenient as we're willing to be, you're looking at at least two years and up to five just for that.”

Nick did his best to keep his expression neutral at that bombshell, feeling like a rabbit caught in a trap.

Gorstrom abruptly leaned back, crossing her arms. “I'd hate to waste your talents, but having you hauling garbage and demolishing half-burned buildings is still more useful that nothing. It's your choice.”

“You said Chet and Ben would be working