Isolation | Book 4 | Holding On

by Jones, Nathan

  The radio crackled with Ellie's voice. “This is Ellie. I'm on my way in the car, since my husband rushed off and left me before he even knew what was going on.” There was a trace of irritation beneath her light tone.

  Beside Nick, Hal shifted sheepishly.

  Borden, the acting mayor, spoke up in a firm voice. “Before we all lose our minds panicking, how about we focus on what everyone seems to be ignoring. This is a relief convoy, so maybe we should feel relieved? Especially the camp, where supplies are becoming a real issue.”

  He paused, and for a moment the radio was completely quiet. Nick was probably imagining it, but the silence almost felt embarrassed.

  Borden continued in a milder tone. “Let's remain on guard, but let's also try to be properly celebratory about their arrival, huh?”

  By the time Bruce pulled into a parking space near the southern roadblock, the convoy was already coming into view over a hill in the distance. Just as Denny had said, there was a military escort in the lead, followed by some dark sedans and then the semis, with more military vehicles serving as a rearguard.

  A few of those had machine guns mounted on top, soldiers manning them vigilantly. The sight was fairly ominous with the convoy rolling right up to Stanberry, but considering the fact that there were probably tons of dangerous groups out there like that gang Ellie had encountered in Colorado, it was a reasonable precaution.

  As Nick got out of the car to join the small crowd forming behind the roadblock, he was surprised to see that the convoy actually was driving right up to the town. They didn't show the slightest sign of trying to avoid potentially Zolos-contaminated areas, not even around the quarantine camp. The soldiers and drivers in view were also in normal military fatigues, with no sign of hazmat suits or even masks.

  Were they all immune to the disease? Statistically that seemed unlikely, even with how many people had died in the last few months and how many of those still living would be Zolos survivors.

  The soldiers manning the turrets atop the vehicles made no hostile moves, looking almost bored as the lead vehicles pulled to a stop along the side of the road a few dozen yards from the roadblock. One of the sedans pulled forward past them, slowing to a stop almost exactly fifteen feet from the barrier.

  Borden, trying to project confidence but looking distinctly nervous, stepped forward away from the crowd as a man climbed out of the driver's seat of the sedan.

  The man's tailored suit, dark glasses, and stony expression practically screamed some federal agency as he smoothly moved around to the passenger side, opening the door for an older woman in similarly professional attire.

  This woman didn't seem like law enforcement, though. Her calm, in control demeanor reminded Nick more of Ellie the few times he'd seen her at work; a manager or civilian leader?

  The woman gave them all a polite nod. “Sorry to alarm you with our sudden arrival,” she said amiably in a carrying voice. “I'm Elaine Gorstrom, administrator of this relief convoy.” She looked around the group, eyes settling on Borden. “Are you the mayor?”

  “Acting mayor,” Borden replied. “Mayor Darby is on bed rest recovering from a serious injury.”

  “But you represent the town?” Gorstrom pressed, with the stuffy impatience of someone with a lot to do and precious little time to waste on quibbling.

  He hesitated for just a moment before nodding. “I do. We'd appreciate any help you can offer us.” Hesitating again, he 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 last few months, it just sort of felt like there had to be a catch. Some other shoe that had yet to drop. He was probably just being pessimistic, and he seriously hoped he was wrong, but . . .

  A relief convoy bearing a miracle vaccine seemed almost too good to be true.

  “Okay,” Borden said, looking a bit overwhelmed in spite of his insistence they move forward quickly. He began looking around and his eyes fell on Ellie. “Mrs. Westmont, can you coordinate with the relief workers to sort out the quarantine camp?” She nodded her agreement, looking pleased he'd thought of her, and he turned to Nick next. “Statton, if you could get in touch with Ms. Griegs and Denny about whatever the relief workers need from the survivors.”

  “Sure,” Nick said. “Although since we're immune our biggest job will probably be staying out of everyone's way.”

  “You can start gathering numbers for us, Mr. Statton,” Gorstrom cut in smoothly. “Like I said, pretty much any information you can get about the Zolos-immune residents will be helpful. Even medical information, for our medical staff . . . after the vaccinations are administered we'd like to give everyone physicals, make sure nobody's got potentially serious ailments they weren't aware of.”

  As the formidable woman continued organizing the colossal task ahead, Nick couldn't help but admire just how much work went into the job. He hadn't even considered the fact that relief workers would need to get vital information about the people they were helping before they could even begin providing aid.

  It gave him a new appreciation for the work Ellie had done with the camp, since he hadn't seen firsthand just how much effort was required.

  Nick borrowed a notebook and pen from one of Gorstrom's staff members, then stepped over to an out of the way spot and got on a free radio channel with the leaders of the survivor camp. It took a frustratingly long time to get information recorded over the radio, especially since first he had to tell them the information he needed and wait while they chased it down. But he couldn't exactly go out there and get it in person, for obvious reasons.

  Although . . . couldn't he?

  If everyone was getting the vaccine anyway they'd all be immune, so there'd be no more worry about everyone who was potentially a Zolos carrier keeping their distance. And the relief workers would probably be all over the two camps and the town anyway.

  Maybe so, but until he got the go-ahead to take that step he should probably stick to radio communication. Even if it made him want to throw the radio at the nearest brick wall the tenth time Denny or Betty ran off to ask questions for him. And judging by their tones, they were getting fairly frustrated too.

  While he was doing that the relief workers set up a field clinic along the road outside the barricade, starting to get everyone in town lined up and organized to prepare to administer the vaccinations. They were helped by Ellie and Borden and the other town leaders, who did their best to organize the growing crowd. Nick got to enjoy a front row seat to the excitement, which gave him something to do while waiting on information from the Zolos survivors.

  After a few minutes he felt arms wrap around his shoulders from behind and hug him enthusiastically. “Can you believe this?” Gen practically shouted in his ear. “This is amazing!”

  Nick grinned and turned to wrap his arms around her, on the spur of the moment lifting her off her feet and spinning her around while she laughed.

  “I can't believe this!” she said when he finally set her down, staring at the convoy with wide eyes. “Can this really be happening?”

  Nick wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Unless a bunch of serious seeming people are playing a practical joke on us, I think so.”

  “Nobody could be that cruel.” Gen was nearly dancing in place, grinning in wonder. “A vaccine,” she continued, bumping his shoulder with hers as if trying to pass her eagerness onto him. “We can finally leave the Zolos-vulnerable area. We can go wherever we want!”

  He couldn't help but chuckle at her ebullient mood. “You have some place in mind?”

  “Anywhere! We could find a babysitter for the kids and go to some tropical beach for a bit, just the two of us.”

  Wildly impractical as that was, it was certainly a nice thought. Nick leaned in and kissed her gently. “Let's worry about getting the vaccine first.” He paused, waving the notebook he held. “That is, after I jot down some information for Gorstrom, the relief administrator.”

  “Don't mind me,” Gen said, resting her head on his shoulder. “I just wanted to keep you company.” But it was obvious she still wanted to talk about this amazing development, and to be honest he couldn't blame her.

  So he put off the work for a bit longer and settled down on a comfy patch of grass nearby with his girlfriend, watching as the relief workers set up the vaccine tents. “You're right though, this all did come completely out of left field,” he murmured. “I can't believe there was a vaccine and it's not all over the radio network.”

  She shrugged. “Well we were close to the furthest south reliable contact on the network after St. Joe, and we haven't heard anything from them for weeks. Since even before Jay showed up. If the relief convoy is making its way north from there, we're probably close to its first stop in the area.”

  That made sense. “I bet our guy on the radio in town is going nuts telling everyone about it. People are probably throwing impromptu celebrations in a dozen towns right now.”

  Gen grinned at that thought. “Maybe Vaccine Day will become a national holiday. We'll build statues to whoever it was who managed to get it made and distributed so quickly.”

  “I'd certainly like to shake their hands if I ever meet them.” Nick's radio crackled with Denny's voice giving him some information he'd requested, and he motioned to his notebook apologetically and began scribbling notes.

  As he jotted down the information the survivor leaders fed him over the radio, Gen watched the flow of people funneling into the impromptu field clinic. For the most part her eyes followed Gorstrom, who was always the center of a hive of activity as she organized what seemed like a thousand details.

  “Is it just me, or does Gorstrom make you think of Ellie in 10 years?” she abruptly asked.

  Nick couldn't help but chuckle at that, although he kept his eyes on his work. Now that she mentioned it, there was a distinct similarity. “Well, you know that old saying about everyone having a doppelganger somewhere in the world.”

  She grinned at him. “You really think there's a Nick lookalike walking around out there?”

  This time he laughed outright. “An average height guy in his 30s with brown hair an
d red in his beard? Throw a stone anywhere in the country and you'll hit a Nick lookalike.”

  Gen laughed too, idly brushing her fingers over the stubble on his cheek. “Yeah, what's up with so many guys having red in their beard? Blond, brunette, whatever . . . I thought that was a super rare hair color.”

  “Not in beards, I guess.” Nick lifted the radio. “Hey Denny, we have anyone questioning the newcomers to get their info?”

  “Getting to it,” the man replied. “Half the camp wants to find places to gawk at the convoy, and the other half keeps coming around asking if they're going to get a vaccine, even though they're immune. Not to mention everyone seems to think giving the relief workers their information is a waste of time. And then there are those who are leery of giving out their personal information, even to people who probably have the best intentions.”

  Nick frowned. “A lot of us have family and friends out there we haven't been in contact with since our phones went out. Remind them that if the relief workers know who and where they are, it'll be easier to find out the fate of loved ones and get messages out about their own fate.”

  “Good point.” Denny chuckled. “If I'm being honest, I was kind of thinking it was a waste of time myself. But I would like my grandparents and cousins to know I'm still kicking, and find out if they're okay.”

  They settled back into the dull routine of running down info. During the frequent waiting periods Nick and Gen watched the unfolding action of the relief workers distributing the vaccine.

  “It's kind of surreal,” she said as they watched a specially marked supply truck drive up to the impromptu field hospital, and armed guards began carefully supervising the unloading of crates of vaccine. “Even when Jay was threatening us, our town was really quiet and peaceful behind the barricades. All these soldiers and relief workers tromping around takes some getting used to.”

  Nick nodded. “They look like they're settling in to stay at least a few days. Things might take a while to get back to normal.” If they ever do, he silently added, wondering what would happen to this quiet refuge and all the people who'd come here for help once the fear of Zolos was gone.