Isolation | Book 4 | Holding On

by Jones, Nathan

  “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 exaggerating. She wanted Ellie to go through everything from the beginning to that last fight. Then she asked an exhaustive barrage of followup questions to clarify every single detail.

  Before long Ellie came to the glum realization that she wasn't going to get a chance to spend time with Hal before Stanberry's party, and would probably be late for that, too. In spite of her best efforts to remain professional, her replies became more terse as she tried to rush the interview along.

  At long last Gorstrom was satisfied. She nodded and stood, offering her hand. “Thank you, Mrs. Westmont. You were able to provide far more details than your counterparts in the town or camp.”

  Something in her tone put Ellie on edge as she returned the handshake.

  What did that mean? Had Borden and Johnny and the others been more closemouthed, maybe worried they might get in trouble for something they'd done during the war with Jay? Surely they wouldn't have tried to lie to Gorstrom about what had happened, would they?

  Suddenly uncomfortable, Ellie wondered if she should've been more judicious in her own answers. She hadn't even considered the possibility until now, since what was the need?

  Surely Gorstrom wouldn't be looking to pin blame for the war. It was in the past, and the entire country had been through so much. Besides, the administrator seemed all about moving past the disaster and rebuilding, and dredging up the fight with Jay to cause trouble for the town now seemed counterproductive.

  “Well I'm glad I was able to help,” Ellie said feebly. “Please excuse me, the celebration in town has started by now and my family's waiting for me.”

  “Of course, sorry for delaying you so long.” The administrator showed her out the door, but as Ellie started to stride away the woman briefly rested a hand on her arm to hold her back. “I hope you will consider joining the rebuilding efforts. We could use people like you and your husband. Your ex-husband too, from the way you described him.”

  “I'll think it over.” Relieved the ordeal was done with, Ellie hurried towards the southern entrance to town. She'd have to make it up to her family for being gone all day.

  Stanberry's celebration was in full swing when she went through the roadblock; she saw more people out on the streets than she ever had before, and none of them showed any caution about being around each other.

  Granted, in spite of the townspeople's paranoia about Zolos, their trust in the patrols keeping infected people out had allowed them to move around the town with some confidence. It had never looked like a ghost town, like some other places Ellie had visited on her harrowing journey here.

  But people going about their normal business and even frequenting a bustling market in the square was one thing, and this was something else entirely. Ellie had seen large crowds before plenty of times, at concerts or football games or places like that.

  But a few thousand people on the streets of this little town made the crowd seem much bigger.

  She was briefly worried about finding her family in all the festivities, but thankfully Hal had Ricky up on his shoulders, apparently looking for her, and they were easy to spot from a distance. She waved to get her son's attention as she made her way over.

  “Isn't this great, Mom?” Ricky called, waving towards the people around them.

  Tallie had been walking between Nick and Gen and holding both their hands, but the moment she spotted Ellie she rushed over to her. “There are kids playing everywhere!” she said excitedly, hugging her legs. “I didn't know there were so many kids in town!”

  Ellie laughed and picked her daughter up. “It's pretty great, all right,” she said. “As long as the vaccine does what it's supposed to, this should be the day when our lives go back to normal. You should even be able to go back to school.” She laughed again when she saw the face Ricky made at that.

  Hal laughed too, even though he couldn't see the eight-year-old's expression. “Come on, we were just about to go see what sort of grub people brought to the potluck.”

  “We brought chips and soda, Mommy!” Tallie said, motioning to the bags Nick and Gen were carrying in their free hands. “Daddy says that'll probably be enough.”

  “Charlie and Val are coming along behind with one of their famous pots of chili,” Nick added. “So the group will be contributing something more solid than snacks.”

  “Sounds good.” Ellie felt a bit guilty that she'd been so busy she hadn't even considered what to bring to the potluck. “Sorry about being gone all afternoon.”

  Hal carefully reached out to pat her back, keeping Ricky stable on his shoulders. “You helped all our friends in camp get their vaccines. That's about the most important thing you could've been doing today.”

  “Thanks.” She shifted Tallie to one arm so she could take his hand and give it a squeeze.

  He abruptly grinned. “Although almost as important is getting a roof over our heads, which is now done.”

  Ellie couldn't help the spontaneous cheer that escaped her at that. It was hard to explain just how much of a toll sleeping in tents had taken on her. Granted, they'd spent all those weeks in town sleeping on a proper bed in the Tolsons' study, which had been practically luxurious in spite of the close confines. But even there they'd been guests, and gracious as the older couple had been, staying for so long in someone else's house took a toll of its own.

  It would be wonderful to have their own house, even if it was a relatively cramped dugout.

  Her husband grinned, looking pleased at her response. “I do have to warn you, the best I could do for weatherproofing was tacking a tarp down over the plywood, at least until we can get our hands on some shingles. But it should keep us warm and dry for now.”

  “Hey, are we going to sit around talking or are we going to get some food?” Ricky demanded, grabbing Hal's head to point his face in the direction of the square. “Come on, let's goooo!” The other kids all voiced their fervent agreement, complaining about how hungry they were.

  Sharing a chuckle, Ellie and Hal led way down the street towards the square, which was already packed with people around dozens of mismatched tables weighed down with food. Somewhere music was playing, either a band or a loudspeaker system, and out in the park in the center of the square people were dancing on the grass.

  That looked fun; she'd have to see if she could get Hal out there after they'd eaten. She hadn't really had a chance to see his moves on the dance floor yet, not that she was a particularly good dancer herself.

  As they walked Nick, now holding Gen's hand instead of Tallie's, fell into step beside her. “What are your thoughts about Gorstrom's idea to relocate and join the rebuilding efforts?” he asked.

  Ellie shook her head. “It's a good idea, bringing all the survivors together to make best use of the infrastructure. Less costly on resources, and they can make sure the people with in-demand knowledge and skills are able to help the most people possible.”

  Her ex-husband knew how her mind worked. “But?”

  She gave him a wry smile. “But we've got something good going here. Sure, we'll be missing utilities and other amenities for a while, unless we want to try to handle it ourselves on a small scale. But here's where our family and friends are. Our community.” She shrugged. “I'm fine with staying here.”

  It looked as if he couldn't argue that point, although obviously he had a different idea about things. “What if everyone wanted
to go?” he asked. “It seems like a good deal, and Gorstrom did paint a rousing picture of being part of something grand in rebuilding the country.”

  “She did.” Ellie snorted. “But I have enough experience with bureaucracies to be skeptical. I seriously doubt rebuilding by committee is going to go as well as she claims.” She gestured at the town around them. “Put me with a group of good people working together to prosper their own community over that any day of the week, whatever the challenges we may face.”

  “So you intend to stay?” Gen asked. From her expression she seemed to lean more towards Nick's perspective.

  Ellie hesitated. “Unless everyone else wants to go, like you said. But we should talk it through with the group, have a serious conversation. Maybe when we get back after the party.”

  “Yeah, we'll have to talk about it,” Nick agreed, seeming content to let the matter drop for now.

  She gave him a closer look. “What about you? Do you want to go?”

  After a brief pause he gave her a rueful smile. “I'm a computer programmer, Ells. You might've been able to dive seamlessly into overseeing quarantine camps and contributing to town leadership decisions, but this life of digging in the dirt doesn't exactly play to my strengths. If somewhere out there people are trying to fast track the world back to where it was, I'm kind of tempted to join them.”

  Gen nodded. “It would be better for the kids, wouldn't it? Schools, and proper medical care, and everything.”

  That was reasonable enough, although Ellie felt her heart sinking a bit. Even though she'd done her best to keep an open mind about Gorstrom's offer, it seemed as if deep down she didn't want to leave this place after all.

  “I'd say you've discovered you're capable of more than you thought since the pandemic,” she told Nick gently. “Maybe this life plays exactly to the new strengths you've developed.”

  “Maybe.” He snorted. “It's a moot point, since I'll probably stick with the group whatever we decide. Unless you and Hal want to split off from them, too, that is.”

  Ellie didn't answer, since she doubted it would be what he wanted to hear. She didn't want to pressure him into following her, but practically speaking they had to stick together; obviously neither of them was going to leave the kids, especially since arranging equal visitation over long distances probably wasn't going to be possible for a while.

  It meant one of them would have to compromise, probably whichever of them was more content to go along to make things work. In the past that had usually been Nick, since he could do most of his work from anywhere as long as he had cell phone service and internet.

  Of course that wasn't the situation here, since he'd be hard pressed to find programming work in Stanberry. If he was to have any hope of doing the job he knew and was trained for, it would be where people were gathering to rebuild.

  Even so, Ellie found herself hoping her ex-husband would compromise one more time.

  She felt a bit bad about that, in spite of the fact that she thought it would be best for all of them. Maybe it was why she'd gone into her line of work in the first place, but she always wanted to make sure everyone not only came to reasonable compromises, but were happy with what had been decided.

  She wanted Nick to be happy with staying here, because here was where their lives had settled. Where they belonged. Flattering as Gorstrom's offer for Ellie to come and take a managing role in the rebuilding effort was, and tempting as it was to be out there helping the important work go as well as possible, she was tired of being in the thick of things.

  She just wanted to focus on her family, on working towards their survival and hopefully eventual prosperity. And, if it was in the cards, maybe even have another child or two with Hal.

  At this point she'd be happy to stay here in this peaceful little town, “digging in the dirt” as Nick had put it, while the last vestiges of the pandemic and its aftermath passed them by.

  They deposited their food with the rest on offer, then grabbed some plates and began browsing the tables, piling them high. With so many people there were no tables to eat at, and the few seats were all taken, so just about everyone was eating standing up or seated on any available patch of grass or even on the sidewalks.

  They found their own spot on a street a stone's throw from the square, the kids settling down on the curb while the adults gathered in a loose circle to eat and chat, and occasionally exchange greetings with passing friends or neighbors.

  It was a pleasant setting, reminding Ellie of the numerous corporate picnics and other similar activities she'd attended.

  She'd just finished emptying her plate of some of the best food she'd had in a while, and was on her way back to the tables in search of dessert, when she caught sight of Darby seated in a wheelchair on the sidewalk at the edge of the square. He looked wan and tired, as if being part of the celebration with his injury was taking a lot out of him, but jubilant nonetheless.

  On a whim Ellie changed directions and made her way over to talk to him. He noticed her approach and interrupted his conversation with an elderly couple to nod at her. “Mrs. Westmont. Good to see you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Mayor,” she said, offering her hand. “You're looking well.”

  Darby twisted his lips wryly as he returned the handshake, his grip weaker than she'd expected. “Compared to being dead, maybe. But that's kind of you to say.” He turned his gaze out at the celebrating townspeople. “I couldn't miss this, even if I had to be wheeled out on a rolling bed.”

  “Well I'm glad you're here, since most would say you're the man of the hour.”

  “Oh?” He shook his head ruefully. “That's surprising, coming from you. I always felt like you disagreed with most of my decisions. One of my many critics.”

  “We didn't see eye to eye on some things, sure,” Ellie said. She met his eyes firmly. “But whatever anyone could say about the way you led us through this disaster, we can't argue with the results. Stanberry never had a major outbreak, and almost all its citizens lived to receive the vaccine. That deserves to be recognized.”

  Darby looked surprised, but pleased. “Well thank you, Mrs. Westmont. It means a lot to hear that.”

  They chatted awkwardly for a few minutes, mostly about Darby's injury and recovery and the relief convoy's arrival. Then Ellie shook his hand again and excused herself; she could see that even her brief conversation with the mayor had tired him out, and she didn't want to push him too hard.

  About the time she retrieved a slice of sheet cake and rejoined her family, who'd been joined by the Norsons and several other members of their group, Borden made an appearance up in the gazebo at the center of the park, holding a bullhorn.

  “Citizens of Stanberry!” he called, repeating it a few times until he had the crowd's attention. “If you've got a cup, can, or bottle handy, raise it in a toast to Relief Administrator Gorstrom and the relief convoy who brought us this vaccine, as well as the brilliant, hardworking men and women who developed and produced it!”

  Cheers rang out, and those holding drinks raised them in acknowledgement. Borden grinned as he raised his own plastic cup. “Let's raise a glass to our friends and neighbors as well! Stanberry has survived this pandemic miraculously intact, and now we can look forward to a future without Zolos!”

  That prompted an even larger cheer, and Ellie reached out to hug her children as they jumped up and down around her.

  “I won't bore you with a lengthy speech,” Borden continued amiably. “Let's get back to celebrating the end of this nightmare, folks.”

  Suiting his words, he lowered his bullhorn and turned away to begin mingling among the crowd.

  Ellie cut a bite of the cake she'd just retrieved and offered it to Hal on her fork, and he obligingly opened his mouth for it. “Happy birthday, honey,” she told him.

  “Mmm,” he replied, chewing and swallowing. “You know Winn has a cake waiting for us back home when we're done here, right?”

  “Even better.” She leaned agai
nst him, inviting him to put an arm around her, which he did. “What do you think, the vaccine make a good birthday gift?”

  “The best.” He looked around at the crowds. “Although it won't change much for us here, will it? Aside from not having to be as careful around other people, and being able to travel again.”

  “Not much,” Ellie agreed. “Except we won't have Zolos hanging over our heads. And that changes everything, even if we keep doing exactly what we've been doing.”

  “It does.” He hugged her closer for a moment, then motioned. “Come on, I saw a few coolers with lemonade and other drinks. Let's grab some glasses so we can properly toast the relief convoy and the creators of the vaccine, like Borden suggested.”

  Nodding, she gathered the children together and they set off into the celebration.

  Chapter Seventeen

  No Good Deed

  Nick couldn't help but think that, given what a hurry Gorstrom had been in to get everyone vaccinated and supplies distributed so she could move on to the next town, it was odd that two days later the relief convoy still showed no real hurry to leave.

  Part of that was due to the administrator's continued push for people to join the rebuilding efforts and relocate to the Gulf Coast. She'd already managed to convince over a thousand people, mostly from the main and survivors' camps. They had no real attachment to Stanberry, and seemed eager at the prospect of a return to more modern standards of living.

  Surprisingly, Charlie, Val, Lila, and Chase were among that group. They seemed reluctant to leave the people who'd begun building new lives for themselves around the Norsons' house, but had decided to go even so. So they'd gone to give their names to the 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.”