Isolation (Book 2): Going Out

by Jones, Nathan

  Before she could answer, Hal emerged from the boys' room and joined them, grinning at his little sister. “Off to bed, kiddo. We'll talk more in the morning.”

  “Okay.” Linny reluctantly slid off the couch and started down the hall. But a few steps in she paused and glanced back at Ellie shyly. “I'm glad you're Hal's girlfriend. You're really nice. And really pretty.”

  Ellie felt her face heat as the girl disappeared into the same room her mom had. “Young as she is, she knows how to win someone over,” she said ruefully.

  Her boyfriend chuckled and plopped down on the couch beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Nah, she just calls it like she sees it.” His smile abruptly faded, and he glanced down the hall. “Like Mom, except with a more kind and generous worldview.” He pulled her closer and rubbed her arm apologetically. “Sorry you had to go through that. It was all just her usual BS.”

  “I know,” Ellie said, burrowing closer to him; this was a really comfy couch. “We can't control how other people act.”

  “Yeah. If it wasn't for the kids I'd avoid her completely.” He sighed, wearily resting his head against hers. “Although I'm ashamed to admit I did that even so, more than once.”

  She squeezed his knee comfortingly. “Well it's pretty clear your siblings love their big brother a whole lot. And I know you'd do anything for them.”

  Hal didn't respond, although he hugged her a bit closer as a comfortable silence settled between them.

  Ellie indulged in the welcome feeling of just holding her boyfriend for a few minutes, then reluctantly kissed his shoulder and pulled away. “It's been a long night and we have an early morning,” she murmured. “Let's get what sleep we can.”

  He nodded with equal reluctance and stood. “Good night, El. I love you.”

  “Love you too,” Ellie said, surprised to find that she meant it wholeheartedly in spite of previous reservations.

  She arranged the blanket so she could lay on top of half of it and wrap the other half around her, then snuggled inside and closed her eyes. It felt a bit like Christmas, knowing she'd see her kids in the morning.

  But in spite of her excitement, she was so exhausted she was barely aware of Hal blowing out the candle and turning off the flashlight as she drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Message

  In spite of her exhaustion, Ellie was up while the predawn glow was still too dark to see by. Which meant that by the time they got ready to leave and were on their way south into the city, it would be light enough.

  She felt a bit bad about waking Hal, since it was impossible to do so without also waking his brothers. Although as soon as the boys seemed to realize that being up meant breakfast, they were out of their beds in a flash. Linny and Cara were quick to join them as well, probably also motivated by hunger.

  After a hasty meal by candlelight, Hal took the flashlight and disappeared into his room to rummage through his closet. He emerged toting a locked gun case, a cloth carrying case, and a cloth bag that looked heavy and was probably full of bullets and gun accessories.

  His siblings eagerly gathered around as he knelt to enter the combination on the lock, at least until Ellie shooed them back to the couch.

  “Nice of you to leave the only means of protecting ourselves impossible to get at,” Cara snipped as the lock clicked open. “If hoodlums had broken in while you were gone it would've just sat there uselessly in the closet, while ten feet away I'd be getting raped on the bed.”

  Ellie made a disapproving noise and glanced at the kids perched on the couch listening to every word; they might not know what she was talking about, but that sort of talk still wasn't appropriate in front of them.

  Not to mention she could've done without hearing those sorts of grim things given her traumatic experience in Watkins.

  Hal just sighed, as if he was used to this sort of hyperbole. “I wasn't leaving an unlocked gun in my apartment when the kids visit regularly.” He reached into the case and pulled out a sleek bolt-action rifle with a scope and a sling, which he quickly looked over before loading the internal magazine from a box of bullets in the cloth bag.

  Then, leaving the chamber empty, he slung the hunting rifle across his back and picked up the cloth bag and the carrying case. “Be back as soon as we find Ellie's family and sort out the situation with them,” he told his family.

  With that they were out the door and in the car, driving through the early morning gloom towards North Kansas City with the rifle stowed on the backseat in easy reach.

  It was hard to see much more than outlines in this light, but that was enough as they came in view of the city. Her boyfriend whistled grimly at the sight. “And I thought it looked bad with half of it burning last night.” He made a tired sound, somewhere between a sigh and a laugh. “Guess we shouldn't be surprised to find it like this, after everything we've seen.”

  Ellie barely heard him, eyes on the city ahead. Her home, where she'd lived her entire life more or less. And now dozens of burning buildings belched smoke into the air, creating an ugly haze, with more buildings nothing but charred ruins and the unburned ones covered with graffiti and vandalized. To the point where the city looked like it had been abandoned for years instead of the month and a half or so she'd been gone, between her weeks of work in Japan and then the nightmarish trip home.

  There were barricades on many of the streets, feeble attempts to keep out the infected. And the streets themselves were so shockingly empty; very few cars were driving along them, those in sight moving fast and wary and not stopping at intersections. She saw no pedestrian traffic at all.

  Aside from the dead, that was. A handful of bodies sprawled across the streets, as if they'd tried to drag themselves to vehicles to get to the hospital, or outside hoping to find help. No effort had been made to clear them away, there were no signs of looters robbing them, and their presence had drawn a shocking number of wild dogs, crows, vultures, rats, and other scavengers.

  Which were brazenly feeding on the dead in the most horrific fashion, with only token effort made by citizens to shoot them or shoo them off. Even then, Ellie had a feeling the city's residents were motivated by their desire to kill or drive off potential carriers of the plague, more than to respect the sanctity of the dead.

  And those were just the bodies she could see; most of the sick would likely have died in their beds and been left there, or taken to hospitals and disposed of however the authorities were doing so.

  How many people were dead in Kansas City, for things to get this bad after only a month or so? For a city that had once held half a million people, it was horrifying.

  And Nick and her children were in there.

  Was she too late? After everything she'd suffered, everything she'd done to get here, was it too late? Had it been a mistake to stay at Hal's place instead of going straight to her babies?

  She reached out and gripped her boyfriend's knee. “Drive a bit faster,” she said in a shaky voice. She'd been intending to check on her house first, since it was on the way, but was now resolved to go straight to the apartment.

  He briefly dropped a hand to rest on hers. “They're fine,” he told her fiercely. “It can't be as bad down there as it looks, and didn't your ex tell you he'd bought plenty of supplies so they'd never have to leave the apartment? They'll be there waiting for you, safe and sound.”

  There wasn't the slightest doubt in his tone, and that did a lot to set her at ease. On top of that, the hope that had driven her forward ever since California refused to acknowledge her sudden fears. They were most likely borne of not enough sleep and end of trip jitters anyway.

  Her children were alive, they were safe and healthy at Nick's apartment, and she was going to go to them. Right now.

  In spite of the hints of violence they'd seen in the city last night, the streets were completely empty as they drove down them this morning. Hal wasn't taking any chances, though, sticking closer to the middle of the road and not s
topping at intersections. Even the turns he took wide, trying not to slow down any more than necessary.

  The drive felt like it took longer than it probably actually did, but finally they pulled into the parking lot of Nick's apartment building.

  The first thing Ellie noticed was that his car wasn't there. That sent an immediate spike of fear through her, although she tried to tell herself that it might've just been stolen, even though his little budget vehicle wasn't exactly a prime target for thieves. Or he'd taken it somewhere and run out of fuel, then had to walk home.

  During a pandemic when he was in voluntary quarantine with their kids.

  She threw open her door while the car was still moving, bolting for the stairs leading to her ex-husband's apartment. Behind her she heard Hal curse, and a glance back showed him parking in the middle of the lot, then reaching back to snag his rifle before hurrying to follow her.

  The moment she reached Nick's door she began pounding on it, calling through the flimsy wood. “Nick? Tallie, Ricky? It's me, I'm home!”

  At any moment she expected to hear her kids' excited shouting from inside, or Nick calling that he'd be right there. Or the door simply flying open with her family waiting on the other side.

  But there was nothing but frightening silence. She tried the knob, found it locked, and cursed bitterly, throwing her shoulder into the door trying to simply force it open.

  It didn't budge, of course; it might've been flimsy, but with a deadbolt it wasn't that flimsy.

  Ellie had a key to Nick's apartment, for emergencies when it came to the kids. Unfortunately, the emphasis there was on had. It'd been on her key ring when the robbers took it, which meant it had either been tossed aside or was now still attached to the key to the green sedan. Either way didn't help her much.

  Luckily, for her at least, the apartment wasn't exactly secure. In fact, half her fretting over the last three weeks had been over Nick's call about thugs breaking into the place through his office, which meant using the fire escape.

  That was probably her best bet, too. She abandoned the door just as Hal arrived, once again leaving him behind as she bounded down the stairs and circled the building towards the fire escape.

  There she slowed to a stop at the sight of the office's broken window, hastily repaired with cardboard and duct tape. In spite of her growing panic she felt a surge of sympathy for her ex-husband, imagining the thoughtful, soft-spoken man fighting for his life against criminals and being forced to kill one to defend their children.

  Then Ellie spotted the handwritten message on wrinkled, water damaged printer paper taped to the cardboard and nearly had a heart attack:

  ELLIE!

  APARTMENT IS INFECTED WITH ZOLOS

  DO NOT GO INSIDE!

  TOOK KIDS TO STANBERRY

  TO STAY WITH GEN APR. 21

  LOVE YOU

  NICK, TALLIE, RICKY

  Behind her Hal took one look at the paper, cursed, and bolted around towards the front door. Leaving her to stare at the message in mounting horror.

  Zolos? How did Nick know that? Were the kids sick? Was he? She had to believe her babies were still alive, since surely he would've told her if something terrible had happened to one of them. But still . . .

  What did he mean, infected with Zolos? How? Why? What had happened since she last contacted him? April 21st was almost two weeks ago, an eternity under the current circumstances; anything could've happened since then.

  Her boyfriend came back wearing a grim expression. “There was tape on the door as if another message had been put there,” he said quietly. “I couldn't find it, though.”

  Ellie nodded numbly. “Probably good you didn't touch it,” she distantly heard herself saying. She thought of all the time she'd spent jiggling the knob, trying to force the door, and with a queasy sensation hoped Nick had been careful about decontaminating it.

  Of Zolos. Around her children. She was barely aware of slumping to the ground as the horrific possibilities overwhelmed her.

  “Hey, hey,” Hal said gently, dropping to his knees beside her. He gathered her in his arms and began rubbing her back. “It's going to be okay, El.”

  “How is it going to be okay?” she said, voice coming out as almost a shout. Although she didn't pull away; his embrace was the only thing keeping her from completely freaking out. “The only way Nick could be sure there was Zolos in the apartment was if someone visibly sick had come in there for some reason, or if one of them got sick.”

  She felt her chest constrict at the thought, struggling to breathe at the idea that one of her children had come down with the virus. Sweet Ricky or Tallie, bleeding from the eyes and the nose and-

  Ellie pulled free of her boyfriend's arms and planted her hands on the grass, just in time to empty her stomach on the ground in front of her.

  Hal swept her hair back away from her face, continuing to soothingly stroke her back. “Hey, don't start assuming the worst before we know anything. Don't you think your husband would've told you if one of your kids was-”

  “Don't even say it!” she gasped, before gagging again.

  He put an arm around her and pulled her close again. “He would've mentioned if something was wrong. You trust him to do that, don't you?” After a moment she hesitantly nodded, and he continued gently. “Then let's hope that no news is good news and go up there and see what's going on, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Ellie said. She was terrified of what she'd find in Stanberry, but she had to know what had happened. Had to be there for her children, whatever the situation.

  She forced herself to her feet. “Yeah, let's go.”

  Hal started to turn her back towards the car with an arm around her shoulders, but at the last second she caught sight of a mound of dirt and sod near the base of the fire escape and stopped to stare at it. It looked as if scavengers, probably dogs, had tried to dig it up at one point, and she tried not to look too closely at the shredded tarp around the hole. Or what it covered.

  Was that it? Had Nick buried the intruder he'd been forced to kill there? The person who, in all likelihood, was the one who'd infected her ex-husband and children with Zolos?

  Was that the petty criminal whose selfishness might've killed her babies?

  Ellie didn't like to think of herself as an unforgiving person, but even knowing that there was a human being in that shallow grave, someone who'd had his own fears, hopes, dreams, probably a family and friends who cared about him . . . she couldn't find any sympathy. All she could see was an awful image, one that had haunted her nightmares for a month, of Ricky and Tallie limp on their beds, sweaty, pale faces tinged red by the blood seeping from their eyes and nose and ears and mouth.

  Should she pity this thug who'd decided to prey on innocent families, while tens of millions of people across the country were dying of a terrible illness? She was being generous not to spit on his grave.

  Nick had saved their children from the physical threat this man posed, but apparently not from Zolos. Ellie turned away with a sharp intake of breath, striding purposely towards the car with Hal at her side.

  “You know where Gen lives?” he asked as he opened the driver's side door.

  She shook her head, settling into the passenger's seat and reaching for her seatbelt. “No idea. I guess we'll have to either ask around, or drive around until we spot his car.”

  “I've been through Stanberry a couple times, it's not too big,” he assured her. “Even if we have to search the whole place it shouldn't take long.” He pulled the car out of the lot and started down the street, putting the pedal to the metal until they were moving at almost reckless speeds.

  Ellie wanted to tell him to go faster, go straight there, and not so much as slow down until she had her kids in her arms, alive and well, and this nightmare was over. She didn't give swinging by her house to check it a second thought, even though it would've been nice to have some things from there, like changes of clothes and maybe some camping gear.

  Hal mus
t have sensed her mood, because he focused on getting out of the city as quickly as possible. Although after a few minutes he glanced at her and cleared his throat. “My apartment's not too far out of the way. I want to stop real quick and let my family know where I'm going, leave them my half of the food in case something goes wrong and I can't get back.”

  She chafed at the delay, but it was a reasonable one so she nodded. “Thanks for going up there with me.”

  He risked taking a hand off the wheel to rest on her knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I'm with you, Ellie. And things are going to be okay.”

  Ellie wasn't sure she could believe that in her current state, but hearing it made her feel a bit better all the same.

  Where the drive into the city had felt like it took forever, the drive out passed in a blur. It almost came as a surprise to find they were already parking near Cara's junky old car, jolting Ellie out of her daze.

  Her boyfriend leaned over to pull her into a firm hug, pressing his forehead to hers and spending a few moments just holding her. “Be right back,” he finally said, reluctantly pulling away. “This should just take a minute.”

  She nodded blankly, watching as he popped the trunk and with some effort lugged a box of rations and case of water up to his apartment in his arms. He had to kick the door a few times then wait almost a minute before it opened, Todd peering blearily outside with his reddish-brown hair wildly tussled as if he'd dragged himself out of bed.

  Hal shooed his brother out of the way and disappeared inside, shutting the door behind him.

  The expected one minute dragged on to five, and when the door finally opened it wasn't Hal who emerged but Cara, carrying a suitcase and looking as if she'd hastily dressed.

  Ellie climbed out of the car as her boyfriend appeared in the doorway behind his mom, still loaded down with everything he'd carried up. “What's going on?” she called.

  It was Cara who answered first. “My son tells me you wanted to drop off half the food and ditch us to go to some isolated town in the middle of nowhere. A place far safer than huddling a few minutes from a city literally burning to the ground.” She sniffed as she plopped the suitcase on the hood of her junker, fumbling in a pocket for the keys. “Since we can take anything we need with us in the cars, I'm all for moving to a better location.”