That resolution had helped her remain an island of calm at times when everyone else had devolved into shouting matches, and in many cases had allowed her to diffuse the tension and get the group back on track.
Now, when she needed it most, was the worst time to ignore everything she'd learned.
So she kept her voice mild as she replied. “It's good to be cautious. But I have two young children at home who need me, and I want to get back to them as quickly as I can. I also want to get home and out of danger before things really get out of hand. Now, we've got four people who can drive, which means we can take turns sleeping.”
“Car sleep isn't good sleep,” Brock said. “If we don't stop to rest we'll all be zombies by noon tomorrow, with half a day of driving ahead of us and not a single one of us not nodding off at the wheel. I want to get back to my family too, not die in a fiery freeway accident.”
That was, surprisingly, a good point. Although Hal didn't think so. “Come on, man,” he cajoled. “I've done fifteen hour marathon road trips before with no problem. I could drive most of the distance myself, if someone is able to spell me for a half hour or an hour at a time. Even zombies can go that long without nodding off.”
There was quiet from the darkness of the backseat. “Just a few hours,” Brock finally insisted. “Enough to let us all recharge. Then we can start the big push to get home at dawn.”
Dawn was more than a few hours away. Still, maybe it wasn't completely unreasonable to take a few hours to rest. Especially if it prevented another argument.
“We can give it three hours,” Ellie finally said. “That'll give Hal a chance to sleep before taking over for me.”
Hal shot her a look, but to her relief raised no protest; she was too exhausted right now for another argument.
Brock guided her to an exit a half hour or so past St. George, down a two-lane road for another mile or so, then onto a gravel road for a few hundred more yards. “This place isn't frequently used, I checked,” he assured them as they approached a few widely separated dirt tracks, leading to simple camping spots among the flat expanse of barren rock and dirt.
The open, empty space around them was actually a bit of a relief, since true to the man's word Ellie spotted no sign of other campers. She still pulled up to one of the farther away tracks, which led to a simple rock circle for fires. Someone must've taken the effort to drag several larger stones over to surround the campfire, making serviceable if uncomfortable seats.
She parked in a position where the headlights shone on the campsite, since they didn't have wood for a fire. Then everyone gratefully piled out, groaning as they straightened weary muscles.
“I was only able to get two one-man tents and two sleeping bags,” Brock said as they all stretched. “I was thinking you and Hal should use them, Ellie, since you paid for them anyway. Me and Hannah can endure the discomfort of sleeping in the car.”
She suspected this unexpected generosity from the couple had more to do with Hannah's desire to stay in the car, which seemed to be her magical bubble of protection from germs, than out of selflessness. And to be honest, even scrunching up on uncomfortable car seats was probably preferable to lying on rock or at best dirt, without so much as a sleeping pad.
Still, she and Hal were probably going to be doing most of the driving, so she might as well take the chance at a slightly more comfortable rest. “That sounds good, thank you.”
Brock shrugged and turned away to begin pulling things out of the trunk.
It turned out he'd, or more accurately she'd, purchased two flashlights along with the other gear, and he handed one to her and kept one for himself as Hal got to work pulling cans of food out of one of the bags. “If we crack the hood we can heat these on the engine,” the teenager suggested. “Not sure how well it'll work, but it beats eating cold stew.”
Surprisingly, even Hannah seemed to agree that was a good idea. Hal cracked the pop-top lids enough to allow venting in case the heat would've made the cans explode, then they found flat-ish spots on the engine to perch them on.
Once that was done the young man helped Ellie set up her tent, since she hadn't used one since the camping trip she'd gone on with her family for Ricky's third birthday years ago, when she'd still been pregnant with Tallie. And even then Nick had been the one who set it up.
Embarrassed about her lack of knowledge, she insisted on at least helping him set up his, although she wasn't sure how useful she actually was.
While they were working on that, the newlyweds got to work preparing the car for sleeping. Which pretty much amounted to lowering the passenger seat as flat as possible for Brock, while Hannah scrunched up to lay across the backseat.
It didn't look terribly comfortable, and Ellie felt a bit bad about assuming the couple had selfish motives for letting her have a tent and sleeping bag. Especially when she realized they didn't have blankets and this early spring desert air had a brutal bite to it; even after bundling up in sweaters and an extra pair of sweatpants, the couple were forced to resort to taking out extra clothes to lay across themselves as makeshift blankets.
Ellie approached Hannah, wanting to offer some olive branch, and handed her the keys to the car. “For the heater,” she explained. “We don't have enough gas to run it all night, but if it gets too cold you can run it for long enough to heat the interior. With the windows up the heat should last for a while.” She grimaced. “Just be sure to turn off the headlights before you start it.”
The other woman looked unusually delighted by the offer. She even pulled Ellie into a hug and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”
She shifted uncomfortably as she returned the hug. Was a small gesture all that had been necessary to get on Hannah's good side? Why hadn't she tried that to begin with?
Unfortunately, whatever goodwill she'd just earned was squandered soon afterwards.
Hal had finally announced the stew was probably as hot as it was going to get, and they all gathered around the hood to retrieve their cans. The metal was warm to the touch but not quite too hot to hold in their bare hands, so everyone juggled their humble meal as they started to head over to the rocks to sit and eat.
Which was when Hannah cut them off, container of chemical wipes in hand. Her intent was clear.
“You want to wipe down the rocks,” Ellie said flatly, more bemused than surprised or annoyed.
Hannah's flush was visible, even in the light of the headlights. “Just to be safe. And to be honest, I'm getting pretty sick of you second-guessing every precaution I take.”
Ellie exchanged glances with Hal, and the teenager shrugged. “By all means, then,” he said with only the slightest trace of sarcasm. “Nothing like having a clean seat while out camping. Should we use the wipes on the ground, too? The tents and the sleeping bags?”
Their traveling companion either missed his tone or chose to ignore it, shaking her head forlornly. “I don't think we have enough wipes. We'll just have to be careful to only touch the ground with our shoes, and wipe them down thoroughly before taking them into the car or our tents when we go to bed.”
This woman was unbelievable.
Ellie was too worn down by the constant debates all day to raise a fuss, though. She simply accepted a wipe and got to work on her rock, hoping handling these things for such an extended period of time wasn't going to give her some kind of chemical poisoning. At least the task didn't take long, and she was soon able to settle down and shovel lukewarm stew into her mouth with a plastic spoon from the small box Brock had thought to purchase.
Lukewarm or not, from a can or not, under the circumstances that was one of the best meals she'd had ever had. That alone almost made it worth the unnecessary delay, and she had to admit that even with how desperate she was to get home, she was looking forward to finally having some privacy and peace and quiet to lie down properly flat, even on hard ground in a sleeping bag, and get some real sleep.
So after she'd scraped the last bits of stew out of the can, she
wished everyone goodnight and retreated to her tent. After carefully wiping off her shoes and taking them inside with her, of course; she wondered if she'd ever get the chemical stink out of her nostrils.
It was a genuine pain to change into her pajamas within the confines of the one-man tent, and even though Ellie wanted to get out of the uncomfortable business clothes she'd worn for days, she wasn't sure it was worth it. Although given the frigid air, the thick sweatpants and long-sleeved shirt sounded like heaven. Especially if she dressed in layers and wore her yoga pants and top underneath them.
Getting all of that on was an even bigger pain, and involved a lot of squirming and squashing the tent's walls. It probably looked ridiculous from outside.
Still, it was all worth it as Ellie wriggled into the sleeping bag and cinched it closed around her face, swiftly growing warm and comfy enough to let her eyes droop closed.
In less than a minute she was out like a light.
◆◆◆
Ellie was jolted awake by the sound of a car engine starting.
For a moment she stared up in alarm through the darkness at the low roof of her tent, only half aware of where she was. Then she remembered that she'd told Hannah to start the engine for the heater if she got too cold, and her panic faded. She sighed and closed her eyes to settle back down to sleep, resolving not to wake up the next time the car started.
That newfound peace was once again shattered as the engine abruptly roared as if somebody had put the pedal to the metal, and the sound of crunching tires and flying gravel joined it.
Cursing in shock and growing panic, Ellie wormed out of her sleeping bag and scrambled to unzip her tent's door just enough to get through, throwing herself at the too-small opening. She got stuck halfway out, practically collapsing the tent and dragging it along a few feet as she squirmed to escape its confines.
She managed to stand gingerly, bare feet painfully cold on frigid desert dirt, in time to see her new car tearing away towards the Interstate, headlights flicking on and carving a brilliant path through the night as it went.
A short distance away Hal was tearing his way out of his own tent, cursing furiously as he half ran, half hopped a dozen feet after the departing car. It was a futile chase since the vehicle was already tearing away into the distance, headlights and taillights eventually disappearing. The roar of the engine remained audible for a while longer, slowly fading until it was drowned out by the young man's furious shouting.
Ellie looked between the spot she'd last seen taillights and Hal's dark silhouette, thoughts still muddled from sleep and the surreal nature of what had just happened. So much so, in fact, that her first thought was that someone had snuck into the camp and kidnapped Hannah and Brock.
Hal came to the more obvious conclusion. “Those SOBs!” he snarled, limping back towards their tents. “They ditched us!”
She was still staring after the vanished car, not quite able to grasp that this was actually happening. As if some part of her still believed this was a joke, and the Nowaks would come driving back and they'd all have a good laugh over it. Or maybe the couple had gone out on some errand and would be back soon.
But they wouldn't. They'd actually taken her car, after she'd been willing to drive them back to Missouri and even pay for their food; she was completely unable to comprehend their reasoning for such an act, so much so that it hadn't even occurred to her that they might do it.
She'd even given Hannah the keys!
Why? Why ditch her and Hal and drive off on their own? What did they gain out of it? Was it because she hadn't planned to drive all the way to St. Louis, and they'd decided to steal her car now while they had the chance so they could get all the way home? Or was it possible Hannah had been so paranoid about them being careless about the dangers of Zolos that she was willing to leave them stranded in the middle of a desert in Utah?
Well, stranded was an outdated concept in this day and age.
Ellie reached for her phone, wondering if the St. George police had enough manpower to spare to chase down a grand theft auto case. She could also ask about sending someone to pick them up while she was at it.
She dialed 911, brought the phone to her ear, and waited. Only for nothing to happen; it took her a few seconds to realize that her phone had no signal.
No way. No freaking way.
Unable to believe her awful luck, Ellie walked around with her phone high in the air, trying to get something, anything. It was small surprise that the signal wouldn't be great out here in the middle of nowhere, although they were just off the Interstate and she'd thought those all had decent signal even in places like this. Besides, they weren't that far from a decent sized city, so she should have something.
Had Brock planned this, too? Not only stranding them but making sure it was somewhere with no signal? That went beyond theft and strayed dangerously close to leaving them to die.
Hal noticed what she was doing and scrambled for his own phone, similarly waving it around. “Nothing.” He swore and kicked a rock skittering out into the night. “How could they do this?” he raged. “How? Were they really petty enough to leave us to die over a stupid argument?”
Ellie stared helplessly after the vanished car again. “Maybe they figured us not being willing to wear full hazmat suits out here in the middle of a Utah desert was too dangerous for them, so their best chance of survival was to leave us behind.”
Off in the darkness she heard Hal spit. “Or they're just real pieces of work. I hope they get stranded in a ditch somewhere, with hordes of infected pounding at their doors and windows to get in.”
Bemused, Ellie tore her gaze from the empty horizon and watched the young man make his way to his tent and stoop to grab his shoes. “What, like zombies?”
He paused, and even in the dark his posture looked sheepish. “Well no, duh. I mean, like desperate people I guess.”
“Zolos doesn't make people act like zombies, you know. It actually leaves them too weak to move.”
Hal abandoned tugging on a shoe for long enough to throw up his hands. “Okay fine, then I hope they drive off a cliff in the dark and explode!”
“Just for stealing a car?” she chided gently. “It's not like they robbed us at gunpoint. And they didn't hurt us, either.”
She saw him sag to the ground, shoulders slumped. “They might have,” he whispered. “They might've killed us, leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere with no signal. What are we going to do now?”
He sounded so young right then, so scared and uncertain; it was a reminder that he was still barely more than a kid. And way out of his depth, just like Ellie was.
She turned to look desolately out across the landscape of Southern Utah. It wasn't exactly the most hospitable place; Hal was right, they really could die out here. Without being prepared for what could be a long hike, and without the skills or tools needed to hunt or forage or even find water and make it safe for drinking, death could come for them as early as a few days from now. Maybe less.
Ellie remembered one Christmas, almost a decade ago now, when her car had broken down on the way home from a party. She hadn't had blankets in the vehicle, and considering she'd come from a heated building to her heated car hadn't bothered to bring any coat heavier than the cardigan she was wearing.
So she'd been left in the swiftly cooling car interior with below freezing temperatures outside, stranded on a highway miles from anywhere, hugging herself for warmth while she waited for her roommate to make the half hour drive to come pick her up.
It hadn't exactly been a life or death situation, but she'd gotten so cold she'd had to come to terms with the fact that if her friend had lived any farther away, and there'd been no other source of help in a true emergency, she could've easily frozen to death on some small Missouri highway in the middle of nowhere.
From then on, she'd always kept a few blankets in the car, as well as some of those hand warmers. She'd never needed them again, but just knowing they were there was
a comfort. As well as a nagging worry, as she wondered what other preparations she should be making in case of some disaster she hadn't even thought of.
Although she might be about to find out what she'd failed to consider soon, as a sudden trek across the desert with no help coming slammed home the reality of just how sheltered she'd been all her life.
Ellie slumped down in front of her tent, angrily blinking away the stinging in her eyes. Over by Hal's tent she thought she heard him sniffling, although that might've been from a runny nose in the unexpectedly chilly night air.
Still, she gingerly picked her way across the loose rocks and pebbles to sit by him. “We'll figure it out,” she said as confidently as she could. “Having a car stolen isn't the end of the world.”
He laughed, although with more bitterness than humor. “No, that would be Zolos.”
She snorted, although she didn't find that all that funny, then straightened her shoulders purposefully. “We should turn off our phones, check them after every few hours of walking tomorrow to see if we can get a signal. No sense wasting battery life we'll need later.”
The teenager nodded dully, following her in pulling out her phone and turning it off. That sense of isolation as her main connection to the world was severed was more unnerving than she'd expected, and she felt herself shivering slightly.
She noticed Hal was doing the same, probably feeling the same sense of despair and desolation she felt, and briefly rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Let's get some rest. Things will look better in the morning.”
“Yeah.” He took a ragged breath. “Yeah, they usually do.”
◆◆◆
Things didn't look better in the morning.
Ellie woke up feeling like she'd been beaten with padded bats all night, every muscle screaming from sleeping on the hard ground. It actually irritated her how wimpy she was, after living most of her life used to comfortable beds in temperature controlled rooms.
Isolation (Book 1): Shut In Page 12
