Hal was slow to answer, genuinely considering the question. “I think it feels right,” he finally said. “If this is something serious for us, let's take it seriously.”
Ellie felt an unexpected flood of relief. As well as, if she was being honest, a bit of disappointment; looked as if she was in for more lonely nights in the quarantine camp. Still, mostly what she felt was a warm sort of happiness at his answer. It had been nearly perfect. “In that case yes, Hal. I do . . . have feelings for you.”
Her friend, or she supposed she should start thinking of him as her boyfriend now, a thought that sent a thrill through her, beamed as if she'd just confessed her undying love. He started to take a step forward, then paused and cleared his throat. “How, um, do you feel about kissing before marriage?”
She just laughed in reply, and he grinned wider and finished stepping close so he could gently cup the back of her head, leaning down to press his lips to hers.
Ellie melted against him, sinking into the thrill of not only the heat of the kiss, of being with this remarkable man who by some stroke of good fortune she'd found herself with, but of allowing herself to let go of her reservations and sink fully into the moment. She didn't know what the future might hold but it felt good, felt amazing, to not have to face it alone.
◆◆◆
It was late night when the timer counted down to the end of Nick's fourth day since being exposed to that thug who'd broken into his home.
In spite of that, Ricky and Tallie had resolved to stay up for it, as determined as if they were ringing in the New Year rather than greeting their dad from his office exile. Although the prospect of being able to see his children again certainly felt like a holiday.
They talked through the door into the night, Nick frequently responding to his children's demands to know what time it was. He used his laptop for it, since without internet he judged that even if right now, here in KC, his phone didn't have a signal, preserving its batteries was more vital to survival.
Hah, keeping his phone charged for survival. That was a phrase he never thought he'd use, aside from maybe ironically.
Just as if it was New Years, they actually counted down the final ten seconds to when he judged the attack had taken place. Tallie actually cheered when they reached zero. Of course, their excitement hit a bit of a damper when Nick insisted on doing a thorough inspection of himself for symptoms. Which was more challenging than he'd expected in the light of a flashlight. It also didn't help that his kids were constantly egging him on to hurry up as he tried to be thorough.
Finally, though, he announced that he didn't see any symptoms. As his kids cheered again he used some hand sanitizer to do a last wipe down of his skin, then changed into the clean clothes Ricky had tossed through the door for him.
Then, taking a breath, he unlocked and pulled open the door all the way, for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
Tallie immediately burst out of the nest of blankets she'd made in the hallway next to Ricky's makeshift bed, squealing in joy as Nick knelt and held his arms open for her. But just before his daughter threw her little arms around his neck, a horrible thought struck him.
What if he was infected after all? What if he was just resistant or immune to the disease and that's why he hadn't shown any symptoms, but he was still infectious? A carrier, or whatever it was called.
Was that even possible with Zolos? None of the news reports and videos he'd watched had mentioned anything like that, and it didn't seem likely he'd be immune to a virus nobody had ever seen before that wasn't like any known deadly strains.
Before he could second guess his decision yet again and act on the risk, it was too late: Tallie was in his arms and peppering his face with relieved kisses. Even though it was wonderful to hold his daughter again after he'd been so desperate to be there for her these past few days, comfort her obvious loneliness and fear, he couldn't ignore considerations of safety.
If something happened to his little girl because of it . . .
Nick gently but firmly pushed her away. It might be too late, same as when he'd hastily cleaned himself after getting that thug's blood all over him, but he had to mitigate the damage if there really was still a risk. It hurt to hold her back when she was crying for joy and hugging him with all her might, struggling to keep her arms wrapped around his neck. In fact, it felt like cutting off a limb.
But he did it.
And when he noticed that Ricky was hanging back, cautious, he was glad he had; his son had more common sense in the moment. “See your brother keeping back in case of Zolos?” he asked gently into Tallie's hurt look. “That's what you were doing, right Ricky?” His son nodded, looking guilty but not sorry, and Nick nodded back.
On the one hand it hurt him on a deep, irrational level to be so openly shunned by his son. But at the same time he was happy about it; that was the caution he should've insisted on from Tallie, as well. “Good. Keep it up for the next little while, okay? You too, Tallie. And since I was too late to warn you away, you should probably keep your distance from your brother, too.”
His daughter's devastated expression tore at his heart. “But why, Daddy? You're not sick.”
“I know, sweetie. But sometimes people can not be sick but still get other people sick.”
“So anyone can get me sick?” She started to cry. “That means I can't cuddle with you or Ricky!”
Nick had to fight the overwhelming urge to sweep Tallie up in his arms and hug her tight. “Just for the next few days. Just in case.”
“It's always just in case,” she pouted. “This is even worse than when you were in the office with the door locked.”
She wasn't wrong. Yet in spite of this new precaution, he felt like he wasn't doing enough. Or the right thing. Like when he'd stupidly let his daughter hug him in the first place, putting his own selfish need to hold her in his arms over her safety.
At the same time, he could admit that locking himself back into his office wasn't an option. Ricky looked haggard and exhausted, practically crying with relief that his ordeal was over. The poor kid had barely managed to take care of himself and his sister while Nick was in forced seclusion, even with him calling through the door and talking the eight-year-old through the stuff he didn't know how to do. But he'd obviously been pushed beyond his limit.
“Hey, at least we get to see each other now,” Nick said, offering the most cheerful, confident smile he could manage as he wearily pushed to his feet and shooed his children back a safe distance. He wasn't sure how much good it would even do, but maybe he could find gloves and wash his hands frequently, as well as everything he touched, and keep his room off limits.
For the moment, though, he was out. Best make good use of that. “Come on. Let's take a look at the apartment, get things sorted out and a hot meal cooked, maybe heat some water to wash up if you're still not ready to go to bed.”
He'd been considering the best way to cook food going forward, and had settled on lighting a small fire out on the fire escape landing; the irony wasn't lost on him. Along with the camping supplies they had a small portable grill, and while there was only half a bag of old charcoal briquettes with it, he figured he could scrounge firewood.
Even if he had to break apart furniture or start tearing out wooden fixtures. Or, for that matter, go out in search of anything he could burn that wouldn't be missed in the surrounding area.
The apartment wasn't the disaster he'd feared, while listening to his kids go about their lives with only the most indirect supervision. Sure, the kitchen had dirty dishes, paper plates, and plastic utensils scattered everywhere and the garbage can was overflowing. And the den was strewn with toys, dirty clothes, bedding, and empty junk food wrappers.
Although it amused Nick to notice that, while his kids were usually prone to spill their snacks everywhere and leave him to clean it up, with convenient food getting harder to find in the apartment they'd apparently been very careful to find every last morsel they'd dropped.
Hey, he could stretch the ten second rule to a week or two. Zolos tended to make other worries seem far more inconsequential.
He should've expected getting a home cooked meal made on an outdoor grill would come with its share of challenges. Not to mention taking forever. Within ten minutes of starting Ricky and Tallie both zonked out, curled up in their blankets in the hallway.
Nick decided he'd let them sleep and store what he cooked to serve in the morning. They probably weren't sleeping as well as they should with everything that had happened, either. Especially Ricky, who'd had to carry so much on his little shoulders.
He got water boiling for rice, then stood staring grimly out at the dark skyline of Kansas City. He didn't want to think about how many people were left out there, or what they were going through; it took all his energy just to focus on his own family.
In a way, he envied Ellie stuck in that quarantine camp. He almost wondered if he shouldn't take the kids out to the one outside the city. Then again, if he felt worried about being around his kids after being exposed to a single stranger who might be carrying Zolos, how much worse would it be in a camp where they specifically gathered infected people?
No, for better or for worse he was back with his children, in this apartment; he'd just have to hope for the best. But he knew he wouldn't be sleeping for the next few nights, until he was sure Ricky and Tallie weren't showing any symptoms.
Or for the rest of his life, unable to forgive himself, if they did.
End of Shut In.
Ellie's and Nick's story continues in Going Out,
Book Two of the Isolation series.
Thank you for reading Shut In!
I hope you'll consider taking a minute or two to leave a review.
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I've also included a list of links to my other post-apocalyptic books on the following page,
if you're interested in reading more of my work.
Links to Post-Apocalyptic Books
by Nathan Jones
BEST LAID PLANS
Fuel
Shortage
Invasion
Reclamation
Determination
NUCLEAR WINTER
First Winter
First Spring
Chain Breakers
Going Home
Fallen City
MOUNTAIN MAN
Badlands
Homecoming
Homeland
Mountain War
Final Stand
Isolation (Book 1): Shut In Page 33
