Isolation (Book 2): Going Out Read online

  Going Out

  Book Two of

  Isolation

  By Nathan Jones

  Copyright © 2020 Nathan Jones

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The events depicted in this novel are fictional. The characters in this story are also fictional, and any resemblance to anyone living or dead is entirely unintentional. While most locations are real some artistic license has been taken in describing them, and some locations are entirely fictional.

  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

  Lone Valley

  ISOLATION

  Shut In

  Going Out

  Starting Anew (upcoming)

  Contents

  Title Page

  Books by Nathan Jones

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Isolated

  As Ellie gradually came awake, her first thought after musing on the discomfort of the cot and the chilly air of the isolation cell was that it was hers and Hal's third day of five in here.

  Or, well, second day going by 24 hour increments, since their first day had been a partial one and their fifth one they'd be let out in the early afternoon. Which meant they'd really only spent a day and two-thirds or so in here, third day or not.

  And even after they got out of the isolation cells, they'd still have another sixteen days in the Colorado Springs quarantine camp before they were finally allowed to leave and continue their journey home to their families. Which would take who knew how long, considering how long it had taken them to get this far.

  That wasn't the most optimistic thing to think about first thing in the morning.

  Luckily her second thought, after she cracked open her eyes in the dim predawn glow and looked across the cell, focusing on the dark shape of her new boyfriend stretched out motionless and still asleep on his own cot, was that today was going to be a really good day.

  Of course, that had less to do with her circumstances than with who she was sharing them with.

  Unable to hold back a contented smile, she climbed out of her cot and dragged it next to Hal's. For propriety's sake they'd slept on opposite sides of the cell in spite of their changed relationship status, but now that she was awake she really wanted to cuddle. And give her boyfriend a good morning kiss, of course.

  Hal snorted in his sleep as she climbed back onto her cot and scooted as close to him as she could, putting an arm around him. Then his breathing changed, and he made a contented noise as he shifted around to pull her closer, wrapping his arms around her.

  “Good morning,” Ellie murmured, pressing her lips to his with a quiet thrill at the warm, welcoming sensation.

  “Mmm, it's certainly shaping up to be,” he mumbled as he kissed her back. Then he hesitated, sounding a bit reluctant as he added, “Although I thought we were going to keep the beds apart so we didn't enjoy ourselves too much.”

  She laughed and nuzzled his shoulder. “We did, and we will. But I should give you fair warning that I'm a cuddler, especially in the mornings.” She playfully kissed his chin, which was slightly bristly from almost a week's worth of blond stubble. “And I didn't jump into a relationship with you to not enjoy stuff like this, right?”

  Hal chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Hard to argue that. We'll behave like respectable adults.”

  With a contented sigh, Ellie shifted around to rest her head on his shoulder, one arm draped across his chest. She really wished the isolation cells had clear plastic facing east as well as west, so they could watch the sunrise.

  Of course, that would put her in a position to see the person in the cage directly behind hers and Hal's, which would be a bit awkward. For that matter, at the moment the clear plastic facing west was covered by the privacy screen they'd pulled across it last night before going to sleep.

  Still, even if she regretted being deprived of pretty much the only advantage of sleeping outdoors, the beautiful scenery, staring at blank plastic walls was much improved by the company. In fact Ellie was surprised to find herself feeling hope, for the first time since well before her divorce it felt like.

  Certainly for the first time since first learning about Zolos.

  The feeling might've been insane, considering hundreds of millions of people were already dead and all signs pointed to that number going up rather than down, and in a major way. Or that she herself might soon be one of them, considering she was stuck in a quarantine camp where her chances of exposure to the virus rampaging across the globe in a tide of death and chaos were much higher.

  Or that even if she managed to avoid infection for the almost three weeks until the camp's relief workers finally let her go, that was three weeks away from her children who desperately needed her. Or the fact that once she got out she still had to find a way to cross two states to reach Kansas City, with no car or money and the nation falling apart around her.

  And yet in spite of all that, a spark of hope burned bright in her heart. And it had a name: Hal Westmont.

  However bad her situation was, however crazy the world had become, she didn't have to face it alone. Against all odds, against her own expectations even, in the most unlikely of situations she'd found a man she could love. A man who was courageous, resourceful, hardworking, kind, and understanding.

  Who also happened to be ridiculously cute. Like chiseled good looks and built like an Olympic athlete cute.

  A man who inexplicably had developed feelings for her in spite of the fact that she was the better part of a decade older than him, and came as a package deal with two kids. Two wonderful kids, that went without saying, but children had a way of scaring some people away from a potential relationship.

  Not Hal; he genuinely seemed to look forward to meeting Tallie and Ricky. Once they finally got out of this camp, that is.

  For the next hour or so they held each other and dozed, as the dawn glow finally led up to a sunrise she was sure was beautiful, and the camp slowly woke up around them. It was when they began waking up themselves, and giving each other good morning kisses and caresses, that the trouble started.

  On the one hand, if Ellie was going to be bored out of her mind trapped in a cage, she preferred her new boyfriend to be in there with her. On the other hand, with that excited flush of a new relationship they wanted to be affectionate, especially since there was nothing else to do.

  The problem there was that make out sessions tended to head towards a certain conclusion unless they were interrupted, a conclusion that kept running smack dab into the boundaries s
he'd set for their relationship. Normally in that situation she'd either head home or invite him to go, before things got too hot and heavy. But considering they were stuck in a cage together, well . . .

  At the risk of sounding crass, after a while Ellie began to believe it was possible for girls to get blue balls. She just felt bad thinking of what poor Hal must be going through.

  It was almost enough to make her rethink her stipulation every time she felt herself getting too in the moment, straying into dangerous territory, and reluctantly backed off. Although to his credit, Hal was usually the one who eased up first, continuing to act as the perfect gentleman no matter how much they were enjoying themselves.

  Which was why she'd set that condition in the first place, to confirm that this relationship was more than just physical. Because oh boy, it was certainly that. To the point that half the time when her boyfriend pulled back with a reluctant groan, she had to battle the overwhelming urge to tackle him to the cot and blast right past the boundaries she'd set.

  So it was probably a good thing when Cathy came around and interrupted them. “Sorry if I'm intruding!” she called through the opaque plastic sheet they'd pulled over the front of their enclosure for privacy.

  Ellie hastily disentangled herself from Hal and stood, feeling her cheeks flush as she smoothed her clothes and ran a hand through her hair. Then she hurried to pull back the sheet. “You're fine,” she said, embarrassed at how breathless she sounded. “What's going on?”

  Cathy's expression was hard to read through the slightly fogged faceplate of her yellow relief worker hazmat suit, although there might've been a hint of a knowing smile. “Well it's your third day in camp,” she said cheerfully. “Although on your fifth day you get out in the afternoon, since that's when you were processed.”

  “No complaints here,” Hal said lightly, joining Ellie by the front of the cage. “Most hotels kick you out before noon.”

  The relief worker laughed. “Well hotels also have a bathroom with a shower. Speaking of which . . . want to use the bathroom and take a shower before breakfast?”

  Considering the general degrees of exhaustion, sweatiness, and filth Ellie had endured since leaving LAX, not to mention the lingering awful memories of those vile robbers' hands on her, a shower sounded like heaven. Especially . . . “With hot water?” she asked hopefully.

  The woman shook her head, expression apologetic. “Closer to lukewarm.”

  “Still sounds incredible,” Hal said, absently scratching at the palm of his hand. He had a rash there from some sort of poison ivy or poison oak he'd come in contact with days ago, along with another one in a more, ah, sensitive place, since he'd tried to use the noxious leaves to wipe himself with.

  No doubt he was eager to thoroughly wash the area and hopefully provide some relief to the discomfort he'd tried to hide this entire time. Ellie looked between Hal and Cathy. “I feel bad for not thinking of this earlier, Cathy, but do you have some sort of cream for Hal's rash? He accidentally came into contact with poison oak or something while we were hiking out in the wild, and it's been pretty miserable for him.”

  “I can check with our medics, but unless it's a serious issue they probably won't be able to help you anytime soon,” the relief worker said with a sigh. “Even outside of Zolos, they're swamped with all kinds of health problems dealing with people basically camping out in tents on a field in early spring. Not to mention malnutrition, stress, and hygiene issues.”

  “It's fine, just soap and lukewarm water should help a lot,” Hal said, slipping an arm around Ellie's waist and kissing the top of her head. “Thanks for thinking of me, though.”

  Cathy waited for them to get their shoes on, then unlocked the cell and let them out. Even though Ellie had plenty of vertical space in the cell, she still couldn't help but reflexively stretch as she stepped outside. As she did she appreciated the beautiful morning; the mountains to the west were bathed majestically in the light of the rising sun, and the air was crisp and fresh.

  The only thing that would make this even better was a nice hot shower and a good filling breakfast. Which was hopefully exactly what she was about to enjoy.

  “This way,” the relief worker said, leading them towards a section of camp near the isolation cell latrines but clearly separated from it. As they walked the woman cleared her throat. “Oh by the way . . . this isn't supposed to be common knowledge until the higher ups have gotten a full rundown of the situation and issued a public statement, but given your run-in with those scum in Watkins, I thought you should know.”

  Cathy was smiling, which suggested this was good news, but Ellie still couldn't help the spike of alarm at the mention of those robbers, her mind flashing back to the horror of being caught by them.

  Hal took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Know what?” he asked quietly.

  The relief worker paused and turned to them, showing grim satisfaction behind her faceplate. “Early this morning, Special Forces units raided the headquarters of the gang that attacked you. Their priority was rescuing the people the gang had captured, and aside from one tragic casualty they fully succeeded in that.”

  Ellie let out her breath in relief, thinking of those poor women bound and piled up in the back of the truck in Watkins. She was glad to know they were all safe, and hopefully free to return to their homes and rebuild their lives. “And the robbers?”

  Cathy shook her head. “Facing a hostage situation against well-armed and dangerous men, the soldiers shot to kill where necessary. Although many of the gang surrendered, especially once the hostages had been freed and escorted to safety. They'll be put where they can no longer present a danger to anyone.”

  “So that's the end of them?” Ellie asked, squeezing Hal's hand. “None escaped to keep terrorizing innocent people?”

  “None escaped,” the other woman confirmed. “That's the end of that group.”

  That group? She could've done without that addendum; what happened when she and her boyfriend finally got out of here, and they had to resume their trek on foot across two states?

  Cathy seemed to sense her thoughts, because she held up a reassuring hand. “I know it seems like things are going to pot, and nothing's being done to stop it. But the government still exists, has a solid chain of command in case of disasters like this, and is on top of dealing with those trying to enflame this chaos instead of stamp it out. People like the animals that attacked you will continue to be brought to justice, and once Zolos is taken care of one way or another we're going to rebuild.”

  The pragmatic part of Ellie knew that the woman had no real way of knowing any of that. But the part of her that wanted to be reassured relaxed a bit. “Thanks for telling us,” she said quietly. “It's one less thing to worry about.”

  The relief worker smiled. “Of course, hon.” She turned away briskly. “Let's get you folks cleaned up and back in your enclosure in time for breakfast, huh?”

  As Ellie could've guessed considering where they were, taking a shower wasn't as simple as just stepping into a portable stall, then enjoying the sensation of water spraying her body and the chance to soap up and thoroughly cleanse her skin and hair. She was really looking forward to a chance to be truly clean for the first time since stepping onto that airplane in Japan bound for home.

  Unfortunately, before that she had to jump through a daunting set of hoops.

  First off she had to disrobe behind a privacy screen in front of her stall. Then, shivering and feeling exposed in spite of the screen, she had to seal her dirty clothes in a plastic pouch, with her name and information written on a paper to go in a slot on the inside of the bag.

  The reason for that was immediately made clear, when she was instructed to decontaminate the pouch by dropping it in a tub of water and bleach so potent it stung her eyes from a few feet away. Then she had to pass it around the screen to Cathy, who grabbed it with a pair of ridiculously long tongs and dunked it into another tub of bleach on her side.

&nb
sp; “We'll decontaminate and clean these and make sure they get back to you within a few days,” the other woman told her. “Until then, we've got a set of camp coveralls, probably in your size, for you to wear. And underwear. All sealed in plastic directly from a safe distribution center where they've been stored from the moment they were made, long before any of us even heard of Zolos. Not exactly stylish, but not hideous.”

  Ellie rolled her eyes. At this point, she was so happy at the thought of having clean clothes that she would've put up with burlap.

  She gave the relief worker her size, and was bemused when she was once again forced to go through the entire bleach dipping and passing with tongs routine, this time in reverse, to receive her new outfit. “If you leave your new clothes unopened while you take your shower, the outside will be close to dry by the time you're done,” Cathy told her helpfully. “Less chance of getting bleach on the cloth.”

  Given how ridiculously long all of this took, Ellie didn't doubt that in the least.

  If she thought she was ready to get out of the open (behind a screen or not), and enjoy her shower, she was disappointed. Because like with the latrines, the next step was decontaminating the shower stall. That was a similar process to the latrines, in fact, and as she worked she had a feeling she was going to get awfully used to the task by the time she finally escaped this camp.

  Maybe Hannah Nowak, irritating and morally bankrupt as she'd acted, hadn't actually been completely paranoid in her precautions. At least as long as she'd insisted on them in the middle of a quarantine camp, instead of out in the middle of nowhere.

  Once the decontamination was done, she was given a small bottle of shampoo like you'd get in hotels that was obviously meant to double as body wash. Passed with tongs through two tubs of bleach, of course. Then she was finally allowed into the stall for the much-anticipated event.

  “You get five minutes of water, so I'd turn it off to soap up!” Cathy called cheerfully as she closed the door.

  Somewhere in the distance Ellie heard Hal, who was still busy decontaminating, say, “Five minutes? Are you f-” Then the door was shut, closing her into her chemical-smelling stall.