Isolation (Book 2): Going Out Read online

  So she was on her own, needing to get away from her home and the tragedy that had occurred there.

  Her supplies running out a few days later was just the excuse she needed to leave. She'd avoided the quarantine camp, where she certainly would've been imprisoned for the full three weeks as a Zolos carrier, and had instead driven south in self-imposed exile, staying away from towns and people. Driving on smaller roads she'd eventually ended up in the Stanberry quarantine camp, where she'd been doing her best to help other survivors.

  The fact that she'd chosen to leave that duty behind to join the scavengers made Nick wonder if being around so many Zolos patients served as a constant reminder of her lost loved ones, and she'd been eager to get away.

  Lila turned out to have a similar story, although she was reluctant to offer it.

  She'd been living on a farm twenty or so minutes away from St. Joe until she lost her entire family to Zolos and was left to fend for herself. It was only when looters attacked her in her house, thankfully fleeing once they realized it was full of the virus and she was infected, that she'd decided it wasn't safe to stay there any longer. So she'd driven north in her family's car, eventually finding Stanberry and being directed to the quarantine camp.

  As for Charlie's story, he didn't have much to say. He admitted he and his surviving son were from St. Louis, where their family had holed up in voluntary quarantine as soon as they'd learned about the threat of infection. Unfortunately, somehow one of them had been exposed to Zolos before they knew of the danger, and he, his wife, his son, and his mother-in-law living with them had all gotten sick.

  It sounded like a nightmare, with only Charlie barely strong enough to crawl around, struggling to care for himself and his loved ones as they all got sicker and sicker. Zolos had taken its toll until only he and his son remained, and it was a miracle he'd been able to keep them both alive.

  When their supplies finally ran out he'd been able to walk, barely, and his son could crawl, so they'd gotten in their car and driven northwest into more rural areas, searching for help. Like the others, they'd ended up in the Stanberry quarantine camp.

  The man obviously hated having to leave his son in the care of others. But as one of the few survivors strong enough to scavenge, he was here to gather supplies to guarantee they'd both have what they needed to fully recover and survive until things got back to normal. Without having to rely on the dubious charity of people who clearly didn't like having them around.

  That was something all the new scavengers seemed to agree on.

  Once it became clear everyone had shared as much about themselves as they were comfortable with for the moment, Nick changed the subject to providing as detailed a description of Wensbrook as he could, so they knew what to expect. Then he got their input in planning the work ahead.

  Speaking of which, on the hill overlooking Wensbrook he stopped the convoy and gathered everyone around to get their first look at the town. “Just a few things before we go in,” he told the circle of attentive faces. “First off, it'll probably be fastest if we all take different houses to search, but I'd like us to always stay in sight of each other. So far things have been pretty safe down there, but that's no reason not to be cautious.”

  Everyone nodded at that.

  “Since we have walkie-talkies I want everyone to check in regularly, every hour or so. Also, call in if you see anything suspicious, or if you need help. I haven't encountered anyone in these houses yet, but check to make sure a house isn't occupied before going inside. If it is, apologize and move on to the next one.”

  “What if the occupants start taking pot shots at us?” Charlie asked.

  Nick could only shrug helplessly. “Be ready to bolt for cover. Also, make it clear from the first that we're here on behalf of Stanberry. Speaking of which . . .” He headed back to his truck for the satchel Darby had given him, reaching inside to hand out stacks of the notices the Mayor had provided when Nick first started scavenging. “One of these goes on the front door of every place we search.”

  Ben accepted a stack, dubiously reading the top notice. “We're making sure everyone knows exactly who stripped this town bare?”

  Chet read over his brother's shoulder. “Makes us feel a bit less like common looters, though,” he said with a shrug.

  Nick finished handing a pile of notices to Val and stepped back. “Unless someone's got something to add, let's head down there and get started.”

  Lila cleared her throat. With her sturdy build and honest farm girl features she didn't strike Nick as the timid sort, but she definitely looked nervous. “What if we get attacked? What do we do to protect ourselves?”

  Charlie nodded at that. “The town didn't issue us weapons or anything, and this seems like it could be a dangerous job.”

  Nick patted the 9mm holstered on his hip. “I found this in the first house I searched. As far as I'm concerned, if you find weapons you can use to defend yourselves with while scavenging, hold onto them. I've been spending a half hour or so every morning practicing shooting in a nice isolated spot I found down there, and practicing drawing from the holster too. If we find more weapons and enough ammo, I suggest we keep doing that.”

  “Fine by me,” Lila said, a dark expression briefly flashing across her face. He wondered if she was still shaken by being attacked in her home. If so he could certainly sympathize.

  He looked around. “Any last questions or suggestions before we head down?”

  The scavengers looked around at each other for a few seconds. “Do we just get started on the nearest street?” Chet asked.

  “As good a place as any,” Nick agreed. “We just need to make sure we mark every house, and do our best to plan out a good search pattern so we don't miss anything or waste time backtracking.”

  Ben clapped his hands. “All right, then. Let's go.” The others nodded and turned back towards their trucks.

  “Just one last thing before we head down there,” Nick said. At his serious tone his team turned back, attentive. He looked them over solemnly for a few seconds before continuing. “I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but these are people's homes. Zolos might've claimed those people, or they've left looking for help and won't return, but even so they deserve respect.”

  He turned to look down at the quiet little town. “So once we've confirmed these houses are unoccupied, we find the most non-destructive way possible to get inside. We go in, take what's necessary for survival, and leave the place as undisturbed as possible.”

  Charlie cleared his throat. “I take it that means we leave any money or valuables behind?”

  Nick nodded firmly. “That's right. We're doing this to help the people in the quarantine camp and Stanberry, not to enrich ourselves.”

  He'd been half afraid some of his new scavengers might grumble at that, but they all looked almost relieved. As if they'd had their own reservations about the job, and this made them feel better about it.

  Chet shrugged lazily. “Valuables are heavy and take up space, and they're not going to be much use for trade anyway when everyone's just trying to survive. We've already got our work cut out for us getting the supplies everyone needs, without wasting time and space in the trucks.”

  Nick nodded, grateful at the show of support. “All right, then, let's get scavenging.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jackpot

  Darby's insistence on searching the houses was vindicated within the first few hours.

  Nick and Charlie had been busy moving the meager haul from a house they'd just finished searching when Ben called over the radio, asking everyone to join him and his brother just down the street.

  The man sounded excited rather than alarmed, but even so Nick glanced worriedly at the older man working with him, then dropped his hand to the grip of his 9mm and hurried outside to make sure Tallie was safe. She seemed fine, giving him a cheerful wave, so as Charlie joined him he looked down the street in both directions to check on the other two trucks and the
ir occupants.

  He found Val and Lila staring in bemusement towards the brothers, who were both jumping up and down waving eagerly for everyone to join them. The house they were in front of was a nondescript little place, with newly washed white vinyl siding and a yard that looked as if it had been well maintained up until its occupants evacuated.

  Nick fetched his daughter, and he and Charlie walked down the street to see what was going on.

  “Jackpot, boss!” Ben called cheerfully as they arrived. “This place's basement is loaded. Come take a look!”

  As the two women joined them, Chet led the way around to a pair of sturdy storm doors that had been pulled open wide. The steep stairs led down into a surprisingly clean, dry basement that looked like it had been painstakingly sealed against rainwater. There was even a dehumidifier plugged into a power strip in one corner, although obviously with the power out it was no longer functioning.

  Even so, there was only the faintest smell of mold and mildew. Which was good, because the entire basement was stuffed wall to wall with boxes, storage bins, 7-gallon buckets, and shelves loaded with cans, with a few aisles just wide enough to accommodate a hand truck to give access to everything. Every single container was marked with what food was stored inside, all of it raised off the concrete floor on wooden pallets to protect against the damp, and stacked all the way to the low ceiling.

  At a glance Nick spotted hundreds or maybe even thousands of pounds of wheat, rice, and dried beans. There were cans of olive and vegetable oil and tubs of honey and molasses, number ten cans of chili and stew, and cases of smaller cans of beans, vegetables, fruit, and other things. There were clear plastic bins full of various spices, and sealed buckets full of salt and sugar.

  And that was just what caught his eye. It was hard to even guess how long this much food could feed a single person for, but he had a feeling it was years. It could probably feed a decent sized family for years.

  Charlie swore softly as he climbed down into the basement behind him. “These folks were really serious about being ready for a disaster.”

  “Shame that in spite of all their work, Zolos caught them by surprise,” Ben said, unusually sober. He pointed to one of the plastic bins that wasn't marked as containing food. “Look, this one is full of hazmat suits, latex gloves, surgical masks, hand sanitizer, and medical supplies. If I'd gone to this much trouble to get all this ready only to get sick anyway, I'd be pretty pissed. Like the universe was giving me the finger.”

  Chet was equally serious. “Kind of feels like the universe did give us the finger, bro,” he said quietly.

  A somewhat uncomfortable silence fell. Nick didn't know what the others were thinking, but his mind was full of everything he'd been through since the outbreak started. He absently rubbed Tallie's back, forcing his mind back to the present. “Did you check the house?”

  Ben nodded, also seeming to pull himself out of dark thoughts. “It looked pretty normal, although we found a serious gun safe in the closet of what looked like an office.”

  Chet snorted. “Fat chance we're getting into it, though. Not unless we can find the combination written down somewhere.”

  Nick looked around at the basement stuffed with food. “I get the feeling it might be worth looking for.”

  So far they'd only found one gun, a slightly rusty .22 rifle with no ammo to be found for it. He could tell that the others, Lila especially, were itching for the means to protect themselves. Which was understandable when they'd spent the last few hours searching through empty houses in this unsettling, abandoned town where anyone could be waiting for them.

  If the gun safe was as well stocked as this basement, they might find enough weapons for them all to be able to defend themselves, and then some. An ideal solution, since every gun from the sporting goods store was out of reach in the stockpile, waiting out the 21 days until they were safe for Stanberry's residents to use.

  Nick straightened his shoulders, turning to the others. “Val, Charlie, can you give the house a more thorough search, try to find the combination and whatever else is worth taking? The rest of us will get to work loading all of this into the trucks.”

  Lila looked less than enthusiastic about being separated from her friend, but it couldn't be helped; there was a lot of stuff to move, and the two people with the least physical strength were more suited to searching the house while the rest of them did the heavy lifting.

  Not that he didn't intend for everyone to pull their own weight as much as they were able, but his gut told him this house warranted taking the time for a more thorough search.

  They got to work clearing the basement, using the hand trucks as much as they could and passing things from person to person for the rest. Nick tried not to compare his efforts to that of the two brothers, but he couldn't help but notice that it took everything he had to stagger along holding a 50-pound bucket in either hand. Meanwhile, the younger men ambled around with their burdens and tossed them up into the truck like they were full of feathers.

  Well, if he kept this up for a few more weeks he'd be right there with them. He was already in much better shape than he'd been just a week ago.

  Even with all of them working, it took a few hours to move all the food and emergency supplies from the basement and load it into the brothers' truck. Of course, part of that time was when they paused to see what the searchers had found in the house.

  The bad news was that Val and Charlie hadn't found the combination. Not even after tearing the office apart, looking for papers taped on the bottoms of drawers or tucked inside books. They'd found a few strings of numbers on documents and the like that with a very tenuous stretch of reasoning might've worked as a combination, but no dice.

  What they had found, however, was two bulletproof vests buried beneath other stuff next to the gun safe. They'd also found a generous stash of over the counter medication, everything from painkillers to cold medicine, along with several bottles that were marked as livestock antibiotics, complete with dosing conversion tables for people.

  A small pantry under the stairs had held more of the same type of food they'd found in the basement. Not nearly as much as down there, of course, but enough to show that whoever had lived in this house had not only stocked away plenty for an emergency but was also eating from it.

  Although the kitchen cabinets did hold the food items you'd more usually expect to find, junk food and nonperishable cooking ingredients and things like that.

  Val sheepishly admitted she'd even opened the fridge. Nick had warned them about that before they got started, of course, but considering how much other amazing stuff they'd found here she'd decided it was worth a look. It turned out there was a big pack of AA batteries and a smaller one of 9-volts in one of the crisper drawers, but useful as that find could be she admitted she regretted looking in there.

  There were a few other assorted useful items, including a couple skinning knives and a machete in the closet of one of the bedrooms, along with a hunting crossbow, a pair of binoculars, and a camping backpack with a few supplies still inside.

  Definitely worth searching the place for and then some, although he regretted that they hadn't found the safe combination. He marked down the address to give to Darby, in case the man could think of some way to get the thing open, then they finished loading everything in the truck and prepared to move on.

  After a brief debate everyone agreed to let Val and Lila have the bulletproof vests, which the young woman especially seemed to appreciate. She'd also grabbed the machete and now wore it on her belt, occasionally drawing it halfway from its canvas sheath as if checking to make sure it didn't get stuck.

  Again, she didn't strike Nick as the paranoid type. He wondered she was more shaken by those looters attacking her house than she let on. If so, that just made it all the more impressive that she'd volunteered to come out scavenging in spite of the danger.

  Although he was still worried for the teenager. He wanted to help however he could, but he wa
sn't sure if she'd appreciate his prying. So as everyone split up to get back to searching houses, he pulled Val aside.

  “Listen,” he said quietly, “I'm glad you've taken Lila under your wing. I just wanted to make sure she's doing okay. She seems pretty worried about the danger.”

  The auburn-haired woman hesitated, as if about to say something, then just shook her head grimly. “Hard to blame her. It can be hard to get over being attacked in your own home, where you should feel most safe.”

  “Yeah, I can sympathize with that after those guys broke into my apartment.” Nick shifted uncomfortably. “Maybe I could talk to her? Let her know I understand what she's going through.”

  Val's expression twisted slightly for some reason, an emotion he had a hard time reading, and she shook her head firmly. “How about you let me see what I can do for her for now, okay?” She patted his arm. “Thanks for showing concern.”

  “Sure.” He left her to rejoin her friend, judging the matter as resolved as it could be for the moment, and went to fetch Tallie from where she'd been lounging on the lawn in the shade of the moving truck. She was probably thirsty, maybe hungry too, and might also need to go potty.

  “Come on, sweetie girl,” he told her. “Let's make sure you've got everything you need, then you can take a nap in the moving truck while I grab Charlie and we search another house.”

  ✽✽✽

  In spite of their hard work, Nick and his new team of scavengers didn't quite manage two full trips of loading and unloading their trucks that day.

  Part of that was because with the first load they brought back, the others insisted on driving the trucks right up to a spot near the quarantine camp close to the Zolos survivors. There they unloaded everything they've scavenged specifically for the people there, which amounted to almost a full truckload by itself.

  The bedridden people and their exhausted caretakers were jubilant at the haul, which would immeasurably improve conditions for them. Especially the big portable pavilions Charlie had found in the sporting goods store, which combined with tarps for walls should make good shelters. And a big high-end outdoor grill they'd found behind one house, along with several extra tanks of propane they'd found in that house's shed and at a couple other houses with grills.