“Anyone can prey on people's fears for ten minutes of fame,” Ellie said. “And if anyone knows fear, it seems to be those two.” She took his hand and held it gently. “In the end, though, as the people we've been helping leave this camp, physically and mentally healthy and with a plan for moving forward in this disaster, our work will have made a difference for each and every one of them. You think the Nowaks will be able to say the same?”
“I'm sure they'll try,” he grumbled, although he was smiling and looked heartened by her words. He lifted her hand and brushed his lips across her fingers, then his voice became brisk as he climbed out of bed. “Okay then. Morning exercise groups?”
✽✽✽
Surprisingly, Sector F remained fairly quiet in spite of the outbreak scare in the night. People seemed to accept that it had been small and was now contained, and even the residents who'd lived closest to the infected couple didn't seem too worried.
Of course, on the other hand Ellie's yoga class and school class that morning, then in the afternoon her grief counseling session and the group for making plans for what everyone would do once leaving the camp, and even her socializing groups scattered throughout the day and the exercise class before dinner, were all more sparsely attended than they'd been since the beginning.
People might not have been panicking, but they were taking extra precautions.
That was disheartening, but in a bit of good news at least when Cathy came around to talk that evening before the movie, she let them know that the drop-off in attendance hadn't been nearly as bad in the rest of the camp.
“We even had record attendance at the meetings planning for the future,” she said. “I guess the possibility of Zolos in camp jolted a lot of people into wanting to be ready for when they get out of here, so they can try to rebuild their lives without endangering themselves.”
That was good to hear. “Have you been able to get in contact with federal services about what they can do to help relocate camp residents whose homes no longer have utilities?” Ellie asked.
The relief worker grimaced. “Everyone, you mean?”
“Yeah, unfortunately.” In Ellie's efforts to help people plan for the future, she'd discovered that a surprising amount of those with nowhere else to go, or who were too intimidated by the danger to risk further travel, were actually talking about staying near the camp when they got out. They wanted to try to build a new town here, with the aid of the camp's guards and coordinators.
She'd broached the idea with Cathy, who seemed leery about it. The relief efforts of the camp were supposed to be a short term thing, an emergency measure until Zolos was contained or, more ideally, a cure found. The relief workers had to be ready to move where they were needed on short notice, and having a permanent settlement of people depending on them interfered with that.
For that matter, Ellie and Hal had needed to make it clear that they couldn't stay once their quarantine period was up. The people most behind the idea of making a permanent settlement had seemed disappointed when they broke that news, although they understood her and her boyfriend's need to get to their families as quickly as possible.
She was encouraging them to plan the settlement anyway, and doing what she could to help them sort out the logistics of such a permanent community. Although it would certainly help if they could coordinate with the relief workers and camp guards to make their dream a reality.
Cathy shook her head. “Most of the resources they'll need aren't too big a concern, aside from medical ones that are currently taxed beyond our limits. The country has just lost so many people already, and all signs indicate we'll lose far more, so I can't see us running out of food or fuel anytime soon.”
The woman wore a grieving expression as she said that, but it was obvious she'd been faced with the reality of their situation for so long that she was no longer trying to dance around the subject.
“The permanent settlers will have to find a way to get those resources here, I'm guessing?” Hal said.
“Probably. We won't leave them hanging, but we have to be ready to move at a moment's notice.” The relief worker paused, glancing towards the movie screen, which had just lit up as the coordinators prepared to start the movie. “Well, looks like it's quitting time for me.” She waved. “See you tomorrow.”
Hal was already spreading out his blanket at the entrance of their tent as Cathy walked away. Ellie ducked inside to grab her blanket to wrap around them, snuggling in with him to watch the movie.
“While we're talking about the future,” her boyfriend said quietly as he wrapped an arm around her, “any thoughts about how we're going to get the remaining distance to KC?”
She shook her head with a frown. Her best idea had been to ask the relief workers if she could hitch a ride with one of their convoys heading east when the time came. That was going to take some convincing, since policy was apparently to turn down hitchhikers, especially with Zolos such a risk.
But with a lot of wheedling she'd at least been able to convince Cathy, Officer Merrill, and a few others among the guards and workers she'd gotten to know to promise they'd do what they could to find her a ride.
“How about you?” Ellie asked. “Any luck finding someone in camp who's getting out at about the same time as us, is heading east, and might want to carpool?”
“Not yet,” he said. “But we've still got almost half our time left until we're out. We'll find something.”
She hoped so, because it was going to be a long walk otherwise. “Hey, at least we're making lots of friends with our projects. More chances of catching a lucky break.”
“Mmm,” her boyfriend agreed, and they settled down to enjoy the movie.
✽✽✽
The problem started a bit after noon the next day, with the usual suspects.
Ellie and Hal had just finished lunch and were on their way to their next activities, grief counseling for her and teaching an English class to a group of teenagers for him. They'd been able to jump right back into the swing of things with the lockdown over, and thankfully in spite of the disruption attendance was still decent. More than she'd expected, honestly.
“Hey, Peter, how's it going?” her boyfriend called to a passing guard, who was moving in a hurry and still in the process of adjusting his hazmat suit, as if he'd just come from the camp he shared with the other law enforcement and relief workers.
The man nodded curtly. “Westmont.”
Hal wasn't deterred by his tone, quickening his pace to match the other man's. “Hey, you know what this joke and Olympic pole vaulters desperate to get out of this place have in common?”
Peter grunted. “They both go right over my head?”
Ellie snickered, and her boyfriend grinned as he replied. “Heard that one already?”
The guard shook his head, although she thought she saw a hint of a smile touch his grim expression. “It might not turn out to be a joke after all, unfortunately.”
Something in his tone made Ellie sober. “Why? What's going on?”
Peter scowled through his faceplate, although not at them. “Some of the residents were seriously ticked about the fact that we only kept Sector F locked down for a day, instead of for five so we could make sure again that nobody inside is showing symptoms. They're starting up a protest near the entrance.”
“A protest?” Hal repeated, surprised. “Are we sure that's all it is?”
“Fingers crossed.” The guard shifted his scowl down to the strap of the beanbag shotgun slung over one shoulder. Or maybe to the belt around his hazmat suit with its canisters of pepper spray and other crowd control items. “I wasn't too happy getting issued these . . . I'd hate to have to actually use them.”
From what Ellie was able to determine as they came close enough to the entrance to see what was going on, it looked as if the man was going to be even less happy soon.
The “starting up” protest was already dozens of people strong, and a very vocal and angry dozens of people. They we
re drawing curious onlookers from all over the camp, and more were joining their numbers by the second.
In fact, it was looking less and less like just a protest by the second. She felt a prickle at the back of her neck as she stared at the growing crowd, her instincts for this sort of thing warning that she was looking at a group that was on the verge of getting out of control.
She wasn't the only one who seemed to feel that way; Peter took one look at the situation and immediately bolted back the way he'd come. Probably to get reinforcements from among the off-duty guards and relief workers.
That wasn't a good sign, because it looked as if all the other relief workers and guards in the area had also sensed trouble and fled, wary about being exposed to Zolos during some sort of confrontation. Ellie had a feeling that by the time the camp's administrators managed to gather enough numbers to feel confident handling the protest, it would've grown beyond their control and their efforts would be too late.
Which meant someone needed to do something now, while the group was small and still gaining its momentum.
“What are you-” Hal began worriedly as she began to circle the growing crowd so she could face them from the front, closer to the entrance. When she didn't slow or reply he cursed, then hurried to keep up with her. “I hope you trained for this.”
Trained for it, yes. Actually dealt with a volatile situation on this scale? Not so much.
The crowd was chanting and shaking their fists at the two relief workers huddled behind the thick glass of the help booth, seeming to enjoy the distress they were causing the poor man and woman. Ellie moved in front of the booth to confront the crowd directly, raising her voice to be heard over the discontented rumbling. “People, people! Let's try to calm down and work through this peacefully.”
Before anyone in the crowd could pause to take in her entreaty, a mousy woman at its head stepped forward to face Ellie with a look of mingled hatred and triumph. She seemed to have finally found her courage with a mob behind her.
“Shut your mouth, Eleanor!” Hannah shouted. “This isn't one of your stupid yoga classes!”
As far as Ellie knew she'd never given anyone but the Nowaks a reason to resent her, but even so the rest of the crowd showed solidarity by hooting and jeering at that. She forced her expression to remain calm and shouted over the noise again. “Whatever the problem is, there's no reason we can't solve it through discussion!”
“Discussion is exactly the problem!” the other woman shouted back. She turned to address the people with her. “We were all forced at gunpoint to come into this camp, for our safety supposedly. But the one thing it had going for it was that we were all going to stay safely separated until we could get out. So how's that working out?”
She pointed at Ellie and Hal, expression full of loathing. “Instead, we've got groups forming all over the place to chatter like magpies about their problems or do stretches and poses, as if this was some sort of spa! Groups that increase chances of a Zolos outbreak by a hundred times! A thousand! And what do you know but that suddenly we have an outbreak in Sector F, ground zero for this reckless socializing!”
Ellie stared at the woman in disbelief. At her side Hal stepped forward and raised his voice. “Come on, people, we all know what really happened with the outbreak. It came from one person who'd just got out of the isolation cells, spread to the man in the next tent she was having an affair with. It had nothing to do with what we've been doing!”
“So you say!” Brock shouted, stepping up beside his wife. “Either way, it's proof that Zolos is in this camp. We have a right to not be trapped in here like rats until we catch the disease and die!”
There was a loud rumble of agreement from the group. And, Ellie couldn't help but notice, from the crowd that was gathering to watch the confrontation. “So your solution is to riot?” she demanded. “Spread the infection you fear so much through your own actions? What are you planning to do, burn down tents?”
Hannah laughed in pure scorn. “Sounds like you're projecting what you would do!” She waved innocently at the mob behind her, which was growing as onlookers realized what was going on and joined in. “We plan to just march to the fences, climb over, go to our cars, and drive away.”
It was Hal's turn to laugh. “That's still rioting. You think the camp guards are going to let dozens of potentially infected people just leave to spread the virus?” He waved at the Nowaks. “You guys are almost done with your time here anyway! Why risk getting shot when you're so close to the finish line?”
The couple hesitated, and Ellie jumped in before they could regain their momentum. “So just days away from getting out there's a tiny, swiftly contained outbreak in a quarantine camp and suddenly it's time to form a mob? Storm a bunch of law enforcement officers with crowd control measures who are just trying to keep us, and the rest of the country, safe?”
“And what if some of you are infected?” Hal added. “You want to help spread the Zolos plague that's killing millions of people, just because you don't want to wait a few weeks to be sure you're safe?”
The crowd rumbled again, sounding a bit more doubtful.
Even so, Ellie wasn't so naive as to believe her attempts at reason were swaying a group motivated largely by fear. Her debate with the Nowaks was probably only getting this much attention because it was no secret the couple despised her, and people wanted to watch the confrontation. But she was certain that when the crowd finally decided they'd heard enough, they'd sweep right past her and Hal as if they weren't there.
She looked around, searching for some more permanent answer to this impending crisis.
That turned out to be a mistake, because the crowd must've assumed she was losing confidence and looking for help. Which she supposed wasn't completely wrong. The swelling mob rumbled louder, starting to gain back their previous momentum.
The sound alarmed her, but to her confusion moments later the crowd's rumble also turned to one of alarm. Heads started to crane off to one side, accompanied by pointed fingers and shouted warnings, and a few people even bolted the opposite direction.
Ellie spun to see a score of men and women in hazmat suits with riot control gear outside the camp heading towards the entrance. Even from this distance, their postures made it clear they meant business.
“Quick, over the fence!” Brock yelled, pointing towards the fence and gate ahead. Nobody moved, people frozen by this new development or still trying to figure out what was going on. “We can outrun guys slowed down by hazmat suits!” he pressed frantically. “Let's go while we still can!”
A dozen or so people bolted for the fence ahead, and Ellie quickly ducked out of the way before she was trampled, Hal following while staying protectively between her and the crowd. In spite of the confusion she noticed that even though Brock was the one who'd made the suggestion, he and his wife were hanging back.
Watching to see what happened to their friends before they tried climbing over themselves?
Unfortunately, what happened was about what you'd expect, given the danger of spreading Zolos the would-be escapees represented. The guard at the head of the group raised a hand as if giving an order, and two men behind him raised intimidating looking weapons, shooting canisters towards the fence in front of the climbing residents.
The canisters began belching out what Ellie assumed was tear gas, which spread to cut off any path forward for those trying to hop the fence. The escapees with more common sense immediately jumped off and backed away, but a couple near the top were too slow. The cloud of gas caught them and within seconds they'd dropped painfully to the ground, one inside and one outside the fence, coughing and hacking with tears streaming from their eyes.
“Back the other way!” another man in the crowd shouted. “We can get across the camp and try climbing over there, before the guards can catch up to us!”
A handful of people hesitantly started that way, although before the rest of the crowd could make up its mind the man at the head of the approac
hing camp guards raised a bullhorn, his voice coming through in a sharp bark.
“Attention, residents. We've already called in for reinforcements from Colorado Springs to prepare to deal with an escape attempt in this camp! Make no mistake, their priority is to prevent potential infected from leaving here at all costs! If you leave this camp, we cannot guarantee your safety.”
Some of the would-be escapees kept running, although Ellie couldn't help but notice that Hannah and Brock weren't in that group. Looking around, she saw that the mousy woman had pulled her husband off to one side, well away from the crowd of protesters as if they'd never been a part of it.
Apparently the sight of people getting hit by tear gas was enough to take the fight out of the couple.
And they weren't the only ones; the restive crowd started to calm down almost immediately at the show of force. And while they still looked every bit as disgruntled, maybe even more so now that they had someone to direct their anger at, they seemed more willing to turn it back into a protest.
Aside from the handful of people still on their ill-advised mad dash for the far end of camp, that is. Ellie just hoped they came to their senses before they got there.
The guards quickly got the protest under control, dispersing the crowd and moving everyone back from the dissipating cloud of tear gas. They were also quick to provide aid to the two people who'd been hit by it.
Once things had calmed down a little, a large group of relief workers moved in and organized the protest so those who wanted to voice their complaints could do so in a peaceful, orderly fashion. Those concerns were seriously listened to and addressed, and Ellie felt that within ten minutes the crisis was averted and most people felt better about the camp and how it was being run.
Which wasn't to say there were zero consequences. It probably wasn't noticed by the group at large in all the confusion, but while the relief workers were busy soothing ruffled feathers, the camp guards had been equally hard at work collaring the people who'd been doing the ruffling.
Isolation (Book 2): Going Out Page 15