Mostly confident.
She smiled and waved, then raised her voice to reach the back of the crowd. “Thank you, everyone, for this overwhelming show of support and friendship. I can honestly say that being in this quarantine camp will be one of the most memorable experiences of my life.”
A ripple of laughter spread across the crowd, and she let herself smile wider. “With plenty of good memories! It's been an honor to participate in programs which I hope have helped all of you here. I know they certainly made a difference for me. And I hope they'll continue to flourish under the capable leadership of the relief workers and resident volunteers after I leave.”
There was a brief burst of applause and a few supportive calls. Ellie waited for things to quiet down again, then concluded. “I also hope that all of you will consider your future outside of this camp. That's dominated my thoughts during my time here, and hopefully I've made what preparations I can. I guess I'll see when I step outside this gate.”
She waved again in farewell. “Thank you again, everyone, and take care!”
As another round of applause spread through the crowd, she and Hal turned towards the gate. They reached it just as it began to open, stepping outside to be greeted by the relief workers and guards.
The farewells here were similar, if a bit more formal. Thankfully her speech inside seemed to have satisfied this crowd as well, and Cathy and Officer Merrill were waiting at the far end of the group next to a carefully sterilized table. Her car key was sitting on it, on top of two laminated cards that she assumed were their 21 day certifications, complete with the date they'd been released: May 2nd.
To her surprise, beside those expected items were a couple cases of water and two fairly large boxes marked as containing rations. “What's this?” Hal asked as they approached the table, motioning to the supplies.
Cathy grinned at them through her faceplate. “I'm pretty sure I mentioned at some point that volunteering for work in the camp earns you extra rations or other perks. You guys never collected any of that, or even asked about it, but that doesn't mean you haven't earned it. And then some.”
Ellie somewhat sheepishly hefted her duffel bag, loaded with all the nonperishable food, extra water, and various canned and bottled drinks from the meals they'd been given in camp. Hal's was even more weighted down. “This isn't necessary,” she protested.
“Tough, it's already marked as delivered in payment for services rendered,” Officer Merrill growled, although he was also grinning behind his faceplate. “If we took it back now we'd be investigated for fraud and hoarding.”
She somehow doubted that was true, but she appreciated the sentiment. She turned to Cathy. “I wish I could hug you,” she said regretfully.
Her friend nodded, looking sad. “It would be safe for you to hug me, since you've gone through your three weeks, but not vice versa. Just imagine I'm giving you the biggest hug ever, though, because I certainly wish I was.”
Ellie felt herself tear up a little in spite of her resolve to stay composed. “Stay safe, here and wherever you're assigned next.” She turned to Merrill. “You too.”
He grunted and flicked his faceplate. “These hazmat suits aren't just for show.”
With a few final farewells to their friends and the rest of the group, they grabbed the returned car key and hauled their duffels to the parking space Merrill had described to them. If anything, the highway-turned-parking lot was even more crowded with cars than it had been when they'd arrived three weeks ago, although the vehicles were all still arranged with a free lane between them, so they could get out and continue on their way.
Ellie also noticed, with a bit of bemusement, that one of those street cleaners was edging down the open lane, spraying what she assumed was some sort of decontaminating chemical on the road and splashing the nearby cars. It had already passed the spot where their car should be, so she could only assume it was going to be splashed with the chemicals as well.
It took a few seconds of searching to find the red sedan she'd purchased in LA, since it was a ways down the highway. But finally she spotted a flash of red behind an SUV, and as they got closer she recognized her vehicle's chipped paint around the wheel wells. It looked none the worse for sitting out on the road for almost a month, including the tires fingers crossed, which meant they should be able to get in and drive off without delays.
With the passenger's side splashed with cleaning chemicals, they opened the doors on the nearer side to toss their stuff in. “Well, at least we know it's less likely to be contaminated with Zolos now,” Hal said, wrinkling his nose at the chlorine smell. “And it should be dry by the time we get back from checking the community.”
Ellie was thinking more about the fact that they'd be able to drive away from the quarantine camp with less chance of the virus getting on the tires, or being blown onto the exterior on dust or something. There was no saying how effective the precaution actually was, but she appreciated the effort.
They quickly transferred the unexpected windfall of food and water from the table into the trunk, then waved one last time to the people still hanging around. Finally they began circling the outside of the fence towards the new community their friends had built. Keeping well away from the fence, of course.
As they walked Ellie stared back into the camp they'd just left, feeling surprisingly wistful. “Kind of feels weird to be looking in at the place. It seems so much smaller.”
Her boyfriend put his arm around her shoulders. “Going to miss it?”
She laughed. “No. The people and what we accomplished here, sure, but I wouldn't mind never having to go in another place like this again.”
“Yeah.” He stared ahead at the community they were headed for, which was still out of view behind a hill and some trees. “Think that's why they didn't want to be in sight of it?”
Ellie shrugged, and they settled into a relaxed silence until the community came into view.
It was . . . what she should've expected, but hadn't. Somewhere between a tent city and a shanty town, with a dozen small huts under construction. In a nearby field a tractor the community had somehow gotten their hands on was turning the earth in preparation for planting, and smoke rose from a communal cooking area where a few makeshift stovetops over campfires and several camping stoves were in use as settlers got to work making dinner.
She couldn't help but notice that even though there should've been as many as a couple hundred people in the new settlement, based on those who'd said they were heading here after they got out of the quarantine camp, she only saw fifty or so settlers. More might've been in their tents, or out and about scavenging or something, or even visiting friends at the camp, but even so . . .
Were people realizing how difficult building a new settlement from scratch actually was, and abandoning the effort for some other alternative? That would be disappointing, although she supposed she couldn't exactly blame them if they had.
It was a lot of work, and the fruits of their labor would mostly be long-term. That could be really demoralizing for people who weren't used to investing so much time in order to gain greater rewards down the road.
Or even for those who were, sometimes.
Would her own fresh start with Hal and the kids be just as daunting? Ellie suddenly felt tired, and had the strong urge to beg off visiting the community after all. She'd already thrown so much into her projects at the camp, she wasn't sure if she had the energy at the moment for anything but making the final push to see her kids.
Everything else could wait until then.
But if there was one thing consulting had taught her, it was that the work didn't wait until you'd had a chance to rest and recharge. There was time for that once the project was over. She'd never gone back on a commitment unless she was physically incapable of meeting it, and even then she tried to make it up.
So she took her boyfriend's hand and headed down to the new community so they could see the progress their friends had made.
Even more importantly, apparently the nearby quarantine camp's relief workers had been helping where they could, and trying to arrange to make sure the community had some of the bigger and harder to acquire items it needed. Including construction tools, seeds, and more farming equipment.
As for hunting and scavenging, the community was being cautious about it thanks to Zolos. And they insisted on only taking in new arrivals who'd come directly from the quarantine camp, with certification that they'd been through the 21 days.
Their friends even jokingly insisted Ellie and Hal display theirs, so they sheepishly pulled the laminated cards from their pockets to a chorus of teasing oohs and aahs.
It was an enjoyable visit, and Ellie did her best to focus on her friends' descriptions of their efforts so she could offer advice and encouragement. But if she was being honest with herself her mind was far away, in Kansas City, filled with images of Nick's apartment and her children waiting eagerly for her.
Thankfully Hal seemed happy to throw himself into a discussion about the ongoing construction, giving advice about problems they were encountering and warnings about how to avoid problems they'd encounter in the future.
“It's a shame Zolos requires all these smaller structures,” he said as he inspected the most far along of the new shacks. “The bigger you make a structure, the less materials and labor it requires for each extra person you're able to house. As long as you build it for that purpose . . . a barracks or longhouse that can hold fifty people is vastly more efficient than fifty one-room huts.”
The settlers glanced at each other. “We are all certified free of Zolos,” a woman Ellie didn't know by name pointed out thoughtfully.
Another settler named Landry shook his head firmly. “Half the reason we agreed on individual housing is so that if one of us somehow comes in contact with Zolos and there is an outbreak, we'll be separated enough that it won't spread to the entire community before it can be contained.”
The woman scowled. “That's all well and good, but at this rate we'll still be building houses in the middle of winter.”
That was an exaggeration, of course, but her argument wasn't completely wrong. Unfortunately, there wasn't much the settlers could do about it because the problem came from a conscious choice to do the extra work in order to be safer from the virus. Complaining about it didn't change anything, as long as they were resolved to keep to their plan.
Ellie finally managed to indicate to Hal, through increasingly less subtle hints until she was practically dragging him by the arm towards the car, that they should cut this conversation about construction short and get going.
He finally let her get started saying their final goodbyes to their friends, wishing the settlement the best of luck, and then they were on their way to the car. Thankfully, from that point nothing stopped them from starting the vehicle, her boyfriend behind the wheel for the first leg of the trip, and getting going on the drive.
They were mostly silent for the first stretch maneuvering between parked cars, heading south towards Colorado Springs. They'd circle east around it on side roads until they could get on Highway 24, then take that east until it connected them to I-70, which would take them the rest of the way home.
They managed to navigate the smaller roads to reach the highway without incident, at which point Hal made a satisfied noise and leaned back in the driver's seat, holding the wheel at arm's length as he stared down the highway.
“Well we're out of the camp,” he said cheerfully. “We have a car and enough fuel to get us to KC and then some, we've confirmed that aside from needing to swing wide around Topeka and a few other places, I-70 is clear all the way home, and we're on our way moving at a good speed.” He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Considering what we've gone through to get this far, what do you think's going to go wrong next?”
“Don't you dare!” Ellie said. “Things are difficult enough without tempting fate like that.”
Her boyfriend grinned, keeping his focus on the road. “Speaking of tempting fate, you think we'll run into the Nowaks along the way? If they're still on foot we'll pass them in no time.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, smile widening. “Hey, we could even offer them a ride.”
She made a face. “Ugh, talk about tempting fate.”
He laughed. “Guess it would be best if we got into the lane as far away from them as possible and just sped on by. Maybe give them a friendly wave as we pass.”
“That sounds better,” she agreed, shifting the backrest to be more comfortable as she settled in for the long drive ahead. “I don't want to stop until we reach home.”
✽✽✽
Ellie pretty much got her wish; in spite of everything they'd been through, in spite of the death and chaos gripping the nation, the trip to Kansas City was as uneventful as any other long drive she'd made.
Of course, it helped that the National Guard was patrolling all the main interstate highways, keeping the peace and preventing Zolos outbreaks. And even more so, it helped that they had the gas they needed to get them home; the closest they'd had to come to stopping to refuel was to grab a full can from the trunk.
Even so, considering the tumultuous journey from LA to Colorado Springs, Ellie had never anticipated that the worst she'd have to fear for the rest of the drive was boredom. The nine or so hours needed to make the trip, including a few mandatory detours around quarantined cities, went by uneventfully.
She spent most of the time staring out the window at the scenery or chatting with Hal. Their plans for when they got home were already made and talked over exhaustively, so mostly they just pointed out interesting landmarks or talked about past road trips.
It almost made her feel like the world was normal again, for a while. Especially after it got dark, and became harder to see the grim details about the cities they drove through along the interstate or circled around. Signs of the Zolos threat and just how many people had died to it, the military and relief convoys and quarantine camps and torn apart cities, mostly faded into the darkness.
Their world became the patch of road lit by the headlights, and the dim, quiet interior of the car. Ellie could practically picture driving right to Nick's apartment, parking, and walking to the door. She'd open it without a hitch, step inside, and be joyfully tackled by her children in a warm glow of love and laughter.
It wasn't even unrealistic, either. After all, with Nick and the kids holed up in his apartment for the entire time she and Hal had been in the camp, they were just as safe as she and her boyfriend were. They could all join together without a hitch and get to work surviving this disaster.
Pleasant as that hope was, it was dashed when they topped the last rise overlooking Kansas City and saw that it was burning.
Ellie could hardly believe her eyes as Hal slowed to a stop in the middle of the empty highway. She'd heard from Cathy that a few hysterical or paranoid mobs in big cities had been burning down Zolos infected neighborhoods to try to curtail the disease, but she'd never expected to see it in her own home city.
The fires were mostly south of the Missouri River, far from her house and Nick's apartment in north Kansas City. That should've filled her with relief, even if the flames had spread across several areas of the city.
But somehow the empty darkness north of the river was just as disquieting. Even beyond the fact that there were no fires up there, she couldn't see a single source of light at all: no streetlights or car headlights or lit up businesses or anything.
Just dark night, as if the city ended at the river.
Then she jumped as a distant flash broke the darkness across the water, probably closer to her house than Nick's apartment. Which was good, since her house was far from where her kids currently were. The
flash came again, then again, then she saw more muted flashes coming from behind a building not far from the first.
Her first thought was fireworks, but somehow she didn't think so. “Is that . . . flashes from gunshots?” she whispered, as if afraid of being heard. Which was ridiculous considering they were miles away.
Hal rolled down his window, listening, but the flashes were gone and they didn't hear any telltale noises. Not even the roar of the distant fires could be heard at this distance. He could only shake his head grimly as he rolled his window back up.
Desperate as Ellie was to get to her children, she suddenly wondered if it was wise to go down there in the darkness. She tried to imagine her headlights being the only source of light in the darkened city, inviting unwanted attention from whoever was shooting at each other down there. Or driving around without headlights and probably still drawing unwanted attention from just the engine noises, but not seeing the danger coming until it was already upon them.
Hal seemed to feel the same way. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “It could be dangerous to drive around in the city at night.”
“You want to wait until morning?” she asked, half relieved and half irrationally angry. She wanted to see her kids now. Especially with the city burning around them.
He nodded. “Kearney might be safer, and my place is near the edge of town anyway. Maybe we should go there, check on my family, and get some rest. It's just five or six hours until dawn, then we can head into KC.”
Her boyfriend paused, as if sensing her reluctance. “Did I mention I like hunting? I've got a scoped .308 rifle back at my apartment. Having that when we head into the city might be a good idea.” She heard a soft creak and realized his hands were clenched on the steering wheel. “Then I'd actually be able to protect you.”
It was obvious he was thinking about Watkins, where both of them had been helpless to stop the robbers who kidnapped them. She had a feeling he'd never stopped beating himself up for what she'd suffered there.
Isolation (Book 2): Going Out Page 28