Isolation (Book 1): Shut In

by Jones, Nathan

  She didn't complain, and neither did Ricky. Still, even though Nick endured even less comfortable temperatures in his own room and office, he felt bad about that; he couldn't even afford to give his kids a properly heated apartment at all hours of the day.

  And here he was brooding again, while his daughter was up past her bedtime on a school night. Not only that, but lately she'd been staying awake instead of going right back to sleep.

  She should be used to this schedule by now, after being in kindergarten all fall and winter. Maybe it was the spring weather, or possibly he needed to crack the door wider to make sure the room wasn't getting too hot. Or maybe she was troubled by her mom not being there, even though she should be used to Ellie being away on business trips.

  But Nick supposed divorce was something different than a business trip. It had upset their children's lives more than he and his ex-wife would've wanted, even though they'd done their best to make the transition smooth. Tallie seeing her mom only half the time probably had more to do with having trouble sleeping than recently melted snow or a hot room.

  He bit back a sigh and lifted Tallie back down to the ground. “Get going, sweetie girl. If you hurry I'll read you another story.”

  The five-year-old gave a restrained squeal, just in time remembering how late it was, and darted out of the room. Nick wearily pushed to his feet and stretched, closing the lid on his laptop and picking up his phone to search for one of his daughter's favorite stories.

  If he was honest, the answer might be as simple as that Tallie had figured out if she didn't go right back to bed her daddy would read to her. Or maybe some combination of all those factors.

  What a mess. Everything was a mess.

  It might be tempting to sink into misery about how things were going now. But even if he sometimes had trouble believing his situation would get better in the future, he was determined to make it happen for his kids.

  Things would improve. He'd work as hard as he needed to for them, find a solution so he could give them the lives they deserved.

  Right after he got a good night's sleep. Or at least, as much as he could before he had to get up in the morning to get the kids off to school, touch base with Ellie to make sure she was still on schedule with her business trip to get back in time to take Ricky and Tallie for her turn in their shared custody agreement, and then get in contact with a client living in a time zone that demanded early calls.

  Another day done, another day to get through coming all too soon.

  ◆◆◆

  Ellie Feldman had never been one to complain or demand answers when it wouldn't make a difference. Like in a situation like this, where the flight attendants and pilots were obviously in the same boat they were, trapped on the tarmac outside Honolulu International Airport for no apparent reason.

  It wasn't as if they were delaying the process just to irritate everyone.

  On the other hand, she'd been on over a dozen flights in the last year for business, and she'd seen it all. Sometimes some mixup with available terminals or delays in other flights left a plane waiting on the tarmac for what felt like forever. The minutes dragging by with the pilot assuring them it was only a brief delay, as the flight attendants made preparations to help everyone disembark with all due haste once they were finally cleared to approach a terminal.

  It actually hadn't been as long yet as she'd sometimes had to wait, so she wasn't sure what was raising the hairs on the back of her neck. Maybe the relative silence from the pilots, or how the attendants kept disappearing behind the curtains for unusually long periods of time, and when they showed their faces their expressions revealed signs of strain beneath carefully professional masks.

  Something was up, Ellie could feel it. Her mind flashed over a dozen scenarios, everything from bomb threats to terrorists to hijackings to a pregnant woman going into labor. And in spite of her determination to be patient and wait for news rather than making a nuisance of herself, she began to wonder if she shouldn't at least ask what was going on.

  Thankfully, if she was hesitant to cause a scene, there were plenty of people on the flight who weren't; she didn't have to wait long before someone finally asked the questions she so badly wanted answers to.

  It was a woman a bit older than Ellie, also dressed in professional attire with the air of a traveling businesswoman. Probably facing deadlines and a crushing workload, and very conscious of the value of her time. Or its lack of availability.

  Ellie could sympathize.

  “Excuse me!” the woman called, standing and stepping into the aisle to confront a passing attendant. “What's the delay?”

  The airline employee wore the polite grimace of someone who's being paid to put up with this sort of thing. “Ma'am, please return to your seat and buckle back in,” she said in a calm, soothing tone. “The pilot will have an announcement shortly.”

  “Yeah, and my call is important to you and someone will be with me soon,” the passenger said sarcastically. “Why did our plane get sent to the limbo zone, while you guys are whispering about being waved away from the terminal?”

  Ellie snapped her head around to the window on the other side of the teenager she was seated beside. Sure enough, their plane had driven off the tarmac to a designated waiting area where it wouldn't get in the way of departing or arriving planes. Even more worryingly, there were other planes parked around them. Far more than she'd ever seen grounded before, to the point where they even crowded onto the tarmac itself. Also far more service vehicles than usual, and even what looked like the flashing lights of police and emergency vehicles painting the planes closest to the terminal in lurid red and blue light.

  Most worryingly of all, she didn't see a single plane parked at a terminal; they all stretched out into the distance, eerily deserted with their accordion connectors scrunched in tight.

  A bomb threat, then? An attack on the airport itself? Ellie did her best to slow her breathing as worry gave way to the beginnings of panic. What was going on? Would it delay her getting home to her children?

  Was she in danger?

  Almost without realizing it, she found herself on her feet addressing the flight attendant. “Why are there emergency vehicles surrounding those planes? Has something happened?”

  The woman gave her a pained look, opening her mouth to likely utter more empty reassurances. But before she could the intercom blared with the pilot's voice. “Attention passengers.” Even through the distortion of the speaker he sounded worried, which didn't do much for Ellie's nerves. “We've been informed that it is not safe to approach the terminal at this time. Please remain calm and in your seats, and prepare for a lengthy wait.”

  The young man beside her cursed. “You've got to be kidding me,” he muttered, glaring out the window. “It's always something.”

  The flight attendants had emerged from behind the curtains and were out in force. The one who'd spoken to the businesswoman earlier grabbed the mic for the intercom, speaking in a forced cheery tone. “Attention passengers. We'll be passing out blankets and pillows. A snack will be provided in an hour or so. Please avail yourselves of the in-flight entertainment or try to get some rest . . . we'll get you out of here as soon as we know it's safe.”

  Blankets and pillows? Sure, maybe back home in Missouri it was late, but it wasn't even nine o'clock here in Hawaii. Did they expect them to be here all night?

  “Can we use our phones?” Ellie called. “I need to check in on my children.”

  The woman was about to answer when she was once again interrupted. This time it was a nondescript man, dressed like a passenger but holding himself with a clear air of authority, who stepped through the curtain behind her. An air marshal? He whispered a few words to the flight attendant, and she gratefully handed him the mic.

  He faced them all with a grave expression. “Please pardon this interruption. I'm an air marshal, and I've been instructed to inform you that due to national security concerns, all passengers aboard this flight must imm
ediately turn off their phones and keep them off until given permission to do otherwise. They will not be confiscated at this time, but as of now anyone who is recorded making a call, or witnessed doing so, may face criminal charges upon disembarking the plane.”

  A dismayed murmur rose from the passengers, and Ellie protectively touched the pocket of her purse that held her phone. National security, criminal charges? What was going on?

  The air marshal cleared his throat sternly to quiet the chatter, looking around with a severe expression. “Let me make it very clear that, due to the nature of this situation, the legal penalties for noncompliance will be severe. I will be watching closely to ensure national security is upheld, and if at any point you see anyone seeking to use their phone, I urge you to apprise me of the situation.”

  He motioned curtly. “Please turn off your phones now.”

  Ellie joined the others in reaching for her phone and turning it off, while the air marshal watched them all like a hawk. The cabin filled with the chimes of so many devices powering down, although a few people didn't immediately move to comply, not so much out of defiance as bewilderment.

  “Why can't we call anyone, sir?” a man shouted from near the back. “Can you please tell us what's going on?”

  “All I can tell you is that we're not in immediate danger, and are not expected to be,” the air marshal replied with convincing sincerity; either he was a good liar or he believed it himself. “This is merely an inconvenience, one we request your patience for as we all wait it out.”

  Ellie couldn't help but wonder why they weren't allowed to make calls if this was just an inconvenience. But she accepted a pillow and blanket from a flight attendant and settled in to watch an in-flight movie.

  About half an hour later she saw the flight attendants once again stirring near the curtain, then their spokeswoman picked up the mic again. “We have more information,” she said. Her professional facade was a good one, but Ellie could see cracks a mile wide spreading across it; whatever her news was, it was bad.

  The other passengers must've seen the same thing, because there were none of the questions and demands she'd expected. Only silence, expectation mingled with growing dread hanging heavy in the cabin.

  The woman took a deep breath. “The State of Hawaii has officially declared an emergency lockdown on Honolulu International Airport. No arriving passengers are being allowed to disembark at this time.”

  Ellie felt a surge of alarm at the news, although she kept quiet to let the airline employee speak, knowing it was the best way to get all available information.

  Other passengers weren't so patient. “Lockdown?” the teenager seated beside her demanded. “What for? Is there a terrorist threat, are we under attack by another nation?”

  The flight attendant's face went visibly paler, and she had to swallow and clear her throat before she could speak. “We haven't been given specifics, sir,” she said quietly, words carried over the speakers to every inch of the hushed cabin. “They assure us that we're all safe, this is simply a precautionary measure.”

  “A precautionary measure that's forcing us to waste hours of our time?” an older woman a few rows in front of Ellie shouted. “If this airport is closed, are we going to be redirected to another one? Sent back to Tokyo, or on to somewhere else?”

  The poor airline employee shook her head. “I don't know, ma'am,” she said, voice barely audible in spite of the mic in her hand. “As the air marshal said, we're being told only as much as necessary in the interest of national security.” She straightened. “Please prepare to settle in for an extended wait. Get some sleep if you can. We'll inform you the moment we learn anything else.”

  Ellie didn't like that news, but unlike the other passengers who raised a storm of complaints and questions she merely snuggled into her blanket, put the headphones back on, and got back to watching her movie.

  Guess she'd be a bit late getting home to her kids.

  Chapter One: Rude Awakening

  Nick jolted awake as his ringtone sounded, blearily scrabbling around on his bedside table for his phone.

  Unfortunately, if being woken up halfway through his midafternoon nap hadn't left his nerves jangled enough, the moment he answered the call his worry and alarm ratcheted up a few more notches.

  “Nick Statton?” A woman's voice demanded before he could even say hello. She was almost drowned out by a cacophony of other voices in the background, most raised in fear and anger while a relative handful tried to speak calmly over them.

  “This is Nick Statton,” he said cautiously, an ominous feeling settling into his gut.

  The woman on the other end sounded so impatient and harried that he would've thought he was the one who'd called her at a bad time. “Sir, please shut up and listen carefully,” she snapped.

  Considering he hadn't said a word besides confirming his identity, all very calm and cooperative, that seemed a bit rude. But he shut up, and his irritation at her behavior vanished as she continued.

  “This is Middlecrest Elementary School. We have you listed as a shared custody parental guardian for Richard and Natalie Statton, and that they're in your care at this time. Is that correct?”

  “That's right,” Nick replied, concern ratcheting up a notch. What were all those people in the background shouting about? What was going on?

  The woman raised her voice a bit to be heard, tone fraying even more around the edges. “Sir, we're calling to inform you that you need to pick up your children.” A jolt of pure panic nearly made him freak out at that, but he clenched his teeth and let her continue. “A general evacuation has been called for the school, and all parents are being advised to immediately pick up their children and bring them home, then place your home under quarantine until further notice.”

  Quarantine? What the blue blazes?

  Nick's panic morphed into pure nausea as the woman continued on with hurried instructions for orderly pickup, whether to use a vehicle or come on foot depending on distance, and how to avoid direct contact with other parents and children during the evacuation.

  Tallie! Ricky! What was going on? Had they been exposed? The authorities would've got a hospital and emergency medical personnel involved if that was the case, wouldn't they? Or placed the school under quarantine if there was even the slightest risk of spreading an infection?

  No, he was overreacting. They wouldn't have called for parents to come pick up kids exposed to some sickness and take them all over town. That was just stupid. This was just a precaution and he was panicking over nothing.

  Just a scare. Which didn't stop him from speaking right over the harried woman. “What's going on?” he demanded. “Is there a real risk here?”

  The school employee's voice became even more impatient. “You didn't catch the Mayor's announcement on the crisis at Kansas City International Airport an hour ago, sir? Or the CDC's official release just after noon on what they know about the outbreaks occurring all over the world?”

  Her tone suggested he must be living under a rock, and he felt his face heat. Was it possible he'd slept right through the start of an actual global disaster? “I didn't, no.”

  “Well what's going on at Middlecrest is that the charter buses that brought the fifth graders back from their visit to the Eastfield Science Museum had just come from the airport,” she said, sounding too weary to do anything but answer his questions and hope he shut up and cooperated. “The buses didn't come anywhere near a potentially infected terminal or passengers, and the fifth graders were immediately separated out and placed under quarantine the moment we found out about the risk, as were all those they came in contact with that we could reasonably identify. But still, all things considered it's better you pick your children up.”

  Wait, there was an outbreak at the airport now? With actual infected terminals and passengers and scares about buses spreading it to the rest of the city? What the heck was going on?

  Now wasn't the time to panic about what might be going on
in the city at large, though; all that mattered was making sure his kids were safe. “I'm on my way,” Nick said simply, and hung up.

  Without wasting a second he grabbed his keys and his jacket, then his wallet in case the school asked for his ID, and barely paused to lock the door behind him before slamming it shut. He headed down the stairs to his apartment, turning towards the school a couple blocks away.

  In retrospect he regretted not asking what disease they were possibly dealing with here, and what he should look out for to keep his children safe from it. But for the moment the best thing was to get Ricky and Tallie back home as quickly as possible, then try to figure out what was going on.

  As he jogged along the sidewalk he pulled out his phone again and called Ellie. It went straight to voicemail, and even though that meant her phone was probably off, or more likely she was in the air and didn't have a signal, he hung up and tried again.

  Voicemail again. “Ellie,” he said after the beep. “Just calling to let you know there's some sort of crisis at the school, and I'm picking the kids up. Not sure if you're home from your trip yet, but . . .” he trailed off as the front of the school came into view, staring. “Um, call me back,” he finished hastily as he hung up, then shoved his phone back into his pocket and broke into a run.

  The school's parking lot was pandemonium, packed with vehicles and people flooding towards the entrances. Buses loomed like beached leviathans surrounded by smaller cars and SUVs, everybody honking to try to get everyone else to leave, while police officers and school administrators tried to clear a path so the buses full of kids and those parents who'd already picked up their kids could get away.

  More teachers and administrators were struggling to get huddles of frightened kids loaded into buses, while parents frantically searched through the seething masses for their own children. But in spite of the crowd being bigger than Nick had ever seen before when picking up Ricky and Tallie, everyone seemed to be doing everything in their power to stay at arm's length from everyone else.