Isolation (Book 2): Going Out by Jones Nathan

Author:Jones, Nathan [Jones, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalypic | Dystpian | Pandemic
Published: 2020-04-17T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Scavenging

Nick woke up bright and early the next morning.

Specifically, he was sleeping peacefully on the pallet he'd made up next to Tallie's when loud voices calling his name from outside jolted him awake. One of them was unmistakably Darrel's less than pleasant growl.

“You've got to be kidding me,” Nick muttered, dragging himself out of bed.

“Daddy?” Tallie murmured, sleepy voice slightly fearful.

He patted her shoulder. “It's fine, sweetie. Go back to sleep, I'll go talk to them.”

As she snuggled deeper into her blankets he strode to the door and shoved it open, stepping outside to glare at Mayor Darby and Darrel, who were standing near an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway. “I'm here!” he snapped. “I said I'd think it over, no need to come shouting at my door at the crack of dawn.”

“You mean the Norsons' shed?” Darrel shot back snidely.

Darby put a restraining hand on the man's shoulder. “I hope you've been thinking it over carefully, Mr. Statton,” he said with a placating smile. “Because we certainly have been. Last night the City Council agreed on a resolution to authorize agents of Stanberry to scavenge in depopulated neighboring areas, in order to fill the town's stockpile for emergency use.”

“Agents, as in me,” Nick said flatly.

“If you want to stay at all,” Darrel growled.

The Mayor quickly spoke over his buddy. “We've already prepared a moving truck for you to fill up, with enough fuel to get to Wensbrook and drive around a reasonable amount. And we'll have a location for the stockpile by the time you get back with the day's haul.”

“The day?” Nick repeated incredulously. “My daughter can barely move. She needs constant care. I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone for more than a few hours at most, and since she's a Zolos carrier no one else can go near her.”

“So take her with you,” Darrel said with a careless shrug.

“To go ransack a town?” he demanded. “What if I run into trouble? There's more than a few wack jobs with guns running around taking advantage of the chaos to loot and-” he cut off, flushing as he realized how hypocritical that sounded under the circumstances.

Darby shifted uncomfortably. “Well, we can ask around at the camp going up outside town, see if there's anyone immune to Zolos who could babysit her while you work.”

Nick wasn't sure how he felt about having a complete stranger watch his helpless, recovering daughter. “Or you could just have them do your scavenging for you.”

The tall man ignored that. “For now, though, I'm afraid you'll just have to bring her with you. I'm sure you can scout locations to make sure they're safe to bring her inside. Or you can leave her in the cab of the truck with the doors locked so she's safe.”

Both of those sounded like terrible options to Nick. But he supposed beggars, or people facing a mob ready to run them out of town, couldn't be choosers.

Oh well, he could always put up signs on the truck warning that it was contaminated with Zolos to keep people away.

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