Endless Flames (Surviving Ashes, Book Four) (12 page)

“We’re going to be traveling at quite a clip.” Berke stepped forward and took Jacob from Maxie’s arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Jacob rested his head against Berke’s shoulder and then popped back up, trying to elicit a laugh. “Whatever we rig for Jacob has to be airtight—no exceptions. This is life or death and I’d prefer to arrive in Lost Summit with all souls intact.”

“So do we suit up now?” Maxie asked, glancing over her shoulder to look out the large windows. People were randomly walking the streets with cloth rags over their faces, as well as starting to eye the vehicles that were in the lot next door. It wouldn’t be long before this place was overrun too. The thing of it was…she could handle that type of situation. She was damned good at it too, but protecting a child the way Berke was suggesting? Anything could go wrong. “We’re going to attract attention the moment we rev up that engine. We’ll be the easy targets because of Jacob.”

“Which is why we aren’t using the gasmasks while inside the cab,” Berke said, carrying Jacob over to his seat and placing him inside the Mule’s cab behind the back seat driver’s side. He buckled him in so that whomever was in the passenger seat could reach over and administer to his needs in a very similar fashion to the previous set-up in the truck. He’d moved the ATV and trailer into line earlier to be facing the side exit where the glass doors would slide open wide enough for them to drive through. “Here’s a long-sleeved shirt of mine you can wear over your clothes to keep the ash off of your clothing. You’re going to need to focus on Jacob’s needs and security at the same time. Zip up Jacob and turn on his air supply module before we go outside, just in case we need to exit quickly and defend ourselves from the looters. Have your mask at the ready.”

“How is this going to work when I need to change or feed him?” Maxie asked, taking the shirt he offered her and immediately pulling the garment over her head. She made sure to roll up the sleeves so her hands were free. It didn’t work out quite as well as she thought, because his shirt was so large compared to her frame. “There’s no way I’ll be able to use my hands unless I cut some material off of these sleeves.”

“All right. Here, let me get some scissors. I’m going to cut them a bit longer with a thumb hole so they will stay down half-way over your palm.” Berke helped cut the shirt to length and added a hole to each sleeve. He flashed her another one of those smiles she was coming to appreciate. “This is the easy part, Maxie. Once we get farther north and the cloud starts to drop a lot more ash on us is when things will become rather dicey. Can you reach your weapon without difficulty?”

Maxie reached for her holster belt, which happened to be on her right hand side. She nodded her answer as Jacob rubbed his eyes with both hands, squirming inside his seat with displeasure at being cooped up. It wouldn’t be long until he was out like a light and she was thankful she’d kept him up most of the time they’d been here getting ready. It would make it much easier to travel with him inside his bubble and listening to the whine of the air supply module. She hoped the soothing sound would relax him on the rest of their journey.

“Maxie?”

She rested her hand on Jacob’s head in reassurance and looked back to find Berke studying her with those penetrating brown eyes of his. Time stood still as he brushed away a wild strand of hair from her cheek and her stomach turned over for an entirely different reason than before. She found that each touch heightened this growing attraction between them and it was most likely only a matter of time before one of them took things a step further.

Maxie was a firm believer that the end of the world shit didn’t necessarily equate to making the best decisions. She wouldn’t fall victim to that, especially now that she had Jacob to consider.

“I’ve got this,” Maxie reassured him with a smile that most likely didn’t meet her eyes. She took over in removing that pesky strand from her cheek and tucked her hair back behind her ears. She’d used the deep sink in the detailing area to wash up earlier, doing the same to Jacob, but a hot shower would have been nice. It looked as if she was being deprived of many things, but that didn’t stop her from going around to her side of the ATV and getting situated inside their new digs. “Could you grab the diaper bag?”

Berke didn’t move right away, and Maxie feigned shifting to look back at Jacob. She needed to zip him in before they shoved off anyway. He looked up at her with those bright blue eyes and gave her a toothy grin.

“Hug.” Jacob raised his head away from the back of his chair and extended his arms as wide as he could. “Hug.”

“We have to get going, sweetheart,” Maxie replied, reaching back to stroke his cheek. Her chest tightened at the thought of what awaited them, dissipating her previous apprehension regarding the attraction between her and Berke. It was good to have a little perspective. “You get some sleep now.”

“Let’s roll out.” Berke gently patted Jacob’s leg before closing and locking his door, storing the diaper bag in back of her seat. He then headed for the large sliding glass doors. She’d seen him studying the scene out the window, but he apparently believed that they wouldn’t have too much difficulty leaving this place. “You ready?”

“As much as I’ll ever be,” Maxie said through the windshield, waiting for him to claim the bucket seat beside her. Jacob had already tensed and she didn’t want him to start crying as she zipped up his chair and turned on the module, thus making the beginning of this journey any more difficult than it had to be. Berke opened the glass doors wide enough so that they could clear the entrance, then returned and settled in next to her. The engine started immediately and was much quieter than she’d originally thought it would be. The sunlight was still holding out in spite of the solid grey wall of ash getting closer and closer. The ominous cloud wasn’t what caught her attention though. It was the numerous people who’d heard the engine of their ATV and decided to take notice. “Hold on, little buddy. It’s going to be a bit of a fast start.”

Berke gunned the engine and roared out of the showroom. They were out onto the road and headed north before Maxie even took her second breath. Anyone with half a brain could see that they were better prepared than most for the coming catastrophe, therefore making them a target for those who wanted what they had.

Present day…

B
erke sighed when
he heard the soft rustle of Maxie making her way to the front of the store. She moved quietly enough not to wake Jacob, but it wouldn’t matter come an hour from now. They would all be making their way up to the lodge he’d personally been responsible for placing in the crosshairs of the USGS field units. He still couldn’t figure out why Paige Olivier had wanted to take over the bunker versus one of the many emergency underground sites that the government built and maintained for disasters just like this. What was so special about Lost Summit and the bunker complex? There were numerous locations just like this one, so why the interest?

“Still beating yourself up?” Maxie asked in her usual demeanor as she grabbed a spot next to him. The sweet fragrance of the lotion she’d used after washing up in the back of the store slowly enveloped him, reminding him of what he’d been fighting against for the last few weeks. “Would it help to hear that the USGS most likely had Lost Summit, as well as every other old mine around here, marked on their map before you ever mentioned it to Paige? You know how these government agencies work. Everybody’s got a secret.”

“What?” Berke asked now that she had his attention. He winced when she sat directly next to him, the heat of her body soaking into his. Damn it, but he’d been successful in keeping his distance from her so far. She gave no indication that she wanted anything more than his help to reach safety. It shouldn’t matter he’d come to think of her as something more, and Jacob as more than a friend’s son. “You’re saying that Paige inserted herself into my life a couple of years ago with the intent of gaining information about the bunker? That’s pretty farfetched, don’t you think?”

Berke rotated his left shoulder, stretching out his back muscles as he pulled away from the scope of his weapon. There was nothing going on outside and those handmade improvised alarms hadn’t made a sound. One more hour and then they could head out. He didn’t want to think about the reception he’d receive from the townsfolk, especially the Wicks family—or what was left of them.

“I was thinking about when Paige showed up in town,” Maxie recalled as she set down the LED lantern, placing too much light in the immediate area and backlighting him. She didn’t seem to care as she crossed her legs and then brushed her hands together to get any residue off that might have been stuck to her fingers. “Sheriff Ross hadn’t even had complaints about the tremors occurring in some of the other towns and yet Paige still chose to come to our area. Her spin on the facts had all of us convinced that fracking was responsible for the small earthquakes in the surrounding area, but it couldn’t have been more than a week before she was in your bed. I understand that you’re quite the cocksman, but that seems a little too convenient.”

“You make me sound like a damned gigolo.” Berke didn’t have the energy to laugh, but he did scoot back into the shelf for multiple reasons. One he didn’t even want to think about and the others had to do with the fact that a man should be able to suffer in silence. “I’ve never mistreated any woman or shown her disrespect. I was always faithful to the woman I was seeing at the time.”

“I never said you were a cad. I said you had a reputation as a cocksman,” Maxie quipped with a tilt of her head. She finally turned so that she could face him without unfolding her legs, keeping her distance. “It’s just too convenient if you ask me. I think you were set up and somehow, some way, the land or the bunker that Tank has set up here caught the interest of some covert agency in D.C.”

Berke didn’t reply right away, but instead mulled over what Maxie had deduced. Was it possible? Could he have been that gullible? That naïve? Had the NRO sent in an agent in the guise of another agency? There were too many questions that wouldn’t be answered seeing as how the mole was currently lying dead in a pile of ashes at the foot of the mountain that overlooked the lodge.

“If what you say is true, then the USGS and whatever agency that is working with them would have known about the impending eruption for years.” Berke thought back to when he and Paige had been catting around together, albeit briefly considering she’d only been in town for around six months. She’d approached him, as it were. She hadn’t been overtly strong in her advances, but it had definitely been enough for him to notice. “She would have had to be one hell of a sleeper agent, if that was the case. I mean, we’re talking years in the planning.”

“Why does Mav and the rest of the group think the men Paige brought with her were with the NRO?” Maxie asked, unfolding her legs and bringing her knees up to her chest as she changed position. Her black hair was still slightly damp from having washed it earlier, although the water had only been slightly contaminated. The natural springs providing a large supply of clean water up at the lodge would be a nice change once they got there. “Wouldn’t the military have been involved if they wanted to attack your group?”

“The NRO is a group of agents from various clandestine organizations who should be providing reconnaissance information to the nation’s intelligence agencies. However, they could utilize the nation’s most classified programs and the assets that comprise them to accomplish their goals if there was a rogue element within the NRO. They’re highly trained individuals no one should mess around with.” Berke thought about the numerous radio transmissions he’d sent and received with his old team. Were they being monitored? Were they being watched? He fought back the urge to check on the Mule and its trailer back in the docking area, having already done his hourly security inspection. “The lodge wouldn’t contain a third of what the government’s emergency sites would, nor would it have the sophistication of the equipment they would possess. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“And yet Mav and the others believe those men were with the NRO, supporting Paige’s attempt to gain access to the bunker by force,” Maxie pointed out, her blue gaze still dark with worry. “What are we missing? What could this place have that they would want so bad?”

Berke rubbed his forehead, but it did little to ease the tension—or the guilt. The thought of what the Wicks family was going through at this moment, along with those other townsfolk up at the lodge, made it unbearable to sit still anymore. Talking about what Paige, the USGS, or the NRO might want with the lodge or the bunker under it would only have them going in an endless circle. He placed his hand on the floor to hoist himself up, thinking a perimeter check might not be such a bad idea when Maxie leaned forward and stopped him.

“Berke,” Maxie whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He’d mostly kept his distance from her during the trip due to several valid reasons, but they all went by the wayside when she held on tight and wouldn’t let go. He inhaled deeply, wanting to fortify himself against the heat of her body, but all he managed to do was breathe in her sweet fragrance. “We’ve made it this far and we’ll make it to the lodge tomorrow where you can be with your family. Don’t give up just before the finish line.”