Endless Flames (Surviving Ashes, Book Four) (18 page)

“I wonder how many people are staying there,” Maxie asked, wondering if that’s where she and Jacob would be sleeping. She’d gotten used to having Berke close by and wasn’t so sure she’d be able to sleep well without his breathing in her ear. She’d never say that aloud though. “How many cabins did you say there were?”

“There are twelve cabins total arranged in a semi-circle west to north around the lodge. The cabins on either end were reserved for Tank and Hensley. Of course, Tank has the one closest to the gate we came through to get inside the compound. A rather large barn with a corral is located out back of the lodge, but all the ash and trees prohibit us from being able to see them from here,” Berke described as he slowly drove the Mule around the semi-circle drive keeping the lodge on the right and the cabins on their left. She assumed the road would lead them back to the mine entrance on the far east side of the valley. “The original idea for the resort was a dozen private cabins that slept six each on the cleared and maintained grounds.”

“And the lodge?” Maxie asked with curiosity.

“The main lodge has fourteen rooms with two queen-sized beds in each and a large suite they’ve most likely converted into a daycare and a school for the kids. At least, that’s what we had discussed during the poker games we used to have. Who would have thought we’d be here and actually having to implement the theory?”

“Tank didn’t think it was a theory, did he?”

“No, he didn’t,” Berke replied with regret before pointing through the windshield. “The entire compound is surrounded by livestock mesh wire fencing attached to a four-foot high round wooden rail frame twenty yards out from the back of the cabins just inside the wood line. It was designed to keep out the critters and not much more. You can easily hop over it without much effort.”

“Didn’t you say there was a river?”

“Yes, at the bottom of the slope not wider than a creek in some places. A lake at the top above us feeds into a creek leading down to the river below. The creek is pretty fast moving and follows the west side of the valley. We’re actually positioned on the north side of Lost River, between Lost Mountain and Snowy Peak, where they originally mined for silver. The protection afforded by both mountains is why the ashfall is less here than in town.”

“What about the bunker?” Maxie asked, knowing that’s where they were headed first. “You said it was an old silver mine, but what does it entail?”

“Let’s just say anything and everything you could think of under the sun. Tank used the main level above the mine proper to start building his bunker. It had once been used for equipment storage and offices for the mine’s staff. It took years to remove all the rusty piles of trash, build new buildings, connect all the power cabling, and establish a clean air filtration system that services the entire mine on all levels.”

Berke shot her a look that said it hadn’t been easy.

“Think of it like a miniature city inside of a mountain. It has tunnels throughout the mine to get you from point A to point B, along with a freight elevator between levels. For the longer distances, we use golf carts that have equipment racks to transport items that are too heavy to carry by hand. The front door that you’ll see shortly is made of high strength steel alloy accessed with a cypher-lock keypad. The bunker contains numerous billeting chambers with individual buildings constructed inside their own caverns. There’s an administrative wing that houses the video surveillance room. We have a medical area with a separate clinic with beds, as well as an environment air processing plant and a conference room. Let’s not forget my favorite area—the security wing with the brig, billeting for the designated personnel, the team house, and the secondary armory.”

Maxie turned around to see that Mason was following close behind with Webb riding the packhorse, thinking he’d need the medical attention they’d promised him when Berke mentioned the medical facilities. She could only imagine the pain he must be in, but she wasn’t sorry in the least that she shot him. He most likely would have killed the three of them had she not decided to disable him.

“The only thing you need to concentrate on right now is getting Jacob settled in to your room,” Berke offered after having caught Maxie looking behind them. He waited to continue until she’d turned back around. “I want you and Jacob staying in the bunker for your assigned billeting alongside most of the team, if that’s all right with you. I don’t feel comfortable having you outside in the main lodge.”

“You don’t think it’s safe?” Maxie asked, not questioning him on the fact that he wanted her in the bunker so much as she was concerned for the safety of those outside of it. “You said there was enough room for—”

“The lodge is safe enough, but I still want you within easy reach. The team and those folks assigned to security details need quick access to the main level armory in case of an emergency.” Berke didn’t explain further and Maxie wasn’t going to push the issue. She wanted to be close to him as well, but now wasn’t the time to delve into such matters. “We’ll clean up and then make sure you and Jacob meet the rest of the team when we head up to the main house.”

Berke parked the Mule just inside and to the left of the main entrance into the silver mine over a metal grate most likely used to wash down equipment, turning off the engine. The low hum had been a constant and not having it now left Maxie’s ears ringing with the silence of the mine once the guard closed the heavy steel access door and headed back into the toasty security office. She hadn’t thought she’d be nervous, but an uneasiness settled over her like the lotion she’d used earlier to soothe her dry skin. All that reverberated through the cab was their breathing.

“It’s not even safe inside here, is it?” Maxie asked, turning to meet his dark gaze. Berke ran a hand through his short black hair in resignation, not bothering to sugarcoat the truth. “It’s not safe anywhere anymore.”

“The dynamics have changed the way the world works,” Berke explained, motioning toward the elevated security office to their left. Another large equipment barn occupied the majority of the huge cavern to their right. These were some of the original wooden structures built when the mine was operating. Large tunnels led off into the distance ahead of them and to the left. A female figure stood framed in the doorway of the security office wearing a similar jacket to those the guards at the checkpoint had on carrying the same style AR rifle, along with the ever-present gasmask hanging from her equipment belt.
That
was the picture of today’s individual. Not the laughing families at a picnic in colored photographs or pictures of children running through a field of flowers. There were no more flowers and wouldn’t be for a long time to come. There was no color left outside. It had been replaced with very bright hues inside this strange place. “We’ve all changed.”

“We have,” Maxie agreed, slowly releasing her seat belt as her desire to be here had faded. She hadn’t even realized her hope had diminished until she was forced to fight once more in order to hold onto this sanctuary she’d just come home to. Would the warfare ever stop? “But not for the better. Not by a long shot.”

B
erke held onto
Tank a little longer than what was probably necessary, but the older male didn’t appear to want to let go too soon either and no one who may have witnessed the exchange said a thing. It was damned good to be here with his family and he wished Maxie were here to meet them. He’d left her in a room with Jacob at the team house. She’d be washing the two of them in a shower with a tub that afforded them unlimited hot water. He doubted he’d see either of them for another good thirty minutes.

“It’s good to see you all in one piece, boy.” Tank’s voice was gruffer than usual and he pressed his thumb and finger against his eyes after pulling away. The craggy lines around his face appeared deeper, if that were even possible. His grey, bushy eyebrows matched his stylized mustache and the hair growing out from underneath his cap. The blueness of his eyes also seemed to have faded with his added concern for each of the team members traveling across the country to the home he’d made for them. “We’ve held down the fort as best we could while we waited for you, but it’s getting uglier out there with each passing day. We need everyone we got here working together to make it through this in one piece.”

“Have you heard from Van?” Berke asked, running a hand through his damp hair. He understood Maxie’s need to allow Jacob such a luxury, but Berke needed answers more than comfort. He shot a glance at the bank of monitors that was mostly covering the falling ash, though he noticed some recent additions and was well acquainted with the IR cameras that defined outlines with different heat signatures. “Has he reported in?”

“Not yet,” Tank replied, stepping back and allowing Henley to turn in her seat.

Henley had been monitoring the radio nets over the remote Meshnet distribution system, which was connected to them by a cable dropped down a borehole through solid rock from the radio room sixty feet directly above them on the next level up. From the Video Surveillance Room (VSR), she could also watch the combined video feeds that observed the entire area around the lodge, the multiple entrances to the bunker, and the likely avenues of approach into the sloping valley.

Other locations had some of the same feeds available on their monitors, such as the security office at the mine’s main entrance and Henley’s office in the lodge. However, they all were fed from this room and could easily be disconnected if a situation required it.

There were even a few angles capturing the main antenna field atop Snowy Peak above them. Their yards had been cleared in a circular pattern to establish an open field large enough to host a cluster of HF, VHF, and UHF antennas and their associated tuning couplers.

The stark landscape outside contrasted heavily with the stunningly beautiful woman who’d captured Mav’s attention years ago sitting in her chair in front of him. Berke and Henley had always gotten along famously, quite to Mav’s consternation in the recent past.

“Give Henley a hug before she tackles you,” Tank said gruffly, waving his hand toward her. “We contemplated giving her Valium, but Mav wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Berke,” Henley said his name with a wide smile, contradicting the tears of relief in her eyes. She was like a sister to all of the members of the team except Mav. Berke pulled her into his arms, holding her tight in reassurance. “It’s so good to see you. I hear you brought your girlfriend and a toddler. Have you been keeping secrets?”

“It’s good to see you, too,” Berke replied, avoiding her quip about Maxie and Jacob. He wondered when he’d obtained the same hitch in his voice as Tank and cleared his throat. “You keeping the boys in check? I hear you and Mav have finally come to an understanding.”

“It’s not the boys that—”

“Who the fuck took my Craftsman metric Allen wrench set?” a strange woman demanded, swinging open the heavy-steel security door harder than necessary as she entered. She was petite, a hell of a lot smaller than Maxie, and wearing a military-styled utility cover over what appeared to be long black hair. Her brown eyes were searching the security room, apparently not finding whomever or whatever she was seeking, and they finally landed on him. “You must be Berke. Nice to meet you. The name’s Prue. You didn’t take them, did you?”

“Berke, this is Prue Whitaker,” Henley introduced with a knowing smirk. “She’s with Owen and my newest soul sister. She’s been teaching me a thing or two.”

Berke raised an eyebrow as he connected the dots. Prue was the mechanic Owen had been talking about on and off again for quite some time during their occasional sabbaticals here at the lodge. It appeared that Berke wasn’t the only one to bring someone with him on his journey back to Washington. Berke realized she must be all right with the group as she lifted up on her tiptoes to give Tank a kiss on the cheek.

“I think I saw Jeremy playing with them. He was attaching that new EOTech sight he got off the raiding party onto his rifle,” Tank replied, lifting up his ball cap a little higher onto his head. “You might want to check the lodge.”

“He’ll need a weapon when I catch up to him. You know a good set of tools don’t grow on trees. He’ll need a new ass too, if even one of those wrenches is missing from that set,” Prue mumbled in frustration, turning on the heel of her boot and walking over to the small coffee station. She quickly and efficiently poured two cups of coffee before walking back and handing one to Berke. “Figure you’d need a cup that didn’t taste like it was brewed in an old crank case. Heard you brought a gal and her boy with you, as well as one of those assholes who want to take over the lodge. Interesting combination.”

“Yes, I did, as a matter of fact,” Berke replied, inhaling the smell of the fresh brewed coffee before taking his first sip. Damn, that was better than he’d remembered. And she was right. It was a hell of a lot better than the joe that he’d made over a Sterno-fueled fire on the trek here. It always tasted like the chemicals used in the blue petroleum to him. “I didn’t want to get into the details until the entire team is together.”