Endless Flames (Surviving Ashes, Book Four) (19 page)

“That’s a rare occurrence nowadays,” Tank informed him, sitting in one of the black leather rolling chairs next to Henley, who’d already turned her own seat back and was looking at the two camera feeds that showed the checkpoint at the bottom of the road from different angles. “But we’ve arranged for it to happen after dinner. Henley and I will keep monitoring the radios in case Van tries to reach us, while Mason and Owen are out on roving patrols. Mav is over at the brig with this Joseph Webb, trying to get some more information out of him. Until then, you should get our new friends to the lodge for a good, hot meal.”

Berke really wanted to see his brothers-in-arms first, as well as discuss everything that had taken place here at the lodge for the last three weeks instead of eating lunch and giving tours. He could see Tank watching him intently, most likely waiting to point out the obvious about his impatience. It was best to follow his recommendation instead of inciting an argument over what he’d rather do at the moment.

“Roger that,” Berke muttered, turning and walking to the door. He had to admit it was nice to be wearing clean clothes without having to wipe away ash every five seconds. He was surprised to see Prue by his side, but he opened the door anyway and let her proceed before him. He did call back over his shoulder to Tank and Henley before closing them inside to do their respective jobs. “I’m taking one of the Motorola two-way radios out of the armory. Call me if Van makes contact.”

Berke closed the door to find Prue standing there, obviously waiting to talk to him about what…he had no idea. It wasn’t like he knew her and he was immediately on edge. That didn’t stop him from leaning a shoulder against the roughhewn limestone wall to hear what she had to say. He could use a little more information than Tank and Henley were willing to give.

“I’m sorry about what happened with Paige,” Prue started out without any hesitation, touching on a subject Berke had managed to avoid since walking through the bunker doors. He hadn’t talked it through with Tank or Henley, so what made Prue think he would speak with her about it? “Brenna Helms, who Mason brought here with him from Nebraska, is the one who eventually took the shot during our confrontation with the raiding party. She hasn’t said anything about it, but I know it weighs heavily on her and I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea that there was any other way that particular gunfight was going to end.”

Prue might have a small frame, but the way she carried herself spoke volumes to Berke. The straight shoulders and the meeting of the eyes told of a confident woman who was protective of those she now considered her family. Berke respected that kind of loyalty, as well as now understood that the past three weeks had grown relationships that would normally have taken years to cement. A natural disaster in the form of an end-of-the-world apocalypse had a way of accomplishing that very thing.

“The only one I blame for that confrontation is myself.” Berke didn’t feel the need to get into his relationship with Paige or the events that led up to her death. It was there for all to see. Plain as day. He didn’t need to speak the words to be clear. “I appreciate you looking out for your friend, but you don’t need to worry about any kind of recrimination from me.”

Prue studied him quietly, rotating the Styrofoam cup in her hands twice before she slowly nodded her acceptance. Owen had most likely informed her about the tight bond between the group, giving her an understanding of their level of trust. She didn’t question him further, but instead fell into step beside him as he walked down the corridor. She appeased his impatience and filled him in a bit of what had been happening since the eruption.

“Owen is out on patrol, along with Mason. Neither one of them really trust Kellen Truman and the three members of his team who are holed up in cabin eleven, so they like to have one of us out there on patrol with them when they go. The townsfolk initially broke up into two groups. Those of us with Tank, and the others with some fool named Rat. That ended rather badly, so Rat and what’s left of his followers stay with us up at the lodge.” Prue reached around her waist and pulled out one of the two-way radios he’d spoken of earlier. She handed it to him, being careful not to spill her coffee that she was vigilantly carrying in her left hand. “I figured you’d want one, so I grabbed an extra this morning. It’s fully charged, although we’ve been instructed to stay off of them unless absolutely necessary.”

“What do we really know about Kellen Truman and his unit?” Berke asked, figuring he’d get the little things out of the way so he could discuss more important items during the scheduled meeting tonight.

“Special Forces Army puke,” Prue answered with a shrug of her shoulder, as if that explained everything. “I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw a wrench at them, although I do admire Ann Moreau. That woman could kick anyone’s ass in this entire complex. She’d be the one to watch out for. Honestly, I think Truman is the one with all the secrets. He watches everyone here with too much fucking interest.”

“Hey, Prue,” a blonde woman called out ahead of them as she came off the freight elevator, removing gloves that appeared to be made for riding horses. “Have you seen Mason? He left Sergeant in a saddle that was covered in blood and—”

Berke didn’t have to be told that the blonde cowgirl standing before him was Brenna Helm. Her blue eyes were wide with caution as she slowed her steps, which caused Maxie to almost collide with her at the tunnel’s junction. She pulled back just in time, holding Jacob on her hip.

“Book!”

“Hey, buddy,” Berke called out, wishing the new introductions didn’t have to happen in quite this manner. Any tension wasn’t good for this sort of environment and he put a stop to it before it could fester. He extended an arm and shook her hand before handing his coffee to Maxie and exchanging it for Jacob. “Brenna, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard good things about you and I know what happened the other day couldn’t have been easy for you. Just know that it was in the best interest of the camp and I truly feel I owe you a debt for doing what I would have done myself if put into the same position.”

“I appreciate that,” Brenna replied softly, one side of her mouth turned up in what appeared to be relief. She was shooting a knowing look toward Prue, who was already fixated on Jacob. “It means a lot. It really does.”

“Maxie, this is Prue and Brenna,” Berke introduced, hoisting Jacob a little higher and eliciting a happy squeal. “And this handsome little fellow is Jacob. Can you wave hi to the lovely ladies?”

Jacob waved, his hand wiggling up and down and giving everyone a toothy grin. Berke glanced at a very different Maxie, who was shaking hands in greeting. She’d showered and changed into clean clothes, having also taken the time to clean her utility belt and weapon. Her black hair contained a shine he hadn’t seen for a few weeks and the heat from the water had left her with a touch of natural rouge in her cheeks. She was beautiful and he found he just wanted a quiet moment with her, but it wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon. Tank had been right after all.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Maxie said, stepping back as her eyes dropped to the coffee in front of her. She didn’t hesitate to breathe it in and then drink deeply from his cup, closing her eyes in appreciation. “Oh my God. That’s so freaking good.”

“We’ll let you take Maxie up to the dining room in the lodge,” Prue exclaimed, holding up her own cup in salute. “There’s plenty more where that came from and some amazing beef stroganoff today for lunch with fresh homemade buttermilk biscuits. I remember how hard that trip was, so you have a fellow sympathizer in me. Listen, I’m going to help Brenna brush down the horses that were used today and then we’ll catch up with you later at the meeting.”

“Meeting?” Maxie asked, her blue eyes finding his as she took another sip of coffee. Berke was happy to see her enjoy something other than hot water. He turned so that they followed Prue and Brenna toward the entrance of the bunker, where there was a large corral behind the old equipment barn that Mason had helped construct. They’d had to bore holes into the rock for the fence poles to rest in. It was one of the tough jobs that he and his fellow team members had been co-opted to do during their visits with old Tank. The tunnels in this place were hewn from hard-cemented limestone common to the mountains in this region. It was a sedimentary rock with nearly the same hardness and consistency of intrusive igneous rocks like granite. Next to the barn were also the cubbies the old miners had used to hold their items before descending farther into mine. The wooden holders now contained jackets and gasmasks for those venturing outside. “What meeting?”

“Tank and the others are going to meet us up at the lodge later this evening to discuss everything that’s been going on, as well as figure out what we plan to do about that maniac Allman and his group of terrorists up north.” Berke walked them to the entrance and scrutinized what was available for them to use. He needed to locate the few Israeli Bardas system children’s gasmasks Tank had on hand from when he was ordering those types of supplies. He’d only purchased a few based on the estimated children of various ages in the town, but those boys and girls were now in their twenties. “I’ll see if we can rope one of Mabel’s girls into watching Jacob up in the child care center.”

“Mabel? Do you mean the woman who ran the diner in town and the one who Tank’s had a crush on since he moved here?” Maxie asked with both concern and humor. She’d taken up his method of dealing with what life was throwing her, but she couldn’t keep her apprehension from showing at having someone else watch Jacob. “I’m sure she’s busy with running the kitchen up at the lodge, so I don’t want to—”

“Maxie.” Berke stopped her from reaching for her gasmask that they’d stored here earlier, wanting to ease her anxiety. He cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him. It was then he realized it wasn’t just Jacob who was worrying her. “What is it?”

“What if this was Joseph Webb’s plan all along?” Maxie asked, alluding to something far more dangerous than what they’d considered, given the facts. “We know he wanted into the camp. Maybe we’ve helped him accomplish what he’d been tasked to do. What if this was his way of getting in here, only to set us up for an attack we’re not prepared for? Maybe we let him inside so he can play the Trojan horse.”

M
axie watched as
Sophie and Todd played with Jacob on the floor in front of the fireplace. She hadn’t wanted to be separated from him, so she didn’t take him upstairs to the daycare suite. The kids kept handing him one of those large Legos and he was throwing it, giggling when Todd would pretend to be hit and fall over onto the rug. The sight and sounds appeared to be that of an everyday family at the end of the day, but it was just an illusion she knew very well. The question remained—at what point would reality set in and this be taken away from them entirely?

Maxie couldn’t help but think about what she and Berke talked about regarding Webb’s true task that had been assigned to him. She had to remind herself that there was no basis for her train of thought and she had to trust that Mav would obtain more information that would ease her concern.

“More coffee, dear?”

Maxie offered Mabel a smile, though feeble as it may be. This woman, whose grandchildren were the ones keeping Jacob entertained, was absolutely amazing for her ability to run such a tight ship. She oversaw the kitchen staff here in the lodge, as well as the main kitchen located on one of the lower levels inside the bunker—at least that’s what Berke had told her.

The lodge had once been connected to the mine via a spacious eight-foot wide by ten-foot high tunnel that ran down to the second level, but one of the walls had collapsed some years past. According to Berke, Mabel had cornered Tank and demanded that a crew be sent to work clearing the tunnel and running proper lighting so that the residents and those working in the lodge could move freely back and forth between the two. They were now still in the process of running the conduit for light and installing fixtures. The nice thing about it was that the tunnel had been cleared enough to be used in an emergency.

The lodge was being coordinated like that of a business and there wasn’t a beat missed in the kitchen, laundry room, or anywhere else where the townsfolk were contributing. She could see why Tank appreciated a woman like Mabel.

“No, thank you,” Maxie replied, seeking out Berke who was speaking with an older man who would occasionally spit tobacco in a cup. She had to wonder how much of a supply of chewing tobacco he had left and if he was rationing his stash. It reminded her of Spot, who wouldn’t leave the sanctuary of the bunker. He’d made friends with the horses and had buried himself in a pile of hay, sleeping the morning away. It was his preference to leave food in his bowl, as if he were afraid he’d run out of provisions. He’d instinctively learned to prepare for the future. “I appreciate the children sharing their toys.”

“Oh, those Legos aren’t theirs,” Mabel ’fessed up, wiping her hands on a dishtowel as she took a seat on the couch next to Maxie. She realized the older woman had probably been on her feet most of the day from the sound of her relieved sigh. “Ernie always had a few toys and children’s things on hand in case his guests brought children with them, although that was a rare occurrence these past few years. Lost Summit used to be a booming town back in the days when there were a few of the mines still open, but then families slowly started to leave for greener pastures once the silver played out.”