Endless Flames (Surviving Ashes, Book Four) (7 page)

It didn’t take Maxie long to park the minivan, grab the new diaper bag she’d purchased yesterday, and join Berke back at his truck where she heard the joyful babbling of a one-year-old boy talking to his new best buddy. He was carrying on his own conversation, leaning over toward the console and watching Berke as he finished fastening the car seat securely into the back seat restraints. Maxie gritted her teeth to prevent herself from saying some kind of smartass or crude remark. She admitted to not having the politest language, especially considering her work environment and the constant foul language. That had to change now.

Wait. How the fuck had he so easily fortified that contraption from hell?

“We’re headed west.” Berke didn’t mince words as he looked toward the sky and caused Maxie to do the same, forgetting her irritation at what should be a simple task for any grown adult. They had more important things to think about than a car seat from hell. “Buckle your son in and then let’s hit the road. We’re driving straight through to Washington, so make sure you have enough supplies to change him inside the cab of the truck when needed.”

Maxie slid the diaper bag on the floor behind the passenger seat and then held her hands out with a big smile on her face when she wanted nothing more than to take a minute to herself to gather her thoughts. Her mind had been running a million miles per hour on how to convince Berke to take them with her and she wasn’t sure what to concentrate on now that she had accomplished that impossible task. Jacob started saying mama over and over, causing a stab of pain in Maxie’s heart over the confusion he must be feeling.

“Maxie?” She looked up from buckling Jacob into his comfortable seat, having already given him a plastic hammer to hold. He’d fallen in love with it the other day when she’d brought him a tool set filled with pliable plastic toys to play with at his foster home. He’d taken a liking to the red hammer and she’d made sure it was out for him to hold. All she wanted was to make the right decisions for this little boy. How hard was this going to get? Berke was watching her intently over his shoulder as he made himself comfortable behind the steering wheel. “This isn’t even a day-to-day situation. It’s a minute by minute. Right now? We concentrate on pulling out of this parking lot. That’s all we have to do for the next minute, because we both know missions never go as planned. We have to try to anticipate what our next move is going to be. What do we need to do to get to the next mile marker? We’ll turn left and then make another decision based on our surroundings and the constraints we’re given. Don’t let the little things weigh you down—adapt and overcome.”

Maxie swallowed around her constricted throat, nodding her response because there wasn’t any chance of her actually forming words. Why was he being so nice after she’d all but forced him to take them with him? And how had Berke known she was second-guessing every decision she made? She didn’t consider herself an open book and she certainly didn’t consider herself emotional. She wasn’t what some of the residents would call overly friendly, but there were times in her job that called for austerity and that’s how the townsfolk thought of her—a hard ass. She would make sure that Jacob saw her differently. She gave Jacob a smile and wave before closing the half-door, walking around the truck to her side, and then positioning herself in the passenger seat, not quite ready to leave everything behind.

“Buckle up, Deputy,” Berke directed as he shifted his truck into reverse. He flashed her a smile that wasn’t even remotely reassuring. “Things are about to get seriously interesting real quick.”

“I
t’s funny, isn’t
it? It doesn’t even seem as if a world altering natural disaster has even happened, does it?” Berke surmised, driving the truck down a back road that most likely only saw a rancher’s vehicle or two on a daily average. They’d had issues locating routes that hadn’t been congested with people driving vehicles packed to the gills because they wanted to get to their families, safer locations, or even crazier—closer to the blast area to claim they’d seen it as well as the ash.

These people didn’t seem to grasp the concept that this supervolcano would reduce the world’s population by eighty percent over the next ten years. Dying of starvation was a real possibility for eight out of every ten people alive after the eruption happened. From what Maxie had managed to put together from listening to the truck’s FM channels, scanning different frequencies on the shortwave receiver, and reports on her handheld police band radio—they wouldn’t have to wait much longer. “Night’s about to fall and it’s like we’re driving down a country lane watching as spring makes a final appearance for our foreseeable future.”

Maxie wasn’t so sure she would have described the scenery in that manner. A shiver ran up her spine as she looked out the front windshield. She would have said the landscape appeared rather ominous, devoid of animals and people. The sun was setting, but it had cast an orange glow over the road. Is that what the lava looked like as it spewed into the air? She couldn’t even contemplate the loss of life that was being reported. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen any wild life in the area for a while now…not even a bird in the sky. It was as if they, too, understood what was coming and they’d gone into hiding somewhere.

“Did you notice that the leaves on the trees aren’t moving?” Maxie asked, glancing out her side of the window. If it hadn’t been for the last vehicle they’d passed, she would have sworn they were all alone in the world. “The temperature has dropped five degrees as well. It’s as if a front is blowing in just beyond the horizon.”

“Is Jacob alright? We can turn on the heat.”

Maxie had just climbed back into the front passenger seat beside Berke after having fed Jacob his dinner, who was now changed into a clean diaper and seemed somewhat satisfied with himself for making her laugh at the sounds he made while eating. The floor behind the seats was packed with bags of gear, but the bench seat was open for her to use when changing Jacob. She’d gotten used to helping on the days she’d been able to visit him in his foster home and credited his foster mother for all the immeasurable advice she’d given in that short amount of time. Maxie was still nervous about taking one hundred percent of the responsibility, but she didn’t regret it for a second.

“Jacob is good, although I’ve learned that could change in thirty seconds or less.” Maxie wasn’t kidding either. Who would have thought a little person could go through so many mood changes in under a minute? He was worse than a woman going through menopause. Speaking of attitude deviations, Berke had definitely surprised her. She probably shouldn’t rock the boat, but she’d rather know where she stood for the remainder of the journey instead of second-guessing everything she said. “You don’t seem quite so angry with me anymore.”

Berke took his eyes off the road for a second and glanced her way. He appeared quite comfortable, with one hand on the wheel and his other elbow resting on the edge of his door. They’d known each other for years and he’d always appeared to be rather laid back, but she’d seen a different side of him this morning as he struggled with the idea of their journey together. It made her realize that she really didn’t know him at all.

“It’s over and done with. A decision was made.”

“Just like that?” Maxie asked, wondering why Berke wouldn’t harbor some type of resentment over her forcing the issue. He could have easily left her back in Texas without a sweat, but he’d kept his word thus far.

“Would you rather I had left you back there, sitting in your van, waiting for your time to run out?”

Maxie grinned at his question, relaxing somewhat now that they were talking. The majority of the trip thus far had been spent in silence as Berke searched for back roads less traveled and stayed away from the general public scrambling for an escape from the inevitable. He’d purposefully drove around the town’s square so that they didn’t come in contact with Sheriff Ross and the other deputies. It was now every man and woman for themselves and they all had to make their own decisions based on what they thought best.

“So tell me about this town,” Maxie urged, leaning up against the side of the door so she could see him better and keep Jacob in her view. The orange tint of the landscape had faded quickly and the lights from the dashboard gave enough illumination to still see Berke’s features. He appeared relaxed when she was confident he was anything but, especially considering his searching gaze took in every aspect of their surroundings, both in front and in back of their direction of travel. Her previous unease returned and she slid her hand to the holster on her gear belt, confirming it was still in place and her weapon was buttoned in. “What’s so special that your team feels they can make it through the next ten years or so? Isn’t that what’s going to happen? An ice age or something like that?”

Berke sighed and then flexed his fingers around the stitched leather on the steering wheel, as if his hands were going numb from the tight grip. Would he finally share the truth with her or would he continue to remain silent as to why a group of friends were willing to risk their lives by going against the recommendations of the government to seek safety on the East Coast?

“I have an old tank commander—Ernie “Tank” Yates—who bought a large stretch of mountainside property up in Washington near a small town called Lost Summit.” Berke paused when Jacob started to make some sounds, but it was just his happy chatter. “The original property owners had established a silver mine back in the early 1900s, but the property was sold to a private owner after the silver had played out. You see, the original deed had included enough property with large mountaintop lakes and access to a river in the valley below to support a reasonably successful fishing and hunting lodge. The area also has several natural mountain springs that feed the lake and several watering holes.”

“How was he able to buy up such a property? I’m surprised the state or federal government didn’t come in to try and make a profit.”

“The original private owner had sold the rights to an investment group in the early ’70s for a test well to be drilled for natural gas development, but it only produced enough sweet grade gas to power the lodge and not much more,” Berke replied, smiling fondly as he then explained a little more about the man who would provide them shelter. “Tank retired and bought up the place and the mineral rights for a song. The old owner was getting on in years and none of his children were interested in running the lodge or hiring someone to run the operation since it needed quite a bit of work to bring the place up to code in order for a bank mortgage to be approved. Tank’s family had once had a rather successful logging operation back on the East Coast and he invested his rather large inheritance into buying the property for cash and underwriting a passion he’d developed during his years in the Corps. As it was, the place was absolutely perfect for a survivalist, or what they call preppers nowadays—which was right up Tank’s alley considering he wanted to convert the old silver mine into a bunker. Over the years, he has built on to this place, one project after another until it has become a self-sustaining facility that is perfect for what’s coming.”

“So this Tank is one of these preppers?” Maxie wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the term or of the people who claimed that title. Texas had quite a collection of preppers as well and she had images floating through her mind of what the silver mine and bunker must look like. She became somewhat restless at the thought she would be taking provisions from someone else, but then she thought of Jacob. She would do whatever was needed for him to get through this. “How many are in your unit? Do you think that Tank has enough supplies for everyone?”

“There are four other men in our tight knit group,” Berke divulged, slowing down for something Maxie couldn’t see. She scanned the area, but by that time, he’d already had them going around sixty miles per hour—which was pretty fast considering they were traveling a back road. “Mav Beckett, Owen Quade, Mason Sykes, and Van Overton. Mav is already up in Lost Summit, helping Ernie with the residents. From his calculations, a handful will try to either cross the Canadian border or head south for the border into Mexico.”

“Leaving how many people to fit into his bunker?” Maxie asked warily, already sensing Berke was going to tell her the majority of the town was going to hole up in a bunker that most likely was made for no more than six. This wasn’t good and she understood firsthand in her line of work what happened when folks became desperate. “Are you saying—”

“I’m saying that the fishing lodge is located in a valley, in such a way that it might be protected from the worst of the elements. The main lodge and the surrounding cabins can hold whoever decides to stay behind of the fifty or so residents.” It was now pitch black with the exception of their headlights and the dashboard. Maxie figured Berke hadn’t put on his brights to cut down the chance of anyone seeing them, but she could admit to being drawn into a sense of false security. Yes, they’d seen some looting, but nothing on the scale that she would have thought. “We’ll make do, because that’s who we are. The rations Tank has on hand will last for years. Combine that with what can be scrounged in the next few days and we’ll have plenty for everyone in our group.”