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provisions that Tank had sent him over the years—such as gasmasks, MREs, a supply of clean drinking water, and shelter from the elements. He was set to hit the road and the only thing standing in his way was a petite raven-haired sprite who could easily be either a competitive opponent or a great adversary if he pushed her. Had Maxie been by herself, he would have considered taking her with him. Someone having his six in this kind of situation would have been more than helpful, but he wasn’t faced with such a simple choice. She had considerable baggage in the form of a small child.
    “Maxie, it’s my team and I need to get going,” Berke explained without having to say anything else, leaving her standing there while he walked to the driver’s side door. She should understand more than anyone the brotherhood that was established in the type of career she’d chosen for herself. Law enforcement wasn’t much different than the military. “It doesn’t matter that we aren’t on active duty. We will always be a unit…family. You need to do the same for your people.”
    “Which is why your team wouldn’t want you to drive straight into a damned ash cloud and God only knows what else in an attempt to reach them,” Maxie declared, pointing a finger in his direction as she clarified her position. “You’re smarter than that, Berke. Which means you know something I don’t or you wouldn’t be going there.”
    Berke wasn’t sure how to respond to that, because technically he was going to do his best to make it to a sanctuary that would be a hundred times more secure than a FEMA camp, regardless that the camps she was speaking of would most likely be secured by the National Guard. But he wasn’t sure he could even make it to Washington and he wouldn’t put her life, or that of her new son, in harm’s way on a gamble. The longer she delayed him, the less likely it was that he would actually make it himself.
    “What I know is that you’re wasting precious time,” Berke warned, opening up the door to his truck and motioning for her to do the same to her vehicle. “Take Jacob and go into town now. Make sure you’re with a group you can trust and then stay together at all costs.”
    Berke planted his foot on the running board and made himself comfortable, not bothering to look back over his shoulder to see if Maxie had done as he’d suggested. It wasn’t like she had a choice, because talking about any other option wasn’t conceivable to him. He slammed his door, slid the key into the ignition, and started the engine. He unconsciously grabbed his sunglasses out of the console and then slid them into place. It was only then that he realized he most likely wouldn’t need them for long.
    Berke glanced down at his phone, wondering if the cell towers were still working. He’d call Mav once he got to the edge of town, wanting to know how things were going up in Lost Summit. They would have most likely called a town meeting by now, similar to the ones going on all around the country. Who would choose to stay and who would decide leaving was the better option? Just how many would the bunker have to protect and how long would the supplies hold out?
    Berke gritted his teeth at the fact that all of them would be forced to make a life or death decision today, but it wasn’t as if they’d been given a choice one way or the other. He didn’t have a choice either. He shifted his truck into reverse and then would have pressed on the gas had he not seen in his rearview mirror that Maxie hadn’t moved her minivan. In fact, she was leaning against the side of it with her arms crossed, as if she had all day. Damn it all to hell.
    “Maxie, we don’t have time for this kind of bullshit,” Berke warned after he’d gotten out of his truck. He walked over to her until they were inches apart, resting the palm of his right hand on the warm metal of the door. He leaned in close, not wanting her to misunderstand a word he was about