Essential Beginnings (13 page)

Mav stopped Henley from entering the community center where everyone was now gathered. He’d placed a gentle hand on her arm and the look in his eyes caused her worry to spike further. She felt a sharp pain in her chest that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with her previous anxiety issues. She’d stopped taking medicine over a year ago, but at this rate she’d be using up what she had left in her medicine cabinet.

“I spoke with all the guys a few minutes ago,” Mav said, seemingly not concerned that Elijah overhead him. “There are things we’ll need that Ernie hasn’t thought of, so I split a list between Berke, Owen, Mason, and Van. They’ll bring what they can, but them making it here safely takes precedence.”

“How is it that Van can even make it here?” Henley asked worriedly, knowing full well that Van lived in New York. He’d have to literally cross the entirety of the United States to reach Lost Summit. “Or the rest of them, for that matter.”

“I guarantee the FAA has already closed down the airports, so they’ll have to take whatever means necessary—vehicles until the engines are affected by the ash, maybe motorcycles since certain models have air-cooled engines, or on foot if need be. I gave them frequencies for an HF radio that we can monitor for emergency signals from them.” Mav still held the radio, but he slid his free hand down her arm until he had ahold of her fingers. “I have no doubt that Ernie will coordinate this town the way he commanded his platoon in the Corps. But what I’m asking you now is that you go back up to the lodge.”

Henley would have immediately objected, but Mav squeezed her fingers to indicate he needed her to listen. She would, but that didn’t mean she would agree to what he was requesting. This was her home and while she might have hidden away up at the lodge for the past three years, that didn’t mean she didn’t care about these people. He couldn’t stop her from helping them.

“I’ve lived in situations and seen the reactions of people when times become increasingly desperate,” Mav said, finally letting her go to tuck the radio under his arm. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to his Jeep. He placed them into the palm of her hand. “Take my vehicle and go secure the bunker. No one goes in. Everyone here knows about it and I won’t allow them to take it away from Tank should things go south and it’s needed. We’ll be behind you shortly.”

“No one is going to try and take that bunker for themselves,” Henley said defensively, not willing to believe that anyone who still lived in town would be that selfish. Mav was overreacting and Elijah wasn’t helping by humming his agreement every two seconds. “We should—”

Henley was interrupted by loud voices coming from inside the building and they both turned to find out what had prompted the outburst. She followed and noticed that Elijah had turned in his seat to get a better view.

“We’re heading north and we’ll take whoever wants to go with us,” Rat declared, standing in the middle of the room with Randy Bassett on one side and Jarrett Moore on the other. All three men looked determined and it was more than apparent that they’d made up their minds. Ernie didn’t appear too surprised at the man’s announcement, but the sheriff was trying to get the three hard-cases to see reason. “Felix, we all know you’ll listen to what Yates has to say, but how does he know that we’d be okay here? We’re sitting ducks and you know it. Canada is our best shot and we’re going to take it. Who’s with us?”

“Rat, you and I both know the Canadian patrol officer up at the border and he won’t allow you or anyone else to pass through unless he’s been given instructions to do so,” Henley warned, walking up and standing alongside Mabel who’d stood when Stanley had started bellowing his intentions. Mav had made his way to the front and had set the radio down next to the map that Ernie had flattened out on the hard surface. “Now the sheriff and the mayor have emergency contingencies in place and they’ll give us our best options. It’s not in our interest to take off on some wild goose chase when time is so short.”

“Don’t you start with me, young lady,” Rat cautioned, shooting a sideways look toward Ernie before launching into a tirade that left Henley speechless and more than a little sick to her stomach. “You’d take Yates’ side no matter what he said because he gave you a job when you came running back to our little backwater town with your tail between your legs when you couldn’t make it in the real world. Everyone here knows about the eating disorder you had that led to your hospital stay and then the mental breakdown when you couldn’t handle your own personal business. Your parents would have been ashamed of—”

“Say another word,” Mav threatened in a low voice that Henley had never heard before, “and I’ll drop your corpse over the Canadian border myself.”

Mav had somehow managed to get from the front of the large room in a matter of seconds so that he stood inches from Rat with his arms at his sides. Henley lost all color in her face and she had trouble swallowing, not sure how to respond to calm down the deadly situation. Unfortunately Rat was right about most of what he’d said with the exception of her parents. They had loved her unconditionally and remembering that fact aided in her composure. Having Mav protecting her the way he was only added to her rising confidence.

“What Ernie has is compassion, unlike the likes of you,” Henley spoke softly, not needing to raise her voice like Rat had during his condescending speech. She cursed that everyone could hear the tremble, but they had bigger things to worry about right now. “And you don’t have the right to speak for upstanding honest folks like my parents. We are all scared. We don’t know what to expect, but I do know that we need to listen to Ernie if we have any chance of survival.”

“You have two choices.” Mav’s fingers curled into fists as he stated his demands. “You sit your ass down and do what the sheriff tells you to or you leave town now while you can still move under your own power.”

Henley hadn’t realized that Mabel had laid a hand on her arm until she went to move toward the two men, Mav apparently not willing to let Rat’s remarks go. She patted the older woman’s hand to let her know that she was all right. Henley wasn’t, but she didn’t have the luxury of running up to the lodge and hiding out again.

“You best get out of my face, boy.” Rat leveled a stare at Mav, causing Henley to finally understand what Mav had been saying all along. People resorted to desperate measures when their judgment was clouded with fear. She didn’t think it was possible, but Mav managed to move closer to the man. That didn’t stop Rat from talking. “Your friends aren’t here to back you up anymore.”

“Get out then.” Henley stepped away from Mabel until she was side by side with Mav. She glanced toward the sheriff, who was watching the scene unfold but not doing anything to stop it. The reason why confused her until she saw that Ernie had his fingers on Felix’s arm to prevent the sheriff from intervening. “Stanley, no one is going to stop—”

“I’m going to say this once more,” Mav clarified in a deadpan voice that had even Henley taking a step back. “You either sit down or you get the fuck out. What’s it going to be, shitheel?”

No one in the building seemed to breathe, as if they were waiting for an explosion to happen inside instead of dealing with the one eight hundred miles away. Stanley moved slightly side to side but it didn’t deter Mav in the least from standing his ground. Rat was finally getting it into his thick head that he might have underestimated his chances when Randy and Jarrett slowly back away from him and took some empty seats behind them. Stanley looked sideways and evidently didn’t like his odds anymore.

“I’ll stay to hear what the sheriff has to say and then I’ll make up my own mind.”

Stanley was the first one to back up a step, but he didn’t join his other two friends in the chairs. He took up position behind the townspeople instead and crossed his arms while still casting Mav a menacing glance. Henley was surprised when Mav finally turned to her, fury filling his brown eyes.

“Don’t interfere like that again. You don’t know him anymore,” Mav said in a low tone so that no one could overhear him. This wasn’t the man who kissed her last night. “Men like Ratliff are imminently dangerous and placating them only makes them see you as weak and as a target.”

Mav walked away before Henley had a chance to defend her actions and she felt a spark of ire herself at his arrogance. It was she who was verbally attacked by Stanley and she could say what she wanted in response. She was an adult woman who’d taken charge of her life years ago and she would continue doing so. If he thought that just because they’d both laid their cards on the table that gave him the right to take over making decisions for her, he was sorely mistaken.

T
he drive to
the lodge was made in silence, and Henley had yet to really speak to Mav directly after he’d rebuked her for trying to reason with a man like Stanley Ratliff. He’d dealt with those kinds of men his entire time in the Corps and the only thing that kept them in place was someone they couldn’t intimidate. Rat had no right to drag Henley’s past into the forefront of the town meeting and it had enraged Mav to see the pain in her eyes. Now all he felt from her was an anger that rivaled his own.

“The situation had been about to get out of control.” Henley’s comment broke the quiet as if a two by four had smashed into the windshield. She shifted in her seat so that she could face him, but Mav kept his eyes on the road and the taillights in front of him. Tank had taken the lead back to the cabins after a long and drawn out meeting in which Rat and his cronies had stayed to listen. “It was easier to try and get Stanley to see reason instead of letting him wander off to die. You and I both know he’d never make it unless Cody up at the border allowed him to cross.”

“Having Rat here is more dangerous to the people staying,” Mav cautioned, not knowing how else to explain this to her. Ernie, the sheriff, and even the mayor had all come together to explain why staying in Lost Summit was the best course of action. The town had access to natural gas, numerous naturally filtered mountain springs, additional food supplies that had been bought with the upcoming tourist season in mind, and mines for shelter when the ash fall made the wooden structured buildings unsafe. The majority of the people were in agreement, but there were still some that were on the fence. Their instinct was to flee, but yet it was that same fear that kept them in place. This town was all they knew. “It’s been ten hours since the eruption and in another sixty or so the ash cloud will have reached the East Coast. The emergency radio broadcasts have already confirmed mass casualties and it’s only a matter of time before millions more are added to the list. Communications have all but ceased from the worst affected areas and it won’t be long before we’ll lose touch with the outside world. It’s imperative that we stick together, but having someone like Ratliff here is asking to destroy what we’re trying to maintain.”

“Why doesn’t it feel that way then?” Henley asked, causing Mav to look over at her to decipher her meaning. Her back was to the door and she’d taken the shoulder strap of the seatbelt and tucked it underneath her arm. Her brows were furrowed and she lifted her hands in exasperation. “Hundreds of miles away people have died already and yet we’re in this bubble that feels impenetrable. It doesn’t seem real. Rat shouldn’t be excluded from that just because he’s an asshole and you shouldn’t get to choose who lives or dies.”

“I’m not saying I do, but I will continue to protect those that can’t protect themselves.”

“I’ll have you know that I can protect myself just fine,” Henley bit off between clenched teeth. Mav could see this argument was getting them nowhere, but she continued before he could stop her. “My father taught me how to use a pistol at a young age and I used to carry personal protection with me back in California. Rat doesn’t scare me so much as he’s just a nuisance that has the ability to influence other people. We needed him there to listen and see reason, so that the people who do give him credence could see that the sheriff knows what he’s doing.”

Mav wouldn’t argue that Sheriff Felix Ramsey had stepped up to the plate and done his duty in prepping his community for the harsh days to come. He’d made calls to the National Guard, the county and state police, and even the governor’s office to let them know that he was having his residents hunker down until the worst of the disaster had passed. All that was left to do now was prepare and they had less than a week to do so before any of the most severe elements appeared.

“I think I liked it better when you ignored me.”

Henley’s lips parted into a perfect circle until she smiled. It was the first one he’d seen since last night and his comment had the effect he’d wanted. Mav didn’t want to fight with her. That was the last thing either of them needed and it was clear that they didn’t see eye to eye on how to handle specific situations, but he would continue to keep tabs on Rat. Right now they needed to get back to the lodge so that he and Ernie could prepare the area for a secondary camp if need be. There was no way in hell they could fit forty-eight people there including Berke, Mason, Owen, and Van unless everyone doubled up and ate quite a bit less. Fifteen rooms in the lodge and eight remaining cabins were what they had to deal with right now. Mav didn’t forget that Kellen Truman had decided to hunker down as well. They would need to take inventory of the emergency stores Ernie had in storage, along with everything else that could possibly be used to solidify their future.