Endless Flames (Surviving Ashes, Book Four) by Kennedy Layne Read Free Book Online

to say. “By tomorrow or the next day, eighty-five percent of the United States will be covered in ash. No sun, no clean air, and no drinkable water…and that’s only one percent of the problems we’re all about to face. Do you know what that small percentage means? No traveling by vehicle or by foot. No hydration. As for breathing? Ash is made out of pulverized rock and shards of glass. Do you know what that does to a person’s lungs if he or she inhales it? It creates a horrible, gut-wrenching, suffocating death that will have you begging for a merciful end.”
    “I understand completely the severity of the situation we’re facing, Berke,” Maxie shared while reaching up and slowly removing his aviator sunglasses. He was somewhat surprised when she slipped one of the sides down her shirt, leaving his shades hanging from her V-neck collar. “What you don’t seem to comprehend is that I have little to no options here. The only other man who would have been able to handle such a disastrous situation was my father, but he’s no longer with us.”
    “Maxie, you’re more than capable of—”
    “As much as I appreciate the vote of confidence, I swore an oath to protect that child currently seated inside this minivan,” Maxie said with a slight tremor in her voice. At least, Berke thought he’d heard a quiver until her tone turned to cold, rolled steel. “I don’t know if I’m mother material or not. I suspect I’ll be finding out rather quickly. I’ll admit to being scared to death at the prospect of raising Jacob up to be a young man who can take care of himself, but now the odds are stacked against me. I’m faced with having little chance of remaining alive to guarantee his safety…that is, with the exception of having you by my side.”
    What the hell was Maxie talking about? Berke frowned in confusion and would have asked her to clarify had she not continued…and basically set their fate like the cement the lining of their lungs would be filled with if they breathed in the ash about to descend upon them.
    “Before my father passed, he told me of the time you went to visit him,” Maxie shared rather cautiously, causing Berke to shift in unease. That had been a private meeting between two Marines, and she knew it. Beau Denikin had served his country with pride and also ran a support group for veterans returning from combat duty. Berke understood what those men had faced and had wanted to give back. “Don’t be upset. I don’t know all that was said, but I do know you made an impact. High praise coming from my father is rare. In fact, he’s never spoken so highly of anyone as he did you.”
    Berke straightened, putting some distance between them. Maxie had misunderstood her father and now she was postponing the inevitable. He needed to set the record straight.
    “Respect for another Marine is inherent, Maxie,” Berke stated bluntly, done with delaying their unavoidable journeys. “You’re basing your safety and that of your son’s on the fact that your father held high regard for my service is foolish. That’s a mistake.”
    “Is it?” Maxie asked in such a definitive manner that she prevented him from turning away. What exactly had Beau said to her? “It wasn’t long after he spoke of you that he gave a speech about a young Marine who went above and beyond his call of duty to save a child from an Afghani warlord who was bent on the destruction of an entire family who had betrayed the clan’s interest with the Taliban to the local American forces. Considering the size of our town and the few soldiers and Marines who had returned from war recently, it didn’t take me long to figure out who Dad was talking about.”
    Berke remained silent, the distressing memories of that time never far from his thoughts. It didn’t matter what had happened to him overseas. That was then and this was now. Military members served their country and did what was expected of them, as long as it was ethical. He