Page 62 of Shielding Maya

Her smile grew. "Thank you."

They both hugged his mom, and he took her hand and led her from the cabin and to the common area where the community had gathered.

They brought their kitchen chairs or benches they'd made over time and found a spot around the fire.

He kissed Maya as he reached the area where he'd be addressing his community and there were some sighs, and some gasps. But, by now they all knew. Not much got by up here.

He whispered, "Be safe."

She smiled brightly. "Give 'em what you got, Jasiah."

She walked toward her brother, who stood to Jasiah's right at the edge of the woods.

Jasiah turned to his community and nodded.

"Thank you all for coming. Tonight I stand before you, excited, humble, and eager to be your president. But not because of my birthright. I want to be your president because you want me to be your president. It's just that simple."

Applause sounded and he waited. It was hard not to turn and look for Maya.

"I want to share what plans I'm making for our community. What wonders we can create up here for ourselves. I've spoken to Mayor Rayleigh Winters of Glen Hollow, and he's welcoming anyone up here who'd like to start a business to do so. It's simply a matter of filling out an application. Your business will be your own. I know Coup wants to start a woodworking business and Elle wants to start a sewing shop. You're both welcome to do that. We can build stores up here, over on the west ridge, where tourists will come and buy your wares. We've brought water and electricity and gas. Houses are being converted every day. We will need to reconfigure our common area here, so we have more parking. And, we can live our lives as we always have, in peace. But this peace is a true peace. No fighting with the town below. No worries about how we'll make a living. Jobs are being gained every day. We now have more than thirty percent of our community working. That's phenomenal."

Mr. Winger, one of the elders, stood up, "And how are you getting paid? Are we going to have to pay a portion of our paychecks to you?"

Jasiah smiled. "I'm glad you asked that. The mayor has set aside funds from the tax rolls to pay for the president's position. He's also set funds aside to add a police officer up here so we don't have to wait so long for assistance. There are other things we've been discussing to help us out up here."

His heartbeat began to slow, his community was behind him. What he saw when he looked at his people were smiles. He turned to see his mom standing in the doorway to the cabin and she smiled and nodded. He wanted to see Maya, but she was hidden in the woods.

"And what about the shooting? Do we have to worry about any more criminals coming up here and shooting people?"

36

Maya listened to Jasiah as she patrolled her section of the perimeter. He fielded questions. He sounded strong. Confident.

Her comm unit clicked. "Maya, Tate just called. The thumb drive held video of King talking to Senator Jackson about the murder in Yerezdan. He admitted to the fact he'd sent men over to shut the Chief of Staff of Yerezdan up. He admitted to the arms for oil deals. He's on video and audio."

"Wow. Thank you for letting me know. Has he seen any danger on the cameras?"

"Negative."

Her heart beat faster. It was almost over. They had the proof. The senator withheld that little nugget in case he needed it. Leaving it with a little girl, likely hoping it would get to the right person. She whispered, "Good on you, senator."

Her comm unit clicked again, it was Tate. "Listen up. I have Adam Jacobs on camera right now speaking to someone in a car with Tennessee license plates."

"That's Jasiah's opposition in this election," she hurried.

"Roger that."

She turned toward the common area, Jasiah needed to get to safety.

Tate spoke once again. "The car is headed up Second Road."

Maya replied. "Where's Adam Jacobs?"

"He's driving up First Road."

"Myles, Spencer, Jasiah is closest to First Road."

Maya was on the opposite side of the perimeter. She'd ducked into the woods so she wouldn't be a distraction. The revving engine of a car speeding up the road sounded and she exited the woods across the common area. She ran as fast as she could toward Jasiah. He didn't seem to notice her as he answered questions.

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