Bug Out! Part 10: RV Race to Battle

by Robert Boren

  “Okay, traffic is thinning out now anyway, and it’s getting dark,” he said. “Bailey here looks pretty well primed.”

  She looked at him, her face a mixture of fear and lust.

  ***

  Gabe took the off-ramp nearest the hospital, and drove down the street in the darkness. Some of the buildings were knocked down. There were military vehicles here and there, but no people walking around. A few windows showed dim light, but most of them were dark.

  “Are there still people living here?” Hilda asked.

  “Everybody’s probably shell-shocked,” Gabe said. “Hunkered down. I don’t blame them. I suspect it got really bad here.”

  She looked around, tears rolling down her cheeks. “This was such a nice town. Wonder what’s left of my RV Park?”

  “Maybe we can go out there and check before we go home,” Gabe said. “Rosie still asleep back there?”

  “I wake,” Rosie said. “Too worried to sleep much.”

  “We’ll be with Jeb in just a few minutes,” Hilda said.

  Gabe pulled into a parking place and got out to help Hilda with Rosie. They walked through the front door to the information desk.

  “Jeb Taylor?” Hilda asked.

  The woman behind the counter looked on the computer monitor. “Here he is. He’s going into surgery soon. Room 323. There’s another of your people here, too. General Hogan’s been talking to us.”

  “Earl,” Gabe said. “Which room is he?”

  “121,” she said. “He’ll be fine. We’ll probably release him in the next day or two.”

  “Good, then we can take him with us,” Hilda said.

  “Let’s go,” Rosie said.

  They went to the elevator and rode up to the third floor. There was a nurse’s station nearby.

  “We see Jeb?” Rosie asked.

  The nurse turned to them. “Family only. Any of you family?”

  “I wife,” Rosie said.

  “Okay, I’ll take you back. He’s going into surgery any minute now. You two can wait over there.”

  Gabe and Hilda sat as the nurse helped Rosie to the room. Rosie cried when she saw him, all wired up, machines beeping around him.

  “I don’t know if he’s awake or not,” the nurse said. “Don’t wake him if he’s not.”

  “Is that my Rosie?” Jeb asked, his voice weak.

  “I here, my love,” she said, shuffling over to his bedside. “How feel?”

  “We’ll have to put off that dance tonight,” he said, trying to laugh. “Ouch.”

  Rosie took his hand as the nurse left. “I so worried.”

  “Oh, I know, sweetie. I’m sorry.”

  “I tell them we married,” she said. “When they say family only.”

  “Okay,” he said, smiling. “I like that. Maybe when I heal up, we should get hitched.”

  “I like,” Rosie said. “You know. Love you so much.”

  “Anybody else get hit?”

  “Earl, but he not bad. He on first floor.”

  “Saladin?”

  “George capture. Team on way back. They throw him in dungeon.”

  “Good,” Jeb said.

  Rosie petted his forehead. “I proud of you.”

  He smiled at her, his eyelids getting heavier. Then the attendants came in.

  “Time to take him,” one of them said to Rosie.

  She nodded and moved out of the way as they prepared to move him out.

  “Please make it,” she muttered softly, tears rolling down her cheeks. After they left, the nurse from the front station came back and helped her over to the waiting area. Gabe and Hilda watched as she sat down.

  “Was he awake?” Hilda asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “We talk. I told him mission go well, and Earl here. I told him Earl not bad.”

  “Good,” Hilda said. “Glad this hospital is back in operation.”

  “We need to keep our eyes open,” Gabe said. “The enemy might know we have people here.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Hilda said. “When do the apps get released everywhere again?”

  “Tomorrow,” Gabe said. “We’ll still be here, I reckon. Probably should see if there’s a place to bed down for the night.”

  “I sleep here,” Rosie said. “Stay with man.”

  “They’ll probably let you do that,” Hilda said. “If they give you any trouble about it, we can always have General Hogan make a call.”

  “We see,” Rosie said. “Hope doctor good.”

  “Me too,” Hilda said, glancing at Gabe, a worried look on her face.

  Chapter 11 – A Wonderful Girl

  Malcolm was at the wheel of the Jeep Unlimited, racing down the road, nearing the Kansas RV Park. It was late, and he was tired. Kurt was in the passenger seat next to him.

  “I think he finally passed out again,” Kurt said. “Got to hurt his burns laying back there. No padding at all.”

  “My heart bleeds,” Malcolm said, grinning. “Hope General Hogan isn’t too easy on him.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” Kurt said. “Did anybody tell you what he did to Simon Orr?”

  “I just heard that he killed him with a grenade,” Malcolm said. “During a battle or something?”

  “Oh, it was much worse than that,” Kurt said. “We had Simon Orr and an Islamic inbreed locked up together in Gabe’s smokehouse after they tried to take over the RV Park. The smokehouse was made out of cinder block, and had a hole in the bottom of one of the walls to push logs through. He rolled a grenade in there. Boom.”

  “Really,” Malcolm said, grinning. “How diabolical.”

  “Yeah, it was pretty bad. The funny thing was it didn’t damage the damn smoke house.”

  “Probably a mess inside, though,” Malcolm said.

  Saladin groaned. Malcolm and Kurt looked at each other and laughed.

  “Any railroad tracks around here?” Malcolm asked.

  “Ouch,” Kurt said. “Now that would be diabolical.”

  “There it is,” Malcolm said, watching the Humvee turn into the driveway, followed by Jeb’s Jeep. “Hard to see your park at night. Just looks like a stand of trees.”

  “Yeah,” Kurt said. I reckon that’s a good thing.

  Malcolm made the turn, and George’s Jeep followed him in. They pulled up next to the clubhouse.

  “Wow, look at her coming,” Malcolm said, looking at Trish in a dead run towards Jeb’s Jeep. Terry got out of the driver’s seat and ran to her.

  “Young love,” Kurt said, smiling.

  They both got out. Charlie walked over.

  “Saladin back there?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” Malcolm said.

  “Good, why don’t you drive to the barn next to the trap door,” he said. “We’ll get him loaded into a cell down in the dungeon.”

  “Good idea,” Malcolm said. He got back behind the wheel, watching as Kurt and Mary melted into each other’s arms. Saladin moaned again. “Shut up, or I’ll go find some speed bumps, cretin.”

  Dobie, Jake, and the Sheriff were waiting by the trap door when Malcolm rolled up. He parked and got out. Dobie opened the rear gate, and the three men wrestled Saladin out. He cried out in pain.

  “Damn, this guy’s pretty messed up,” the Sheriff said. “What’d you do to him?”

  “He got a little well done,” Malcolm said, laughing. “Firebomb flew into his hideout. He’s lucky compared to some who were in there.”

  They got him down the first flight of stairs, and over by the second trap door, which was already open. They carried him down and laid him on the cot in the front cell. General Hogan approached.

  “Well well, look who we have here,” he said, grinning. “Enjoy the ride?”

  Mary pushed her way past the men and headed to the cage. Kurt grabbed her arm and stopped her. “We haven’t frisked him yet, sweetie. He might have a knife or something.”

  “Yeah, let’s check him out,” the Sheriff said. He searched him from
top to bottom, rolling him over, causing him to cry out in pain. “Ah ha!” he said, pulling out a large ornate dagger from one of his leggings.

  “Nice goose sticker,” Jake said, laughing.

  “Alright, Mary, he’s clean,” the Sheriff said. “I’ll go get one of those drop lights from the workshop.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff,” she said as she walked in. She shined her iPhone flashlight on him and looked at the burns, then walked out, shaking her head.

  “Well?” General Hogan asked.

  “He’ll be lucky to last the night,” she said. “He’s burned so badly that he’s got organ damage. I’ll bet his lungs are in bad shape too. Listen to his breathing. Hear that raspy sound?”

  “Yeah, I was wondering what that was when we had him in the Jeep,” Kurt said.

  “Well, there’s nothing I can do for him,” Mary said.

  The Sheriff brought the drop light. “You done looking at him already?” he asked.

  “He’s beyond help,” Mary said. “He’s too badly burned.”

  “Put that drop light up anyway,” General Hogan said. “I’m going to take pictures and post them. I’d rather have him alive. Think we can get his eyes open again?”

  “Maybe,” Mary said. “He’s delirious. I doubt if he even knows where he is at this point.”

  The Sheriff hung the light on the bars and turned it on. That got Saladin’s attention, and he opened his eyes, looking at the people gathered around, sheer terror on his face.

  “Perfect,” General Hogan said as he snapped several pictures with his iPhone.

  Kurt walked over to Charlie. “Heard from Hilda yet?”

  “Yeah, a little while ago. Jeb’s in surgery right now.”

  “I hope he makes it,” Kurt said.

  Mary got by his side. “How about Earl?” she asked.

  “Hilda said that he’s going to be fine. They’ll probably bring him when they come back.”

  ***

  Jerry and Jasmine walked together through the park, hand in hand.

  “Oh, Jerry, I’m so glad you’re back,” she said. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “I didn’t have any close calls in this one,” he said. “You guys and that web meeting were great. Most of the operation went like clockwork.”

  “I’m worried about tomorrow,” Jasmine said as they got to their coach.

  “Why? Because of the app release?”

  “Yes, and because mom is out there, sticking out like a sore thumb,” she said.

  “We can drive out there and join her in the morning if you want to, you know.”

  “No,” Jasmine said. “As much as I’d like to, it’s time to lower my stress level. I am pregnant, remember.”

  “Oh,” Jerry said. “Yeah, good point. She’s got Gabe with her. He’s a good man.”

  “Yes, I know,” Jasmine said. “I’m so glad he went with them.”

  ***

  Trish and Terry sat next to each other, on the couch in their trailer, hands together, fingers intertwined.

  “You look so tired,” she said.

  “I’m beat, but I don’t think I can fall asleep just yet,” he said. “That was crazy.”

  “It was crazy to listen to in the web meeting,” she said. “It was better than not knowing though.”

  “I’m glad,” he said, moving her hair away from her eyes gently, and kissing her. She moaned and leaned into him. When he broke the kiss and moved back, he saw the tears streaming down her face. “It’s okay, I’m back. I’m safe.”

  “I know, but I was so scared, and there’s still tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? Oh, yeah, the apps,” he said. “It’ll be okay. I was beside myself when you guys got attacked here.”

  “Yeah, that was scary. I was afraid our trailer would get blown up, for one thing.”

  “I was more worried about you. That bunker could turn into a nasty death trap.”

  “My dad got the cameras and the Wi-Fi up just in time,” she said.

  “So I heard,” Terry said. His eyes were getting heavy.

  “C’mon, let’s go to bed,” she said. She pulled him up, and they went into the bedroom.

  "I wonder if we should all move into the bunker tomorrow, just in case,” Terry said, sleepily.

  “Nobody’s said anything,” Trish said. “Why?”

  “If the enemy still has choppers left, they’re liable to lash out just about anywhere they can. They know where we are.”

  “You know, that’s a good point,” Trish said. “Don’t worry about it tonight. Sleep.”

  ***

  General Hogan was sitting on a couch in the lounge of the bunker, looking down, deep in thought. His son came over and sat next to him. “You okay, pop?”

  He turned to him and smiled. “I’m okay. Was just thinking about Sanchez. I keep seeing his face while he’s going down the slide at our pool, grinning ear to ear.”

  “I know,” Private Brown said. “We’re lucky he’s the only person we lost. That was a crazy battle.”

  “How bad is Jeb?”

  “The paramedic said he might not make it to the hospital,” he whispered. “But he’s one tough son of a bitch. Hope he doesn’t die in surgery. They’re working on him right now.”

  George and Heidi walked over with Malcolm, Frank, Jane, and Charlie. They pulled chairs closer and sat.

  “We aren’t disturbing you, I hope,” Charlie said.

  “No, no, not at all,” General Hogan said. “We need to talk.”

  The Sheriff, Kurt, and Mary saw the gathering and came over. Jake and Dobie joined them too.

  “Kinda cramped down here,” Dobie said, carrying two barstools over.

  “The clubhouse got shot up,” Charlie said. “Nothing too serious though. We’ll have to patch the roof and fix parts of the floor. Didn’t look like we lost any windows, believe it or not.”

  “We need to chat about tomorrow,” Frank said.

  “Yes, that’s what I was thinking,” the Sheriff said. “The enemy knows where we are.”

  “Well, maybe they do,” Dobie said. “It’s possible all the folks that knew where we are got killed at Capitol Reef.”

  “Possible, but not probable,” General Hogan said. “Those choppers weren’t based at Capitol Reef. We would’ve seen them in the satellite imagery.”

  “How important is it that Saladin is out of action?” Charlie asked. “You think he was coordinating all the command and control?”

  “Hard to tell,” General Hogan said. “I’m thinking that those mid-to high-ranking folks we took out at Capitol Reef were more important. Same with the high-ranking folks in DC who we took out.”

  “What are you going to do with those pictures you took of Saladin?” the Sheriff asked.

  “I’m going to post them on social media everywhere. I’ve got men working on that now. He looks like a scared child in one of those shots. We’ll make sure it goes viral.”

  “When are you posting it? To coincide with the app release?” Jane asked.

  “Yep, that’s the plan,” General Hogan said.

  “What’s the military going to do?” Dobie asked.

  “Clean out their ranks first, and then go after the enemy strongholds,” the General said.

  “I wish they’d bring enough troops back from Mexico to get the job done right,” Jake said.

  General Hogan smiled. “Oh, trust me, the apps will help in a big way. We’ll have these guys on the run, but they’ll still be dangerous for a while.

  “I figured,” Charlie said.

  “There’s something you don’t know about the forces in Mexico,” General Hogan said.

  “What’s that?” Charlie asked.

  “That’s where the infiltration was the worst, by far,” he said. “There will be a huge battle between the traitors and the real army. We’ll win. After that’s over, the problems in Mexico will become manageable.

  “Good,” Frank said.

  “There is one other big fa
ctor, of course,” General Hogan said.

  “The role of the citizens,” George said.

  “That’s right,” the General said. “In the first few hours, the army will be busy fighting themselves, purging the ranks. Plans are already in place for that. The citizens are going to have to pick up the slack.”

  “What about local authorities?” the Sheriff asked.

  “We’ll be sending communications to all of them, across the entire country,” General Hogan said. “Same with the National Guard and the State Militias. Our enemy will find themselves in the middle of a massive shit storm, and it’ll come from so many directions that they’ll be completely overwhelmed.”

  “What do we do tomorrow at zero hour?” Jake asked. “Should we be looking for an attack?”

  “Maybe we should move everybody down here for a while,” Charlie said. “A day or two. Couldn’t hurt.”

  “That might be prudent, just in case any more choppers find their way down here,” General Hogan said. “We need to keep our eyes open, that’s for sure.”

  “You expect massive amounts of people removing the chips?” Jake asked. “I know it’s hard, but it’s life or death for these folks.”

  “You heard what Mary told us,” Charlie said. “It’s easier said than done.” Mary nodded in agreement.

  “I can attest to that,” Private Brown said. “Those guys that got the jump on us at the end. They were a mess. It’s a big deal.”

  “The enemy made it tough on themselves,” Mary said. “They probably wanted to prevent people from deserting. The chips didn’t need to be so deep.”

  “Wonder where Daan Mertens is?” Frank asked. “Knowing him, he’s already found out what’ll be going down.”

  “I’d bet on that,” General Hogan said. “But he probably doesn’t know the timing.”

  “How many in the military know?” the Sheriff asked.

  “Very few know the exact time,” General Hogan said. “I don’t think Mertens is in the country, anyway. He’s probably in Europe.”

  “I think we ought to call a meeting early tomorrow, and get people rounded up down here with their most valuable stuff,” Charlie said. “Just in case.”