Bug Out! Part 7: Mile High Motorhomes

by Robert Boren

  “You don’t want to tell us this part,” Jane said.

  “It’s not that bad, really,” Frank said. “We want to take one of the motorhomes out, far enough into the boonies that we don’t have cell coverage. Then we can try our experiments without worrying that the file is going to slip out and give away our position.”

  “You want to take one of our rigs out, un-protected, to an area where you don’t have cell coverage?” Jane asked. “I don’t like that idea one bit.”

  “We wouldn’t be completely cut off,” Frank said. “We’d have the radios.”

  “Do those have enough range?” Jasmine asked.

  “They should, if we don’t end up with a bunch of hills between the park and here.”

  “How long would you have to be out there?” Jane asked.

  “Not that long,” Frank said. “Long enough to be able to capture the file output from all of the chips. Once I have those, I can start working on cracking their encryption. It may be enough to simply crack their addressing system. In any event, that’s where most of the work will be. Getting the output to trigger shouldn’t be too difficult. Making sense of the output is the hard part.”

  “When do you two propose doing this?” Jane asked.

  “Probably not for a few days,” Jerry said. “We need a signal generator.”

  “Yes, a multi-function one, just in case it’s not really LTE that gets the transmission started.”

  “That’s something you can get at that electronics store in town, correct?” Jasmine said.

  “Yes,” Frank said, “if we’re lucky.”

  “Which coach would you take?”

  “Probably ours,” Jerry said, looking sideways at Jasmine. “We’ve got it set up to run the electronics already, and it’s got a powerful diesel generator.”

  “We’ll be going too, you know,” Jane said. Jasmine shook her head in agreement.

  “That’s OK with me,” Frank said. “In fact, I think we might want to bring a sharpshooter or two along, and at least one of the toads. For one thing, we’ll want somebody in a car to check out the terrain where we pull off. We don’t need to drive a motorhome into an area we can’t get out of.”

  “True that,” Jerry said.

  “Hey, look!” Frank said, pointing to the door. Dobie was walking in with several parabolic antennas and a bunch of wire. Gabe went over to meet him. Frank and Jerry got up and went over to check it out.

  “There go our boys again,” Jane said, shaking her head.

  “Yeah,” Jasmine said. “Sometimes being married to a geek gets a little old.”

  The two giggled.

  Wow, Dobie, these are cool,” Jerry said as they walked up.

  “Yeah, I’ve had fun with these things. Probably don’t need all of them. I was thinking that for tonight, we just rig one up on the roof and run the wire down on the ground. We can put up something more permanent later.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Gabe said. “How can I help?”

  “I’ll stash these extras over there by the monitor,” Dobie said. “Then maybe you can show me how to get on the roof.”

  “No problem,” Gabe said.

  “Those have the amplifiers built in?” Frank asked.

  “Yep,” Dobie said as they put the extra parabolic antennas over against the wall. “The cable isn’t much more than speaker wire, really.”

  Gabe took Dobie out the door. Frank and Jerry rejoined their wives.

  “Those are going to pick up noise from outside?” Jane asked.

  “Yeah,” Frank said. “Cool stuff.”

  “What kind of range do they have?” Jasmine asked.

  “Depends on how powerful the amplifier is,” Jerry said. “Could be as far as several blocks. Those have a pretty wide spread. I don’t see why we’d need more than one for the front of the park, unless we want to put them way forward. One of them ought to cover just about everything if we put it up on the sniper roof.”

  “Want more food, honey?” Jane asked, looking at Frank.

  “No, I had plenty,” he said. “I’ll get rid of the paper plates.” He picked all of them up and carried them over to the trash can by the kitchen door. He saw Dobie and Gabe come back in the front door.

  “Frank, do you think this wire would go through the access hole over there, where the camera wires run through?” asked Dobie.

  “Sure, should fit, but if we’re going to leave this up very long, we’d better tack them down. Squirrels are still around.”

  “Understood,” he said. “I’m going back there now.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Frank said. They went out the door, with Gabe following close behind, chewing on a big piece of venison that he picked up off the tray.

  Dobie picked up the coil of wire that was on the ground, next to the ladder for the roof. He followed Frank to the far corner of the clubhouse, unwinding it as he went.

  “This corner still gives me the creeps,” Frank said when they got there. “Especially in the dark.”

  “Why?” Dobie asked.

  “This is where the pajama boys got the drop on us,” he replied.

  “I don’t like to think about that night,” Gabe said.

  “There’s the hole,” Frank said, pointing. The ladder was still there. Frank climbed up and pulled out the plastic conduit piece that went through the wall, blocking the hole from the elements. “Hand it up.”

  Dobie handed the wire to Frank, and he fed it through the hole, then put the conduit piece back on, and pushed it in place.

  “Alright, that’ll do it,” Frank said. They all walked back into the clubhouse, and over to the area where the TV and Camera equipment was. The wire was hanging down about two feet. Frank pulled more of it through, enough to reach all the way to the TV.

  “What are we going to hook it into?” Gabe asked. Frank looked over at Jerry.

  “You got any audio connectors over there, Jerry?”

  “As a matter of fact, yeah, in that little multi-drawer box on the table with my other stuff,” he said. He got up and walked over there, opened a drawer, and pulled one out. “Going to need the soldering iron…I’ll get it warming up.”

  Jerry got to work, and had the connector on the wire in no time. He picked it up and carried it to the TV, plugging it into the back. Suddenly there was a loud hissing noise.

  “We’d better turn that down,” Frank said. He reached up for the TV remote on top of the cabinet, and turned the volume down to where you could just hear the hissing. They all sat down, watching and listening.

  “This is the peeper’s delight, I’ll bet,” Gabe said, with a dirty snicker.

  “Damn straight,” Dobie said. “Old Jake told me some stories he heard from his customers.”

  Suddenly there was some noise. Cracking twigs.

  “Hey, something’s coming,” Gabe said.

  “Look, there’s a bunch of deer!” Jerry said, pointing at the camera image. The noise got louder…cracking and breaking twigs. Footsteps.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Gabe said, laughing. “Hey, we just ate one of your friends. You’re next!”

  Everybody cracked up. The camera cycled to the next bank of cameras, and then was back to the front set. The deer bolted, startled by something.

  “Whoa, something spooked them,” Jerry said.

  Frank suddenly felt nervous, and looked over at his Winchester, leaning against the back wall.

  “What’s that?” Gabe asked.

  There were several dark shapes in the camera, growing larger, breaking twigs. A larger shadow followed.

  Chapter 03 – Simon and Peabody

  “Are those what I think they are?” Jane asked, looking at the screen.

  “Yeah, those are grizzly cubs,” Gabe said “and here comes mama. We’d better get out there and scare them away from that moat!”

  Jeb was out the door first, running towards the moat with his rifle.

  “Don’t shoot them, Jeb!” Gabe yelled, running after him.
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  “I won’t,” he replied. “I’m just going to fire a shot into the air to scare them away.”

  Frank and Jane ran out with Jerry and Jasmine.

  Charlie and the Sheriff followed. Dobie ran out after them. The crack of the shot rang out, and the cubs ran to their mother. She took off with them across the road and into the brush beyond.

  “This is a problem,” Jeb said, as he walked over to the group.

  “I should have thought about it,” Gabe said. “I don’t want to kill no grizzly cubs…or mom either, for that matter.”

  “Can they get into the park any other way?” Jerry asked.

  “Not anymore,” Gabe said. “At least not easily. I blocked up the creek with that razor wire.”

  “We need to do something,” Jeb said. “I’m not against hunting bears, but I don’t want to have them falling down onto those spikes.”

  “We’re going to the electronics store tomorrow, right?” Jerry asked.

  “Yeah, if nothing crazy happens,” Gabe said.

  “Think loud sound will keep them away?”

  “Maybe,” Gabe replied. “Why?”

  “We could pick up an electronic eye system there, and rig it to some loudspeakers. They break the beam, and it goes off.”

  “Actually, that would be a good idea for other intruders as well,” the Sheriff said.

  “Wait a minute, guys,” Dobie said. “You’re forgetting about my dogs. They’ll bark if anything or anyone approaches the borders of the park. They sound vicious enough…I think that would probably scare the bears away.”

  “What if the dogs fall into the moat?” Jane asked.

  “They won’t,” Dobie said. “I’ll train them what the boundaries are. Works for electrified fences. It’ll work here too.”

  “Those cubs were cute,” Jasmine said.

  “Yeah, well don’t try to get a selfie,” Jerry said, laughing. “More than one Darwin Award has been handed out for that one.”

  The group laughed, and started to walk back towards the clubhouse, except for Jeb, who stood his ground, looking out into the inky blackness beyond the moat, rifle in his hand. Frank noticed and walked back over to him.

  “Still see something?” he asked.

  “No, just thinking,” Jeb said.

  “About what?”

  “The enemy knows where we are. You know that, right?”

  “I suspect that’s true, yes,” Frank said.

  “You think the others know?”

  “Most do, but everybody’s avoiding the issue.”

  “You heard what Dobie was saying about the cretins using I-70 as a conduit to the east?”

  “Yeah, I heard him, Jeb.”

  “Sooner or later they’re going to send a good sized force over here. If they’ve got mortars or worse, we’ll take a pretty bad beating, and we can’t escape out the back here.”

  “Yeah, Jeb, that thought’s crossed my mind. This could be a very tidy little death trap.”

  “Why do you want to stay here?”

  “I want to have a crack at figuring out those chips,” Frank said.

  “What do you think that’s going to buy us?”

  “Precise location of the enemy,” Frank said. “Including the leadership, because we should be able to tell who’s who from the label data.”

  “We going to go take the leaders out when you find them?”

  “I’d much rather leave that to the armed forces, but I don’t think we’re going to be able to trust them. Once I crack these things, I’m only going to tell a few people in camp. Just the inner circle.”

  “Good,” Jeb said. “Once the enemy figures out that we’re onto their system, how quickly could they change it?”

  “Well, that’s the beauty of this. I don’t think they can get themselves out of danger without removing the chips.”

  “You don’t think they can re-program them remotely?”

  “I’ll be able to tell that when I get into them. Even if they can re-program them, they’ll still have to access them the same way they do now, and I think I’ll be able to see it and react accordingly.”

  “Is this a pipe dream, Frank, or can you really do this?” Jeb asked. “Be honest.”

  “Oh, yeah, I can do it, but I’ll need some un-interrupted time…hence the desire to stay here for now.”

  “Why not just leave, and get to these chips when you can?”

  “This is urgent, for my kids, and my country. It won’t be easy to get set up this well somewhere else. Staying here is worth the risk.”

  “Noble,” Jeb said. “I don’t have any kids. I don’t have much invested in this society anymore. Just friends like you and Jerry and Charlie.”

  “How serious are you about Rosie?”

  “More serious than I’d like to be now.” He coughed, not wanting Frank to see his emotion.

  “You’re in love with her.”

  Jeb just looked at him. “I know, stupid, right?”

  “No, not even a little bit. Do you see yourself getting hitched?”

  “She wants that. I do too, but not until we get past this crap. If we get past this crap.”

  “Well, something to consider,” Frank said, looking Jeb in the eye. “You may have grandkids in your future.”

  “Jerry and Jasmine?”

  “Don’t say anything.”

  “They aren’t pregnant yet, are they?”

  “No, but they’re trying.”

  “Rosie said something about that, but I thought she was just kidding around.”

  “She wasn’t. She’s encouraging it.”

  “Why?” Jeb asked.

  “She loves this country, and wants to see the people continue to build the society.”

  “Well, that’s the truth. She wants us to fight.” He looked over at Frank, and then out into the dark again. “She’s right.”

  “I think so. If we don’t retake the country, there won’t be anywhere we can hide. Not these days. The world is too small. Everything is exposed, even if it doesn’t feel like it.”

  “Yeah. If you need any help from me on these chips, you just let me know.”

  “We’ll need your help in a couple of days. Jerry and I are going to take his rig out in the boonies, out of range of the cell towers, so we can experiment with the chips without giving ourselves away. We’ll need some sharp shooters to go along in a toad.”

  “I thought you knew these guys were aware of our location? Why worry about doing it here?”

  “I don’t want the enemy to figure out that I’m working on cracking them,” Frank said.

  “Oh. I get it.”

  “I’d better get back in to Jane. You going back in?”

  “In a few minutes. I need some quiet time to think.”

  “Okay, Jeb, see you later.”

  Frank walked back inside and found Jane over by the kitchen door, talking to Mary.

  “You and Jeb have a nice chat?” Jane asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Everything okay?” Mary asked.

  “Yes, everything’s good. What’s going on in here?”

  “Nothing much,” Jane said. “We actually went through all of the venison they cooked up. It was a hit.”

  “Yeah, it was great. I’m not a huge fan of game, but this was cooked so well.”

  “Thanks,” Mary said. “We had fun doing it. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go find Kurt. I want to get to bed early tonight. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” Jane said as she walked away.

  “Well?” Jane asked.

  “Nothing you don’t know about, sweetie,” Frank said. “Jeb just needed a little quiet time. He’s still out there.”

  “No he’s not. He just came in the door and joined Rosie.”

  Frank looked over and saw them. Jeb made eye contact and nodded, then put his arm around Rosie and pulled her close.

  “Let’s go tell people goodnight. I want to go home and hit the sack,” Frank said. “It’s going to be a lon
g day tomorrow.”

  Jane nodded. They walked around, saying their goodbyes, and then walked out into the cool night air.

  “Okay, now that we’re out of there, what did you and Jeb really talk about?”

  “I think he was having a hard time running through our situation in his mind, and seeing a good end to it.”

  “I have the same problem.”

  “I understand. It’ll be alright.”

  “You’re not worried, Frank?”

  “If I thought we were just going to hang out in this RV Park and hope for the best, I’d be worried.”

  “You don’t think we’re going to stay here long term?”

  “Remains to be seen, sweetie…but moats and dogs and razor wire aren’t going to be enough to keep us safe if a few of those trucks full of Islamists decide to make a detour here.”

  “You still think they know where we are?”

  “No way to tell for sure, but given the facts as we know them, I don’t see how they couldn’t know. I’m hoping that we aren’t high enough on their priority list to bother with, until after I’ve got those chips figured out.”

  “There’s something I wanted to quiz you on,” Jane said as they approached the coach. Frank unlocked the door and opened it, and Lucy ran down the steps, got up on Jane’s shins. “Let’s take her for a quick walk before we settle in.”

  “You read my mind, sweetie,” Frank said, reaching in for her leash. He got her hooked up, and they kept walking. “What do you want to quiz me about?”

  “You aren’t going to trust the army to go get the enemy leadership. You can’t.”

  “True.”

  “So what are you planning on doing?”

  “I have a two-step plan, after the chips are cracked.”

  They walked along silently for a moment.

  “Frank, do I have to coax every bit of this out of you?”

  “No, but there are still a lot of people around here that we don’t know very well. I’ll tell you everything, but you have to promise not to tell anybody else. Not Jasmine. Not Hilda. Nobody.”

  “Have you told Jerry?”

  “Only part of it. Same with Jeb, and those are the two people here that I trust the most.”

  “You really think these people are going to blab?”

  “To each other, yes, and once it gets beyond the person I tell, I’m out of the loop and can’t control where it goes. You know, Jerry tells Jasmine, and she tells Rosie, and she tells Mary…you get it.”