by Robert Boren
Back at the clubhouse, most of the group was gathered around Frank as he set up his laptop.
“Everybody, bring over your phones and tablets with their USB cables,” he said. “I’ll load the two applications on for you.”
“Two applications?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah. One is a short range, peer to peer program that will alert us when a chip is within about a half a mile or closer. The other app is for long range. It’s a GPS app that will put a map on the display, with icons for any enemy chips that are present.”
People started putting their phones and tablets next to Frank. He started working through them, loading each device, and explaining how the apps worked to everybody in detail.
Jane and Jasmine walked over to Mary, Hilda, and Rosie, who were all sitting by the entrance to the kitchen.
“How’s Kurt?” Jane asked.
“He’s getting better pretty quickly,” Mary said.
“How are you girls holding up?” Jasmine asked. “Must have been pretty scary here during the attack.”
“We got our rigs set up so we can leave quickly,” Hilda said. “I suggest you guys do the same. That was no random attack today. They knew where we were, and how to attack us, too. If it wasn’t for Dobie’s dogs, we’d have been lost.”
“What’s Frank doing over there?” Rosie asked. “He solve problem?”
“Yes, he did,” Jane said. She showed her iPad to the others. She brought up the long range program. It displayed a map of the area, with the icons just to the north of the park. “See those?”
“Those are the chips, aren’t they?” Mary asked. “The ones that Gabe, the Sheriff, and Charlie spread around back in the canyon.”
“Yes, that’s what they are,” Jane said. “Now watch this.” She zoomed out on the display, making it large enough to show Eagle. A big mass of icons appeared all around the town.
“Oh no, that’s a whole bunch of enemy fighters in Eagle,” Hilda said. “They’re too close to us.”
“Yes, they are,” Jasmine said.
“If they start moving this way, how will we know?”
“You guys need to have Frank load the applications on your cellphones,” Jane said. “When chips get within the range of the Peer to Peer app, your phone will vibrate, and it will display the time of the hit, the serial number of the chip, and the distance. You can refresh and it will pick them up again, so you can see how fast they’re coming. Everybody in the park that has a cellphone will have this application. They won’t be able to sneak up on us.”
“Very impressive,” Mary said.
“Yes, it is,” Hilda said, “but it doesn’t make us all that safe. If we see several hundred of those icons heading towards us, we’re going to have to get the heck out of here. You know that, right?”
“Of course,” Jasmine said. “I told Jerry not to put the slides back out on our coach.”
“I’d better go check out our rig, too,” Jane said. “If they load up a bunch of trucks and start heading this way, we won’t have much time to get away, and even then we’ll have to fight them on the road.”
“I know, that thought scares the crap out of me,” Mary said. “Part of me is saying to get out of here before they decide to head this way. We’ll need a good head start.”
“Why don’t you guys go get in line for the apps,” Jane said. “Then we need to have a chat with our men. I think you’re right. We can’t stay here. Frank and I already did some checking around for possible escape routes. Kansas is going to be the best direction, probably. We can’t go near I-70. There’s enemy fighters all along there.”
“I figured,” Hilda said. She got up and got her cellphone. Mary did the same.
Frank got all of the devices loaded within the hour, and got everybody trained on how to use them. Jane pulled him over to the side after that.
“We need to get everybody together and talk about our situation,” Jane said. “Maybe we should get the GPS application set up to display on that big screen TV.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “It’s been grinding at me ever since we were looking at the iPad in Jerry’s rig. We need to get out of dodge before the cretins decide to send a few hundred our way.”
“Exactly. I’ve been talking to Hilda, Mary, and Rosie. They all get it. Why don’t you get the display set up, and I’ll go get with Charlie and Gabe and the others. We’ll get everybody rounded up.”
Jane left Frank to get set up. She walked over to where Jerry, the Sheriff, Charlie, Gabe, Dobie, Earl, Jackson, and Jake were talking. “Guys, we need to round everybody up pronto. We need a meeting,” she said.
“I think we know what the topic is gonna be,” Jerry said. “Been looking at my tablet with the guys here. We need to make some decisions in a hurry.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve got a loudspeaker back at my truck,” Jake said. “I’ll go get on it.” He rushed out the door. He ran right into Trish and Terry, who were walking towards the clubhouse, holding hands. “So nice to see you, Terry. You two go into the clubhouse. We’re going to have a quick meeting. I’m going to get on the loudspeaker I brought and get everybody else over here.” Terry nodded and walked in the door with Trish.
Jake’s voice floated through the park, telling people to show up for the meeting. Lights turned on in coaches around the park, and people started walking towards the clubhouse. Jake hurried back there. Frank was ready to go…a map of the area displayed on the big screen, showing Eagle and I-70 along the top, Denver at the upper right-hand corner, and Gabe’s park in the lower left hand corner.
“Everybody, please be seated,” Charlie said, standing up in the front next to Frank.
“Hi, all,” Frank said. A hush came over the room as everybody looked at him and the screen behind him. “Most of you have the new applications on your phones, right? Please raise your hands if you don’t.”
About ten people raised their hands.
“Okay, for those of you who don’t, meet me up here after the meeting and I’ll get you set up.”
“What’s up?” asked one of the people in the audience.
“Take a look at the map on the screen here,” Frank said. “Here’s us. Up there is Eagle, and along the top of the screen is I-70, with Denver over here on the far upper right-hand corner. Now watch.” He reached down and punched a key on his laptop. Icons appeared on the screen. “These icons are enemy RF chips. We’ve broken the code on how to see them.”
“Wow,” somebody said in the audience.
“These here are the chips that came from the people that attacked the park earlier today,” Frank said, pointing to the small cluster just north of the RV Park. “Now look up at Eagle.”
There was a gasp in the crowd.
“As you can see,” Frank continued, “we have more than a thousand enemy fighters in the Eagle area, and many more along I-70, all the way to Denver, where there appears to be many thousands.”
“We need to get the hell out of here,” somebody said.
“That’s why we’re having this meeting,” Frank said. “We’ll be able to see a force on its way here, but do we want to wait for it?” We’re only about twenty minutes from Eagle. If we do manage to get everybody out before they arrive, we’ll be in a situation where we’re fighting them on the road. We’ve got RVs, not tanks. We won’t survive.”
Gabe stood up. “Folks, I’m the last person who wants to leave this place behind, believe me…but the facts are the facts. The attack today wasn’t random. They’re coming again. I have no doubt about that. We need to get away. Soon. Maybe even tonight.”
Jeb walked up close to the screen, looking at it. “Hey, Frank, see this?” He pointed to a group of six icons slowly moving out of Eagle.
“Oh, crap, that’s a scouting party, ten to one,” Jerry said. “Coming right this way.”
“We need to take them out,” Jeb said, getting up. “How long until they get here?”
“They aren’t moving v
ery fast, are they?” Charlie asked.
“Maybe it’s a tank,” the Sheriff said.
Gabe jumped out of his seat. “Alright, everybody get their rigs ready to go. Load up,” he said. “Jeb, Jackson, Dobie, come with me. Let’s go dynamite the bridge…it’s about a quarter mile on the other side of where the back canyon road is. That’ll stop them for a while.”
“Damn good idea,” Jeb said. “Let’s hit it!”
Chapter 13 – Bridge to Nowhere
“Maybe I’d better go with you guys,” Jerry said. “I know demolition, remember?”
Gabe nodded as they rushed out the door into the dark night. Gabe and Jerry ran over to the barn and picked up what they needed, their flashlights looking ghostly as the beams hit the rough wooden walls. Jeb pulled up in his jeep and tooted his horn.
“Figured my hunting lights might help,” he said.
“Good,” Gabe said. He jumped in with Jerry, Jackson, and Dobie. Duchess got into the back, looking at Dobie with loving eyes.
“Shoot, the draw bridge!” Jackson shouted. Jeb stopped the jeep, and he jumped out and ran to the barn. They heard the diesel engine of the backhoe fire up.
“I wish there was some way we could take that with us,” Gabe said as he watched Jackson drive past them.
Jackson had the bridge in place quickly, and then he pulled the backhoe over to the side. He got into the jeep as it was at the bridge. They drove over it, and onto the highway. There was already a lineup of coaches coming towards the bridge…but none of the core group yet.
“How long is this gonna take?” Jackson asked.
“Just a few minutes,” said Jerry, as he was getting the dynamite ready. “I remember this bridge. It’s an old steel bridge. They’re pretty weak.”
“Maybe we ought to blow it when the enemy is on it,” Jeb said.
“No, we should blow it as quickly as we can, just in case there’s some problems with the dynamite or the caps,” Jerry said.
“If we get it blown, those guys will have a real hard time getting to us,” Gabe said. “Even on foot. The ravine is deep. They’d have to go way out of the way to get on this side of it. Couple hundred miles.”
“It’s not safe enough to allow us to stay, though, is it?” Jackson asked.
Jerry shook his head no. “Imagine a tank firing round after round at the park from the other side of that ravine. It’s well within range, even if all they have is an old M-60.”
“They’re going to control this area,” Jeb said. “They’ll go the back way when they realize they can’t get to us this way. They can read maps, ya know.”
“There it is,” Gabe said, pointing ahead. Jeb drove the jeep over to the side, and everybody except him got out. Jerry and Gabe ran over to the bridge with their explosives as Jeb jockeyed the jeep to get his hunting lights focused. He let the jeep idle and got his rifle ready to go. Jackson had his rifle ready and took up a position next to the bridge, where he could see down the road on the other side.
Meanwhile, back at the park, Jane and Frank were stowing the electronic equipment in Jerry’s rig, with the help of Jasmine. Then they rushed over to their rig and got it ready to go. Charlie came running up.
“Frank, some of the folks are getting on the road now,” Charlie said.
“Any of our core group?”
“No, a few of the fringe folks. They’re asking which way they should go.”
“Jane and I did some looking on the way back here. Go left onto the highway. Head for route 24, which will take you south, and then east. Then get on route 94, then route 287. After we’re in Kanas a ways we should be able to get back onto I-70.”
“Okay, I’ll spread the word,” Charlie said, running back to the lineup of coaches by the gate.
Terry helped the Sheriff get his rig ready to go. He kept glancing over at Jake’s truck, where Trish was helping her father load up.
“You’ve got me close enough, Terry. Go help your girl. You can ride out with them if you want. They’ll need some protection on the road.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, just keep in contact with me. I’ll be watching out for you.”
“I’ll be watching out for you too, uncle,” he said, giving him a hug. He ran over to the bobtail truck.”
“You aren’t helping your uncle?” Trish asked.
“I did. He’s pretty close to ready now,” Terry said. “He said come help you, and ride with you if it’s okay.”
“Hell yes it’s okay,” Jake said, coming out of the door with an armload of stuff. “Love to have you ride shotgun.”
“Great,” Terry said. He helped them get the rest of their stuff loaded.
Frank and Jane had their toad hooked up, and pulled forward, parking close to the clubhouse. They both got out, with Lucy following them. Frank grabbed the computer, the chips, and other things there that he needed to continue his work. Jane went over to Hilda and Mary, who were rolling Kurt out on a gurney.
“You going to be able to drive the rig, Mary?” Jane asked.
“Oh, yeah, no problem there,” she said. “I insisted on learning how. I think I drive it better than Kurt does.”
“What?” he said, looking up, smirking.
Rosie cracked up.
“You heard me,” Mary said, a sly grin on her face.
Earl came in with the Sheriff.
“We’ve got Jackson’s rig ready to go,” Earl said. “Rosie, do you know where Jeb keeps his keys? We were gonna get his rig ready to go for him.”
“Yes, I show you,” she said. “Let’s go.” Earl and the Sheriff helped her out to Jeb’s rig and they went inside.
Hilda went out on the veranda just in time to see Charlie walk up. “Ready to go, honey?” she asked.
“Yeah, we’re set, sweetie,” he said. “Gonna miss this place.”
“I know, me too. I hope we all get our places back.”
He nodded. “Me too, but as long as I have you, everything will be fine.” He hugged her. “Hope the boys are having good luck with the bridge out there. We ought to hear something any second now.”
Back at the bridge, Jerry was climbing back out from underneath the structure. He handed a spool of wire to Gabe. “Go slow, I had a hard time getting it fastened.”
“Gotcha,” Gabe said, slowly walking backwards, letting the wire roll off the spool.
“You got enough explosive down there?” he asked.
“Hell yeah,” Jerry said. “That thing is probably going to leap into the air when we blow it. It’s going to take the foundation out on this side, too. Shame, really. It’s going to be expensive to fix.”
“No worries there, the City Council of Eagle’s already been talking about that bridge. They knew it had to be replaced within the next couple of years.”
“How old is it?” Jerry asked, as he walked up, dusting off his jeans.
“Real old. 1932,” Gabe said. “Some on the City Council wanted to just give up this part of the road, but there were enough of us around here to stop that.”
“Ready?” asked Jeb.
“Yeah,” Jerry said.
“I thought the Sheriff was joking with the tank comment,” Jeb said. “But it’s still coming…and only about fifteen miles per hour. There are a bunch of hits behind it, too. I think we have several truckloads of goons on their way here, behind the tank. You sure there isn’t another way through?”
“Nope,” Gabe said. “They’re going to have a hard time getting soldiers on foot through the ravine, too. You have to rappel up this side.” He laughed.
“Blow it,” Jerry said. Gabe put the wires onto the poles of the detonator.
“Fire in the hole,” he said. He pushed down on the plunger. Nothing.
“Son of a bitch,” Jerry said. He ran back over to the bridge went under it.
“I hope it’s just a loose wire,” Jackson said.
“Seriously,” Jeb said.
“Here he comes,” Gabe said, pointing at Jerry. He was running
towards them.
“Loose wire,” he said, out of breath. “Try it again.”
Gabe pushed down the plunger again, and there was a huge explosion. The metal from the bridge went flying in all directions, and you could hear rocks sliding down the cliff into the ravine. Duchess looked in that direction, startled, and Dobie petted her head to settle her down.
“Yeehawww!” Gabe shouted, laughing. “Let’s go check the damage.”
The men all ran over to the edge and looked down. There were metal pieces of the bridge littering the bottom of the ravine, and a big hole where the foundation used to be, jagged rebar hanging out of what’s left.
“Well, Gabe, there goes your business,” Jeb said, putting his hand on his shoulder.
“That’s okay, I think I’d rather be alive,” Gabe said, turning to him and smiling.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jackson said.
They piled into the jeep and headed back to the park.
“People are already splitting,” Jackson said, as they pulled up. They had to wait to get across the bridge.
Jeb pulled up in front of the clubhouse and let everybody out. Then he pulled the jeep behind his rig and got it hooked up. He noticed that somebody had already brought in the slides and pulled up the levelers. Rosie, Earl, and the Sheriff came out of the door.
“Ah, thanks so much, folks,” Jeb said, walking around. “You saved me a lot of time.”
“How’d it go at the bridge?” Earl asked. “We heard the explosion.”
“We made a real big mess,” Jeb said, smiling. “We still need to get out of here, though. Looked at your app lately? They got a tank and a bunch of troop transport trucks on their way here, from the look of it.”
“I ride with you, honey?” Rosie asked.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Jeb said.
“Good,” she said. “You tell Jasmine, Sheriff?”
“Sure,” the Sheriff said.
Gabe walked over by Dobie. He was getting the dogs into his kennels on the back of the pickup truck.
“Ready to go, Dobie?” he asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “You driving the Suburban?”