Bug Out! Texas Book 2: The New Republic

by Robert Boren

  “Think we can really make it to Fort Stockton today?” Carrie asked. “You got no sleep last night, and I only got an hour.”

  “I know,” Jason said. “Gonna need gas before long.”

  “I hate not having our cellphones.”

  “We’re coming up on El Dorado,” Jason said. “I’ll honk my horn and hit my right blinker when we get close to the off-ramp.”

  “Maybe there’s a cellphone store in that town.”

  “Maybe,” Jason said. “There it is.” He turned on his right blinker and hit his horn a few times. Curt beeped his horn once and turned his blinker on too.

  “Good, he got the message,” Carrie said.

  “So did Kyle,” Jason said.

  They took the ramp, heading into the truck stop on the right. Jason parked at a pump and started fueling. Carrie put Dingo on the leash, scooped up Chelsea, and headed for the door.

  “Hey, bro,” Kyle said, walking up with Kate after Jason started the fuel flowing into his rig.

  “Hey,” Jason said.

  “Where’s Carrie?” Kate asked.

  “She’s walking Dingo. How you guys holding up?”

  “I’m tired,” Kyle said.

  “Me too,” Kate said. Curt joined them.

  “How you guys doing?” he asked.

  “We’re getting tired. How much further to Fort Stockton?”

  “A few hours,” Curt said. “I’m okay with stopping somewhere else on the way, though. We’ve all been up too long.”

  Carrie walked up with Dingo and Chelsea. “There’s a cellphone store right across the street.”

  “Really?” Jason asked. “When I’m done fueling I’ll pull into one of the parking places in the back.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Kyle said. “I want a new phone too.”

  “Yeah,” Curt said. “Let’s all pull back there. Maybe we could get a bite to eat after we get the phones, and decide where to stop. No reason to push ourselves to Fort Stockton today.”

  “Good,” Carrie said. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “We could probably spend the night here,” Jason said. “If there’s plenty of spaces back there. Truckers do it all the time.”

  “That’s true,” Curt said. “I’d have to use the bathrooms in the truck stop, though.”

  “Why?” Carrie asked.

  “Can’t get into my bathroom with the slides closed,” he said. “Lot of fifth wheels have that problem. I can get to the bed, at least.”

  “Hell, we could also sleep for a few hours and then make it to Fort Stockton later tonight,” Kyle said. “If it’s only a few hours away.”

  “Think about it and we’ll talk over breakfast,” Jason said.

  There was a clunk by Kyle’s truck. “Looks like I’m full. I’ll see you guys in the back.” He took Kate by the hand and went back to their rig.

  “Those two really have the hots for each other,” Curt said.

  “Yep,” Jason said. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

  “She’s a looker,” Curt said. “Good for him.”

  “She’s good in a fight, too,” Carrie said. “Should have seen her with the Thompson last night. Even cleared a jam and went back to fighting.”

  “Both of you impressed me,” Curt said.

  The fuel pump clunked in the motor home. “Done,” Jason said. “See you back there, Curt.”

  “Okay,” he said. Jason and his family got into the coach, and he drove in back, parking next to Kyle and Kate. There were few big rigs parked there. Curt joined them after a few minutes, and they met outside of their coaches.

  “This is pretty good back here,” Curt said. “We should talk to the owner, see if we can sleep here for a few hours.”

  The others nodded, and they walked across the street to the cell phone store. Buying the phones took longer than any of them expected. An hour later they crossed the street and went into the truck stop coffee shop, grabbing a booth towards the front.

  “Well, that was an ordeal,” Kyle said.

  “They had to start from scratch,” Jason said. “I hope the enemy can’t pick us up again.”

  “Yeah, it was a pain, but I’m glad we got it done,” Carrie said.

  The waitress took their orders, then hurried off.

  “So what are we doing?” Kate asked. “Want to find a place close by or try to sleep here for a few hours?”

  Curt looked at his watch. “Hmmm. It’s almost 9:30 now. We’ll be in here for around an hour. If we could bed down by 11:00, we could be back on the road by five or six.”

  “So we’d be at Fort Stockton by seven or eight,” Jason said. “Doesn’t sound so bad, but can we get to sleep here?”

  “There’s a good question,” Carrie said. “I’ll have a hard time getting Chelsea to go down, but I’m not as worried about myself as I am about Jason. He’s driving. I could nod off on the way to Fort Stockton.”

  “There any problem with late check-in at this park in Fort Stockton, Curt?” Jason asked.

  “Good question. I’ll call them.” Curt brought out his new iPhone and searched for the park to get the phone number. “Here it is. Excuse me a minute.” He got out of the booth with the phone to his ear.

  “More people showing up,” Kyle said, looking out the window. “Wonder why? Too early for lunch, too late for morning rush hour.”

  Curt returned just as the food was arriving. “Well that’s a big no-go.”

  “No late check-in, huh?” Kyle asked.

  “No, they’re full up,” Curt said. “I made us reservations for day after tomorrow. Soonest I could get. I’ll try for something close by. Okay?”

  “Any port in the storm,” Jason said. The others nodded, looking up from their food.

  Curt searched as the others ate. “Dammit, no RV Park in El Dorado.”

  “Really, in this giant metropolis?” Kyle asked.

  “Shut up, pencil neck,” Curt said. Kate and Carrie grinned at each other.

  “Try Sonora,” Jason said. “Wouldn’t hurt to get on I-10 anyway, so it’s not out of the way.”

  “How far is that?” Carrie asked.

  Jason pulled his phone out and checked. “Twenty minutes south, down route 277.”

  “That’s doable,” Kate said.

  “Sonora it is,” Curt said, searching for a park. “Well, there is an RV Park.” He snickered.

  “What?” Carrie asked.

  “It’s at Highway 271 and West 2nd Street, right across the street from a junk yard.”

  Jason laughed. “Sounds like a garden spot.”

  Carrie looked it up. “I see it. Not so bad. It’s got a swimming pool across the street too.”

  “I’ll call them,” Curt said. He got up and walked away again, phone to his ear.

  “Pencil neck?” Kate asked. She giggled.

  “Curt has his own unique vocabulary,” Carrie said. “Some of it will peel paint, though. That’s why I had Jason warn him about Chelsea.”

  “What, mommy?” Chelsea asked.

  “Sometimes Uncle Curt says bad words,” Jason said. “Just ignore him if you hear them. Don’t repeat it.”

  “Okay,” Chelsea said, eating the last of her grilled cheese sandwich. “This was good. Can I have desert?”

  “No, honey, not now,” Carrie said. “Maybe after dinner, okay? There are some popsicles in the freezer.”

  “Okay,” she said. “When’s dinner?”

  Kate laughed.

  Curt walked back over and sat. “We’re in luck. They have spaces for us, so I made reservations for tonight. The old guy who runs the place is a real hoot.”

  “Good,” Jason said.

  The group finished eating, got up to pay the bill, then headed for the door to the back parking lot. Jason stopped on the way out.

  “What?” Carrie asked.

  “Wow, is that a payphone?”

  “Holy shit, there are still a few around,” Kyle said. “Want to make a call?”

  “Yea
h, to Chief Ramsey,” Jason said. “You guys go ahead. I’ll try it. Think I have a few quarters.”

  “I have some in my purse, too,” Carrie said. “I’ll wait with you.” Chelsea stood by her side, leaning against her, looking sleepy.

  Jason picked up the phone receiver while the others went to their rigs.

  “It’s got a dial tone. I’ll call the Austin switchboard.” He inserted coins and punched in the number.

  “Austin Police Department,” the operator said.

  “Could I talk to Chief Ramsey, please?”

  “I’ll see if he’s taking calls. Who is this?”

  “Officer Finley,” Jason said.

  “Thank you. Hold the line, please.”

  There was a click. Jason waited, leaned up against the wall. Then there was another click.

  “Officer Finley, so glad to hear from you.”

  “Hello, sir,” he said. “You understood my message?”

  “Yes, and thanks,” Chief Ramsey said. “Our phones have been replaced, but we never found out who infected them or how, so I’m worried that they’ll get infected again. If you need to talk to me, call this land line, okay?”

  “Yes sir,” Jason said.

  “Where are you guys?”

  “On our way to Fort Stockton,” Jason said. “We had a battle with the Islamists at our first hiding place. Used the phones as bait.”

  “Really, now?” Chief Ramsey chuckled. “Nice work. How’d you take them on? They must have had you out-gunned.”

  “My father had a collection of machine guns,” Jason said. “We were using BARs against them.”

  “Well that ought to do it,” he said. “So sorry to hear about your parents.”

  “Thanks,” Jason said, feeling the lump back in his throat. “What would you like us to do?”

  “Stay in hiding for now, but call this number every few days if you can. Let us know if you find out anything about the enemy.”

  “I can do that, sir. It’s safe to call the land line with my new cellphone, correct?”

  “We believe so, yes,” Chief Ramsey said.

  “Good. I’d better be going.”

  “Okay, we’ll talk again soon. Be careful.”

  “You too,” Jason said. He hung up the phone.

  “He have any new instructions?” Carrie asked as they walked out the back door.

  “Yeah, call the department land line every couple of days, and stay in hiding,” Jason said.

  “Do we have to search out a land line for that every time?”

  “No, he thinks the cell phones will work as long as we only connect to the land line system at the station. He doesn’t trust the cell phones yet.”

  “They replaced them all, right?”

  “Yes, but they haven’t figured out how they got hacked, or who did it. They might already be hacked again.”

  “Oh, geez,” Carrie said. She watched as Jason unlocked the coach, then walked up the steps with Chelsea. Dingo was waiting at the door, tail wagging. “Should we take her out?”

  “Yeah, I’ll do it,” Jason said. He grabbed the leash and hooked her up, then headed out for the grassy area on the outside edge of the parking lot. Kyle came out of Kate’s trailer. Jason motioned him over.

  “You contact work?” Kyle asked.

  “Yeah, talked to Chief Ramsey on the land line. We can call that with the cell phones.”

  “But we can’t call the department cellphones yet?”

  “Nope,” Jason said. “They’ve been replaced, but the Chief isn’t confident that they won’t get hacked again.”

  “Shit, they don’t know who did it yet, do they?”

  “Nope,” Jason said. “Ready to go?”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said. “Can’t wait to hit the sack, man.”

  “You and me both,” Jason said, “but I’m glad we aren’t staying here. We don’t know if any of the Islamists called in descriptions of our rigs before we killed them.”

  “Yeah, that thought has crossed my mind. We’re visible from that big cross-street over there.”

  “Yep,” Jason said. “See you at the RV Park.”

  “Later, man,” Kyle said.

  They saw Curt on the way back to their rigs.

  “You pencil necks ready to leave yet?”

  “Yeah, Curt, let’s blow this joint,” Kyle said.

  Chapter 7 – Rumors of the Republic

  Commissioner Holly rushed into Kip Hendrix’s office, terrified look on his face.

  “Sorry, sir,” Maria said, rushing in behind him. “He wouldn’t wait for me to buzz you.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Maria,” Hendrix said.

  He watched as she left the office, then closed the door behind her.

  “Did you hear?” Holly asked, sweat on his brow.

  “Calm down,” Hendrix said, sitting back down behind his desk. “Did I hear what?”

  “Governor Nelson is going to declare Texas a sovereign republic.”

  “He wouldn’t dare,” Hendrix said. “Where’d you hear that?”

  “One of my contacts on the force. Told me she heard it being discussed by two captain-rank officers.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Hendrix said. “How could he get away with that? The administration would nip that in the bud so fast it’d make your head swim.”

  “You sure about that?” Holly asked.

  “Listen to yourself,” Hendrix said. “When is this big announcement supposed to take place?”

  “Friday,” Holly said.

  “Care to make a wager?”

  “This is serious, dammit,” Holly said. “If he does this, we’re liable to end up in the gulag. You know that, right?”

  Hendrix chuckled. “You really don’t understand Nelson, do you?”

  “And you do?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Hendrix said. “You know that we were college buddies, right?”

  “I know you went to the same school,” Holly said. “Ramsey too, right?”

  “Yeah, Ramsey went there too, but I wasn’t friends with him. He was from the other side of the tracks. A little too red-neck for my tastes. He was tight with Nelson, though. They had some kind of history before they got there.”

  “You and Nelson obviously had a falling out somewhere along the line, though,” Holly said.

  “Yeah,” Hendrix said, “and I regret it. Probably drank more with that man than anyone else on the planet, and we had some damn good times. I miss being friends with him, and that’s the truth. I’d bury the hatchet if he would.”

  “So we were talking about the gulag,” Holly said. “What makes you think he won’t clamp down on dissenters if these rumors are true? You think your past friendship will keep you out of trouble?”

  Hendrix chuckled. “Nelson believes in the Bill of Rights to a fault. I don’t consider that to be a good thing in most situations. Blind obedience to an 18th Century document holds back progress as much as it protects people. But in this case, it’ll protect us from getting into trouble with him, unless we do something criminal. That’s if he really goes through with this, and I don’t think he will.”

  “Well, whatever you say,” Holly said. “You know he shut down the Texas borders, right?”

  “Yes, but that’s temporary and he had a good reason.”

  Holly sat back in his chair. “Okay, I’ll reserve judgment on the situation.”

  “We don’t even know if we have a situation,” Hendrix said. “A lot of these rumors turn out to be total BS.”

  “I had a good source for this one.”

  “We’ll see,” Hendrix said. “Now run along. I’ve got things to do.”

  “Not finished with the Racing Form yet?” Holly said.

  Both of them laughed. “Good, keep the sense of humor. Important during times like this.”

  “See you later,” Holly said. He left the room.

  Hendrix leaned back in his chair, watching Holly leave.

  “Maria,” Kip said.

  S
he rushed in. “Yes, sir.”

  “Get me Jerry Sutton, please.”

  “In person or on the phone?” she asked.

  He looked her over, dwelling on the way her hips swelled below her waist. She noticed, fidgeting. They made eye contact and Hendrix looked away quickly.

  “If he’s in the building, have him come here,” he said.

  “Yes sir,” she said, slipping back through the door.

  Settle down, dammit. Don’t blow it.

  “Sir, he’s on his way down now,” Maria called out.

  “Thank you, Maria,” he said.

  Jerry walked into the suite.

  “Go on in,” Maria said.

  Jerry nodded and walked into Hendrix’s office, closing the door behind him.

  “What’s up, boss?”

  “Sit,” Hendrix said. “I need you to look into something for me.”

  “Uh oh, what happened now?” Jerry asked. He sat on the chair facing the desk.

  “Holly was just in here telling me that Nelson is about to declare Texas a sovereign republic.”

  Jerry began to laugh, but stopped when he saw the look on Hendrix’s face. “Shit, you aren’t kidding, are you?”

  “No.”

  “You don’t think DC will let Texas secede, do you?”

  “They may have so much on their plate that they can’t do anything, at least right away.”

  “The Feds are holding all the cards. You really think Nelson would take a risk like that?”

  “I hope not, but we need to check it out,” Hendrix said. “See what you can find out, but keep a low profile, okay?”

  “You got it, boss.” Sutton got up and left the room.

  Hendrix stared at his desk, thinking. “Maria, could you get the Assistant US Attorney General on the line, please?”

  “Yes sir,” Maria said from her desk.

  Kip leaned back in his chair, working out what he would do if Holly was right. Then he got a scared look in his eyes, and leaned forward.

  “Maria, forget that last request,” Kip said.

  “Okay, sir,” she said.

  Chapter 8 – Stocking and Resting

  Kelly drove west on Highway 290, Brenda leaning against the passenger side door, watching the GPS on her new phone.

  “I miss having you right next to me,” Kelly said.

  She glanced at him, then back at her phone. “Oh, all right.” She slid over next to him. “Better?”