Bug Out! Texas Book 2: The New Republic

by Robert Boren

  “You don’t have to do that,” Brenda said.

  “I want to,” he said. “How long you gonna be here?”

  “Only overnight,” Kelly said.

  “Well, good luck to you guys.” He walked back to the kitchen.

  “We’d better watch ourselves,” Junior said. “There might be some action here. You got your piece?”

  “Yeah,” Kelly said.

  “Me too, in my purse,” Brenda said.

  The barmaid came over. “You guys decide what you want to eat?”

  “Yeah,” Brenda said. The barmaid took their orders and walked away.

  “Hey, look at the TV screen!” Junior said.

  Kelly turned towards it and laughed out loud. “No way.”

  “What?” Brenda asked. She looked at the TV. “Hey, is that our boxcar?”

  The screen showed a derailed train, one of the boxcars a twisted wreck. The banner said “TRAIN DERAILMENT OUTSIDE NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.”

  Chapter 9 – Forest Assault

  Eric showed Kim how to fire the AK-47, then unhitched the Bronco from the back of his Class C.

  “The guns are loaded,” she said. “What else do we need?”

  “Both sets of binoculars,” Eric said. “I’ve got two sleeping bags in the back. I’ll toss them in the back just in case.”

  “Okay, I’ll get some food too, and some toilet paper.”

  “Good,” he said. “Paco, come here.”

  The dog trotted over and jumped into the Bronco. The couple got the rest of their supplies loaded and then locked up the rig.

  “Ready?” Eric asked.

  “Yeah,” Kim said. “Let’s go.” Eric backed the Bronco up and drove towards the road, turning onto it and speeding up.

  “Keep your eyes open,” he said. “Let me know if you see anybody.”

  “Will do,” she said. “How capable is this off-road?”

  “It’s tricked out for racing,” Eric said.

  “Did you race?”

  “A little,” he said. “Was costing me too much money. I know how to drive, though. I’ll outrun just about anything with this sucker out in the dirt.”

  “Good,” Kim said.

  They drove down the long straight road at a good clip, making time they could only dream of in the motor home.

  “See that road up there?” Eric asked. “That’s Oilfield Road.”

  “Which way should we turn?”

  “We were gonna go left, to pick up that state road,” Eric said. “Might as well see if the coast is clear that way.”

  He made the left turn onto the road, which was still dirt, but better maintained. He sped up.

  “More tree farms, and more of those asphalt patches,” Kim said.

  “Yeah,” Eric said. “Look, mud ahead. I’ll check for tracks. Ought to be able to tell if a bunch of trucks came through recently.”

  He stopped in front of a low spot in the road went out to look.

  There were many imprints of dual tires.

  “They went this way all right,” Eric said to Kim as she looked.

  “I wonder how far away they are?”

  “Probably not very, since we’ve been moving so fast,” Eric said, looking down the road. “We need to be careful.”

  “Let’s go,” Kim said.

  They got back into the Bronco and took off, going slower. As they got near the crest of a small hill, gunfire erupted in front of them.

  “Shit!” Kim said.

  “Don’t worry, they aren’t shooting at us,” Eric said. “See that hill there, where the road goes up and we can’t see past? I’ll pull over into the brush before we get there, and we’ll take a look.”

  Kim nodded and Eric pulled in, driving behind the wall of forest on the side of the road. “Look, there’s a bluff up ahead. I’ll bet we can see what’s going on from there. Maybe even take a couple of pot shots.”

  Kim glanced at him, scared to death as Eric drove up towards the bluff, parking well out of sight from the road. They got out, Eric grabbing the 30-30 and an AK-47, Kim grabbing the other AK-47.

  “Quietly,” Eric whispered.

  “What about Paco?”

  “Maybe we ought to bring him just in case,” Eric said. He opened the back of the Bronco and motioned. Paco leapt out, getting next to him, tail wagging.

  Another gunshot went off. Then two more.

  Eric and Kim hurried up the hill and got on their bellies, inching forward. There were three troop transport trucks stopped on the road, and Islamists were in a line facing some citizens. Several citizens lay dead on the ground. One of the Islamists was yelling at the first citizen in the line-up. The citizen flipped him the bird, so the Islamist got back and nodded to the others. They fired, killing the man.

  “No!” Kim whispered.

  “Think you can hit them from here?” Eric whispered.

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. “Can you?”

  “Yeah, they’re close enough for the AKs. If there were less of them I’d use the 30-30. Better sights.”

  “They’re about to kill another one,” Kim whispered.

  Eric aimed the AK-47 at the person yelling at the next citizen and pulled the trigger. The Islamist flew to the ground, and the others looked around in a panic. The citizens took off running.

  “Blast them,” Eric said as he opened up, firing as quickly as he could. Kim joined him. They killed several Islamists as they scurried for cover. The Islamists tried to fight back, firing wildly from behind the trucks.

  “Shoot their truck tires,” Eric said.

  Kim nodded and the both aimed at them, hitting all but the first truck, which was starting to roll. Suddenly more gunfire hit the truck from the right side of road below. The truck rolled to the ditch, somebody yelling in Arabic. Several men in camo hunting gear ran into view, shooting at the remaining trucks.

  “Good guys!” Kim whispered, grinning at Eric.

  “The enemy has cover behind those trucks,” Eric said. “I think I can get on the other side of them if I’m quick about it, while they’re fighting with the hunters.”

  “I’m going too,” Kim said. Eric looked at her and nodded. They took off down the bluff as quickly as they could, Paco trying to keep up. The hunters continued to fire at the Islamists on the far said of the trucks, pinning them down, but they couldn’t move forward any further without getting hit.

  “Almost there,” Eric whispered as he and Kim sprinted to the far side of the road. “Get ready to hit the dirt and open fire.”

  They got on the other side of the road and rolled into the ditch, opening fire on the hiding Islamists. They screamed with panic, not even trying to return fire, running forward where the hunters could see them. The hunters opened up, killing all but one of them, who threw down his weapons and held up his hands. Eric stood up and waved, getting the attention of one of the hunters.

  “American!” Eric shouted.

  “Come forward, but keep your guns down,” yelled the man walking up to the live Islamist. Eric and Kim hurried over as the hunter was questioning the Islamist.

  “Where were you heading?”

  The Islamist looked at him blankly.

  “Don’t think he can speak English, Dirk,” said small, round man next to him.

  “How’d you like me to shoot you in the balls?” Dirk asked. The Islamist got a terrified look on his face.

  “He understands all right,” Dirk said. He was a small man with a scrappy look and piercing eyes, red haired with a heavy beard.

  “You gonna talk?” he asked.

  The Islamist stood still silently, trembling.

  “We don’t have time for this crap,” Dirk said. He pulled out a big bowie knife and slit the man’s throat.

  Kim screamed. Eric looked at her and shook his head no.

  “Where’d you folks come from?” Dirk asked, walking over. “Sorry about that. Didn’t want to waste another bullet.”

  “Friends of these guys beheaded my parents a
couple days ago,” Eric said. “I’m not exactly on their side.”

  “Neither am I,” Kim said. “Sorry, that was just more gruesome than I’m used to seeing.”

  “Where’d you get the AKs?” Dirk asked.

  “We were being followed by a truck full of these guys in northwestern Louisiana,” Eric said. “We got the drop on them just past Longstreet. Blew them away, took their weapons.”

  “Do tell,” Dirk said. “What’s your name?”

  “Eric Finley,” he said. “This is Kim.”

  “Good to know you guys,” Dirk said, “I’m Dirk. This chubby little guy here is Chance. The tall skinny guy next to him is Kenny, and the big guy next to him is Don.”

  “Nice to meet you guys,” Eric said. “We saw two groups of these trucks go by this morning. The first was a group of eight. The second was a group of twelve.”

  “Dammit,” Dirk said. “How long ago?”

  “Less than an hour,” Eric said. “We should keep our eyes open. Possible they heard the battle.”

  “Yeah,” Dirk said, eyes darting around. “Also possible some more might drive right up here.”

  “Who were those people they were executing?” Kim asked.

  “The Hadley family and some of their farm hands,” Dirk said. “Good people. This just makes me sick.”

  “Looks like some of them got away at least.”

  “Yeah, but the old man and his sons all bought it,” Chance said. “That’s the end of their operation.”

  “What are you guys doing out here, anyway?” Dirk asked.

  “I was coming home from Florida to bury my dad,” Eric said. “Got turned away at the border east of Houston, so I went north past the river and snuck over from the area west of Longstreet. I’m trying to meet up with my brother.”

  “Your last name sounds familiar,” Don said.

  “My brother was one of the Austin cops who was involved in the Dripping Springs attack,” Eric said.

  “Oh, shit, I know who that is,” Chance said. “Saw the story on TV. Your brother and his partner are in hiding.”

  “Yep,” Eric said. “A long way off. We’re trying to get to Carthage so we can pick up Highway 79 and head into the Austin area.”

  “You can get there through Deadwood via State Road 3359,” Chance said. “At least that state road is paved.”

  “Can you guys contact somebody about these folks coming in?” Kim asked.

  “Yeah,” Dirk said. “Lucky we happened upon these guys. First time we’ve seen anything like this around here.”

  “How much trouble could they cause in Deadwood or Carthage?”

  “Well, we’re from Deadwood,” Chance said. “Just over a hundred of us living there. It could be bad.”

  “Yeah, if they saw twenty trucks go by, we might have a big problem,” Dirk said. “Don, call your brother, and then we’d better saddle up.”

  “Brother?” Kim asked.

  “He’s the town constable,” Dirk said.

  “Maybe we ought to go with you guys,” Eric said. “We’ll help you fight them.”

  “I’d appreciate it,” Dirk said, “but no pressure.”

  “Hey, we got to drive a motor home through there. I’d rather take out the problem before we try that.”

  Dirk chuckled. “Good point. Let’s go. Our trucks are down about a hundred yards. What are you in? You’ll have to get around these trucks. The ground is a little soft.”

  “Old Bronco,” Eric said. “We won’t have a problem.”

  “Good, see you in a few minutes,” Dirk said.

  “Hey, grab their guns,” Chance said.

  “Yeah, good idea,” Kenny said. “I know how to fire those.”

  “No answer from my brother,” Don said, concerned look on his face.

  “Shit,” Dirk said. “Let’s step it up.”

  The men gathered up the AKs and ammo and trotted forward on the road, getting into a pickup truck and a Jeep over the bluff.

  “Let’s go,” Eric said. He and Kim rushed back to the Bronco with Paco and got on the road, going around the trucks and following Dirk and his men. They raced down Oilfield Road, going almost too fast, vehicles bouncing around violently.

  “This is scary,” Kim said, holding onto the sides of her seat.

  “Yeah, sorry,” Eric said. “We’re liable to run into a pretty good sized battle up here. Be ready to high-tail it back to the Bronco. There’s other ways we can get to Carthage.”

  “I think you were right about taking out those guys before we take the motor home through here,” Kim said.

  “They’re turning left,” Eric said.

  “State Road 3359,” Kim said. “Good, it is paved.”

  They three vehicles sped up to about sixty miles per hour.

  “How much further?” Kim asked.

  “Not very,” Eric said. “Look, they’re already slowing down.”

  “Road changed to 2517,” Kim said.

  “Yeah, as I remember there’s one more turn. To the right.”

  They drove for about five minutes, and saw Dirk’s men veer right.

  “There they go,” Kim said. “State Road 4468.”

  “Yeah,” Eric said. “This dumps onto the main road through town.”

  “Hope they haven’t set up an ambush,” Kim said.

  “You and me both,” Eric said.

  “They’re turning right again,” Kim said.

  “Yeah, right before this dead-ends into the main drag.” He took the turn, leading to an asphalt patch. “Another old oil well.”

  Dirk’s truck and the Jeep parked. Eric parked the Bronco right next to them, and everybody got out.

  “Figured we’d better walk the rest of the way and check it out,” Dirk said.

  “Smart,” Eric said. “Checked out on those AKs?”

  “Yeah,” Don said. “They had a lot of ammo. We didn’t even bring all of it with us.”

  “If we survive this, we’ll help you guys tow those trucks out of the way,” Chance said. “Probably can’t get around them with a motor home.”

  “More enemy trucks will have a problem too,” Eric said. “That’s a good thing for us at the moment.”

  “You think there’s more coming?” Chance asked.

  “Better than even chance,” Eric said. “I wonder how many groups went through before we saw these.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it,” Dirk said.

  “Hey, just got a text from my brother,” Don said. “The enemy is in town. Killed a few people when they arrived. They’re at the store getting supplies now. The town’s people are getting ready to assault them.”

  “Good, you tell him we’re coming?”

  “Yeah,” Don said. “We’d better haul ass.”

  They picked up their weapons and ammo and trotted through the forest towards town.

  “Look,” Dirk whispered. “Trucks at the gas station.”

  Gunfire started up, sounding like it was a few hundred yards ahead of them.

  “My brother and the others just attacked the store,” Don whispered.

  “Let’s hit those trucks,” Chance said.

  Dirk nodded, and they got into position. “Fire at will,” Dirk said. “Watch your ammo.”

  They opened up, hitting the men re-fueling the trucks, and shooting the tires out. A couple of the Islamists took off running. Eric popped up and sprinted towards them as Paco followed, killing both before they got thirty yards.

  “Damn, he’s fast,” Chance said. “C’mon, let’s get into town.”

  They ran forward. The other trucks were parked ahead of them. An Islamist in back of one saw Eric running towards them and tried to shoot, but he got hit square in the face before he could fire his weapon.

  “Looks like some of the trucks are backed up at the loading dock behind the store,” Dirk said. “Let’s stop them before they can take off.”

  “I got an idea,” Eric said. “C’mon, Kim.”

  They sprinted towards a truck an
d jumped into the cab.

  “Yes! The keys are in it,” Eric said. He started the engine, and they drove forward, pulling into the narrow driveway to the loading dock. “Got them bottled up now!”

  Somebody opened fire as they were heading for the back of the truck.

  “Get down!” Eric said. Kim went under the truck and crawled to the back as Eric opened fire, dropping an Islamist who was standing on the loading dock. He was replaced by several more, all of whom opened fire at Eric. He dived under the truck and came out the back side. Kim was in the back end of the truck, looking at a wooden crate.

  “Hey, grenades,” she whispered. Eric got a grin on his face and opened the box.

  “Holy shit,” he said. “Think you can cover me while I toss a couple of these?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Let’s hurry before more of them show up.”

  Eric grabbed two of the grenades, and they snuck alongside the truck. Paco growled. Eric whipped around and shot a fighter who was sneaking up on them. Then more shots came from the loading dock. There were five Islamists there. Kim opened up from behind the front tire, lying on the ground. They took cover, and Eric threw a grenade. It rolled under the first truck and blew up, a huge fireball filling the area. Two of the Islamists screamed, diving off the dock on fire. Kim shot both of them while Eric threw the other grenade, blowing up the other truck.

  “Shoot the tires in this truck and let’s get away from here,” Eric said. “I’m grabbing more grenades.”

  Kim nodded, shooting the tires in the front. Another Islamist opened fire from the loading dock. Eric nailed him. “Maybe I should try to toss a grenade or two right into that loading dock.”

  “Be careful,” Kim said.

  “Cover me,” he said, rushing back to the box. He grabbed several more grenades, and then jumped up above the retaining wall of the driveway, sprinting down towards the loading dock as Kim continued to fire. He tossed a grenade into the loading dock, where he saw five men standing. It went off as they tried to run, blowing parts of them all over the place. Eric followed with another grenade, which rolled into the back door of the store, blowing up, men screaming inside and yelling in Arabic.

  Kim joined Eric behind the driveway. “The others just went in the front of the store. Maybe we should bring some more grenades over there and help them out.”