by Robert Boren
“Idiots,” Ted said. “If they try to disarm citizens, there’s gonna be a lot of blue helmets with holes in them.”
“Seriously,” Malcolm said. “Wonder why, after Congress acted and overrode a veto, they’re still here?”
“Last I heard, they agreed to drop the requirement for disarming,” Agent Williams said. “Like we ever should have believed them on that. They think our executive leader can operate like a king. They don’t understand our balance of powers or our Bill of Rights.”
“Well, they tried to disarm our people earlier today,” Malcolm said, “and now there’s a fire fight over this issue going on at an RV Park in Grand Junction.”
“Wonder why that’s not on the news?” Ted asked.
“We need to get on the internet message boards,” Malcolm said. “It’s the only place the establishment doesn’t control at this point. I’ll go grab my laptop. It’s in my Jeep.”
Malcolm rushed out the door. Ted looked at Agent Williams.
“You’re against this stuff, I hope,” Ted asked.
“Damn straight,” he said. “Makes this serial killer case seem like a waste of time. I need to go make some phone calls. Need to see how far up the chain in the FBI has become rotten.”
“Be discrete,” Ted said. “You’re one of the good ones. We can’t be losing you. Not at a time like this.”
Agent Williams smiled at him. “Sorry we got off to a rough start. Malcolm isn’t very well liked in certain circles.”
“You know who he’s with, right?”
“I have a sneaking suspicion it’s one of General Walker’s groups. Say nothing about that.”
Ted nodded.
Malcolm rushed back in with his laptop as Agent Williams was leaving. He set it on the table next to the department’s PC, plugged it in, and then moved the Ethernet cable from the department’s PC to the laptop.
“We might want to drop this and go help your friends,” Ted said. “I should say our friends.”
“Yeah, but we need to swing by Uncle Jasper’s RV Park first,” Malcolm said. “We got a friend to save, and a scumbag to dispatch. That RV Park is in the right direction, at least.”
“Wonder where this guy from Akron is?” Ted said. “Been a while. It’s not that damn far.”
“Good question,” Malcolm said. “Bingo! The net is on fire with this UN story. People are getting back into the groups they left after the Islamist battles.”
“Good thing we beat them before the UN got here,” Ted said.
“The Islamists are still in this,” Malcolm said. “Remember the group I told you about in New Mexico?”
“Yeah, but I thought that was the last desperate stand,” Ted said.
“They might be getting ready to link up with the UN,” Malcolm said.
Agent Williams returned with a terrified look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” Malcolm asked.
“This is way worse than you guys think,” he said. He took his FBI badge out of his jacket pocket and tossed it in the trash can.
Chapter 11 – Blue Flames
Frank and Jerry ran towards the office as the gunfire intensified. Clint, Jane, and Jasmine were right behind them. Frank heard some commotion and looked back. There were another twenty people following, all armed. They slowed as they got to the office.
“Boys!” Clint yelled.
“Pa, they got us pinned down,” Jason yelled. “Looks like at least six more vehicles.”
“What happened to the men in the office?”
“We shot all four of them when this started,” Angus said. “Already got a few of them who just showed up too, but they’re hiding behind their vehicles now.”
“Hey, Jerry, still got the mortar in your storage compartment?” Frank asked.
Jerry got a grin on his face. “Yup, and some rounds of Willie Pete too.”
“Good, let’s get it set up.” They rushed to Jerry’s coach and got the mortar, as the others took up positions and fired at the UN vehicles.
Frank’s phone buzzed as they were leaving Jerry’s rig. A text from General Hogan.
“How many and where?”
Frank slipped the phone back into his pocket and helped Jerry rush the mortar and rounds to a position behind the office. Then he crouched and pulled the phone out again.
“6 vehicles entrance of park. First 4 UN guys shot. Setting up mortar.”
He slipped the phone back in his pocket and helped Jerry.
“Standard round first?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah, we’re running a little low on Willie Pete,” Frank said.
They made adjustments and dropped the first round in the tube. It popped, and there was an explosion.
“How close?” Jerry yelled.
“About fifty yards shy, off to the left a little,” Jason shouted.
Jerry made a quick adjustment, and then they dropped another round in. It popped, and then there was a louder explosion.
“Got the vehicles on the right side,” Angus shouted. “Get a little to the left.”
Jane and Jasmine opened up with their M-16s, hitting several UN Peacekeepers who were trying to flee.
“Damn, you ladies can shoot!” Clint said.
“Okay, we’re close enough for the Willie Pete,” Frank said. Jerry nodded and dropped one of those shells in the tube. There was a pop and a loud whoosh.
“Holy shit!” Louis shouted. “They’re all on fire.”
The men shot them as they ran, fire licking off their bodies in the breeze.
“Where the hell did you get those?” Clint asked.
“Long story,” Jasmine said. “Nasty stuff. I hate that smell.”
The guns were silent.
“Pa, should we go check?” Angus asked.
“Sit tight for a few minutes,” Clint yelled.
“Want us to hit the area again?” Jerry shouted.
“Nah, the fire engulfed all the cars,” Clint said.
Several people from the RV spaces walked to the burning vehicles, guns at the ready, eyes darting around.
“Looks like they’re all deader than a doornail, Clint,” shouted one of them.
“Good,” Clint said.
The group came out into the open and scanned for more UN fighters. Jerry and Frank walked over to Clint.
“They’ll keep hitting you guys,” Jerry said.
“Oh, I know,” Clint said. “Went through this before.”
“They weren’t able to push you out of here?” Jane asked.
“We left for a while,” Clint said. “Got too hot. We took it over again, though. Cleaned it up. You should have seen the place. They had heads on spikes.”
“Who’s heads?” Frank asked.
“Townspeople who refused to submit,” Clint said. “We recruited more people and attacked. Surprised them in the dead of night.”
“I’d like to see how many blue helmets we really have in the country,” Frank said. “Probably too much baseless speculation on the internet.”
“Think you can hack your way to some real data?” Jane asked.
“I’m gonna try,” Frank said. “I’ll talk to George, too. His contact in the agency might be able to shed some light on this.”
“The agency?”
“CIA,” Frank said. “Remember those guests I told you about?”
“Yeah, I was gonna ask you about that,” Clint said, leaning against the wall of the office building. “General Hogan passed a comment but then shut up about it.”
“Ever hear of Malcolm Davis?” Frank asked.
“Yeah, he’s that serial killer guy,” Clint said. “Put down Red Dagger, Jason Beckler, and Sadie Evans.”
“Yeah,” Frank said. “Keep this to yourself. He’s with us, along with his friend George Franklin.”
“Why?”
“Our RV Park was the former home base of the Nighthawk Road Killer. Malcolm figured that out and came to visit us.”
“Oh,” Clint said. “He joined up? In the w
ar, that is?”
“Yeah, he and George made a big difference in two ambushes we set up, and in the big battle at Capitol Reef.”
“Do tell,” Clint said. “Maybe that’s all you should tell me about that.”
“Why?” Jerry asked.
“I remember who George is now,” Clint said. “He’s got connections in the government that are gonna be very useful to us. The less people know about him, the better.”
“Good point,” Frank said. “I’m going to go do some internet research. How’s the Wi-Fi here?”
“Good,” Clint said. “Password’s on that map I gave you.”
“Great,” Frank said. “You know where we’ll be. It safe to leave the mortar set up?”
“Sure, I’ll make sure nobody messes with it. Got many rounds left?”
“I got another twenty standard, and five more Willie Pete,” Jerry said. “We’re gonna need a new supply pretty soon.”
“There any back ways into this park?” Jasmine asked.
“There’s fencing, but they’ll get through that pretty fast,” Clint said. “We’ve got sensors and cameras. I’ll make sure it’s all turned on. I’d keep your guns close.”
Jane cringed. “I was hoping we were past this.”
“I know, sweetie,” Frank said, putting his arm around her shoulder.
***
Jeb got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Rosie stirred, watching him hobble in the door. She smiled at him when he came back out.
“You get better and better,” she said. “How feel?”
“Ways to go, but I don’t hurt everywhere anymore,” he said. “When are the kids getting here?”
“Late tomorrow or following morning.”
“Good,” Jeb said. “Can’t wait to get home.”
Rosie’s phone rang. She answered it.
“Mom?”
“Hi, Jasmine, where you?”
“We’re in an RV Park in Grand Junction,” Jasmine said. “How’s things going there?”
“Jeb just walk,” Rosie said. “Look good. Good recovery.”
“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that, mom. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Me too, daughter,” Rosie said.
“Is Jeb awake? Jerry wants to talk to him.”
“Yes, he awake. I hand him phone.”
“Thanks,” Jasmine said.
Rosie rolled her chair closer to Jeb and held out her phone.
“Jerry want to talk,” she said.
“Great,” Jeb said, putting the phone to his ear.
“Jerry?”
“Jeb, how the hell are you?”
“Pretty well, considering,” Jeb said. “I can walk on my own again. Just don’t make me laugh yet.”
“How’s Rosie holding up?”
“She’s been great,” Jeb said.
“Good. You guys hear anything from Charlie about what’s going on now?”
“No,” Jeb said.
“Okay, I’ll tell you, and leave it up to you about Rosie, okay?”
“Go on,” Jeb said.
“The UN is going around the southwest handing out small pox vaccine.”
“Huh?” Jeb said. “Why them?”
“They’re also trying to disarm the population.”
“Oh, really now,” Jeb said. “Sounds like we got some work to do.”
“We just finished off about ten of them in a fire fight in Grand Junction.”
“You bring any extra rifles with you?” Jeb asked.
Rosie looked over at him, alarmed.
“Yeah, Jeb, but you’re going to take it easy until you’re ready, okay?”
“I hear you,” Jeb said. “General Hogan know about this?”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “I’ll fill you in. We’ll probably be there tomorrow night.”
“You guys safe there?”
“I don’t know,” Jerry said. “We’re with another group organized by General Walker. They heard about us from him. Oh, and they know how to fight. We made short work of the blue helmets. General Hogan told us to kill them whenever we see them.”
“Okay,” Jeb said. “I won’t hide this from Rosie.”
“No problem,” Jerry said. “Keep your eyes open. Regular army still at the hospital?”
“Yeah, and in town,” Jeb said. “Maybe I can chat with the commander.”
“Don’t make any waves,” Jerry said. “We want to get there, pick you up, and get you home safe.”
“Understand,” Jeb said.
“Okay, I’ll put Jasmine back on so she can say goodbye to her mom.”
“Thanks, Jerry. Nice talking with you.”
“Same,” Jerry said.
Jeb handed the phone back to Rosie.
“Mom?” Jasmine asked.
“What Jerry tell Jeb? I worried.”
“It’s okay, mom. He’ll tell you. Take care, and don’t let Jeb rock the boat. We’ll be there tomorrow night.”
“Okay, honey. See you. Protect self.” She ended the call and put the phone on the table next to her.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you,” Jeb said.
“Good,” Rosie said. “Daughter always afraid I can’t handle. I can.”
“I know, sweetie. There are UN folks in our country, pretending to be helping with small pox vaccinations.”
“What they really do?”
“They’re trying to disarm citizens,” Jeb said. “The kids are with another group like us.”
“Like us?”
“Organized by General Walker,” Jeb said. “They just killed a bunch of UN guys.”
“Now me worry about Jasmine and Jerry.”
“I know, me too,” Jeb said. “But they’ll be okay. I can feel it. We’ll see them soon.”
“We fight our way home,” Rosie said. “Now I glad they have extra guns.”
“Me too,” Jeb said. “I’m ready to kill more cretins.”
***
Kerry tried to sneak back into the Class C. It was dusk. The rocking of the coach woke Scott. He sat up in bed, and Cindy woke up.
“Night already?” Cindy asked, stretching.
“Yeah,” Scott said. “Hey Kerry, that you?”
“Hi, Scotty,” he said. “I just got back from the pool.”
“You sound happy,” Scott said.
“I met nice girls there,” he said. “You getting up now?”
Scott shimmied his way out of the corner bed, and got dressed.
“You met girls over there, eh?” Scott asked. “Let me guess. One was tall and blonde, the other one shorter with dark hair.”
Kerry’s face lit up. “You met them too?”
“Yeah, they were in the spa with Cindy and me last night,” Scott said. “Cameron and Shannon.”
“I liked them,” Kerry said. “They were nice to me.”
“Good,” Scott said. Cindy got out of bed, buttoning her blouse.
“Kerry met the girls?” Cindy said. “That’s nice.”
“Yes,” Scott said. “Hungry?”
“Famished,” she said. “Probably shouldn’t go to the restaurant again. I peeked out the window. Lots more coaches here now.”
“Thursday night. The three-day weekend folks are showing up,” Scott said.
“Looks like it,” Cindy said. “What do we have to eat?”
“There’s some stuff in the freezer,” Scott said.
“Can I eat the leftover Kraft Dinner?” Kerry asked.
“Of course,” Scott said.
Cindy looked in the freezer. “Tilapia loins,” she said. “I saw some potatoes in the pantry, too.”
“Yeah, brought those from my house in Columbus. We also have some veggies.”
“Great,” she said. “I can work with that.”
“Cook plenty of veggies,” Scott said. “Kerry, I want you to eat some veggies, okay? Kraft Dinner isn’t that good for you by itself.”
“Do I gotta?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Scott said.
“I’ll
make them tasty, don’t you worry,” Cindy said, smiling. “Sit down, Scott, and let me take care of this.”
“Okay,” Scott said. He sat in the dinette and watched her work. “This is what turned me.”
“What?” Cindy asked.
“Watching you,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he said. “Don’t know why. I think you leave your bar persona behind.”
She laughed. “You like moms.”
“Well, maybe that’s part of it,” Scott said.
“I didn’t like my mom,” Kerry said. He had a worried look on his face.
“She can never hurt you again, Kerry,” Scott said.
“Mom was a problem?” Cindy asked. “What happened to her?”
“She got killed in that biker thing that Howard and I were involved in,” Scott said.
“Oh,” she said. “Wouldn’t she also be your mom, since you’re brothers?”
“We’re cousins,” Kerry said.
Cindy glanced at Scott, questioning. He shook his head no.
“Kerry, why don’t you get the chairs pulled out of the storage compartment? Set them up under the awning.”
“Okay, Scotty.” He went out the door.
“What’s the story?” Cindy asked quietly.
“My dad raped his mom,” Scott said. “He had self-control issues.”
“Kerry doesn’t know?”
“He’s not going to understand, so I just leave it at cousins instead of half-brothers,” Scott said. “I only found out about this recently.”
“How?”
“She told me,” Scott said.
“Oh,” Cindy said. “Must have been a nice conversation. What are we going to do? Leave tomorrow night?”
“Yeah,” Scott said.
“Still want to snatch Shannon?”
“If we can do it without getting nailed, yeah,” Scott said. “I’m not going to be stupid. I’ve cooled down since last night.”