Bug Out! Texas Book 4: Texas Battle Cry

by Robert Boren

  “What was that gunshot?” Alyssa asked. “Was that you?”

  “No, that was just our neighbor,” Eric said. “Actually an old girlfriend of mine.”

  “Really?” Kim asked.

  “Yeah, from when I was about seventeen,” he said. “Ancient history. She’s a nice person. So were her sisters.”

  “Amanda is the only one here with her,” Jason said. “Haley and the father got caught in Montana.”

  “Probably a good place to sit this mess out,” Curt said. “Think I have any chance with Sydney?”

  Eric laughed. “She likes he-men types, but you can’t be too crude around her. Amanda is more up your alley, as I remember. She could always get as raunchy as Jason and I. She’s also the oldest, so she’s a little closer to your age than Sydney is.”

  “Wish I was younger,” Dirk said. “I could stare into those blue eyes all day long.”

  “There are a couple women in my group who are about your age, and un-attached,” Gray said. “They tend to gravitate towards bikers, though.”

  Dirk laughed. “Hell, I am a biker, but I couldn’t take my bike with me when we left Deadwood.”

  “Well there you go, then,” Gray said, grinning.

  “How old is this Sydney, anyway?” Kim asked, her brow furrowed.

  Eric laughed. “Seriously, sweetie, you have nothing to worry about.”

  “Just curious,” she said. “I know you’re mine.”

  “She’s about thirty-five,” Jason said. “That would put Amanda in her early 40s, and Haley in her late thirties.”

  “I’m gonna unhitch the Barracuda and point it towards that twisty stretch of road,” Curt said.

  “Go for it,” Jason said.

  “Think we ought to call home?” Junior asked.

  “I’m gonna call Brenda now,” Kelly said, walking away with his phone to his ear.

  “Okay,” Junior said. “I’ll call Rachel in a few minutes.”

  Jason walked into the house with Eric and Kim.

  “You clean the place up?” Jason asked, glancing at the hallway to the master bedroom.

  “No, it was cleaned up when we got here,” Jason said.

  “There was police tape across the door,” Kim said.

  “They got rid of mom and dad’s bed and pulled up the carpet,” Eric said. Tears were forming around his eyes. Kim put her arm around him.

  “He’s had a hard time with this,” Kim whispered.

  “Not as hard as Jason did,” Eric said. “He found them.”

  “That was bad,” Jason said, tears running down his cheeks now. “Really bad. At least I didn’t see their faces.”

  “So what now?” Eric asked. “We all go to Fort Stockton, or work out of this location?”

  They stood in the kitchen. Jason leaned against the counter. “This will take some thought. There are safety problems with the Fort Stockton location.”

  “Yeah, you told me about it being too close to I-10.”

  “It’s way too exposed,” Jason said. “It’s also far from where we’re needed.”

  “To continue the battle?” Eric asked.

  “Yeah,” Jason said. “I don’t know if the whole group will fit here, though. Plus, there’s the hook-up problem. We’d have to do some serious work to provide power to all the rigs.”

  “We probably could do it,” Eric said. “The infrastructure is here, from what I can tell. This place was a commercial dairy farm before dad bought it. It’s got enough amps to power quite a few coaches if we can get the hardware to connect them. We’d have to share a dump station. What worries me the most is the road in. If something happens to it, we’ll need four-wheel drive to get out of here.”

  “Yeah, that is a problem,” Kim said.

  “The switchbacks are doable with RV’s,” Eric said. “You got in here with dad’s rig, right?”

  “Yeah, and it’s huge,” Jason said. “I don’t think anybody in the group has a bigger rig than that. There’s a lot of flat ground in that pasture behind the house, so we’d have enough space.”

  “If it rains, we’ll be stuck,” Kim said. “The road to that back pasture doesn’t have any gravel on it.”

  “We could fix that too, I suppose,” Jason said.

  “Probably,” Eric said. “You won’t want to be away from your family for long, I’m sure. We have to decide in a hurry.”

  “I’m chomping at the bit to go now,” Jason said. “I’m sure Kyle is too. He’s got a serious girlfriend. Real serious.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Eric said. “Nice feeling.”

  Jason chuckled. “You two look pretty close.”

  Kim’s face turned red. Eric pulled her close. “She’s the one, brother. I can feel it.”

  “Good,” Jason said. “I think I’d better call Carrie.”

  Jason walked outside just in time to see Kelly rush over to Junior and Kyle. He started talking, getting more and more agitated. Junior glanced around, made eye contact with Jason, and waved him over.

  “Something wrong?” Jason asked as he approached.

  “We need to go home now,” Kelly said.

  “Oh, shit,” Jason said. “Somebody attack the park?”

  Kyle shook his head no. “Brenda told Kelly that some character named Simon Orr will be there tomorrow morning, with Chris, Jasper, and Earl.”

  “Chris - the co-owner of Texas Mary’s?” Jason asked.

  “Yeah,” Kelly said. “He got held up because he went to pick up his sister in Comanche. She’s with them too.”

  “I take it this Simon Orr character is dangerous?” Jason asked.

  “Yeah,” Kelly said. “He was trying to recruit us into a secessionist militia right before we fled Dripping Springs. I don’t want him to recruit our people. He’s a spellbinder.”

  “I’m ready to go any time,” Junior said.

  “Because of Simon Orr or because of Rachel?” Kelly asked, a smile escaping his face.

  “Both,” Junior said.

  “Okay, let’s have a meeting,” Jason said. “By the barn, five minutes.”

  “I’ll let people know,” Kelly said.

  “Me too,” Jason said.

  Everybody gathered around the barn after a few minutes.

  “What’s up?” Gray asked.

  “Problems at home,” Kelly said. “I just talked to Brenda. The last part of our group will be there tomorrow. They picked up a person who is very bad news on the way. A guy named Simon Orr.”

  “Who is he? One of the enemy?” Dirk asked.

  “Potentially, yes,” Kelly said. “We met him right before we fled Dripping Springs. He was trying to recruit our people for a secessionist militia. He’s an anti-government nutcase, and a dangerous one at that.”

  “You don’t have to talk me into going home,” Kyle said. “My woman is there, and I want to get to her as soon as possible.”

  “I hear you there,” Jason said. “I want to get back in a hurry too. Was going to suggest we overnight here, but maybe we ought to take off now. Divide up the drive, go through the night.”

  “What about the side-trip to San Antonio?” Curt asked. “We need those M-19s.”

  “Not everybody has to go to Fort Stockton right this minute,” Jason said.

  “That’s right,” Eric said. “Some of us can stay here for now. Curt, I’m sure we can get you to San Antonio and back with no problem.”

  “I’ll keep some of my guys here,” Gray said.

  “You can still use my truck,” Dirk said. “I’ll go with you, in fact.”

  “Me too,” Chance said.

  “Okay, who wants to go to Fort Stockton with us?” asked Jason. “I know you’re going, Kyle.”

  “Damn straight,” Kyle said.

  “I’m going,” Junior said.

  “Me too,” Kelly said.

  “I’ll go, to round up my guys,” Gray said. “I think it’s safer here. Is it okay if we pitch tents back behind the barn?”

  “Sure,” Eric s
aid.

  “What about the tanks?” Curt asked.

  “Moe and Clancy were gonna help us get the tires and brake lines fixed on the flatbeds,” Gray said. “Maybe they got that done. If not, we can help them when we get back.”

  “Can somebody drive my rig back here?” Curt asked.

  “Sure, we’ll find somebody to do that,” Jason said.

  “Okay, then let’s go,” Junior said.

  Kelly cracked up. “You’re awful anxious. Thought you weren’t gonna take Rachel up on her offer.”

  Junior shrugged as Kelly and Jason cracked up.

  “I’m missing something here, I guess,” Eric said.

  “Yeah,” Kelly said. “Let’s get going.”

  The group said their goodbyes. Jason got behind the wheel of his Jeep, Kyle behind the wheel of his truck, Kelly and Junior riding with him. Four of Gray’s bikes followed. Eric watched them leave, feeling a hole in the pit of his stomach. Kim saw it.

  “You okay, honey?” she asked.

  “I just got back together with my brother, and now he’s taking off again,” Eric said.

  “He’ll be back, sweetie,” Kim said.

  “It’s a dangerous road,” Eric said, watching as the vehicles snaked their way around the first of the switchbacks.

  Chapter 8 – Austin Retreat

  Hendrix waited for Maria to open the vault door. The bolts slid over with a clunk and it opened. She was there before him, wearing one of his oversized t-shirts with bare feet.

  “How was it out there?” she asked as he walked in.

  “The tanks are gone,” Hendrix said. “No sign of Islamist troops, either. Something happened. Guess we ought to watch the news for a little while.”

  “We’ll get called if it’s all clear, I hope.”

  “We should,” Hendrix said. “I’ll report in after a few minutes.”

  “You can do it now if you want,” she said as she bent over the console to close the vault door. Her t-shirt rode up, giving him a show of her lovely rear end.

  Hendrix moaned. “You did that on purpose,” he said, walking closer to her.

  “So what if I did?” she asked, turning to him. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. “You can report in later, can’t you?”

  “I suppose so,” he said, in a daze from the kiss. She smirked and grabbed his hand.

  “C’mon.” She led him into the bedroom. They spent close to an hour together, passion rising and falling and rising again, finally drifting off to sleep. They were awakened by the phone buzzer.

  “Dammit,” Hendrix said. “I want the world to leave us alone.”

  “I know, sweetie,” she said, “but you’ve got a job to do.”

  He nodded and answered the phone. “Hendrix.”

  “Hi Kip, it’s Ramsey.”

  “Hi Chief,” Hendrix said. “What’s up?”

  “We’re just about ready to blow the all-clear sirens,” he said. “The tanks fled. Most of them ran out of gas between here and Houston. The fighters are gone too, for the most part. We’re rounding up stragglers now.”

  “Good,” Hendrix said. “I was expecting a call. The tanks were gone from South Congress last time I was on the roof.”

  “You been watching the news?”

  “Not for a while. Something going on?”

  “Houston is under attack,” Ramsey said. “About the same strength as we got hit with, but that’s a bigger town. They’re running into a lot of resistance. Houston was better prepared than we were.”

  “Glad to hear that, at least,” Hendrix said. “So what now? Back to work?”

  “Yep, basically,” Ramsey said. “Nelson already took the city off of martial law.”

  “Okay, I’ll get ready to head for the office,” Hendrix said. “I’ve got some business to take care of anyway.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got all kinds of stuff to catch up on,” Ramsey said. “Thanks for manning the outpost so well. Say thanks to Maria too, okay?”

  “Will do,” Hendrix said. “Is South Austin safe now? Maria’s apartment is there.”

  “The enemy’s gone, but the place is a mess,” Ramsey said. “If this was anywhere but Austin, I’d expect looting.”

  “Understand,” Hendrix said. “Talk to you later.”

  “Take care,” Ramsey said. Hendrix hung up the phone and turned to Maria.

  “I think I got the gist,” she said. “We’re getting the all clear.”

  “You look sad.”

  “This was our love nest,” she said. “Geez, I can’t believe I just said that.”

  “Well, we should be able to get to your apartment now.”

  “If it’s still standing,” she said. “What are we going to do now?”

  “Head to the office and get back to work, I guess,” Hendrix said.

  “No, what are we going to do now?”

  “Oh,” Hendrix said, looking into her eyes. “What do you want to do?”

  “I asked you first,” she said, brow furrowed.

  Hendrix chuckled. “Oh, I get it,” he said. “Here’s what I want. I want to go to your place, get your clothes and your things, and move them here.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “That’s a good start,” he said.

  Her eyes teared up as she searched his face. “That really is what you want. I can see it.”

  “I’m an old-fashioned guy,” Hendrix said. “Won’t live in sin for too long.”

  “You want to marry me,” she said softly.

  “Would you?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “In a heartbeat. Can’t you tell?”

  “I can tell,” he said. “I want the other part, too.”

  “Other part?” she asked, eyes questioning. Then her face turned red. “Oh.”

  “You still thinking about that?” he asked.

  She nodded yes. “I’ll go off birth control. Right away. The rest is up to you.”

  “It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.” He kissed her. It was going to be a peck, but she slipped her arms around his neck and returned it deeply. They trembled as he moved over her.

  “You want me again already?” she asked. He didn’t answer. He just took her, with more animal passion than before.

  They laid next to each other afterwards, trying to catch their breath, covered in sweat. She looked over at him. “Wow.”

  “I could say the same thing,” Hendrix said, moving over to kiss her forehead. “Let’s go get your stuff. I want you living with me. Really living with me.”

  She nodded, and they got up to dress. “We moving down here?”

  “We can live upstairs, but I suggest we bring some of our stuff down here just in case. You never know what’s going to happen.”

  “I’m fine with that,” she said. “Wonder what we’re going to find out there?”

  “A mess,” Hendrix said. “I hope your building is still standing.”

  “If not I’m going to need clothes and stuff,” she said.

  “I kinda like you in my t-shirts.” Hendrix grinned.

  “Yes, I noticed,” she said. “Let’s go before we start up again. I washed my dress and my underwear. I’ll put those on. Only you get to see me in the t-shirt.”

  “Good.” Hendrix checked in at the console as she finished getting dressed, sending a message that they were going outside. The go-ahead came back in a few seconds, along with an invite to a meeting with Nelson and the other Texas leadership in the evening.

  “I’m ready,” Maria said, walking out in the outfit she wore on their date.

  “Good,” Hendrix said. “Got to be at a meeting tonight, so we need to hurry.”

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  Chapter 9 – Awakening

  Brenda came out of the trailer. It was late afternoon, the wind kicking up, dust blowing across the Fort Stockton RV Park. Her bleach-blonde hair fluttered.

  “Hey,” Carrie said, coming out of her motor home. “You get a
call? I did.”

  “Yeah, just talked to Kelly,” Brenda said. “I think I got him scared. They’re driving through the night to get here.”

  “He’s that worried about this Simon Orr character,” Carrie said. “Jason mentioned it. I’ll bet he’s also real anxious to see you.”

  “Mommy, when is daddy getting home?” Chelsea asked. “I heard you talking to him.”

  “Very early in the morning, sweet pea,” Carrie said.

  “Will you wake me up?” she asked. “I miss him so much.”

  “We’ll see,” Carrie said.

  “Okay, I’m going to go color.”

  “I’ll be inside in a little while,” Carrie said.

  “You’re showing more,” Brenda said, looking at her belly.

  “Yeah, things are moving along,” Carrie said. “I should have been to another pre-natal appointment by now. Need to find a doctor around here.”

  “If we stay here,” Brenda said. “Kelly thinks we’re going to your in-law’s spread.”

  “Really?” Carrie asked. “Jason didn’t say that. Hope it’s true, though. I could see my own doctor if we go back there. He’s got a second office in Fredericksburg.”

  “I wouldn’t count on everything being back to normal there yet,” Brenda said.

  “Oh, I know,” Carrie said.

  The door to Kate’s trailer opened and she came out.

  “You look like the cat that just swallowed the canary,” Carrie said.

  “Shoot, she does, doesn’t she?” Brenda said, eyeing her.

  Kate shrugged, trying not to look excited.

  “Shit, he knocked you up, didn’t he?” Carrie asked. Brenda giggled.

  “Quiet,” Kate whispered, “and no telling anybody else, except Rachel.”

  “Where is she, anyway?” Kate asked.

  “She was crying inside Junior’s rig earlier,” Brenda said. “I asked her what was the matter through the door. She said she didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “You think she was serious about all that stuff she was saying last night?” Kate asked.

  “What stuff?” Carrie asked. “That joking around we were doing about her and Junior? She wasn’t serious.”

  “Oh, yeah, you were already inside during the last part of the conversation,” Brenda said.