Bug Out! Texas Book 4: Texas Battle Cry

by Robert Boren

  “She was,” Kate said.

  “So what’d she say?” Carrie asked.

  “She said she was going to screw Junior until he got her pregnant,” Brenda said.

  “It was after we were talking about biology,” Kate said. “After I admitted that Kyle and I were trying.”

  The door to the Brave opened and Rachel came out, walking towards them. Her eyes were red from crying, but her smile was punching through it.

  “You okay, honey?” Brenda asked.

  “Junior called. They’re coming back. Driving right through.”

  “Yeah, we were just talking about that,” Carrie said.

  “Why were you crying so much?” Brenda asked. “Sorry, maybe that was too personal.”

  “It’s okay,” she said. “I can’t answer the question, though. Don’t understand it. I was just afraid I wouldn’t see him again, I guess.”

  “Junior?” Carrie asked.

  “Yeah.” Rachel sighed. “I think my feelings about him are changing.”

  Carrie snickered. “Yeah, apparently I missed the best part of the conversation last night.”

  “Oh, they told you?” Rachel asked.

  “You don’t look embarrassed,” Brenda said. “You were just yanking our chains, weren’t you?”

  Rachel looked serious. “No. Maybe that’s why I was crying so much.”

  “I don’t get it,” Kate said.

  “I do,” Brenda said. “You weren’t thinking about him that way until you started thinking about having his babies. Now your mind is preparing itself.”

  “Preparing itself for what?” Rachel asked.

  Kate laughed. “Oh, shit, that is what’s going on. It happened to me, too. With Kyle. I resisted him at first. Thought he was one of these wannabe womanizers. That didn’t last long. It’s like one moment he was a convenient protector and man toy to me, and then a minute later I was just on fire for him.”

  Brenda and Carrie looked at each other and laughed.

  “You said a mouthful there,” Carrie said. “You gonna tell Rachel?”

  “Tell me what?” Rachel asked.

  “I’m pregnant,” Kate said.

  “You’re pregnant? Oh my God, congratulations!” she said.

  “Shhhh, not so loud,” Kate said. “Only us four know about it, and I want it to stay that way until I can tell Kyle.”

  “Sorry,” Rachel whispered. “Mum’s the word.”

  “Mommy, I’m hungry,” Chelsea said from the doorway of the coach.

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes, sweetie,” Carrie said.

  “Hurry,” Chelsea said.

  “You sure you want one of those?” Carrie asked, looking at Kate.

  “I’m more than sure,” Kate said. “I’ve got some things to do. See you all later.”

  “Wait a minute,” Rachel said. “You guys said my mind was preparing itself. Preparing itself for what?”

  Brenda snickered. “It’s preparing you to be Junior’s woman.”

  “No it’s not,” she said.

  “Oh yes it is,” Kate said. “If you’re having babies with this man, what do you think that makes you?”

  Rachel stood quietly for a moment, thinking, then smiling. “Dammit. You’re right. Shit. That is why I’m thinking differently about him.”

  “Look at that,” Carrie whispered, looking at Rachel’s face. “Never seen anything like that before.”

  “Mommy!”

  “In a minute, honey,” Carrie said. “How are you thinking differently about him?”

  “I was going to give myself to him as a thank you. Figured I could make it work okay for myself. I did have a lot of affection for him. Don’t feel the same way about it now.”

  “You’re not going through with it?” Brenda asked.

  Rachel smiled. “You aren’t getting me. I want him all over me. I want to kiss every inch of him. My God, I want him to take me so bad. I want him to possess me.”

  Kate stood there trembling, watching her. “That’s what happened to me. Once it starts, there’s no denying it.”

  Suddenly there was a loud boom.

  “Dammit, that was one of the tanks!” shouted Carrie. “Let’s get the guns!”

  “Oh no!” Kate said.

  Chapter 10 – Reacquired

  “How you holding up?” Jason asked over the phone to Kyle. “Kelly or Junior been sleeping?”

  “Yeah, both of them have on and off,” Kyle said. “Time to switch drivers?”

  “Yeah, next stop. Ozona. That’s about half-way.”

  “We’ll get there before midnight,” Kyle said. “Good thing. Allows us to use I-10.”

  “Notice we’ve seen nobody on the road?” Jason asked.

  “Yeah, I noticed. Eerie as hell, even for this time of night.”

  “I’ll talk to you in a few minutes,” Jason said. He ended the call and hung up the phone, then concentrated on the road, trying to keep awake. Ozona was only a couple miles away. He felt himself drifting, the rumble strips on the road snapping him awake. Dammit. Hold it together. His phone rang, startling him. He answered it.

  “Jason?” Carrie asked.

  “Hi, Sweetie,” Jason said. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes and no,” she said. “I’ll fill you in when you get here. You’ll have to get off of I-10 at University Road. There’s a big mess on I-10. Take the service road instead, and turn off your lights. If you don’t, you’ll likely get stopped.”

  “What happened?” Jason asked, breaking into a cold sweat.

  “Can’t talk more now,” she said. “Like before.” The call ended.

  Cellphones. Shit.

  Adrenalin kicked in. Jason gripped the wheel, mind moving a mile a minute. The homestead. Could the enemy see us there? He got off I-10, driving into Ozona and pulling over. Kyle parked behind them and they all got out.

  “We got a problem,” Jason said to the others as they walked up.

  “Where?” Kyle asked, fear in his eyes.

  “RV Park. Carrie called me. Said to get off I-10 at University Road and run without lights on the service road.”

  “They’re okay, though, right?” Junior asked.

  “I think so,” Jason said. “She wouldn’t tell me anything. Sounds like the cell phones might be bad again.”

  “No,” Kelly said. “Son of a bitch. What about the people at your folk’s place?”

  “I’ll call the land line at the house as soon as we get moving again.”

  “Let’s go,” Junior said. “Who’s driving what?”

  “I’ll drive Jason’s Jeep,” Kelly said.

  “Suits me,” Jason said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said. Kelly and Jason trotted back to the Jeep, Kyle and Junior back to the truck. They took off.

  “This is bad,” Kelly said. “I hope they don’t get attacked again before we can get there.”

  “You and me both,” Jason said as he hit the contact for the house land line. It rang over and over. “C’mon, pick up.”

  “It’s late, and most of the folks there have had a rough day,” Kelly said.

  There was a click. A girl’s mousy voice came on. “Hello?”

  “Is this Alyssa?” Jason asked.

  “No, it’s Chloe,” she said. “Who’s this?”

  “Jason. Could you find Eric for me?”

  “Okay. I think he’s in his motor home. Be right back.”

  Jason could hear the phone receiver set on the kitchen counter.

  “Everybody’s asleep, eh?” Kelly asked.

  “Yeah,” Jason said. “Chloe is going to get Eric.”

  “What are you gonna tell them?”

  “Pull the batteries out of their cell phones, or destroy them.”

  “Shit, what about Curt’s away team?” Kelly asked. “We can’t reach them via a land line, can we?”

  “No,” Jason said. “I’ll get Eric to call him from the land line.”

  “Jason?” Eric yawned.
“Something go wrong?”

  “I just got a call from Carrie. She thinks the cell phones have been compromised again. Better round them up. Yank batteries where you can, destroy the rest.”

  “Dammit,” Eric said. “If they’re compromised, the enemy probably knows where we are already.”

  “I know,” Jason said. “Also, call Curt on the land line. Warn him.”

  “His phone might not be hackable,” Eric said. “He might even be able to tell us where the enemy is.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Jason said. “You know what to do. I’m getting off.”

  “Okay,” Eric said. “Be careful.”

  “You too,” Jason said. He ended the call. “Here goes another iPhone. Pull over.”

  “Will do. Need to yank the battery out of my Android too.”

  Kelly parked. Junior stopped Kyle’s truck behind them. Jason set his iPhone in front of the rear tire of the Jeep and rushed over to the truck.

  “Just heard from Carrie. She thinks the cell phones have been compromised again. Yank your batteries or destroy your phones.”

  “Shit,” Kyle said.

  “Everything okay in Fort Stockton?” Junior asked.

  “Sounds like it, but Carrie wouldn’t stay on the line. I called the land line at the homestead.”

  “What about Curt?” Kyle asked, brow furrowed.

  “Eric’s calling him from the land line, but you know Curt. He’ll probably be able to tell us where they are.”

  “Except he can’t call us because our phones will be off or gone,” Junior said.

  “Glad I bought an Android this time,” Kyle said, pulling the back off the phone and removing the battery.

  “Me too,” Junior said, doing the same.

  “Thanks for rubbing it in,” Jason said. “At least I bought the Apple insurance this time. Let’s get moving.”

  They got back into their vehicles, the Jeep crunching Jason’s iPhone as they drove away.

  “You’d better try to get some sleep,” Kelly said. “I have a feeling we’re in for a busy day.”

  “I’ll try,” Jason said. “Not going to be easy.”

  They rode silently down the deserted I-10. Jason nodded off, but woke every so often. Kelly gripped the wheel, images of Brenda filling his head, pushing the Jeep up to eighty-five. The turnoff to University Drive came faster than he expected.

  “Damn, almost missed it,” he muttered to himself.

  “There already?” Jason asked, stretching in his seat.

  “Yeah,” Kelly said as he took the off-ramp. “You sleep any?”

  “Some,” Jason said. “Better than I expected.”

  “Good,” Kelly said.

  “Lights,” Jason said.

  “Oh, yeah,” Kelly said. He switched off the lights. Junior did the same behind him. They raced down the service road, going too fast, buzzing past stop signs.

  “It’s close,” Jason said. “Look up ahead. Roadblock on I-10.”

  “See it,” Kelly said. “Army trucks broken on the road. See?”

  “Yeah,” Jason said. “Wonder if we blasted them with the tanks?”

  “That’d be my guess,” Kelly said. “Hope we didn’t lose anybody.”

  “Me too,” Jason said.

  “You think the authorities will confiscate our tanks over this?”

  Jason chuckled. “If they try, they ain’t the authorities. Chief Ramsey knows where we are and what we have. He told me to keep the tanks, and he’s very close to Governor Nelson. If there are authorities throwing their weight around, I’ll call Ramsey on the Austin PD land line.”

  “With somebody else’s phone.” Kelly chuckled.

  “You’re gonna rub it in too, huh,” Jason said, smiling at him.

  “Sorry,” Kelly said.

  “Should be almost there,” Jason said.

  “Look, there’s the park ahead! Think it’s this visible from I-10?”

  “Close,” Jason said. “That’s why we have to leave. Hope Clancy and Moe got those flatbeds fixed.”

  “Yeah, we want to keep those tanks,” Kelly said.

  “Here comes Warnock Road,” Jason said.

  Kelly nodded and turned right. “Not many lights on.”

  “Good,” Jason said. “There’s the dirt road.”

  “This is gonna be fun with no lights,” Kelly said. “There’s some serious potholes on this road.”

  Jason chuckled. “You’re being generous. I wouldn’t call this a road.”

  “Here goes nothing,” Kelly said, turning onto it and slowing down. The Jeep bounced around too much, so he slowed down more.

  “This sucks,” Jason said.

  “Want me to turn the lights back on?” Kelly asked.

  “No,” Jason said.

  “Good, me neither. This vehicle can take it.”

  “Hope it doesn’t screw up Kyle’s truck. It’s got a lot of extra weight on the roll bar.”

  “Junior’s driving. I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s got a sixth sense for driving around in the back country. It’s like he can feel the road.”

  “Maybe we should have let him lead the way in,” Jason said.

  “Yeah, should’ve thought about it,” Kelly said. “There’s the gate.”

  The two vehicles drove through the gate and headed straight for their spaces, Junior parking next to Kate’s trailer and Kelly parking next to Jason’s motor home.

  “Jason!” Carrie cried, rushing over as he got out of the passenger side. She fell into his arms, kissing him deeply.

  Kelly got out and saw Brenda running towards him. He threw his arms around her, letting out a loud sigh, then kissing her hard.

  Junior and Kyle got out of the truck. Kate rushed out of the trailer and leapt into Kyle’s arms. They embraced and kissed, but Kate broke it quickly and whispered something in his ear. He pulled back and looked at her face. “Really?” he whispered. She nodded yes and they kissed again, longer this time.

  Junior saw Rachel running towards him, but then she stopped, staring at his face, tears running down her cheeks. She approached him slowly, sobbing now as she went into his arms.

  “Thank God,” she whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder, Junior caressing her hair.

  “We need to talk,” Carrie said. “We can finish this afterwards.”

  “Where? Your rig?” Kyle asked.

  “No, we’ll wake up Chelsea,” Carrie said. “Curt’s rig. It’s big enough. Let’s use his garage.”

  They followed her to the rear of Curt’s toy hauler. Jason and Kyle undid the latches and lowered the ramp. They went inside and gathered towards the front end. Kyle switched on a small light on the wall.

  “So what happened?” Kyle asked.

  “It was late afternoon,” Brenda said. “We were gathered outside talking when we heard one of the tank cannons go off.”

  “Scared the crap out of us,” Carrie said. “We got our guns out right away.”

  “You didn’t have to fight, did you?” Junior asked.

  “No,” Kate said. “The tank blew up one of the trucks. Apparently it hit something explosive inside, because the whole thing exploded into flames. Killed everybody inside.”

  “How many trucks were there?” Kelly asked.

  “Three,” Rachel said. “They hit the second one, but about half the men in the back survived. There was a small firefight by the flatbeds, but we won.”

  “Clancy is crazy,” Brenda said. “He got on his Harley and chased the last truck, tossing a grenade into the back as the Islamists tried to shoot him. His handlebars have a nice nick in them from a bullet, but he didn’t get hit. Then he rode up to the cab and tossed another grenade. Killed all three men sitting up there.”

  “Damn,” Junior said. “Good for him.”

  “The tanks hit them from here?” Jason asked.

  “No, they took one tank down to I-10, where they were working on the flatbeds,” Brenda said. “We were lucky. We would’ve had to fight them here if the t
ank wouldn’t have been down there.”

  “Anybody get killed?” Kyle asked.

  “No, but Moe got wounded in the upper arm,” Rachel said.

  “Oh no,” Jason said.

  “Don’t worry, he’ll be okay,” Carrie said. “A doctor from Fort Stockton stitched him up. Old friend of Moe’s.”

  “Thank God,” Jason said.

  “So what now?” Kyle asked.

  “The flatbeds are almost finished,” Carrie said. “We had authorities here making noise like they were going to confiscate everything and arrest all of us, but then somebody from Governor Nelson’s office called and told them to leave us alone, and concentrate on road clearance.”

  “Somebody call him?” Jason asked.

  “No,” Carrie said. “The officers called it into Austin. Ramsey let Nelson know about it.”

  “They’re taking their sweet time clearing the road, if this happened at dusk,” Kyle said.

  “They had investigators down there looking at everything,” Carrie said. “They’re the ones who warned us about the phones.”

  “Really?” Jason asked. “What’d they say?”

  “They said that Austin PD’s new phones already got infected, and they haven’t been able to figure out why.”

  “We need Curt on it,” Kyle said.

  “Where is he?” Kate asked.

  “He took a few guys and went to San Antonio to pick up the rest of his M-19 grenade launchers,” Kyle said.

  “Hope he knows about this,” Brenda said.

  “His phone has some special capability, remember?” Kelly said. “He’s probably tracking them already.”

  “How would he know if you guys couldn’t call him?” Carrie asked.

  “I called the land line at the homestead before I trashed my phone and warned Eric. He said he’d call Curt from the land line.”

  “This sucks,” Junior said. “Maybe we need to get walkie-talkies.”

  “Not a bad idea to communicate between ourselves,” Jason said. “We have a set. Not sure if we can buy a bunch more in this two-bit town, though.”

  “You know we can’t stay here, right?” Carrie asked.

  “Yeah, we know,” Jason said. “Not sure the homestead is safe anymore, though, now that the cell phones have been infected again.”

  “Like I said, we need Curt on it,” Kyle said. “He should be getting back there pretty soon. Not that far to his stash.”