Bug Out! Texas Book 4: Texas Battle Cry

by Robert Boren

  “Oh, yeah, Jason told me that you were in Deadwood,” Sydney said. “I’m so sorry for what happened there. You lose people?”

  “Yes,” Francis said. “We were lucky to get out ourselves.”

  “You guys going to stick around for a while?” Amanda asked.

  “Don’t know yet,” Eric said. “We’ve got enemy fighters after us. They know where we are, but at least we can defend this place.”

  “Hope we didn’t bring any problems down on you two,” Don said.

  “Our place is in a good spot, and it’s well fortified,” Amanda said. “They might be able to take us, but it’ll be real expensive.”

  “Still tough as nails,” Eric said, smiling at her.

  “I’m a little more worried than she is,” Sydney said. “I like to have a man or two around.”

  “Well, we’ve got quite a few men back at the homestead,” Eric said. “And some other women, and a couple teenaged girls.”

  “I heard you have a girlfriend,” Sydney said. “Serious?”

  “Extremely,” he said. “We’re as good as married.”

  “Pity,” she said with a small pout.

  “Oh, you know we ran our course,” Eric said. “I have good memories, though.”

  “So do I.” She smiled. “How come you guys are out here?”

  “We got tipped off that the enemy was on their way in,” Eric said.

  “By who?” Amanda asked.

  “Our away team,” Don said. “They were off picking up some weapons from a stash near San Antonio. They ought to be back any time now.”

  “How did they know?” Amanda asked.

  “Curt. One of our guys. He can track the Islamists by their cell phones,” Eric said. “They ambushed three truckloads of Islamists at their weapons cache. Curt thinks they got word back to the fighters on the way here. Told them they were visible.”

  “Really? Is that why Jason called that blowhard a genius?” Sydney asked.

  Eric laughed. “Yeah.”

  “I think they’re wise now, unfortunately,” Don said. “Nice while it lasted.”

  “Curt will probably figure out some new way to track them,” Eric said.

  “Hopefully,” Francis said.

  “You guys should come to the house later and meet the rest of the folks,” Don said.

  “Yeah, we’ll do that,” Amanda said.

  “What were you two doing out here?” Francis asked.

  “Looking for game,” Sydney said. “I had a hankering for quail. Lots of Bobwhites around here.”

  “Do tell,” Don said. “Love me some Bobwhites. Maybe we can go out together sometime.”

  Sydney looked him up and down, then smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  “Glad we saw you guys,” Francis said. “Hearing gunshots back here would’ve gotten us worried.”

  Amanda chuckled. “We’ll have to get used to other folks living around here, I guess.”

  “Sorry,” Eric said.

  “Oh, I like it,” Amanda said. “Don’t get me wrong on that.”

  “Listen,” Don said. “Vehicles.”

  “Hope it’s our folks,” Francis said, straining to see down the road.

  Dirk’s truck came into view.

  “Yes!” Eric said. “It’s Dirk, Chance, and Curt.”

  “Good.” Sydney giggled. “Watch this guy flirt with me again.”

  “You love the attention,” Amanda said.

  “I have a feeling Curt will focus on you, Amanda,” Eric said.

  Amanda snickered. “What are you talking about?”

  “I know you, and I know Curt,” Eric said. “You two will get along. Trust me.”

  Sydney laughed. “Maybe we ought to go. Hunting apparel isn’t the best way to trap a man.”

  Amanda looked at her and shook her head. “Keep it up, little sister. When you going bird hunting with this one?” She nodded towards Don, watching his face turn red.

  “Curt will like you just fine dressed like that,” Eric said. “C’mon, let’s go meet them.”

  “Yeah, let’s,” Amanda said.

  Dirk stopped when he saw them walking towards the road, and got out of the truck with a big smile on his face.

  “Hey, guys!” he said. “Everything all right here?”

  “No sign of the Islamists,” Don said.

  Curt and Chance caught up to Dirk as he rushed to the group.

  “That’s not all good news,” Curt said. “They’re onto us now. We’ll have to figure out another way to watch for them.” He smiled at Sydney, and then saw Amanda, freezing his eyes on her, mouth open. She returned the look, then broke into a smile.

  “You’re Curt, eh? I’m Amanda. Nice to meet you.”

  “You can pick your jaw up off the ground any time, man,” Eric said to Curt, snapping him out of it.

  “Shut up, pencil neck,” he said. Then he turned back to Amanda. “Nice to meet you too.”

  “What’d you bring back?” Don asked.

  “You won’t believe it,” Dirk said. “C’mon.”

  They walked to the truck and looked in the bed.

  “What the hell are those big things?” Amanda asked.

  “M-19 Automatic Grenade Launchers,” Curt said.

  “RPGs?” Eric said. “Mortars? Where the hell did you get all this stuff?”

  “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” he said.

  “Oh, please,” Sydney said. Don looked to his side and saw that she’d moved right next to him while he was looking in the truck bed. His heart beat quickened.

  “We should get going,” Amanda said. “While we still have a chance at some quail. Maybe we could come by your place for a visit this afternoon.”

  “Yes, please do,” Curt said.

  “We need to go get some shut-eye,” Dirk said. “Been up for over twenty-four hours now.”

  “Yeah, you guys do that,” Francis said. “We’ll keep an eye on things for a while.”

  “Let’s go,” Chance said. He walked back to the truck with Curt and Dirk. Amanda and Sydney nodded to them and walked back into the meadow.

  “Wow,” Don said. “You see Curt and Amanda lock eyes?”

  “Yeah,” Francis said, “and I saw how you and Sydney looked at each other, too.”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Don said.

  “Yeah, right,” Francis said.

  “She likes you,” Eric said. “I can tell. She got right next to you by the truck too.”

  “That didn’t mean anything,” Don said.

  “Yeah, right,” Francis said again.

  The men settled back into their watch, fighting sleep again.

  Chapter 16 – Flatbeds

  Moe and Clancy were already at it for a couple of hours by the time Kelly and Junior got to the road.

  “Hell, you guys are almost done,” Junior said, looking at the flatbed. A tank sat next to it, cannon pointed east on I-10. DPS officers were still cleaning up the wreckage from the mangled trucks another four hundred yards down.

  “What’s to stop those DPS officers from driving these flatbeds away with our tanks the minute we get them done?” Junior asked.

  “Chief Ramsey,” Kelly said. “Had a long chat with Jason this morning, before you got up.”

  “They’re trying to recruit us, ain’t they?” Junior asked.

  “Yeah,” Kelly said, “and I’m ripe to be recruited.”

  Junior sighed. “We’ve gone respectable. Who knew?”

  Kelly laughed.

  “Hey, guys, give us a hand with this tire, okay?” Moe asked. They rushed over to help Clancy lift it, and Moe used his rechargeable impact gun to put on the lug nuts. “Gotta charge this up again.”

  “We’re about done anyway,” Clancy said. “I just got to hook up the new brake lines on this one, and it’ll be ready to go.” He got underneath the flatbed with two hand wrenches and got to work, still listening to the conversation.

  Jason and Kyle r
ode over in Jason’s Jeep.

  “Damn, you guys know how to get things done,” Jason said, looking at the flatbeds. “How close are they?”

  “Half an hour,” Moe said. “We need to decide what we’re gonna do. We can park these on the vacant lot across the road from the park entrance until then.”

  “That’s a perfect place to load them,” Clancy said from under the flatbed.

  “Could we get these flatbeds past that narrow part of the road at the homestead?” Kyle asked.

  “I suspect we’ll have to park the flatbeds and take the tanks through on their own,” Jason said.

  “Can the road handle the weight?” Junior asked.

  Jason thought about it for a while. “Maybe not,” he said. “We could take them in the back way. There’s no road, but these tanks should be able to get through.”

  “How many miles would that be?” Moe asked. “These things get thirsty really fast.”

  “That’s a good question,” Jason said. “I’ll check it out. I’d say it’s under ten miles.”

  “If we can take these tanks in the back way, doesn’t that mean the enemy could do the same thing?” Kelly asked.

  “Possibly,” Jason said. “Usually when we get attacked the enemy comes via troop transport trucks, or sometimes civilian pick-ups. No way would they make it in the back way with those. Track vehicles are another matter. They don’t need roads, as long as the terrain isn’t too hairy.”

  “We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves,” Kyle said. “We don’t know what’s gonna happen in the meeting with Ramsey and the Texas National Guard. They might want us someplace else.”

  “They might even want us to stay here,” Clancy said. “I’m seeing a lot of traffic on the message boards about the New Mexico border, and this is a lot closer to that area than Fredericksburg is.”

  “He’s right,” Junior said. “They might move us to the panhandle, even.”

  “Hope not,” Kelly said. “Too dry and too damn hot.”

  “Hell, it’s hot right here,” Moe said, wiping the sweat from his brow. “It’s gonna get worse, too.”

  “Hey, Moe, I think we can fire this one up now,” Clancy said.

  “Go for it,” Moe said.

  Clancy climbed up into the cab. “Still too much blood and guts in here,” he shouted out the window as he fired up the big diesel. “Purrs like a kitten.”

  “Drive it over to the spot we talked about,” Moe said.

  Clancy shook his head yes and put the bit flatbed into gear, grinding a little. The huge truck slowly moved towards the road.

  “There it goes,” Jason said. “The others ready?”

  “Yeah,” Moe said. “How many folks we got who can drive big-rigs?”

  “Two of Gray’s guys can do it,” Kelly said. “So can Junior and Nate.”

  “You can too,” Junior said.

  Kelly laughed. “I grind the gears way too much. Wouldn’t want to try with the kind of load these suckers are gonna be carrying.”

  They watched the DPS officers for a few minutes.

  “Looks like they’re almost done,” Kyle said.

  “About frigging time,” Moe said.

  “Maybe they were keeping an eye on us,” Jason said.

  “In order to take the tanks?” Moe asked.

  “No, in order to protect us,” Jason said. “The last thing the Texas government wants to do is disarm folks like us.”

  “Here comes Clancy,” Moe said, pointing. “In Nate’s truck.”

  Nate parked and they both trotted over.

  “How’d it go?” Moe asked.

  “No problem,” Clancy said. “Thanks for bringing me back over, Nate.”

  “No problem. Maybe we ought to take the next two. Somebody could drive my truck back over.”

  “I’m good with that,” Clancy said. “C’mon.” They both got into trucks and fired them up, then drove onto I-10, heading back to the park.

  “Damn, Nate handles those even better than Clancy does,” Moe said.

  “He drove truck for a lot of years,” Kelly said. “Part of it was smuggling, and he got caught. Kinda ended his trucking career.”

  “What was he moving?” Moe asked.

  “Weed, mostly,” Kelly said. “That was when he was a lot younger. He’s a little more prudent now.”

  Junior laughed. “Yeah, but only a little. Want me to take the last one?”

  “Help yourself,” Moe said.

  Junior got into the last of the flatbeds and started it, grinding the gears for a second before the truck lurched forward. “Don’t worry, I’ll get the hang of it in a hurry,” he shouted out the window as he drove onto I-10.

  “He’s doing all right,” Moe said, watching him make the turn off of I-10 towards the park.

  “Who’s driving the tank back?” Kelly asked.

  “Clancy can do that, or one of Gray’s guys,” Moe said.

  “I’ll go get somebody,” Kelly said, walking to his truck.

  “Anybody left here who can fire that tank?” Jason said, looking around nervously.

  “Yeah, I can,” Moe said. “I’d need a hand up. Why, you see something?”

  “No, but I feel like we’re flapping in the breeze here,” Jason said.

  “Battle fatigue,” Kyle said. “Kelly will be here with somebody in a few minutes. Want to go back?”

  “Let’s wait for him,” Jason said.

  “All right,” Kyle said. “Hear anything else from Eric?”

  “Not since Curt, Dirk, and Chance got back from their supply run,” Jason said.

  “I’m glad they got back all right,” Kyle said. “Had me worried.”

  “Me too,” Jason said. “One way or another, Curt needs to be re-united with his toy hauler. He’s got gimbals to make.”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said.

  “Kelly’s coming back,” Moe said, pointing at the road.

  “That was fast,” Jason said. He watched as Kelly pulled up next to them.

  Clancy jumped out of the truck. “Thanks, man,” he said to Kelly. “Want to ride back over in the tank, Moe?”

  “Naw, I think I’ll take your spot with Kelly, if you don’t mind,” Moe said. “The tank is too hard on my knees.”

  “Roger that,” Clancy said. He ambled over to the tank and climbed up to the driver’s hatch. “See you guys over there.”

  “Yeah,” Moe said, climbing into Kelly’s truck.

  “You guys did a good job,” Kelly said.

  “So did you,” Moe said. “I heard that depot attack had an impact on the battle for San Antonio.”

  “Yeah, that’s what Ramsey told Jason earlier. Got to give Curt most of the credit for that.”

  “He’s a valuable guy, that’s for sure,” Moe said.

  Kelly watched as Jason and Kyle drove onto I-10, and then followed them.

  “You think we’re gonna stay here a while?” Kelly asked.

  Moe sighed. “I don’t know,” he said. “Jason said Ramsey wasn’t sure yet. Deferred to this meeting they want to have with us.”

  “How we gonna hold the meeting when part of us are in Fredericksburg and part of us are here?” Kelly asked.

  “I heard Jason say something about a web meeting,” Moe said. “What do you think about moving? You’ve been at both places.”

  “The homestead is more secluded and easier to defend against an enemy force,” Kelly said. “It’s also an easy place to get trapped with RVs. That narrow part of the road is bad, and it’s got switchbacks. It’d be easy to go off the cliff.”

  “Big cliff?” Moe asked.

  “No, it’s not huge, but I wouldn’t want to roll down it.”

  “Any other ways in?” Moe asked.

  “Apparently you can get in through the rear of the property, but there’s no road. You need serious four-wheel drive. Not those soccer-mom all-wheel drive SUVs. Real four-wheel drive, like a Jeep Wrangler or a modified four-wheel drive truck.”

  “Or a tank,” Moe
said. “If it’s really ten miles in with no road, fuel might be an issue. These things go through gas like shit through a goose.”

  “What do they burn?” Kelly asked. “Not gasoline, right?”

  “They can burn gasoline,” Moe said, “but they can burn other fuels too. I used to wonder if that’s why the Army decided on the turbine engines, but after reading a little more, I think it was more about engine size and power-to-weight ratio.”

  “The fuel we blew up at the depot smelled like kerosene,” Kelly said.

  “Yeah, kerosene, jet fuel, and even diesel fuel will work,” Moe said. “Hell, whiskey would probably work. You need some kind of a starter for those, though, to get the engine going. Something more volatile like propane.”

  Kelly pulled through the gate and stopped at the office. “You want to get out here?”

  “Sure,” Moe said. “Thanks for the lift.”

  “Thank you for everything, man,” Kelly said.

  Moe nodded and left the cab, shutting the door and waving as he walked onto the office veranda. Kelly drove back to his space. Junior walked up as he was parking.

  “Hey, Junior,” he said. “How do those flatbeds drive?”

  “Slow and heavy,” Junior said. “I suspect they’ll feel even worse with tanks on them.”

  “Probably,” Kelly said. “What are you gonna do now?”

  “Check on Rachel,” he said.

  “How’d it go last night?”

  Junior’s face flushed. “Like a dream, man.”

  “Good for you,” Kelly said. “Think I’ll go check with Brenda. See you later.”

  Junior nodded and walked towards his Brave. Kelly smiled as he watched him.

  “Kelly?” Brenda called from the trailer.

  “Yeah, coming,” he said, closing the door of his truck. He went into the trailer, pausing just inside the doorway to take Brenda into his arms. They kissed passionately.

  “Wow,” she said. “What was that about?”

  “Nothing,” he said. “Just feeling the love, I guess.”

  “How’s Junior?” she asked.

  “Walking on cloud nine,” Kelly said. “You think Rachel is for real?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Brenda said. “No doubt in my mind at all.”

  “What happened? I didn’t see that coming. Not really.”